Chapter 84: Black Market

Ritzy strolled around the market, enjoying the atmosphere and the sight of the stalls filled with various fruits, vegetables, plants, and trinkets. Going to a market was a lot more enjoyable when his hands weren't beaten with sticks when he inspected something or called a thief and a pickpocket before being chased out of the market.

"Ah, there we have it!"

Eventually, amidst the still-flourishing market, Ritzy found an alleyway entrance squeezed in between two slightly less popular stalls. It was enough not to catch any attention, but to someone like Ritzy, it stood out like a sore thumb.

Mognog and Xiotal were both surprised at Ritzy's observational skills, especially Ritzy. He had noticed it before when they were in sticky or potentially sticky situations. But Ritzy was as good as, if not better than, some of the warriors Mognog had trained back when he was alive.

For some reason, Ritzy was keen and easily noticed things others didn't. And he did it so naturally that Mognog was sure it had nothing to do with the white hair.

Mognog also noticed how wary Ritzy was when he went to pick up an apple or a carrot to inspect it for blemishes. Ritzy scanned the stall owner's hands and surroundings to see if there were any weapons around.

It made Mognog curious and angry about Ritzy's past since he could guess how the people back at Vestor had treated them. Ritzy and Gerhart had told him a little about it to justify burning the town to the ground but seeing Ritzy's behavior told Mognog more accurately how bad it had been.

The two stall owners sitting next to the ally Ritzy had chosen noticed a small kid approaching and were about to stop him. If he entered, he wasn't leaving, even if he was a lost kid. But missing kids could draw unwanted attention. That was why it was their task to keep people who shouldn't enter away.

However, Ritzy saw them lock eyes before turning to him. And when one of them was about to get up and advise Ritzy to go somewhere else, Ritzy pointed at Unholy Avatar.

"I know what I'm doing."

The stall owner raised an eyebrow before sitting back down with a shrug before crossing his arm and turning forward again. Although doubtful, the other stall owner did the same.

Ritzy's identity didn't matter to them. But he wasn't an ordinary missing kid. He was either a necromancer or protected by one. That meant he was a customer. They didn't have the authority to stop him.

Ritzy beamed a childishly joyful smile that sent shivers down the spines of the two disguised guards as he walked into the alley.

The alley was narrow and mostly veiled in shadows, but Ritzy saw several doors with light seeping through the cracks. Most of them had some kind of symbol to indicate what they sold. Several of them seemed like they sold or bought items related to necromancy, but Ritzy wasn't satisfied until he found a cellar entrance with a skull poorly etched into the ground in front of it.

"Look, Mognog. That looks like you."

Xiotal couldn't resist the opportunity to tease Mognog after how he had teamed up with Ritzy to bully her.

But Mognog just looked at her with disdain at her poor attempt. He had served his country as a great warrior. He had climbed through the ranks of the military. Xiotal would have to come at him with something better than a shoddy skull that didn't even resemble him.

Ritzy didn't bother knocking on the two wooden doors. He leaned down, pulled them open, and walked down the stairs, letting them fall shut behind him without worry.

Secret knocks or limited access in black markets were a scam anyway.

Mognog didn't know if Ritzy had chosen a good or a bad shop since there weren't many other customers. Only one or two dark-clad people were hiding their identities while rummaging through the items on the tables haphazardly littered around the room.

The one exception was an elderly man with a rugged, grey beard sitting on a chair behind a desk at the far wall of the underground room. His eyes were closed, and he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed so it looked like he was sleeping. But everyone in the room could feel his gaze on them, and it was heavy.

However, in contrast to the other customers, who seemed wary of the old black market shopkeeper, Ritzy strolled straight up to him with a smile on his face.

"Hey, old man! You got anything good down here?"

The other customers could feel the temperature in the room sink at Ritzy's bold approach. They were in the black market, dammit., not an ordinary shop where they were expected to make happy small talk. They browsed the items, found what they were looking for, paid what it was worth, and then skedaddled.

