"The richest?" Taula asked.

The man laughed, his round belly shaking with genuine amusement.

"Yes!" Marius said spreading his arms wide. "Out of most of the people that do business here in the Black Market of Galen Town, I am the most successful one."

Serra stepped forward slightly, her blonde hair catching the torchlight.

"Whenever our squad got in contact with good materials or magical items, we would come here and sell them..." Serra said. "You always gave us a good price."

Marius chuckled, leaning back in his chair.

"That’s just what I do," he said warmly then his expression shifted, becoming more businesslike. "Though for goods that are not legally registered or gotten through... let’s say, questionable means, those fall under the anonymity tax."

Klaus stiffened slightly behind his mask.

’The anonymity tax...’ Klaus thought. ’I remember that from the game.’

It was standard practice down here. The Black Market didn’t ask questions about where you got your goods, but that silence came with a price.

Fences like Marius took on the risk of holding stolen items and finding buyers who wouldn’t ask questions. In exchange, they kept a percentage of the value... usually 30% off market price.

Klaus had already told the Guild he didn’t get anything from that dungeon since the Guild had been very clear: anything recovered would be subject to confiscation until Kahn’s trial ended and he would also be taxed on it as well.

’Who would be dumb enough to lose all their money like that?’ Klaus thought.

Regardless, he didn’t trust Marius.

The man seemed professional enough, but Klaus had learned his lesson about trusting people in positions of power over him.

He wasn’t going to sell everything naturally. Taula tilted her head, her cat mask making the gesture look oddly endearing.

"What’s anonymity tax?" Taula asked.

Marius smiled patiently clearly used to explaining this to newcomers.

"Since the items in question are illegal... or at least, not legally registered, the anonymity tax covers the service I provide." Marius said. "I don’t ask where you got them. I don’t report them to the Guild and I don’t keep records that could be subpoenaed. I take your goods, pay you immediately in untraceable coins, and handle all the risk of reselling them through my network. That silence and safety? That’s what the tax pays for."

Taula tilted her head the other direction.

"Why don’t people just sell the items legally instead?" she asked.

Marius laughed with a deep belly laugh that filled the room.

"Because sometimes people just want to keep their business on the low," he said, gesturing at the masked figures in front of him. "And that’s exactly why your friends are here."

Taula turned to Klaus with her voice rising slightly with concern.

"Are we really selling illegal stuff?" Taula asked. "I don’t want to be a criminal!"

Klaus sighed behind his mask.

"No, we’re not doing anything illegal." Klaus said, though the words felt thin even to him. "We’re just... curving around the law a bit and if curving around the law was that wrong, then this whole Black Market would be empty."

Taula paused considering this logic.

"You have a point..." she said finally and Marius laughed again clearly enjoying the dynamic.

"I like the two of you..." Marius said, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "Now that we’ve covered the basics, would you be more comfortable sharing names?"

"I just want to do business and nothing more." Klaus said flatly.

Marius sighed, but he didn’t push the issue. Instead, he turned his attention to Serra.

"So, Serra," Marius said. "What are you selling today? An artifact? Or...?"

Serra’s storage ring glowed with a soft blue light.

She reached into the spatial pocket and pulled out two large pieces of Gold Metil Diamond. The moment they appeared, the room seemed to brighten.

The crystalline structures caught the torchlight and reflected it in brilliant golden rays that danced across the walls.

Marius’s eyes widened, then immediately sharpened with professional interest as Serra dropped both diamonds onto the desk with a solid thunk.

"How much?" Serra asked.

Marius picked up one of the diamonds, turning it over in his palm. He pressed a button on his drawer and a magnifying glass extended on a mechanical arm.

He brought the lens to his eye and examined the diamond’s internal structure carefully.

"This is the real deal..." Marius muttered.

He looked up at Serra.

"Was it the Gold Metil that caused Kahn to attack you?" Marius asked.

Serra nodded stiffly with her jaw suddenly becoming tight. The man continued his examination through the magnifying glass, speaking almost to himself.

"Gold Metil is a rare mineral," Marius said. "It forms over decades in resource-rich dungeons... The dungeons that contain deposits like these cost between 150 to 200 gold coins just to get the rights to raid them and that’s not even counting the additional paperwork before you can actually step foot inside."

Serra winced at the reminder.

They had done a lot of paperwork before getting access to that dungeon, and theirs had been a partial gate... a minor entry point with limited rights.

Imagining how much bureaucracy would be required to access a fully registered Metil dungeon made her head hurt.

Marius set down the first diamond and picked up the second, giving it the same inspection.

"The average market price for one of these is two thousand silvers, that’s twenty gold coins per diamond." Marius said. "Two would normally be forty gold coins however, after the thirty percent anonymity tax, you’d receive twenty-eight gold coins."

Serra nodded gratefully with relief washing over her features.

"I’ll accept that..." Serra said.

"Excellent." Marius called out to one of the women working at the counting table. "Package twenty-eight gold coins in cash and a pouch for the lady!"

The woman nodded and gestured for Serra to follow her to the far end of the room. As Serra walked away, Marius turned his full attention to Klaus.

The masked figure hadn’t moved and hadn’t removed his mask even for a moment. In Marius’s long experience, that level of paranoia only appeared when someone had a lot to hide or a lot to sell.

