Chapter 23
Ch.23 Whisper Market
The girl, full and satisfied, gently patted her slightly bulging little belly as she left the Medillion Duke Manor, turning back every few steps.
Gazing at the gradually sinking sun, Anya was now filled with regret.
Damn it—why did they have to prepare so many varieties? She couldn’t resist sampling generously from each one.
“Hic~ Ugh…”
The girl covered her lips, sighing in relief only after confirming her embarrassing lapse hadn’t been noticed by the maid who saw her off from the Duke’s Manor.
“Hmph… That detestable Luo Nan von Medillion—he must have been laughing at me just now!”
Although, aside from her initial eating phase—when her lack of experience led to frequent corrections from the little maid—Anya felt her subsequent table manners were quite in line with noble etiquette.
But she still felt Luo Nan had been mocking her all along, practically writing ‘you’re a country bumpkin’ across that annoyingly handsome face of his.
“Never mind—anyway, it’s his money being spent. I’ve also saved myself a dinner.”
The girl looked up at the sun about to sink below the horizon and heard the Baber Tower clock in the upper district strike six times. “Hmm, go back and get ready—tonight I’ll head to the ‘Whisper Market’ to get those scales.”
Night fell, stars filled the sky.
Luo Nan opened his eyes in the training room.
“It should be time. I remember that underground black market, the ‘omnipotent market,’ opens at…”
In the original plot, to conveniently allow protagonists in the early stages to reasonably acquire rare materials and items, ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’ deliberately set up in the Imperial Capital an underground black market where “anything can be bought, anything can be sold.”
The Whisper Market.
“This Whisper Market clearly looks like a place suited for all sorts of ‘robbery among thieves’ plots—I must be careful.”
…
A tall figure draped in a black cloak and wearing a golden crow-beak mask moved alone through the maze-like alleyways of the lower district.
Although, as the eldest young master of the Medillion family, he didn’t need to do such things personally—he could easily assign it to the Manor’s guards—he felt the fewer people who knew about his plan to answer the ‘collusion with demons’, the better. After all, ‘she’ was the Phantom Demon of Time—who knew at which tiny deviation in his plan she might learn of it, causing the entire scheme to collapse.
“Besides, I also want to see with my own eyes what the ‘Whisper Market,’ a location where many plots occur, actually looks like.”
Luo Nan’s figure passed through layers of brick and stone houses, arriving before a medium-sized three-story tavern on Grey Street.
Entering the tavern, aside from regular drinking customers, there were also small groups of people, like him, concealing their identities.
“Indeed, it’s restocking day—even this entrance is packed with so many customers.”
Luo Nan tossed five copper centimes, casually ordered a cup of the lower district’s specialty ‘craft beer’, and slowly savored the coarse yet uniquely flavored brew while concentrating his power on his ears, carefully eavesdropping on conversations among other identity-concealed customers.
“Have you heard? Princess Serela, the Fourth Imperial Princess, returned to the Imperial Capital a few days ago!”
“Of course—I also know the nobles held a welcome-back banquet for Her Highness, and an incident occurred during the banquet.”
“What incident?”
“Don’t spread rumors carelessly,” the customer wearing a black mask glanced around, confirming no one was paying attention to their table, then lowered his voice to answer, “During the banquet, that Medillion family’s young master—yes, Luo Nan von Medillion—was assassinated!”
“What!? Is he dead?”
“Keep your voice down! He’s not dead—don’t know what dumb luck that kid had, but he dodged the assassination and even received a personal promise from Her Highness to help uncover the truth.”
“I knew it—if that debauched young master really died, given his father’s power and temperament, wouldn’t he turn the entire Opalia upside down? If that happened, our business would be completely ruined!”
“Who says otherwise?”
“…”
Hearing this, Luo Nan frowned slightly. He remembered the news of his assassination had been ordered sealed by Serela—how, in just a few days, had it spread to the lower district?
“Could someone be deliberately spreading the news? What’s their purpose? Is it the work of those few families in that faction?”
Although his investigation had confirmed the assassination targeting him was premeditated, Luo Nan still had no clue who—or which faction—was behind the scenes.
After all, suspicion alone couldn’t topple those guys—he needed concrete evidence.
“A mug of whole-wheat craft beer.”
A figure draped in a grey hooded robe took a seat at the table one seat away from Luo Nan. This figure wore no mask, but wrapped white cloth around most of their face, leaving only a pair of alert golden eyes visible.
The figure accepted the wooden mug, sipping the drink slowly while surveying the surroundings. When they noticed Luo Nan seemingly staring at them, they set down the mug and locked eyes with him.
“This guy is so perceptive?”
Luo Nan naturally didn’t recognize this person. To avoid unnecessary complications, he raised his own mug toward the other in a friendly gesture.
Seeing Luo Nan extend goodwill, the other also raised their mug. The two clinked mugs across the space between them, nodded to each other, then simultaneously averted their gazes.
Anya felt the figure wearing the golden crow-beak mask across from her seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint why.
“Is this someone I’ve met before in the lower district? Or a member of some gang?”
The girl set down her mug, using the excuse of scanning the bar’s environment to repeatedly examine the crow mask.
For some reason, this guy always gave her a detestable feeling.
“Never mind—no need to dwell on it. Since I’ve already begun preparing to break into the second tier, I’ll set aside old grudges for now.”
“Once I get the scales and break through to the second tier using that method, I’ll return in the guise of a powerhouse—hee hee…”
The girl couldn’t help but indulge in fantasies of ‘the warrior-god’s return, everyone exclaiming invincibility and bowing in submission’.
“I wonder if the 3 fara 50 surs I have on hand will be enough to secure it—should be sufficient.”
Just as the girl repeatedly caressed the coins in her bosom, the bartender behind the counter took down a bottle of high-proof distilled liquor, attached a misting nozzle to its top, and suddenly ignited it—
Whoosh!!!
“Good!”
“It’s starting!”
Most customers in the tavern were drawn to the bartender’s performance, cheers rising and falling continuously. With the ignition of the flames, the tavern entered the peak of tonight’s revelry.
But Luo Nan hadn’t come to watch performances. He knew that flame was a signal—a signal telling people like him, with ulterior motives, that the ‘Whisper Market’ had opened.
“It’s finally starting.”
Luo Nan’s gaze swept over the other identity-concealed figures in the tavern, watching them rise in small groups and head toward the small basement at the rear-right.
The figure with the face wrapped in cloth also entered the basement after confirming they hadn’t attracted attention.
Seeing most people had already left, Luo Nan stood up. “Let me witness the true ‘Whisper Market.’“
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