Chapter 251: Black Market
Cryden Town...
Ezra and Lucy quietly walked through the streets alongside countless commoners who were busy going about their daily lives.
Although Cryden was officially classified as a town, the amount of activity filling its streets made it feel closer to a small city. Horse carriages rolled across the stone roads, merchants called out to passing customers, and people moved from one shop to another without paying much attention to those around them.
Everyone seemed occupied with their own lives.
No one wasted time watching strangers.
As the two continued walking, Ezra calmly observed everything around him.
Newspaper vendors loudly advertised the latest headlines while children darted between the crowd carrying baskets filled with bread and fruit. Small restaurants lined several corners of the street, and the pleasant aroma of freshly cooked food drifted through the chilly winter air.
At first glance...
The town didn’t seem particularly different from many other small city in Britannia.
But the longer they walked...
The more obvious the contrast became.
Near the roadside, several homeless children wandered through the moving crowd with worn-out bowls in their hands, quietly asking passersby for spare coins.
Most people simply ignored them.
Not far away...
A few elderly beggars sat beneath the shelter of narrow alleys with thin blankets wrapped around their bodies, silently enduring the falling snow while staring blankly toward the street.
The lively atmosphere of the marketplace and the harsh reality hidden just a few steps away existed side by side.
"Do you think we’ll get robbed?"
Lucy asked in a low voice while subtly looking around.
Ezra casually swept his eyes across the busy street.
"The possibility is there."
His answer remained as calm as always, while his gaze moved from one direction to another.
Groups of workers discussed today’s jobs.
Several merchants argued over prices.
A newspaper boy hurried past them.
Steam escaped from nearby restaurants as cooks prepared another round of meals for hungry customers.
However...
The farther they moved away from the main streets...
The more the scenery gradually changed.
The pleasant smell of food slowly disappeared.
Instead...
The faint odor of waste lingered between old buildings.
Piles of discarded materials rested against cracked walls, while melting snow mixed with muddy water that slowly flowed through the narrow gutters.
After walking for several more minutes...
Ezra quietly turned into one of the back alleys.
Lucy immediately followed behind him.
The noisy streets disappeared almost instantly with silence replacing them.
The alley stretched ahead, lined with old brick buildings whose walls had long since lost their original color.
Several elderly men sat lazily against the walls.
Some quietly stared toward the gray sky.
Others simply watched the snow fall without saying a single word.
None of them seemed interested in speaking.
None appeared to have anywhere else to go.
Lucy couldn’t help glancing around several times.
A complicated feeling slowly settled inside her chest.
She had become accustomed to the comfortable life of serving a noble.
She slept in warm rooms.
She ate proper meals.
She no longer worried about surviving the next day.
But...
She had once lived a life not much different from this.
That memory hadn’t disappeared.
It had merely been buried beneath happier days.
If a foreign traveler ever visited Britannia and spent all their time inside the wealthy cities governed by the Duke Families...
They would probably believe the Kingdom was prosperous everywhere.
They would never see places like this.
Nor would they understand how differently people lived only a few towns away.
It almost felt as though Britannia existed as two completely separate worlds.
One belonged to the wealthy...
The educated...
The powerful.
The other belonged to everyone struggling simply to survive another day.
Eventually...
The two stopped in front of an old wooden building.
A weathered signboard hung above the entrance.
Painted across it was a large glass mug filled with amber-colored alcohol.
Ezra quietly looked up at the sign.
"This is the place."
He spoke plainly.
Lucy stared at the tavern before turning toward him.
"Master...You sure we won’t end up getting into a fight?"
Her voice carried more excitement than worry.
"You know..."
She smiled while leaning slightly closer.
"Like I said before...In all the novels I’ve read...If the locals inside see a young boy and a beautiful lady like me entering alone...They’ll definitely try to pick a fight."
She nodded confidently as though the outcome had already been decided.
"Then...We’ll defeat them with our skills..."
She continued excitedly.
"And while fighting our way through the tavern...We’ll accidentally discover the entrance to the Black Market."
Her eyes sparkled with expectation.
"The story practically writes itself."
Ezra slowly glanced at her.
His blank expression didn’t change in the slightest.
Without replying...
He simply reached for the tavern door and pushed it open.
Lucy puffed out her cheeks before quietly following after him.
The moment Ezra stepped onto the worn wooden floor...
His senses quietly spread outward.
Like an invisible ripple...
His perception expanded across the entire tavern.
Every conversation...
Every movement...
Every presence...
Entered his awareness.
Fifty grown men...
Ten female waitresses.
Several people in the back...