The old man behind the counter opened his eyes and raised a brow as he looked at Ritzy. His face was just as sour as it had been when it had looked like he was sleeping, but the grim attitude in his eyes guaranteed that no one would even think of haggling or talking with him unless absolutely necessary.

The slightly old shopkeeper glanced at the Unholy Avatar before looking at Ritzy again.

"No."

Ritzy nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. I was looking for the bad and nasty stuff anyway."

Mognog held back a sigh.

The shopkeeper bobbed his head in the direction of a dark corner of the room where none of the other customers were.

"Thanks a bunch!"

Ritzy smiled and thanked the bearded shopkeeper before strolling over to look at what was on the table in the corner.

It seemed like he had come to the right place.

There was a pile of Bone Chalk of various qualities and colors for different purposes, a stack of vials with Flesh Melting Liquid, and a heap of cleaned bones from smaller animals like rats, cats, and bats.

But that wasn't all. Next to the more common necromancer materials, there was also a tray with an assortment of books. Ritzy's eyes lit up as he saw them. Spellbooks! Mognog also couldn't help but be a little interested. Xiotal, on the other hand, was busy hiding in Ritzy's shirt while pinching her nose and closing her eyes. This place definitely didn't suit her tastes.

Ritzy turned to the shopkeeper, who had closed his eyes again.

"How much for everything?"

The shopkeeper calmly looked at Ritzy with a measuring gaze.

"Make an offer."

His gruff voice had no trouble reaching across the room to Ritzy.

Ritzy nodded before looking around at the other customers, all of whom were listening with sharp ears.

"Do you want to do this in private?"

Ritzy asked after confirming that there was no privacy in the room.

"Do you?"

The shopkeeper answered with a short question of his own.

Ritzy shrugged.

"Alright then."

He brought up one of his Deathbeds.

Fortunately, he had thought ahead and sorted the treasures from Xiotal into several different Deathbeds. There was one Deathbed with valuable things he wanted or needed. There was a second with valuable things he didn't have an immediate use for. And the third Deathbed, the one he was raising from the ground, held items that were worth significantly less than the rest and that he had no use for.

But even if the miscellaneous treasures, swords, daggers, paintings, decorations, and whatnot weren't worth as much as what he had stored on the other two Deathbeds, they were still a pixie's treasures. They would be more than enough to pay for the pile of necromancer resources.

Ritzy cherrypicked a couple of treasures, from the Deathbed. He chose a short sword with a blue jewel on its pommel and a goblet made of glass.

"These two should be enough."

Ritzy placed the two items on the counter with a smile while everyone else in the room stared at him in abject shock. He had pulled an entire treasury out of the ground like it was nothing, clearly boasting about his wealth. He let it be known that he had a lot of treasure to use to barter with.

If the shopkeeper wanted, he could try and get more from Ritzy. But considering that the two treasures Ritzy had picked out were, on the surface, close to the same value as the beginner-friendly pile of necromancer materials, the shopkeeper didn't bother.

Ritzy was either confident and lucky, or he knew what he was doing. The shopkeeper was inclined to believe it was the second. In their line of work, there was no such thing as luck, especially not in the same space as confidence.

The shopkeeper nodded, and Ritzy beamed a smile before conjuring a Deathbed next to the table with everything he had purchased. He loaded it full by emptying the table before sending it into the ground.

The shopkeeper saw that Ritzy wasn't wary of the other customers despite showing off his wealth, so, with his earlier conclusion, he didn't bother warning him. However, Ritzy had still made a significant buy in one go.

"I'll give you something extra. On the house."

Ritzy turned to the shopkeeper with his head slightly tilted to the side as he waited.

The shopkeeper spoke with a voice that didn't reach the other customers.

"Someone's experiment is running wild south of here. It's been moving north ever since it was first discovered."

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Kiwidraken

If you've read this far, maybe consider dropping a power stone, comment, review, or golden ticket <3

Oh, and this will be the last free chapter, but I'm not going premium until the middle of October if things work as I've planned. I will try to keep daily updates before and after that, but if I don't, it's just what happens :P

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