Chapter 5: A dark and ominous black market

The academy is divided into upper, middle, and lower classes.

This is a fantasy world, a culmination of discrimination and absurdity that could never exist in modern society.

A system that divides students by ability alone.

The purpose of Morado Academy is to eliminate monsters, and as it is a place where there is a risk of death, students are thoroughly assigned according to their skills.

If your skills are lacking, you will naturally fall behind in evaluations, and if you make a mistake, you may die.

In fact, deaths occur quite frequently every year.

Thanks to this, the upper class has fewer than 30 students out of over 300 freshmen.

The rest are all in the middle or lower classes.

There, they are further divided into classes.

A pyramid-shaped arrangement from the upper class to the lower class.

A school that drives students into constant combat.

Surprisingly, this was a terrible world where class systems and child soldiers prevailed.

I vividly remember Jenny being dragged away to the lower class, exclaiming, ‘This is ridiculous!’

Has it already been a week since that happened?

It can’t be helped, though.

Even though Jenny is a Mystical possessor, her Mystical is not for combat, and she doesn’t have any particularly outstanding talents.

Me?

Ah, am I talking about myself?

I took out the gold badge from my pocket, signifying the upper class.

“Hehehe.”

Who am I?

An upper-class badge owner.

Originally, I hated flashy jewelry, but I always keep this badge in my pocket.

It’s too flashy to wear, especially in my current casual attire.

I know it looks silly, but I can’t help but laugh!

In the original novel, Trea was barely in the middle class.

The event where she meets the protagonist only happens around the midterms.

This shining badge is proof that I’m different from the original.

-It’s Lady Ludbecka.

I was grinning for a while, but I coughed and changed my expression back to normal after someone came nearby.

I think the way my lips were twitching was a bit much, even for me.

Of course, the upper class receives various benefits in many ways, but it’s not all good.

Unlike the lower or middle classes, the upper class goes on practical training very often.

Naturally, the risks they face are numerous, and injuries are common.

Because of this, the academy gives monthly allowances to upper-class students under the guise of purchasing supplies.

It’s money to support them in buying items necessary for their studies, such as various protective gear and magic stones.

The amount is by no means small, and I heard that some commoner students who are new to handling large sums of money struggle to manage their finances.

Of course, it was a tiny amount to me.

Is this how someone who used to work at a bank feels when they see a wallet with a few 50,000 won bills?

Anyway, for that reason, a huge commercial district has formed around the academy.

This place where supply and demand meet has created the best environment for merchants.

“It’s wide.”

I was standing in the middle of the commercial district.

When I was in the family, I could easily get anything I wanted just by saying a word, so I never had a chance to go to the market.

The surroundings were noisy, but quieter than I expected.

I thought it would be full of people soliciting customers like a traditional market, but that’s the 평 (pyeong) market further down.

The area I was walking in was much quieter and more luxurious because only people with some wealth came here.

A breeze blew, scattering my hair.

The weather was just right, neither clear nor cloudy.

The streets were cobblestone paths neatly paved with yellow bricks.

The clicking sound as I walked was pleasant to hear.

“Try a freshly baked egg cookie!”

“Miss! Come and take a look at the necklaces here!”

It wasn’t completely quiet, though.

Intrigued, I went to the stall where he was selling them.

…It was more disappointing than I thought.

Well, the Duchess would never have prepared cheap items for a personal request.

None of the items sold on the street caught my eye.

“Oh my, a pretty young lady! I’ll give you a special discount. Take a look.”

The hairy shopkeeper spoke cheerfully, but my interest had already faded.

Still, I asked one question just in case.

“…Do you have any artifacts that store magic power?”

Coming to this other world, I’ve become accustomed to treating commoners condescendingly.

Actually, it’s only natural, and the man doesn’t care either.

“Of course! Please wait a moment.”

Oh, you really have one?

I wasn’t expecting it, but is that because you’re a merchant who does business near the academy?

The hairy merchant rummaged through a box where he kept his goods and took something out to hand to me.

“Here it is! Do you like it?”

“Hmm…”

Ha, I knew it, it’s cheap.

The red-decorated necklace he took out had no magic efficiency whatsoever, it was just something ordinary girls would like.

Not knowing my feelings, he rattled off explanations that I wasn’t even curious about.

“Because of that, it’s originally 500,000 Rene, but I’ll give it to you for a special price of 400,000.”

“…It’s okay. I’ll come back next time.”

Of course, saying I’d come back next time was just a formality.

I left the store without even glancing at it.

“Cheap.”

It didn’t matter to me whether he heard me muttering as I left.

It’s true, after all.

I don’t lie.

I came down to the harbor along the road, but there was nothing that greatly captured my attention.

At best, it would be some food that I hadn’t seen before.

Perhaps because people from various regions gather here, there were many local specialties from various places.

Various food smells wafted from here and there, but I ignored them and moved into the alleyway.

At the end of the alleyway, men wearing masks were smoking cigarettes.

“Are you open for business?”

I approached them and spoke.

The men were whispering among themselves, looking at the noble lady walking alone without any guards.

I usually don’t have any guards.

My father, who was worried about me at first, gave up and now just lets it be.

“The most shining thing is not the sun, but the moon. It shines alone in the darkness.”

When I said the password, one of the masked men led me into a dark hallway.

I didn’t come this far just to have a new experience.

‘The black market.’

Where there is light, there must also be darkness.

If the shopping district is the light of this place, then the black market is the darkness.

Ironically, the academy area, where various shops and goods gather, was home to the largest black market.

Items that are hard to find elsewhere, prohibited items, slaves, and other illegal things that are hard to buy and sell in the open were the main items traded.

‘Trea from the original also came here.’

The item Trea obtained here that day was the ‘Dark Elf’s Heart’.

It is an item that greatly increases the mana of the user.

Trea, who lacked natural talent, had no choice but to rely on elixirs and artifacts, and such things could be obtained as long as you had money in this black market.

I don’t necessarily think the original Trea was wrong.

Should people without talent just be stepped on?

In the end, wealth is something that you are born with, and she also had desires, so she made efforts in other ways.

I understand, I understand.

“Please get on.”

At the end of the dark hallway was a bright magic circle.

A hexagram was drawn inside a yellow circle, and runes were written here and there.

I could see at a glance what it meant.

It was a space-time magic circle.

“It must have cost a lot of money.”

A two-way magic circle that connects places.

Even though it only connects two places, it was by no means a cheap item.

Well, it would be stranger if the largest black market on the continent didn’t have this much preparation.

“This.”

He handed me a white wolf mask and prepared to activate the magic circle.

I put on the mask without much thought and got on the magic circle.

“Does it suit me?”

The mask was a white mask with animal ear decorations.

The man activated the magic circle without saying a word.

-Tsuphat!

In an instant, I was transported into a bright building.

Unlike the narrow and dark hallway, the building was luxurious and extravagant.

Chandeliers hung from every ceiling, and the doors were gilded.

“The auction will begin soon. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.”

The auction house had a semicircular structure that made it easy to introduce the products, and seats were arranged separately around the edges.

Next to the chair I was sitting on was a silver paper indicating that I wanted to bid on the product.

A man who appeared to be the host was babbling in the middle.

“Bids are accepted in cash or jewelry. We are not responsible for any damages caused by the exposure of identity…”

I was listening to their explanations with one hand on my chin.

The product I want is the Dark Elf’s Heart.

It was a perfect product for me, who handles mana itself.

“…Then, we will start the auction now!”

Well then, now begins the black market.

…Until she comes.