His eyes calmly swept across the room.
The bartender stood behind the counter, lazily polishing a wooden mug with a faded brown cloth.
His actually a Half-Star Novice Alchemist.
Ezra identified him almost instantly.
His gaze then shifted toward a wooden door farther inside the tavern.
A waitress had just walked out from it moments earlier.
There’s something blocking my senses...
Some kind of material.
I can’t perceive what’s beyond it.
Without allowing his thoughts to show on his face...
Ezra calmly walked toward the counter.
The noisy tavern gradually fell silent.
Conversations stopped one after another.
Dozens of curious and suspicious eyes quietly settled upon the two newcomers.
Lucy...
On the other hand...
She enjoyed every second of it.
The atmosphere felt exactly like the beginning of one of her adventure novels.
She hurried forward until she caught up with Ezra.
Clink.
Ezra placed six copper coins onto the wooden counter.
The sound immediately drew the bartender’s attention.
Several rough-looking men seated nearby glanced toward him without speaking.
The bartender calmly looked up.
"What would you like?"
His hands never stopped polishing the wooden mug.
"I want to buy Melic."
Ezra answered flatly.
"The black type."
He gently pushed the six coins closer.
The bartender raised one eyebrow.
For several quiet seconds...
He simply looked at the coins.
Then...
His eyes slowly lifted toward Ezra.
Because both Ezra and Lucy wore ordinary winter clothing, their faces remained mostly hidden beneath thick scarves and lowered hoods.
To anyone else...
They looked like ordinary locals trying to keep warm.
The bartender studied Ezra’s visible eyes for another moment before finally nodding.
"Rilla."
His voice echoed across the tavern.
A waitress immediately stepped through the rear door.
"Yes?"
She respectfully looked toward him before turning her attention to Ezra and Lucy.
Ezra quietly sensed the faint flow of Cognis surrounding her.
Another Half-Star Novice Alchemist.
"They ordered Melic."
The bartender finally placed the mug onto the shelf.
"The black type."
He pointed toward Ezra.
"Please take them to one of the rooms so they can choose the brand they’d like."
"Understood."
Rilla nodded politely before resting one hand against her waist.
"This way."
She turned around without another word.
Ezra followed.
Lucy quietly followed behind him.
The moment the three disappeared through the rear doorway...
The lively noise inside the tavern gradually returned.
"I wonder who those two were."
A man missing several teeth stared toward the door they had just entered.
"I’m more jealous that they ordered Melic. The black type at that."
Another drunken man slammed his mug onto the table before lazily resting his chin on the wooden surface.
"But they look suspicious."
A nearby customer immediately snorted.
"Anyone dressed head to toe in winter clothing looks suspicious, idiot."
"Still..."
"They had plenty of money."
"Those six copper coins could’ve bought me three more mugs of local beer."
The drunken complaints blended together as laughter echoed throughout the tavern once again.
Meanwhile...
Rilla continued leading Ezra and Lucy deeper into the building.
They eventually reached the exact location where Ezra’s senses had been blocked earlier.
Without hesitation...
Rilla pressed her thumb against an unremarkable section of the stone wall.
A soft blue light spread beneath her hand.
The wall vibrated.
Then...
A series of mechanical gears began turning.
Click... Click... Clank...
Steam hissed through hidden pipes.
Slowly...
A concealed stone door slid open.
Warm air drifted outward from the hidden passage beyond.
Rilla calmly stepped inside.
Ezra and Lucy followed after her.
Once the hidden entrance closed behind them...
Lucy immediately pulled down her hood and loosened the scarf covering her face.
"Ah..."
She let out a relieved breath.
"I can finally breathe."
Rilla glanced toward Lucy’s face.
"Are you two nobles?"
She asked curiously.
The stone corridor stretched far into the distance.
Iron lamps burning with orange flames illuminated both sides of the passage, causing long shadows to dance across the walls as they walked deeper underground.
Lucy instinctively looked toward Ezra.
She waited for him to answer.
Ezra remained silent.
Seeing his reaction...
Rilla simply smiled.
"You don’t have to worry. Our Black-Market values secrecy above everything else. That’s exactly why everyone entering must be inspected."
A short distance later...
They arrived at a checkpoint guarded by several heavily armed security personnel.
The guards carefully searched Ezra for recording devices.
Meanwhile...
Rilla respectfully searched Lucy.
After finishing...
She stepped back.
"Please keep your Starlix, Zphone, or Para devices inside your Space Bags."
She calmly listed the remaining rules.
"No fighting. Payments may be made physically or through Skynet transactions. No releasing Cognis. And you alone are responsible for your belongings."
