Pov Kira:
After parting with Diana at the restaurant I headed towards the commercial area of the city, there is a shop that sells cheap weapons in one of the alleys.
On the way, I changed my clothes and deactivated the Illusion Spirit Ring going back to my normal appearance and putting my mask and hood back on.
Once I'm ready I go to the alley and enter the store, the store only has a simple door with a dusty sign at the entrance, inside the store there is no window and all the lighting comes from some candles scattered around the store, everywhere you go. look inside the store has guns of all kinds that are dusty and some are even rusty.
I walk to the counter where a thin, bald middle-aged man stands.
"Do you have a beer?" (I)
"We don't sell beer." (bald man)
"Then sell me two black ones." (I)
"..." (bald man)
The man looks at me and then gets up from the chair behind the counter and walks to the back, I follow him to the back of the store through the door behind the counter where he opens a closet that is actually a secret passage that leads to a hallway where I walk in and head to a stark black door.
knock knock knock
I knock three times on the door and it opens, as I enter the door closes and I see a luxurious room, it looks like a reception room for a nobleman, it's full of paintings and works of art, even the furniture looks elegant and expensive, the entire room is lit up by magic items.
On a black sofa, I see a handsome woman in a black dress and long brown hair in a ponytail, she has white skin and bright brown eyes, she has the posture of a noblewoman but has a smile on her face. face like a merchant.
"Please have a seat, my name is Nira and I will be her receptionist today." (Nira)
There are dozens of these secret rooms throughout the city, and each has a receptionist who is responsible for both selling the items and purchasing items, these receptionists should not be underestimated each one of them is at least Grade B strength.
I walk over to the couch across from the couch Nira is sitting on with a fancy coffee table between the two of us.
"Hello Nira." (I)
She looks at me closely and then focuses on my face, or should I say mask.
"This is an amazing item you have there, a mask with so many functions, wouldn't you be in the mood to sell it? I'll give it a hundred and fifty gold coins for it." (Nira)
"I'm not here for sale, I'm here to buy." (I)
"And what would you be interested in buying?" (Nira)
"I'm looking for some books that talk about the blood elements and magical engineering, I want the basic level ones." (I)
She didn't even show any reaction to the books I ordered, as you'd expect from a Black Market receptionist.
She pulls out a read crystal and two information crystals, she takes one of the information crystals and inserts it into the read crystal, then she seems to look for something in it and hands it to me for me to see.
"We have a total of four books on the blood element, they're listed there along with prices." (Nira)
[ Books:
1. Blood Curses - 45 Gold
2. Basic Blood Magic - 20 Gold
3. Blood manipulation - 14 Gold
4. Rakan's Diary - 10 Gold ]
"These are the blood element books we have in stock right now, the reason they're so cheap is that they're copies." (Nira)
"(If I join my gold and silver coins I have the value of one hundred and two gold coins.)" (I)
"What about magical engineering books?" (I)
She takes the read crystal and exchanges the information crystal for another one, then checks something on it before passing it to me again.
"We have three books in that category, check it out." (Nira)
[ Books:
1. Basic Magic Engineering - 750 Silver
2. Basic Magic Circuits - 3 Gold
3. Information and Reading Crystals - 1 Gold ]
"I take them all for eighty-five gold." (I)
"I can offer them all for ninety-two gold coins." (Nira)
I cross my arms and lift my head as if thinking before answering.
"How about this, I pay the full amount of ninety-four gold coins and you offer me a selection of books for me to choose from for free." (I)
She's still smiling the same way she was when I walked in but I can see her eyes aren't smiling.
"Very well, I separate the books and you choose between them." (Nira)
"Right." (I)
"What kind of book do you choose?" (Nira)
"Since one of the books I'm buying talks about Curses, how about you sell me one on that topic." (I)
She picks up the read crystal and switches to the previous information crystal, after checking it out before handing it to me again.
"Here are three books on Curses for you to choose from." (Nira)
[ Books:
1. Basic Curses - 1 Gold
2. Magic curse - 950 Silver
3. Breaking curses - 2 Gold ]
"I choose Basic Curses." (I)
"Good choice, do you have a payment?" (Nira)
"Here it is." (I)
I take two bags of global coins from my bracelet and leave them on the table, Nira holds the bags and weighs them in her hands, and gets up, she walks to a door in the wall and enters.
It only takes her twenty minutes to get back, she goes back to her couch across from me and sits down, she puts her hands on the table and eight books of different sizes and thicknesses appear.
"Here are the items you ordered." (Nira)
"Do you want anything else?" (Nira)
"No, thank you." (I)
After answering her I get up to leave and then she speaks.
"I ask you to attend our annual auction in two months, I guarantee you won't regret it." (Nira)
"thanks for informing." (I)
After that last exchange of words, I leave the same way I came with the books inside my storage item.
When I reach the street I see that night has fallen, I start going from street to street avoiding people's attention until I reach the inn where Diana must be waiting.
------------
The next day I wake up with a kick in the face, which I punch in her stomach after I got up.
"Because you punched me, I was having an excellent dream." (Diana)
"I just returned the kick you used to wake me up earlier." (I)
"..." (Diana)
She looks at the footprint on my face and starts to sweat in front of me.
"Looks like I deserved that punch, but now we're even." (Diana)
We both got ready and talked about today's plans.
"Today I'm going to get the information the master wants." (I)
"I'm going to go to the Adventurers' Guild to pick up various subjugation quests in the Valley of Blood." (Diana)
"Is this so we can go back without them finding your exit suspicious?" (I)
"Yes" (Diana)
After we get ready I wear the same dress I wore when I met Diana yesterday and activated the Illusion Spirit ring to look like a White Elf again before going out with Diana.
We do this to facilitate my coming and going without ever having to go through the window, thanks to this plan, the owner of the inn thinks I am Diana's girlfriend who is coming to spend the night with her.
After we leave the inn I separate from Diana and go into the darkest, most empty alley and remove the dress that's over my regular work clothes, lift my hood, and put on my mask.
After it's ready I head to the street of brothels again, day or night it's always busy here, except in the morning, which is when most prostitutes are sleeping.
I go to the alley beside the cheap brothel and enter the hidden door until I reach the same room covered in darkness and sit in one of the two chairs at the only table, then I wait a few minutes until I hear the sound of a door opening in the darkness.
"Punch as always, Storm Killer." (Lucas)
"You talk like you weren't expecting me." (I)
"Yes, but your timing was perfect, it's only been a few minutes since I got the last of the information you asked for." (Lucas)
Lucas steps out of the shadows as we talk and sits in the chair across from me, he places a detailed map of the Trigan Kingdom in front of me with a route marked along with an information crystal.
"Here is the information you ordered." (Lucas)
I take the map and crystal and tuck them into my bracelet.
"Thank you, Lucas." (I)
"I hope your plans go well, be careful." (Lucas)
"Thanks for the concern, rest assured I'm part of a new group now, one I can trust." (I)
"See you later Lucas." (I)
"Plus Kira." (Lucas)
With that I get up and leave the way I came, then I go from alley to alley until I reach a safe place to disguise myself again as a White Elf.
I decide to walk through the commercial area of the city and look for something to take as a gift to the master, while I wait for the time I made to meet Diana.