She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

MIRA MOUNTED PEGASUS, and together they flew over the wasteland for hours. Once the sun set, the sky filled with stars like distant embers. Every night in this world was full of stars, but tonight they were especially vivid. This was second only to the sky she’d seen from the Celestial Ruins.

“Pegasus, isn’t the starry sky wonderful tonight?” Mira said, awed by the endless scenery before her. Pegasus neighed happily, shedding particles of electricity from its charged tail to create an arc of light in the sky.

After savoring the glimmering nighttime scenery, Mira caught sight of a faint light on the horizon.

Rivers flowing from the towering mountain range to the south overlapped and combined to create the Great Lysion River. On that river’s edge stood Irene, the capital of Roslein.

***

Upon reaching her destination, Mira landed in a vacant lot in a back alley. After thanking and dismissing Pegasus, she casually slipped into the shopping district.

Irene’s busiest street was dazzling even at night. Lit by spirits’ fire, it was extremely bright. Crowds of people traversed it as if drawn by the light, and it seemed just as busy as Sentopoli.

This place has changed quite a bit, too.

People of many races and occupations mixed in the streets. With few exceptions, everyone was in good spirits as they shopped. It seemed the same as Mira’s thirty-year-old memories, save that the city was enormous and overflowing compared to its old self.

The shopping district was a ten-meter-wide boulevard sandwiched between two lines of shops crowded together, and the street was full of a disorderly mess of stands. But that did not disturb the flow of traffic as the rowdy crowd milled about.

Mira proceeded along the street, rubbernecking at the occasional commotion, until she casually entered a Melville Commerce-managed shop. She almost missed it.

Hrmm. So, this is the stronghold of Chimera’s co-conspirators?

The shop was selling many types of equipment. From short swords to battle-axes, from leather clothes to full-body armor, they had all the warrior-class essentials. One could come here and leave totally kitted out for an adventure.

Many adventurers thronged within the subdued building of stone and wood. Judging from appearances alone, they were of all ranks, yet each of them was wholly absorbed in picking out gear.

Oh? What’s that back there?

Mira noticed something unusual. There was a staircase leading down, and above it was a sign that said AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. High-rank adventurers occasionally descended.

“Authorized personnel” would refer to employees…but a man who was clearly not an employee had just gone down the stairs.

Was that a membership card?

The man had presented something to an employee. Mira surmised that, beyond that staircase, there might be a black market dealing suspicious goods to members. Of course, this hypothesis was heavily biased by her knowledge that Melville was conspiring with Chimera.

She decided on a direct approach. “Say, excuse me. Might I ask a question?”

The employee turned around. When she saw who had addressed her, she stooped down slightly and smiled at Mira. “Yes? What is it, miss?”

“I’ve seen some customers going down those stairs. What’s down there?” Mira pointed to the staircase.

“I believe they sell special equipment to members only down there.”

That seemed like an awfully vague response to Mira. She asked for more information. It seemed the underground sales floor was run by senior Melville Commerce employees and relatives of the CEO himself. Unfortunately, none of the low-level staff knew anything about the gear they sold or how they decided who to allow in.

“Hrmm, thank you. Apologies for taking up your time.”

“No worries! Ask me anything, any time.”

Mira left the shop and turned back to look up at the building she’d just exited. She grinned to herself—they were in her web now.

***

Mira swaggered proudly along the shopping street—she was smug about having gotten some juicy information on Melville’s shady dealings so quickly. After deciding that shop was suspicious based on her own biases, Mira began exploring every other place that caught her eye. She was like a little girl playing detective—while some people looked on warmly, others scolded her and told her to go home already.

When the night grew late, Mira arrived at the end of the shopping strip. Ahead of her was the residential district. Small streetlights faintly lit up the homes there. The neighborhood was quiet, as if covered in translucent black cloth—a world divorced from the noisy shopping street across the road.

Where is that War-Torn Burial Ground, I wonder?

This space seemed like the border of a dream. Now recalling her original goal, Mira left the joyous, bright street behind and entered a shady back alley.

It was immediately darker than the street before, and the people here seemed more sinister. If the shopping street was the surface of the city, these dark alleys were the underbelly.

Where is that War-Torn Burial Ground? Mira thought to herself again as she wandered aimlessly through the alleys. If the archeology-loving Zef didn’t know, then who would?

If she were to investigate normally, then the quickest way would probably be to contact specialists or higher-ups in the duchy directly. But she would have to be extremely careful; if she asked at random, rumors might spread of someone searching for it. That might tip Chimera Clausen off that she was up to something.

Mira had no intention of doing that. Now that the versatility of summoning was greater than ever, she had plenty of other options. But first, she proceeded through these dark, shady alleys in search of another clue.

“Hey there, little lady. Willing to do it for five?”

Mira turned to face the big man and quickly understood what he was after. He was plump and wore a gaudy coat—rather affluent for this part of town. He looked Mira up and down, flashing a silver coin at her excitedly. The dullest of people could tell that he was gazing lasciviously at her. Even Mira took a step back in disgust.