She stepped aside before gesturing toward the massive entrance ahead.
"Enjoy your time in the Black Market."
Ezra nodded once.
"Let’s go."
He calmly walked forward.
Lucy quickly caught up beside him.
The moment they stepped through the final entrance...
Both of them paused.
A vast underground marketplace stretched before them.
Instead of ordinary streets...
Rows upon rows of shops filled the enormous cavern.
People wandered from stall to stall while merchants loudly advertised their rare merchandise.
"It reminds me of the marketplace back at the Trial Base."
Lucy slowly looked around in amazement.
"Only..."
She smiled.
"Much bigger."
Then another thought struck her.
She looked toward Ezra.
"Master...How are we supposed to find that metal in a place this huge?"
Ezra calmly observed the countless shops before answering.
"We’ll just have to start looking."
His tone remained flat.
He immediately began walking.
Lucy hurried after him while sighing.
"Maybe...We should’ve asked Rilla where the metal shops are."
The deeper they walked...
The stranger the merchandise became.
Animals rested inside reinforced cages.
Alchemy scrolls filled entire shelves.
Firearms...
Rare medicines...
Illegal drugs...
Steam Carriage components...
Outdated Starlix and Zphone devices...
Even discontinued Para models could be found among the countless stalls.
Different voices continuously called out to them from every direction.
"Come and have a look!"
"Rare Alchemy Scrolls!"
"Best prices in the market!"
"Quality Steam Carriage parts!"
One merchant after another enthusiastically waved toward the two, hoping to draw them into their shops. Some remained behind their counters, loudly advertising their merchandise, while others stepped directly into the street with welcoming smiles, trying to persuade Ezra and Lucy to stop and browse through their collections.
A few sellers even attempted to begin conversations.
"Young man, I have something you’ll definitely like."
"Miss, these accessories would suit you perfectly."
"Don’t leave just yet! At least take a look."
The bustling voices blended together, filling the underground marketplace with constant noise that echoed beneath the stone ceiling.
Despite the relentless invitations...
Neither Ezra nor Lucy stopped.
They continued walking at a steady pace.
Not because they were wandering aimlessly...
It was far from it.
Since Ezra already had a destination in mind.
Although he had never visited Britannia’s Black Market before, his previous life’s experiences with comics, novels, and various adventure stories had taught him a common pattern shared by almost every hidden market.
The deeper one ventured into the marketplace...
The rarer the merchandise became.
Ordinary goods occupied the outer districts.
Items that were difficult to obtain appeared farther inside.
As for the truly valuable treasures...
The forbidden materials...
The illegal creations...
And the things that couldn’t be sold openly anywhere else in Britannia...
Those were almost always hidden in the deepest parts of the market.
Whether fiction reflects reality or not...
Ezra believed it was still worth testing.
So...
The two calmly continued walking deeper into the Black Market without allowing the noisy merchants to distract them.
Even so...
Their journey wasn’t entirely without stops.
Along one of the quieter streets, Ezra’s footsteps suddenly came to a halt.
Lucy, who had been following closely behind, almost bumped into him before quickly stopping herself.
She looked toward the shop that had caught his attention.
It was a small bookstore tucked between two larger stores.
Unlike the surrounding merchants who constantly shouted for customers, this old bookstore remained unusually quiet.
Rows of worn wooden shelves could be seen through the entrance, each packed with books of different sizes and ages. The faint scent of old paper drifted into the street, carrying with it the familiar atmosphere of a place that had preserved knowledge for many years.
Without saying a word...
Ezra stepped inside.
His calm eyes slowly moved across the shelves until a particular book immediately caught his attention.
He reached toward it without hesitation.
The cover looked old, with slight wear around the edges, yet it had been carefully maintained.
After opening a few pages...
His black eyes remained fixed on the contents.
The book recorded the history of Andraver, the legendary Sun Alchemist of Britannia.
Inside were detailed historical accounts of his life, the era in which he lived, several documented achievements, and records surrounding the development of Sun Alchemy itself.
Ezra quietly turned another page.
Then another.
The more he read...
The more interested he became.
Without giving it further thought, he closed the book and calmly walked toward the counter to purchase it.
Lucy simply smiled to herself while looking at her master.
She had already become accustomed to moments like this.
Whenever Ezra encountered a book or anything containing useful knowledge...
No matter where they were...
He almost never left without buying it or studying it.
Once the transaction was completed, Ezra carefully stored the book inside his Space Bag before the two quietly left the bookstore and continued their journey deeper into the mysterious Black Market of Britannia.