Chapter 16 The Ten Legendary Demon Hunters <TOC> Chapter 18 Swapping Blades for Murder
Translator: SumTLMan
The bandit gangs who arrived earlier had already set up their stalls. A temporary city spanning several kilometres created a makeshift marketplace.
Armoury shops with a wide array of muskets, blacksmith shops with boilers billowing black smoke, magic potion shops with strong medicinal smells, steam-powered equipment shops…
More often than not, there were stalls made by using ragged linen as the carpet.
The streets were crowded with people, mostly dressed as adventurers with muskets and sharp blades.
These are all members of the major bandit gangs, and from a distance, one can feel the ferocity of outlaws emanating from their bodies.
It was a lovely day, the poison fog wasn’t as thick as usual, and there were even some guys without gas masks, revealing the horrible tattoos carved on their skin while giving ruthless stares to passerby. Mohawks, leather trousers, sweaty linen shirts, smoky make-up, nose rings, dirty dreadlocks, dyed cockscomb hair, mechanical limbs with exposed springs and gears…
A thick heavy metal dark steam-punk vibe is slowly coming into view.
……
“Check it out… Excellent muskets, three hundred meters super long-range, high precision sights, smokeless gunpowder… Wholesale price thirteen thousand lire, one hundred sets up for sale.”
“Fire elemental enchanted blade, the famous weapon [Bajir’s Red Serpent Scimitar], a Lafayette Family heirloom… Only five million lire!”
“A ton of magic potion materials for sale just looted and still smoking from the heist, all for sale at a lump sum price of 30,000 gold kroner…”
“First-class war slave beauties, wealthy merchant ladies, ladies of the court, knightesses belonging to marquises… Come and see…”
“Imperial steam-powered-mechanical exoskeleton for sale, the current model used by the Royal Guard Corps, small inventory, come quickly…”
“…”
As they walked along, there were endless cries, shouts and sales going on between customers and peddlers.
All kinds of bandit gangs, who didn’t look like serious merchants, set up their stalls and peddled their wares on the street.
The expensive goods, some of which were valuable commodities, were laid out randomly on the ground, making the stalls look more like grocery shops given the chaos and disorder…
The numb-looking slave girls, with only a few strands of clothing left covering their private parts, were chained up like animals and sold in rows on the platforms. Underneath, an audience of lecherous buyers were pointing and gesturing obscenely…
There was also the occasional sound of gunfire as the black market dealers peddled their muskets and steam-powered equipment…
On the open-air gladiator stage, two brawny, topless men were fighting for their lives, while the gamblers below were hooting and howling with excitement…
Of course, it was the taverns and gambling stalls with their s**tty-dressed girls standing at the entrance that were the liveliest.
The merchants, who were in cahoots with the bandits, weren’t going to give up this great opportunity as they were prepared with wine and girls, waiting to “rob” the gold kroner from the pockets of these bandits…
These bandits who lick blood at the tip of their blades were the most willing to spend money on vice and indulgences.
……
This was a chaotic, disorderly and bloody “Black Market Fair”…
But as Rayne watched, a certain feeling of urgency increasingly arose in his heart.
A year after his transmigration at the border, he has been hovering at the edge of life and death every day. This was the closest he had ever felt to true “freedom”.
This was the largest “Black Market Fair” in nearly a decade, and he’s afraid over 100,000 people had gathered here!
This was his best chance of escaping, and he had to seize it.
Of course, that’s what a certain old man thought as well.
“Let’s go. There’s nothing good on the streets. With this type of exchange, the truly good stuff is exchanged in private circles…”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“…”
Pythius led Rayne around in a pretentious manner and then went increasingly further out towards a remote tavern called the “Hyacinth Tavern”.
At this “Black Market Fair”, a tavern without call girls, makes it a rarely frequented place by lecherous, alcoholic bandits, but this also meant it was a favourite haunt for those arrogant magic potion masters.
This is a high-end tavern in a somewhat remote location, which was perfect for setting-up private meetings or conducting other business.
For example, killing people and smuggling goods.
