Ch.76The Queen of the Back Alley – 2

“What’s your name, mister?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Come on, who doesn’t have a name in this world? Don’t be like that, just tell me. I won’t go around blabbing it.”

“Shouldn’t the one asking tell their name first?”

“Me? Hmm, my name comes at a high price.”

“Then I’ll consider mine equally expensive and leave it at that.”

“Wow, you really won’t give an inch. I like that.”

After walking and exchanging this pointless conversation for about 20 minutes, the scenery around us began to change.

Instead of well-constructed buildings, dilapidated shanties appeared, and the road was no longer paved with smooth stones but covered with uneven mud.

The clothing of people wandering the streets was visibly cheap. Most looked so filthy that it was impossible to guess when they had last bathed.

Unidentifiable odors wafted from everywhere. It was a mixture of various scents, with the familiar smell of blood as the base note.

The city must be so large that the difference between rich and poor districts was quite stark.

While surveying the surroundings, I made eye contact with an old man covered head to toe in dirty rags. He was limping on one leg.

The old man tried to reach out with the most pitiful expression he could muster, but when I tapped my sword with my finger, he muttered curses under his breath and fled to a distance.

I knew it. His leg is perfectly fine.

There’s nothing good about walking around in clean clothes in a place like this. I fiddled with the sword at my waist. The man beside me saw my action and snickered.

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down, mister. Drawing a weapon here will only get you hurt.”

“I’ll get hurt even without drawing it. I’m not stupid enough to not understand what clean clothes mean in a slum.”

“You absolutely won’t get hurt. What’s there to worry about when I’m by your side?”

The man’s expression was confidence personified.

Perhaps noticing the doubt in my gaze, he casually draped his arm over my shoulder.

“My sister and I are quite famous around here. When you’re with me, you’re our ‘guest,’ and everyone here knows we never let anyone who messes with our guests go unpunished. So relax, mister.”

“You mean the entire slum is your territory?”

“Pretty much. There are a few small-timers left, but they can’t compare to us in terms of power or numbers. This place is essentially our territory.”

“Great, must feel good ruling over a bunch of collapsing hovels and poor people.”

“You seem to misunderstand. This is just where the beggars live. The real deal is further in. What kind of idiot would be satisfied with ruling over a place where beggars gather? This is just a place where people with no money are left to fend for themselves.”

His words didn’t seem to be mere bravado. When he glared, people hurriedly cleared the path. Some even hid inside houses or behind walls.

“See? So relax your face and put away your weapon. Why are you so cautious?”

The man continued to chatter endlessly afterward. Mostly trivial small talk. Where I came from, what I did, and so on. Of course, I either ignored him or gave vague answers.

I couldn’t tell if he was naturally sociable or just pretending to be, but if it was an act, it was flawless.

Almost to the point where I wanted to tell him to shut up.

After walking deeper for quite some time, the surroundings changed once again.

My first impression was that it was… flashy. Despite the sun still being in the sky, candles in red cloth containers were lit.

The buildings were similar to or even neater than those on the main street where the Adventurer’s Guild was located. The contrast was even more stark after passing through the slum.

The exterior walls were white or gray. Most were built with bricks rather than wood. The road was tiled, showing little difference from the city center.

The clothing of people passing by was completely different too.

If the people in the shantytown we just passed wore tattered rags, the people here wore clothes that looked expensive but were extremely polarized.

Either barely dressed or completely covered up.

Of course, the barely dressed ones were women, and the fully covered ones were men. It wasn’t hard to imagine for what purpose they dressed that way.

Voices soliciting customers could be heard everywhere. Most sold weapons or armor, but there were also shops selling people.

The disorder, violence, and exploitation typically associated with back alleys and shady areas were nowhere to be seen.

At least on the surface.

The blond man spread his arms wide and looked at me with a satisfied expression.

“Impressive, isn’t it? What do you think?”

His confidence wasn’t entirely unfounded. If this whole area truly belonged to this man and the woman he called “sister,” I could somewhat understand his pride.

For a criminal organization in the shadows, it was quite large.

Although their power was limited to the underworld, within that realm, they could wield authority comparable to the city’s lord.

In some ways, they might even have it better than the lord.

Executing those they disliked on the spot or worse was impossible for the lord, but not for them.

“Not bad. It’s quite an honor to have the ruler of such a place personally helping me.”

“Your voice doesn’t sound sincere at all, mister. Are you really going to be like this?”

“I’ve lived too long to be surprised by such things.”

The man burst into laughter at my words, taking them as a joke. It was a familiar reaction.

Anyone would react that way when a boy who looked no older than twenty said such things. It would be abnormal to take it at face value.

“Sure, sure. I believe you. You look quite young, but you must be quite talented in this field, otherwise you wouldn’t need a new identity at your age.”

“Anyway, where can I meet this ‘sister’ of yours? Do we still have a long way to go?”

“Ah, I don’t know that either.”

