JINGLE—!
Terlo entered the potion shop with Basley, whose body was torn in several places.
A man looked the two of them up and down, then offered a crooked greeting.
“Welcome.”
He remained seated and continued what he had been doing, his attitude making it clear that they could buy something or leave for all he cared.
Terlo poked Basley.
Basley, looking somewhat resentful, opened his mouth.
“I’d like to buy a healing potion.”
“What?”
“Are your ears blocked— No. I said a healing potion. As you can see, I’m injured.”
The man in the shop jerked his eyes lazily to the right.
“The ones displayed in the middle over there are all healing potions. Pick one yourself.”
At that, Terlo began looking over the potions.
The prices he saw were absurd.
‘They’re selling low-grade potions with barely any effect for this much?’
The prices had been marked up to three times their normal amount.
At rates like these, even the few customers in the shopping district should have been considered many.
No one would come here to purchase goods at such inflated prices.
Those who did must have had a reason.
Either money was no concern to them, or they were unable to travel to another distant shopping district.
Terlo, of course, was here to investigate.
When Terlo jabbed him in the side again, Basley asked,
“Why is everything so expensive? Can you even do business like this?”
‘Look at him.’
Basley was subtly adding a confrontational tone to the lines Terlo had ordered him to say.
Unable to defy Terlo, he appeared to be venting like this instead.
‘I’ll have to warn him once we’re outside.’
This was not the only shop Terlo intended to inspect.
He planned to visit several more.
Starting an unnecessary argument would therefore be unhelpful.
But judging from the shopkeeper’s hardened expression, the argument had already begun.
“What business is it of yours whether someone else’s shop makes money? If you’re broke, shut your mouth and get out. What rotten luck. Every beggar bastard in the world is crawling in here.”
“B-Beggar bastard?”
“How long has it been since prices went up around here? Yet you’re still whining that it’s expensive. What does that make you if not a beggar bastard? Go check every shop on the other side too. See if there’s even one thing you can afford.”
“Ha… Listen to this beggar talk. Do you have any idea how much money I’ve saved?! I could buy this pathetic shop if I wanted! Got it?”
As the voices grew louder, Terlo whispered,
“Parsley. If you die, you won’t get to spend any of that money.”
“……Ah. I-I’m sorry.”
Basley shrank at Terlo’s warning.
Then the shopkeeper suddenly clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
“Pfft, bwahahahahaha!”
When he even wiped tears from his eyes, Terlo and Basley both looked at him.
Still smiling, the man said,
“You’re going to buy the shop? I don’t know how much money a beggar like you managed to save, but do you even know who owns this place?”
‘The owner?’
When the two remained silent, the shopkeeper continued with a contemptuous expression.
“This entire area—no, most of the shopping districts in this kingdom belong to that owner. I’ve never seen him, but one thing is certain. He isn’t someone the likes of you can challenge. Understand?”
“That bastard, though…!”
Terlo caught Basley by the arm before he could flare up.
Then he asked in an innocent voice,
“But there are so many shops. How can one person own all of them?”
“How can one person own them? Because he bought them all up as if he were sweeping them into a pile. Didn’t your beggar brother teach you even that?”
The shopkeeper snickered.
His manner suggested he knew something.
Terlo wanted to knock him down immediately.
It would save time and produce more reliable answers if he questioned him afterward.
But if the shopkeeper’s words were true, any disturbance in the shopping district would reach the owner’s ears.
Frustrating though it was, Terlo had no choice but to use another method.
“Why would he buy them all up like that? I think having just one would be nice….”
“Pfft. That, little brat, is the difference between the rich and beggars.”
“Oh, I see…. But aren’t you a beggar too, mister? You don’t own the shop, and business isn’t even good.”
Basley let out a snort of laughter at Terlo’s innocent jab.
The shopkeeper’s previously relaxed facial muscles twitched.
Even so, he forced himself to maintain an easy smile as he spoke.
“Whether business is good has nothing to do with me. It isn’t my shop, and I’ve already been paid plenty. More than the likes of you could ever imagine.”
“Wow. They pay you a lot even though you don’t do anything?”
“Don’t do anything? Do you know how many bastards I’ve caught here—! …Haaah. Get the hell out while I’m still asking nicely, you beggar bastards. I’m already pissed off, so don’t make it worse.”
With that, the shopkeeper closed his eyes and waved them away.
Having learned everything he needed, Terlo obediently left the shop with Basley.
Once they were outside, Basley whispered excitedly,
“Did you see that bastard’s face? Scraping at him little by little with an innocent child’s voice…. Master, now that I think about it, your acting is good, but the way you talk is also—”
“Be quiet.”
“…….”
Terlo gave a short reply and walked ahead.
Basley followed behind him, silently mouthing curses.
Unlike the thoughtless Basley, Terlo replayed the conversation while remaining alert to his surroundings.
‘Just as I suspected.’
He had felt people watching them even when they first entered the potion shop.
He had wondered whether it was his imagination, but the gazes he felt now proved otherwise.
Whenever he looked around as though browsing, the people inside the shops were watching them.
‘The shopkeeper definitely said he’d caught several bastards here.’
Terlo did not know what criteria they used to decide whom to catch….
But considering the man’s claim that business did not matter and that he had already been paid well, those occupying the shops were probably acting as guards.
That would explain why they stared at everyone merely passing by.
Terlo had originally planned to visit several more places located along the outskirts of the broader shopping district.