……
The spring-powered saloon doors opened from the outside in with a “thud” as the bells hanging from the doors crisply rang out.
The interior of the tavern was in a western cowboy style. The difference was that there were many more black pipes and valves for the steam-powered boilers in the room.
He doesn’t know if it’s because they were early or not, but there weren’t many customers in the tavern when Rayne and Pythius had entered. The moustached bartender behind the bar was idly polishing his glass over and over again before he looked up.
Pythius, a two-star magic potion master, seemed to have quite a reputation as the bartender greeted him warmly when he saw him come in.
“Hey~ Mr Pythius, my old friend, hello again!”
“Hmm.”
Pythius nodded nonchalantly and then asked: “Boss Tom, Joseph from the ‘Flower Serpents’, is he here yet?”
The bartender shrugged and responded: “Not yet, I haven’t seen him, Mr Pythius. But the fair hasn’t started yet, and I think Mr Joseph is probably still on his way…”
“Oh…”
Pythius lifted his brow.
Without mincing words in the slightest, he flicks his fingers and pops out a gold kroner. It then lands firmly on the bar table: “The usual, prepare a large, quiet room for the both of us.”
The money tossed was a full 10,000 lire.
The bartender took the gold coin and beamed with delight while holding it as he said: “Consider it done… It’s my honour for a noble magic potion master to patronise my tavern.”
There doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious about the conversation between the two.
Rayne didn’t say a word the whole time, but his eyes took in a panoramic view of the entire tavern.
He was looking for an opportunity to escape, but he also had to be on the lookout against Pythius suddenly making any moves.
Crik, crik, crik…
The wooden stairs made a slight crunch when walking.
Rayne cautiously followed Pythius up the stairs, only to find two other unassuming guests in a corner not far away.
“Huh… Why didn’t I see these guests earlier…”
He glanced over.
The guests were a man and a woman.
The man was a bearded, burly man, stout as a bear and probably a transcendent in the fighter sequence.
The woman had a slender, graceful figure, with flaxen wavy hair that fell over her shoulders. She wore a half-covered gas mask that only revealed her eyes, making it impossible to see her whole face.
The two seemed to be talking about something secret, and even if someone concentrated on listening in on them, they wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying.
“There’s something fishy about those two…”
Rayne mused for a moment to himself.
At this moment, everyone in the room could be a potential “enemy”.
After a quick glance, he naturally averted his gaze and followed Pythius up the stairs without a word.
He was unaware that although he was sneakily watching others, his every move fell into the two people’s eyes in the corner.
……
The two strangers in the corner flashed alarmed expressions on their faces when these two outsiders suddenly arrived at the tavern.
But as soon as the strength of the new presences became apparent, the alert expressions immediately disappeared.
Transcendents of this level couldn’t possibly pose any threat to them.
In any case, they were just two customers who happened to come into the same tavern as them.
Only after both Rayne and Pythius had gone upstairs did the bearded man open his mouth and say to the woman opposite: “Your Highness, let’s continue the talk about cooperation… We can continue talking about the terms and conditions, but I need to see your sincerity first…”
The woman with the half-faced gas mask calmly spoke with a coldness that refused to be seen from a thousand miles away: “Mr Barzel, you should know that I’ve already given you enough sincerity by coming here alone to talk with you.”
“Heh heh…”
The burly man smiled and shrugged his shoulders, his tone not concealing his praise as he says: “Your Highness Ymir is indeed the most courageous high noble I’ve ever seen, much better than those hypocrites. I cannot trust the Omagh Royal Family, but I’ve decided to trust you. We can talk about cooperation…”
At those words, the woman nodded with a bemused gaze.
No one would’ve guessed that the two unassuming drinkers in the corner of the tavern would be two of the most famous figures in the Omagh Empire.
One was [White Wolf] Barzel Gustav, the leader of the “White Wolf Bandits”, while the other was [Frost Sword Maiden] Ymir Spoglin, the eldest princess of the Omagh Royal Family and also a top sword master!
Chapter 16 The Ten Legendary Demon Hunters <TOC> Chapter 18 Swapping Blades for Murder