“What? Then—”

“I’ll have to find out now.”

The blond man walked confidently toward one of the establishments with red lights. A scantily clad woman sitting on a wooden chair next to the door waved cheerfully.

The man said something to her and then suddenly grabbed her face and started kissing her. It was quite an intense kiss, with tongues involved.

After one minute, then two, they showed no sign of stopping. The woman tightly embraced the man’s waist. He naturally placed his hand on her breast.

I was about to kick him and tell him to stop fooling around and guide me to his “sister,” but decided to wait patiently since I had time to spare.

It would only be about a week at most.

Finding myself suddenly alone in the middle of the street, I looked around and noticed people approaching stealthily, likely to solicit business.

I hate troublesome things. In my experience, such people are rarely good company.

I quickly scanned the nearby shops. Weapons, pass. Armor, just useless metal for me. That place… looks good.

Having decided on a destination, I headed toward that shop. It was an ordinary brick building similar to the others with no sign, but there was a small bottle containing herbs hanging beside the door.

As soon as I opened the door, a pungent herbal scent hit me. A large cauldron in the corner of the shop was bubbling with some unknown liquid.

The walls were covered with all kinds of plants. Most were poisonous, though some medicinal herbs were mixed in.

An herb shop. Or a poison shop. Or perhaps a potion shop. Shops in the underworld typically served multiple purposes.

The shopkeeper, wearing a robe pulled over his head and even a mask, greeted me with apparent delight.

“So, what brings you here?”

His voice was rough and cracked, as if he had mistaken a poisonous herb for a medicinal one and consumed it.

I had actually entered to avoid trouble, but there was no reason to create problems by saying so.

Since I was here, I might as well have a poison tasting session. I wasn’t sure if there were any poisons here I hadn’t tried before.

It would also serve another purpose. Judging by the merchandise, this seemed like an appropriate place. It saved me from having to wander around.

I deliberately answered in the most curt voice possible.

“Poison.”

“Hmm, poison… What kind do you want? Fast-acting? Or delayed?”

“Something that works immediately upon consumption.”

“Ah, that’s my specialty. Let’s see…”

The masked man opened a door that appeared to lead to a storage room and soon returned with both hands full of plant roots.

He dumped the roots onto the counter and picked one up.

“This one is extremely effective. Just three drops can send even an A-rank adventurer to their grave. Its name is—”

“Cosmo.”

Caught off guard by my interjection, the masked man abruptly stopped and cleared his throat.

“Well, well, it seems we have a knowledgeable customer. Then I needn’t waste breath explaining. What are you looking for?”

“The strongest you have.”

At my terse reply, the man fell silent. He looked me up and down, then extended his right hand covered in thick gloves.

“…Four gold coins. I assume you have that much?”

Discussing only the merchandise without asking its purpose was an unwritten rule between merchants and customers in the underworld.

However, that was merely a rule, and in some cases, items could be custom-made for specific purposes.

Therefore, the man’s sudden mention of four gold coins was also an indirect expression of his desire to avoid further involvement with me.

It meant he wouldn’t ask what I was using it for, but wanted me to take the item and leave quietly.

I didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding he had, but he seemed to think I was planning to cause some serious incident with this poison.

In reality, it was just for suicide.

I took four gold coins from my pocket and placed them in his hand. The man quietly put them in his pocket and went back to the storage room, rummaging around for quite some time.

When he came back out, he was holding a small potion bottle the size of a finger joint in his right hand. The liquid inside was a deep purple.

I took it and held it up to the lamp. The dim light couldn’t penetrate the purple liquid and disappeared.

“What’s it made from?”

“The leaves and roots of Tene, processed to—”

“I’ve already tried that.”

I clicked my tongue and put the potion bottle in my bag.

Tene leaves, indeed worth four gold coins. Just one drop in a large wooden barrel could turn all the water into poison.

But it didn’t work on me.

“…You’ve tried it?”

“Yes.”

I left the shop, leaving the astonished owner behind. The herbal smell disappeared, replaced by ordinary air.

Somehow having finished his business in that short time, the blond man saw me and waved as he walked over.

“Mister, where did you go? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“I was just browsing shops since it looked like you’d be a while. Seems I was wrong, given how quickly you finished.”

“Hey now, I finished quickly because I didn’t get to the main event. That kind of suspicion is very troublesome.”

I didn’t miss the way his eyes examined the shop I had just left, even as he casually responded to my words. The shop owner would probably be investigated later.

Mainly about what I bought, for what purpose, and what conversation we had.

If the shop owner cooperated, there wouldn’t be any violent interrogation, and judging by his final reaction, he was likely to answer all questions.

So apart from some mental distress, the shop owner wouldn’t suffer any real loss.

It made sense that someone who ruled this entire street would conduct such investigations. I didn’t know where they were watching from, but I was probably being followed even now.

“So, did you find out where she is?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?”

The man pointed to a massive building in the distance.

“She’s over there. Let’s hurry.”