But those were all places where only the owners had been abducted.
‘They’ll probably have an atmosphere similar to this place.’
Visiting them without reason might expose him sooner than expected.
There were far too many eyes watching.
But examining the area across several days would take too long.
‘It’s better to inspect everything today if possible.’
To do that, he needed to continue inward instead of turning back here.
The shopping districts spread throughout the kingdom were ultimately connected by the side roads between them.
When Terlo continued walking forward, Basley asked,
“Master. Are we going farther in? A little beyond here are the shops where they abducted everyone, owners and employees alike. You said earlier that we’d focus on shops where only the owners were taken….”
“Yes. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Ah, then I’ll tell you who was abducted from each place we pass! I’m proud of my memory, you know.”
“How impressive.”
“Oh, there’s no need to say that. Thank you.”
Basley puffed out his chest proudly, failing to notice Terlo’s sarcasm.
Terlo clicked his tongue and continued walking while surveying the surroundings.
***
The two passed through several side roads.
Ignoring the roads that led into villages, they continued toward the center of the enormous shopping district.
Along the way, they entered potion shops and complained that the prices were high.
Pretending to search for potions at their normal price would help reduce suspicion, even if only slightly.
Eventually, they reached an area with a different atmosphere from the places they had passed before.
‘This area seems more focused on business than surveillance.’
There were still people watching the street from outside the shops.
The difference was that there were quite a few customers both on the street and inside the stores.
Terlo sent Basley into a shop to check the prices.
While looking around, he spotted a familiar head of short hair.
‘Ina?’
Why is she here?
Hook’s tavern district required various materials and goods.
But handling those things was the job of the members beneath her, not Ina herself.
There had to be another reason she had come here.
‘Could it be?’
As far as Terlo knew, Hook was currently searching for the other gangs.
He had said they seemed to have joined forces with More after disappearing.
Did that mean Ina had come here to find those gangs?
While Terlo wondered, two members of Hook’s organization approached Ina.
At the same time, Basley emerged from the shop and called to Terlo.
“Master!”
But Terlo did not take his eyes off Ina.
When she began to move,
“Wait here quietly. I’ll be back soon.”
“No, wait! I have something to tell you….”
Ignoring Basley’s words, Terlo teleported toward her.
Ina’s voice reached him as she spoke to the organization members.
“Looking at them, those really are the bastards we’re after. Good job finding them.”
“Thank you! Then should we drag them all outside?”
“No. Before that, we need to check whether the other gangs are here too. What are you talking about?”
“Ah. I’m sorry. We’ll search the remaining places.”
“Hurry. Boss Hook said the sooner, the better.”
“Yes, understood!”
“Why are you still standing here?”
The organization members hurried away at Ina’s sharp question.
‘What a temper.’
Ina then took out her communicator.
“Boss Hook. We found one gang for now! Just like the bastard we beat the hell out of said, they really are working in the shopping district. I think we’ll find the other gangs soon too. He said they were all somewhere around here….”
‘The bastard they beat the hell out of?’
Judging from what she said, they had captured someone from one of the gangs they were searching for.
But Terlo had never imagined that those gangs were working in the shopping district.
‘Our paths overlapped after all.’
He had moved secretly on his own to avoid that.
Fortunately, Hook’s side still did not know he was here.
He could avoid them if he moved carefully.
Terlo was about to leave while Ina continued speaking, then stopped.
‘Wait.’
If the gangs allied with More were working in the shops around here….
Then they had taken the positions left vacant by the large-scale abduction.
That could not have been normal employment.
‘They’re probably serving as guards too.’
More must have introduced them to the role.
If so, the gangs acting as guards might recognize Basley.
Conversely, Basley might recognize them as well.
Terlo suddenly remembered that Basley had said he had something to tell him before Terlo came over to Ina.
‘Was this what he wanted to say?’
The more Terlo learned about the shopping district, the less he understood Ben’s intentions.
He had arranged a large-scale abduction and purchased the vast shopping district….
‘And planting guards in every shop wasn’t enough.’
Why had he also commissioned More’s leader to send support to the shopping district later if control became necessary?
Now that he had seized the entire shopping district, what else remained to control?
Then there was the mysterious sphere he had given the leader in the process.
Terlo felt as though he had fallen into a pit from which it was difficult to escape.
‘Still, I think I understand the general atmosphere of the shopping district now.’
Should I visit that alchemist next?
Terlo intended to visit the shop where the man Basley had threatened used to work.
Discovering what the shop’s alchemist was making had also been one of Ben’s commissions.
Perhaps meeting him would reveal something.
Terlo began walking with that uneasy feeling when—
“There…! He’s over there!”
“Parsley?”
Basley was running desperately toward Terlo with one hand outstretched.
Several men were chasing him.
Unable to understand the situation, Terlo stopped and watched them approach.
Basley shouted again with desperation as he drew closer.
“I’m telling you, I’m still a member of More! I came here with him because we were ordered to provide support!”
“…….”
At that moment, Terlo remembered the three warnings he had given Basley.
First, he was to introduce Terlo to anyone they met as another member of More.
Second, if anyone recognized him in the shopping district, he was to say he had been ordered to provide support.
Third, he was to carry out every instruction within three seconds.
He could not have obeyed more faithfully at a more useless moment.
‘I told him to wait quietly. What the hell did he….’
A sudden headache surged through Terlo, and he pressed a hand to his forehead.