The Black Market Gamble

After Alice walked down the steps, a scrawny teenager of about a dozen years old walked towards her.

After saluting Alice, the scrawny teenager asked in a neither humble nor overbearing manner, "Seeing that Your Excellency looks rather unfamiliar, I've come especially to ask if you need any guidance in the black market?"

"Oh?" Alice glanced at him with her eyes lowered. The carved folding fan in her hand twirled lightly on her delicate white fingertips, and then she curled her lips and smiled wantonly. "Sure."

The scrawny teenager was momentarily dazzled by her bright and unrestrained smile, secretly wondering in his heart when such a high-spirited young man had emerged in the Augustan Empire.

"If Your Excellency requires my services, you'll need to pay five silver coins."

Alice was not stingy at all. She immediately took out five silver coins from her storage bag and handed them to him.

The scrawny teenager's eyes lit up. After putting the silver coins into his pocket, his gaze towards Alice became a bit more sincere.

Alice said, "Let's go."

The scrawny teenager followed half a step behind her and introduced himself, "Your Excellency, I am Axes, the receptionist of the black market. May I ask what brings you to the black market this time?"

Alice suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked around. She found that there were only small stalls in front of her, and only in the deepest part could she see some buildings.

"Axes, tell me about the layout of this black market."

Upon hearing this, Axes slowly explained, "The outer stalls of the black market are set up on the ground. They are for those who have precious items and want to get rid of them quickly. And in the deepest part is the Treasure Hall, the branch of the black market in the Augustan Empire. There are all kinds of rare treasures there, which can be exchanged or bought and sold."

"There are rules in the black market. Fighting and contending are prohibited. If anyone violates these rules, they will be expelled by the black market guards or even blacklisted. So it's best that Your Excellency doesn't take any actions."

Hearing this, Alice slightly raised her willow-like eyebrows, thinking to herself that she had come to the right place.

"Axes, take me to the Treasure Hall." Alice said.

Axes looked a bit surprised, but quickly regained his composure.

He led Alice through the small stalls filled with rare treasures. During the process, Alice was quite interested in the items on several stalls, but due to her current lack of money, she could only put her interest aside for the time being.

Directly arriving at the entrance of the Treasure Hall, there was a continuous flow of people coming and going.

Those who came to the black market were more or less wearing masks or black robes and hats, covering their faces tightly.

However, there were also some people who didn't care about that.

"The eldest son of the Nobby Family has also come. Could it be for that Phantom Grass?"

A handsome man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, dressed in a blue robe, smiled slightly and said affectionately, "The Phantom Grass is what my wife wants. I'm just trying to please her."

"Hahaha, Brother Owen is really something!"

When Alice heard "the eldest son of the Nobby Family", she looked back and saw that it was indeed the extremely scummy man in her memory.

Owen!

The scumbag who broke off the engagement with her aunt!

Her aunt had been in a coma ever since because of him, while Owen had already married and had children, still maintaining a good husband image to the outside world.

Alice's lips curled slightly, showing obvious ridicule.

The Phantom Grass? It was a low-level Mystic-rank spiritual herb! It was extremely rare in a small country like the Augustan Empire.

Spiritual herbs and elixirs were divided into: Yellow-rank, Mystic-rank, Earth-rank, and Heaven-rank.

"Your Excellency?"

Axes saw that Alice was slightly in a daze and asked.

Alice came to her senses and smiled as she gently patted his thin shoulder, saying, "I'm here."

Axes couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile because of her casual gesture.

Most of the previous guests looked down on them, the receptionists. It was already lucky that they didn't ridicule, scold, or even hit them. Let alone having any physical contact with them.

"Please help me introduce the steward of the Treasure Hall. Tell him that I have some good items to trade with him." Alice said as she looked at Axes. Then, a folded piece of paper appeared in her palm. She stuffed the paper into Axes' hand and said,

"Give this piece of paper to the steward. He will surely come out."

Axes rubbed the folded piece of paper and, looking into Alice's clear and bright eyes, subconsciously nodded.

"Okay, Your Excellency."

Axes pinched the piece of paper and hurriedly walked into the Treasure Hall.

"How ridiculous! You brat, you're so arrogant that you actually think you can summon the steward of the Treasure Hall with just a worthless piece of paper?" The man with a pointed face beside Owen said with full of sarcasm.

Owen also nodded in agreement and said, "You're really a bit too conceited!"

Alice was about to step into the Treasure Hall, but was stopped by the sarcastic and contemptuous words of these two men. She curled her red lips slightly and turned to look at Owen and the man with a pointed face.

"Don't you two believe it?"

The man with a pointed face sneered, "Huh, do you know how difficult it is to invite the steward of the Treasure Hall? And you're so brazen as to say that he'll come out to see you? Are you out of your mind, brat?"

Owen, with an elegant and refined appearance of a young master, fully agreed with what the man with a pointed face had just said.

"Shall we make a bet?" Alice didn't care about their sarcasm and ridicule at all. Instead, she laughed like a dandy.

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Owen's eyes. The delicate and refined young man in front of him was articulate and dressed in an excellent robe.

He must be a dandy who ran out from some wealthy family.

Owen guessed that he must have several good items on him. His thoughts were racing, and a look of an ambiguous meaning flashed in his eyes.

Owen asked, "What shall we bet on?"

"Alright, what do you want to bet on?" The man with a pointed face had the same idea as Owen, trying to cheat some good items from Alice.

The people coming in and out of the Treasure Hall, seeing the bet, all stopped to watch the fun.

Alice curled her lips and smiled, and a glint of cunning flashed in her phoenix-like eyes.

Hooked.

Alice cleared her throat, stood with her hands behind her back, and played the role of an arrogant dandy to the fullest.

She said, "Like this, if the steward of the Treasure Hall shows up within a quarter of an hour, I win. If he doesn't show up within a quarter of an hour, you two win!"

Owen and the man with a pointed face looked at each other and said in unison, "Okay."

Alice smiled and held out two fingers, saying, "If I win, each of you needs to give me two thousand low-grade magic crystals. If you win, I'll give each of you three Phantom Grass plants. How about that?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Owen and the man with a pointed face's eyes suddenly lit up.

Each Phantom Grass plant was worth one thousand low-grade magic crystals. If they could win this bet, it would be equivalent to each of them getting three thousand low-grade magic crystals.

Such a good thing had actually fallen on their heads today.

"Okay, it's a deal!" Owen said firmly, for fear that Alice would regret it the next moment.

Hearing what Alice was betting on, many people thought that Alice was really stupid.

The steward of the Treasure Hall hardly showed up three times a year. How could he show up within a quarter of an hour?

"Whose brat is this? So wasteful! Three thousand low-grade magic crystals! I feel sorry for him even if he doesn't!"

A husky voice of a muscular man rang out, "That good-looking young brother, don't be deceived. The steward of the Treasure Hall will never come out!"