After leaving the inn, Muen quickly took care of lunch, then once again followed the route in his memory to reach the riverbank at the boundary between the Upper and Lower City.

The token in his hand, engraved with a rat emblem, was slightly warm. This indicated the underground black market had indeed opened. After changing into the black robe and mask that concealed his presence and aura, Muen leapt into the pipe by the riverbank without any hesitation.

Inside the abandoned sewage pipe, the stomach-churning stench was far worse than last time—like countless corpses had rotted here.

But at the end of the tunnel, Muen didn’t see the tall, half-rotten figure from before.

Instead, a raspy voice echoed from the shadows.

“Got the stuff?”

“Right here.”

Muen showed the token in his hand to the thin, short figure in the corner, and couldn’t help but ask curiously:

“The guy who was guarding the entrance before—where is he?”

“He’s dead.”

The thin, short figure spoke with a tone devoid of joy or sorrow, like he was reporting the death of a rat by the roadside.

“Everything checks out. Go on in.”

Muen didn’t press further. After all, for those who lived in the shadows of Beirland, suddenly dying like a stray dog in the street was just another Tuesday.

He passed quickly through the passage and entered the black market. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

But the instant he stepped inside, Muen suddenly felt a gaze sweep over him from somewhere unknown.

A chill ran down his spine, because even though it was just a glance, Muen instinctively sensed the horror of the one behind it.

Even if not a Crowned-tier, they probably weren’t far off.

Fortunately, that gaze didn’t seem interested in probing Muen’s identity—just barely sensed his cultivation level and then shifted away.

“That wasn’t here last time.”

“So that means, this powerhouse only came to oversee the place after the market reopened?”

“Looks like the previous purge operation hit the black market harder than I thought.”

Muen sighed slightly, then stopped thinking about it.

Damage to the black market was a good thing for someone in his position—both emotionally and rationally. After all, who knew how much darkness had spawned in this place?

The phrase “you can buy anything here” might sound light and casual, but no one knew how many tears and how much blood were buried underneath.

But Muen wasn’t some saint who thought he could wipe out all this darkness just because of his identity.

Because he knew he couldn’t.

No one could.

As long as Beirland remained the most prosperous city on the continent, then these shadows growing fatter beneath the sunlight would never be eradicated.

Unless he grit his teeth and executed all those damn noble lords—ushering in the great radiance of socia—society-ism for this world.

Ah, right. He was a noble lord too. Never mind then.

“I just hope I can find the Ancient Dragon's Heartblood soon.”

Muen sighed. This place made him instinctively uncomfortable. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.

...

However, after entering the black market, Muen didn’t immediately start searching for the Ancient Dragon’s Heartblood.

Instead, he headed to a small shop.

A giant ram skull hung on the signboard, making it stand out clearly.

“Scam artist!”

Just looking at the shop made Muen grit his teeth.

He hadn’t forgotten how much trouble he got into because of the sleeping drug he bought from here!

You could say in that whole incident, it was that drug—no, the aphrodisiac that came with it—that caused everything to spiral completely out of control!

So today, he had to get some answers!

With the crisp jingle of the bell, Muen pushed open the shop door.

“Oh my, a customer this early?”

The shopkeeper, still wrapped in a loose black robe, spoke in a raspy voice, impossible to tell their gender. But with each casual movement, the robe would trace out a dangerously alluring curve.

She seemed to have just opened the shop and was arranging items on the shelf. When she saw Muen enter, her eyes under the hood gleamed with the look of a hungry wolf spotting a lost lamb.

“What would you like to see, dear customer? This humble shop carries everything you could want~”

“...Weird.”

Muen stared at the shopkeeper, puzzled.

Something about her this time felt different from last time. Looking at this mysterious shopkeeper, Muen had a strange sense of familiarity.

Was it just a false impression?

Or could it be...

No. He couldn’t let himself be deceived by baseless intuition. Nor could he let a good figure make a woman look “familiar.”

He came here to confront her!

“I’m not here to buy anything.”

Muen’s voice was low and rough, processed through special means.

“Oh? Then the customer came to...”

Sensing the hostility from Muen, the shopkeeper clearly became more guarded.

“Two months ago, I bought a bottle of ** from you.”

“Two months ago...”

The shopkeeper fell into thought, then suddenly understood.

“Ohh, you’re that big sucker—ah no, I mean, big customer from back then!”

“You were about to say big sucker, weren’t you?!”

A vein popped on Muen’s forehead.

“I won’t even argue about the price right now. I just want to ask you one thing: was that sleeping drug you sold me even legit?”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t it legit?”

The shopkeeper tilted her head. “Was the effect not strong enough? It could even knock out an elephant.”

“No, knocking out an elephant wasn’t the issue.”

Even Celicia hadn’t lasted two seconds under that drug.

“The problem was the gift you threw in. Was that legit?!”

“Gift...”

The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then seemed to realize something. Her expression turned to shock.

“Wait... you didn’t seriously use the drug on an elephant, did you? And used the freebie too?!”

As she spoke, her gaze toward Muen shifted to one of pity.

No wonder he was so mad.

She’d heard the thing on an elephant was over a meter long.

Wouldn’t that just go straight to the stomach?

Tsk tsk. The fact that he was still alive was honestly a miracle.

“Of course not!”

Muen slammed the table, furious.

“I didn’t use the drug on an elephant. And your sleeping drug was indeed effective. I just want to know—why the hell did you include an aphrodisiac as a bonus, and even tell me the effects would be better combined?!”

“Well... isn’t bundled sales a common business strategy? It was really popular, you know.”

“It might be popular with those filthy, perverted old creeps, but I’m not one of them!”

Muen declared righteously, “I am a man of virtue!”

“...Men of virtue don’t come here to buy that kind of drug, you know. And I’d think just the most basic knowledge of potion-making would’ve been enough to identify what that drug did.”

The shopkeeper gave him a disbelieving glance.

“Don’t tell me you don’t even have that level of potion knowledge, customer.”

“Is that... is that important?” Muen’s face under the mask flushed red.

“Of course it is. Whether you’re a mage or a warrior, basic potion studies are required, right? Otherwise, would you really dare to drink random potions while out adventuring? What if one of them had weird side effects—like turning you into a girl?”

“Cough cough... Anyway, the fact is your actions caused # Nоvеlight # me great harm. Therefore—”

Muen coughed twice and declared in a thunderous voice:

“Refund!”