Chapter 295: The Eastern District

Seeing it with my own eyes really gave me a lot to think about.

In the end, it might be producing good results in a roundabout way, but if it was also contributing to the worsening public order, then I absolutely couldn’t call it a good thing.

It was far too complicated a topic, and I think the correct choice for me was not to interfere.

“Sato, are you going to buy anything?”

“No. Even if this shop is technically safe, once I hear that the equipment belonged to dead people, I don’t really feel like using it.”

“If you’ve got the money, buying something new is obviously better. My shop’s selling point is how cheap it is.”

It was only a matter of how I felt, and I did feel bad for the shopkeeper, but I just couldn’t bring myself to want to buy anything.

We left without purchasing anything and decided to move on to another shop.

Apparently, the original reason we came to this shop was so the shopkeeper could act as a connection for us, so everyone else seemed to think it was normal not to buy anything. Still, I felt a little guilty.

If there had been anything I liked even a little, I would have bought it right away… but since everything was left behind by the dead, I couldn’t buy anything.

“Should I give you some kind of reward or money?”

“To me? No need. I’m only introducing you, and just being able to make even a small favor with Barnett is enough.”

“I don’t remember owing you anything! You’re introducing us out of goodwill, aren’t you?”

“…You can take it that way if you want.”

“Sato, you don’t need to worry about anything. You just feel bad because he’s working for free, don’t you?”

Velvet saw right through how I felt.

Because of past experiences, I can’t help thinking unpaid work is pitiful. But the shopkeeper himself seemed fine with it, so I suppose it was okay.

As I convinced myself of that and continued walking along the eastern street, we saw a road with many people.

It was like the market we visited yesterday, with all kinds of shops set up as stalls.

However, despite the number of people, there was no liveliness at all.

The goods being sold looked suspicious at first glance, and it truly felt like an underground market.

“This is completely different from the market where I bought Shieldrake yesterday. There’s no energy here at all.”

“That’s because only people with introductions can enter this market. No outsiders come in, and there’s no need to call customers over, so it ends up like this.”

“You said people can’t enter without an introduction, but can we enter this market?”

“That’s why I brought this guy along! It’ll be fine, right?”

“Yeah. I may not look it, but I know a lot of people. I’ll go talk to them.”

After saying that, the shopkeeper in the black hood walked toward someone who looked like a gatekeeper standing at the entrance to the street.

A few minutes after starting the conversation, he came back and handed us some roughly made identification cards.

“I’ve cleared it with them. If anyone bothers you, show them those IDs. Now then, I’ll go set up the appointment for the next place.”

“Thanks! We’re counting on you for the next one too!”

The shopkeeper didn’t enter the street and quickly went off somewhere.

I was grateful that he went to arrange the next appointment, but entering without someone knowledgeable felt a little scary.

“Will we really be fine with these crude IDs?”

“It’ll be fine, fine! We got proper permission, and if they still try anything weird, that makes it self-defense!”

“That’s right. What matters is that we followed the proper channels. Besides, with Barnett here, they probably won’t try anything from their side.”

“Barnett is quite an amazing person, isn’t he?”

Without showing the slightest fear of the street full of suspicious people, Barnett began walking confidently.

Even at the Adventurers’ Guild, people avoided looking at him, and it was the same here. No one even tried to look our way.

Since he had been in the Adventurers’ Guild, I knew he was an adventurer, but… what kind of person was he really?

My curiosity about him kept growing, but right now, looking at the goods on this street was more important than learning about Barnett.

It probably wasn’t often that I would get the chance to safely explore a place this deep and shady, so I wanted to take a proper look.

“Sato, that shop over there… I’m a little curious about it. May we stop by?”

“Of course. I was curious too, so let’s go.”

The one who suggested it was Sheila. It was a stall located right after entering the street.

There were many things like birdcages placed at the stall, and inside those cages were living creatures glowing in various colors.

“What are these things inside the cages?”

“They are animals called aura birds.”

“Animals? They aren’t monsters?”

“The line is vague, so it’s difficult to say, but they are classified as animals. They are also protected, so they are birds that cannot be captured.”

If they were protected, did that mean they were something like an endangered species?

They certainly had beautiful colors. From a distance, they had only looked like large fireflies, but when I got closer, they looked like parakeets and were quite cute.

I could understand why people would want them as pets, and I could even imagine the background of them being overhunted for that purpose and their numbers decreasing.

Since they were being sold here, there was a high chance they had been poached.

With an indescribable feeling in my chest, I continued gazing at the aura birds.