“Er, I’m not selling. You’ll have to try someone else,” Mira answered. She turned back around and power-walked away.

Others who had been loitering nearby laughed, and someone muttered, “Oof, rejected!”

But one of them shouted, “No, this bet isn’t settled yet!”

It seemed they were betting to see if the man would succeed or not. Now, some less-than-savory folk started giving Mira underhanded compliments.

“Girl, you’re worth more than five silver!”

“Best go home, girlie!”

“A little thing like you? He’d break you.”

“I can still do this!” the plump man said and ran after Mira.

Mira turned swiftly, looked up at the man and said, “Is this the part where you assume you have strength in numbers, surround me, and say, ‘Heh heh heh, you’ve got a nice body, little lady. How about you play with us?’”

“That’s downright criminal! I wouldn’t be able to do business in this country after a stunt like that.” His eyes were those of a ruffian, but the plump man stopped in place and said the most common-sense thing he could at this point. Then he opened his eyes wide in realization. “Wait a second… Unless…unless you’re into that sort of thing?!”

He huffed excitedly and gazed at the slender legs extending from Mira’s skirt as he snatched a gold coin from his pocket.

“Of course not!” Mira took several steps back and gestured toward the coin as he removed it from his pants. “And that’s not a crime?”

The man suddenly stooped forward, flustered. “This is just a natural reaction I can’t control! I’m not touching it or trying to show you it. It’s fine!”

Mira snickered at how proper the man tried to act despite the lust plastered on his face. “No, not that. I mean trying to buy me.”

The man finally seemed to understand. He gazed at the gold coin in his hand and muttered, “Are you serious?” Laughter erupted all around him. “Here in Roslein, it’s an accepted form of business. It’s really fine. So…? I’ll be gentle, and I promise I’ll satisfy you.” The man withdrew two more gold coins and urged Mira.

“See, I told you to hold out for more!” someone shouted.

Another voice yelled, “I bet I could satisfy her!”

“Another form of business, hm? Well, I’m afraid I’m not in that industry. Again, you’ll have to try someone else.” Different world, different customs. Mira pushed the man’s hand away and smiled. Then, after looking around, she said, “Goodbye, then,” and left.

The others laughed at how weird she was and started yelling about who’d won and who’d lost. The plump man alone gazed at his hand, recalling Mira’s touch.

“An angel,” he murmured to himself.

***

Mira continued on. Whenever people bothered her, she would toy with them or scold them. The dim alleys had occasional shops without signs, selling items that weren’t quite illegal but were at least too morally gray to sell out on the main strip.

Mira had caught word of information dealers during her shopping, so she’d come to see if she could find what she needed.

The back-alley shopping street was bereft of light, but it wasn’t abandoned. People could be seen walking here and there, though no one here seemed quite trustworthy.

What morally gray products were they looking for? Those could be military items put on the black market, stolen items, and even ones illegally excavated from ruins. Direct information would be great, but Mira had also come here in search of any illegal items from the War-Torn Burial Ground. Then she could track down whoever had initially found them and ask for details.

It seemed the task might be easier than she thought. In this country, information was just another product. Anything could be had for the right price.

The issue would be finding actual stolen items from the War-Torn Burial Ground and confirming that they were genuine. There were no guarantees.

Mira casually asked a few shopkeepers. After ten or so stores, she finally found a lead.

“Yeah, we’ve got that. Corner shelf right over there.”

As directed, she checked the corner shelf. It took only a glance to see that it was genuine. Trapped in a glass vial were small fragments covered in black fog.

“Like it? That’s real pretty black mist ore. Perfect size for interior decoration. I’d normally charge 250,000 ducats, but you’re too cute for me. I’ll let you have it for 200,000 ducats, fair?” The lanky shopkeeper rattled on with an agreeable smile.

Had he actually given her a discount? That would also require a good eye to discern…but regardless, Mira wasn’t here to purchase it. She wanted info on the seller.

“Too expensive for me. Instead…” Before Mira could ask to be introduced to the person who’d brought it in, she was interrupted.

“I said I’d buy it! Why are you trying to sell it to someone else?!” a woman’s voice rang out with indignation, then abruptly went silent. “Huh? Why is Mira here?”

Mira turned and stared at Scorpion. It seemed that great minds thought alike—Scorpion had been out gathering funds to secure the sample.

“Ah. Well, you see…” Mira began. But she glanced over to the shopkeeper, who was shamefacedly hiding behind the counter. Mira suggested they take the conversation outside.

Though it was late, the flow of people through the back alley was still steady. This was not a place they could discuss sensitive matters.

“Where would be a good place to chat…?” Mira muttered as she looked all around.

Scorpion suggested they go to her room at the inn she was staying at. “It’s costing me an arm and a leg, but I bet nobody will be able to eavesdrop on us.”

“Hrmm. Fair.”

Mira followed Scorpion back to the shopping district.