"So..." Marius said, leaning forward with his hands clasped on the desk. "Do you want to sell anything? Because as a first-time bonus, I’ll give you a twenty-five percent anonymity tax instead of the usual thirty."

He extended his hand for a handshake which was a gesture of goodwill.

Klaus looked at the hand for a long moment then he reached out and shook it once before letting go.

Klaus’s new storage ring, the one Vex had given him before everything went to hell glowed with the same blue light as Serra’s.

He had been asked to bring his storage ring so he had shown the Guild a different one which was why he got away with the lie.

Fifteen Gold Metil Diamonds materialized on Marius’s desk in a neat pile and Marius blinked.

He could understand two diamonds. But fifteen?

’I think I’m starting to get why Kahn tried to kill them...’ Marius thought but he knew better than to ask questions. In his line of work, curiosity got fences killed.

He picked up his magnifying glass and began examining the diamonds one by one.

"These are very legitimate..." Marius said aloud, inspecting the cuts and clarity. "Same quality as Serra’s, these are very excellent specimens."

Klaus said nothing and Marius continued, doing the math aloud.

"Fifteen Gold Metil Diamonds at market value would be three hundred gold coins," Marius said.

He looked up at Klaus. "If I gave you the usual thirty percent anonymity tax, that would be two hundred and ten gold coins. However, since you’re a first-time customer and Serra vouched for you, I’m offering the twenty-five percent rate instead."

He set down the magnifying glass.

"That means I can offer you two hundred twenty-five gold coins..." Marius said. "Is that acceptable?"

"It’s fine," Klaus said.

Marius called out to the counting room.

"Package two hundred twenty-five gold coins for this fine gentleman!" Marius said loudly then he leaned back in his chair with a smile spreading across his face.

"If you want to do more business with me in the future," Marius said, "you can use your own personalized password when you arrive. How about... CrowCrowBunda?"

Klaus’s eyes twitched behind his mask.

"Why the hell does the name sound that weird?" Klaus asked.

"It wouldn’t be a password if it wasn’t a bit weird, would it?" Marius said with a grin. "Thank you for doing business with me, my masked friend."

...

Minutes later, they stepped out of the establishment and the heavy door locked behind them.

Serra turned to Klaus.

"What did you think of Marius?" Serra asked.

"I have no thoughts..." Klaus said, the guy was just the classic Black market guy though he would be on guard in case he was attacked. "However, instead of going home, we should head to the Guild."

Both nodded and they left the Galen Town Black Market behind them.

...

"Finally..." Klaus said as he pushed open the doors to the Galen Town Adventurer’s Guild.

The moment he stepped inside, mutters rippled through the crowd. He was only here with Serra, Taula had to go to the Galen dungeon to continue helping out.

"I heard he survived and helped the healer out even when Kahn was killing the other two..." one adventurer said from a corner table. "He must be strong."

"Strong? He’s a Wizard Apprentice..." another voice scoffed. "Probably just got lucky like the first time."

"I heard Kahn went crazy and killed everyone except those two," someone else whispered. "Sounds suspicious if you ask me."

"Why is Serra even with him?" a woman’s voice cut through the noise. "She should be grieving, not following some nobody around."

"Maybe it was a planned conspiracy," another adventurer said with her voice loud across the hall. "Think about it... the two of them survive, everyone else dies, and they walk away without scratches. I bet they were having an affair and planned the whole thing."

The whole Guild grew quiet as people turned to look. Serra flinched with her shoulders hunching slightly as she stared down at the floor while Klaus glared at the man.

’Tch.’ He thought then he turned away from the stares and looked at Serra.

"What kind of mission should we do?" Klaus asked casually as they walked toward the mission board.

The board was surprisingly empty. Usually there were at least a dozen adventurers browsing the available jobs, but today only two or three people stood near it. Everyone else seemed more interested in gossip than work.

Serra straightened slightly, she was grateful for the distraction.

"We should take a Group Mission that requires at least two people..." Serra said, scanning the posted notices.

Her eyes moved across the various job postings... There were escort missions, gathering quests, patrol requests, then she stopped, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look at a notice posted near the top of the board.

She grunted, reaching up, but her fingers fell short by several inches. Klaus stepped forward and plucked the notice off the board, handing it to her making Serra blush slightly.

"Thanks." Serra said then held the paper so they could both read it.

...

「Group Mission: Goblin Nest Extermination」

「Group Size: Minimum 2, Maximum 6」

「Location: Galeel Forest」

「Objective: Clear out a goblin nest raiding merchant caravans」

「Enemy Count: 15-20 Regular Goblins, 2-3 Hobgoblins, 1 Goblin Shaman」

「Reward: 33 Silvers, 45 Guild Points」

...

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, these are more detailed than the single missions." Klaus said, impressed by the specificity then he looked at Serra.

"Are you sure about this?" Klaus asked. "It’s a combat mission after all..."

And they did face goblins yesterday but Serra nodded firmly, meeting his eyes.

"I’ve been paid..." Serra said. "I want to work for my money. Besides, you’ll need a healer and a supporter too."

Klaus chuckled with a small smile crossing his face.

"Alright then..." he said. "Let’s go take on this mission."

They walked together toward the receptionist desk, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed them across the Guild hall.