章 19: Underground Market

Upon getting to the basement, they were led to a secret door behind the barrels of wine and were greeted with the sight of several mats on the floor and small tables with goods ranging from antiqued to special herbs and medicine to tools and weapons.

…An underground market? They might sell something I can use to be able to treat Father, right? William looked around in awe. He remembered he read about an isekai with an underground market like this.

These underground markets are allowed for Alchemy. In the few books William read at the manor, Alchemy existed but it wasn't being explored in great proportion in Maen Empire and its surrounding kingdoms because of their heated battle against witches that began 600 years ago. Witches concoct potions and usually have unparalleled wisdom when it comes to alchemy. And since witches were 'evil', they would do whatever they had to to get the ingredients for their potions like mass murders, etc.

Because of this, through the ages, progress in alchemy stagnated but was not entirely banned by the Churches and Empires. The rulers knew alchemy was essential for the progress of mankind, therefore they created the Alchemist Association and put one major rule for alchemists, which was to inform the church clerk in the association before they conduct an experiment.

Basic alchemic exploration wasn't prohibited, but due to how much alchemy was frowned upon, no one usually bothered selling ingredients in the market. Even if they were sold, the sellers won't stray from the most well-known ingredients like sulfur and mercury. And in truth, to advance in the knowledge of alchemy, one needed rarer ingredients like Magic Ash and Extract Water. Hence, the birth of underground markets. It protects alchemists from the silent criticism of the public.

Athena stopped at the first mat on her left and the seller, a skinny-looking man with a receding hairline in a brown robe asked, "What're you looking for?"

The sellers know it is not in their place to ask anything that was not their business, like what a child was doing there. It was an unspoken rule, or else the perpetrator could be kicked out.

"500 grams of Magic Ash, 1 liter of Extract Water, 80 grams of Sulfur, 100 grams of Amethyst Dust…" The face of the merchant was that of surprise before his eyes glimmered and his mouth drew longer into a crafty smile as he heard Athena list out the things she needed.

The customers here weren't that much compared to the sellers and when they heard Athena call things a single merchant couldn't provide, the other sellers drew closer and started listening too.

…All these things she's calling, I hope she has the money to pay… William thought before his eyes slowly widened as he realized what was going on.

「Master, according to my analysis of the current situation, the Goddess Athena took you along to serve as her–」

…Yeah! No sh*t! William didn't let Nova finish and then massaged his temples. His heart was already crying for the loss of his life savings.

"Ma'am, I have the Dandelion Root you asked for!" A merchant screamed.

"Yes, please help me with that too." Athena gently said.

Several herbal merchants stormed the area and managed to push William away and formed an encirclement around Athena as they bargained.

"I have 1 liter of mercury!" A female merchant declared.

Another merchant cut in, "I also have the 1 liter of mercury you're looking for ma'am, but I will give you a discount because of your stunning beauty!"

"Hey! I asked her first!"

"I have 500 grams of Black Sand." The place quickly became rowdy.

William clicked his tongue at the sight and looked around. He noticed the other sellers that didn't sell ingredients look at the crowd in envy.

William explored the market and was fascinated with some of the things he saw, even though he didn't know their use.

He stopped in front of a rectangular wooden table with an elegant knight sword with a golden hilt and the figure of the sun engraved on the lowest part of the blade.

"You have keen eye, dourmaî…" The old man behind the table said.

William was perplexed, "What did you just call me?"

"Dourmaî, it means 'mister' in my language, Ferusci." The old man said casually. He had several missing teeth which affected his speech.

"You're from Ferusc Kingdom? It's my first time meeting a Feruscian." William said while staring at the sword in the show glass with drool hanging out from his mouth.

"Haha, you truly have a keen eye. This is a Sword of Radiance that was owned by a brave senior radiant knight from the Holy Solaen Empire called Emeritus."

"Emeritus…" William repeated as though he was hypnotized.

"Haha! That's the proper reaction, dourmaî. Emeritus used this sword to end the lives of at least a hundred vampires."

"What? That many vampires?" That feature of the sword enticed William, someone who had to beg for his life at the hands of vampires, twice!

"Don't worry. The sword never rusts nor does it ever grow dull. Emeritus was given this sword when he received a Blessing. This is a blessed weapon."

「Master, I detect an energy type similar to the two goddesses coming from this weapon. I believe this is divine power.」

William didn't hesitate, he blurted out, "How much?!"

The old man grinned like a crafty fox and said, "I'm not a stingy man, so I'll give it to you for 5 cali."

"What?!" William screamed.

The lowest denomination of currency in the Maen Empire was the copp. One hundred copp formed an emer, and 26 emer formed a cali. Bread cost 10 copps for a loaf that felt like hardened wood. The average wage of middle-class citizens was 2 cali annually, but this merchant just said the price of this Sword of Radiance was 5 cali.

It was a ridiculously outrageous price!

…Nova, can you appraise this sword as you did for Selene?

「The appraisal function isn't accessible due to my disconnection from the Unity. But I can create a grading system using the power of the goddesses as a reference and give you a report on how much divine power it contains. If Master can hold the weapon I can produce a more detailed report.」

…Ok. I'll do that. But only tell me what's necessary and leave out the useless part. I suggest you use Selene's data instead since she was in her divine form and Athena was not… William squinched his eyes and said to the old man, "That's an insane price. If I'm to pay that amount I need assurance I'm not being duped. And I can't get any assurance by looking at the product only."

The old man rejected at first and gave the excuse that he also didn't have assurance William could pay. This made William show the man the 5 cali. At the sight of the 5 cali, the old man immediately agreed to let William hold the sword.

Gripping its hilt, William felt a warmness climb all over his body that had been feeling extra cold recently. He felt the clouds in his head clear and his thoughts, flowing freer than ever before.

…Oof, I'm definitely buying this sword. Nova, you done?

「Yes, master. Assuming an item emitting power similar to the Goddess Selene is grade-10...」

A box appeared before William's surprised eyes. It was his second time seeing the information directly without the danger alerts.

⸢Item: Sword of Radiance (cracked)⸣

Grade: 2

Type: Blessed

Sharpness: 7

Material: High Carbon Steel

Durability: 8

Blade Length: 29.5"

⸤Weight: 1.1kg ⸥

"So? How's it?" The old man asked with a gleeful but greedy smile on his face.

"It's cracked!" William said fiercely and continued, "Just because I look like a kid you think I'm not a sword expert?"

"W-What are you saying?" The old man tried to deny it.

"Don't play dumb, dourmaî." William used the foreign language and was feeling happy inside. He continued, "I'm generous so I'm willing to take this sword of your weight, but we both know it's not even worth 1 cali."

"What?! Ain't no way I'm giving you this precious sword for 1 cali. Move along if you ain't buying!" The old man arrogantly shooed William away.

William thought for a little while before deciding to threaten the old man, "I will tell Mr. Manager you're selling fake items."

The old man just scoffed, "Heh, do as you wish. Where do you think we get them from? Now move along!"

…Sh*t! I failed in persuasion again. Wait, he could be bluffing… William continued, "Oh really? Mr. Manager, the notary himself, is the gang leader? You shouldn't have told me that. I wonder what Viscount Maxton will think when he hears what you guys are doing. That my lady over there is as sophisticated as she looks."