Eileen lifted the floorboards, revealing a somewhat narrow staircase leading downward.
There were no light sources in the corridor, and a slightly damp and chilly air greeted them as the exit opened, accompanied by a somewhat sour and musty smell. Although Violet frowned slightly, she didn’t say anything, her body had always had a strong adaptability to abnormalities.
“Is this below the Ghost Thief Group’s base?” This time, it was Mr. Side-Swept Bangs who responded immediately.
“The Ghost Thief Group’s base isn’t just simple and directly connected to the slums. Otherwise, they would have been found and wiped out long ago. The routes Eileen knows don’t refer to this passage. You’ll understand in a moment. Let’s go.”
Eileen nodded, took out a somewhat old-fashioned tinderbox from her pocket, lit it, and took the lead. The four of them descended one after another, with Mr. Side-Swept Bangs taking the rear, probably to prevent any sudden incidents.
This narrow path was clearly manually excavated, with the walls on both sides pitted and the ground uneven. There were no lighting fixtures, indicating that the builders hadn’t put much thought into it, just digging through hastily.
The narrow passage wasn’t long, but it sloped slightly downward. Even at an ordinary person’s slow pace, they reached the end in just over half a minute.
There was a somewhat rusty metal ladder extending upward, resting against the stone wall.
Eileen gestured backward and began to climb along the ladder.
Although she was a bit disgusted by the dirty-looking handrails, such places weren’t suitable for spreading wings or performing any floating magic. Since the protection of the 【Feather Robe Graria】 included even the palms, Violet wasn’t afraid of getting dirty.
Above this vertical ladder, hidden under a trapdoor, was a room. Although it couldn’t be considered luxurious, it was much finer and more sturdy than the dilapidated wooden shack Eileen lived in. At least the main structure was made of stone, so there was no worry about wind or rain leaking in, and the furniture was complete.
However, there was no one else here. It seemed like no creature had lived here for a long time, as thin layers of dust had accumulated in some corners.
Not long after, Mr. Side-Swept Bangs, who was at the rear, also climbed up. Surveying the surroundings, she seemed to sigh.
“Nothing has changed here either, Eileen. Is your contact still the same guy?”
The girl glanced back at Side-Swept Bangs, silently shaking her head.
“Rodrick is dead. Probably half a year after you disappeared, he died in a poaching incident. Instead of your disappearance, others saw him torn in half by a monster. You know, in this line of work, such things are commonplace. No one can be sure if they’ll come back alive next time.”
“I see, even that old guy... Forget it, let’s get out of here first.”
“Alright, follow me.”
Pushing open the door, it seemed this place was not an open space. The ceiling was made of dark, hard stone, likely deep underground. Eileen picked up a torch hanging on the wall and lit it, leading the three of them forward along the dimly lit corridor.
Before Violet could say anything, they turned a corner, and the scenery ahead suddenly opened up.
“Oh... that’s something~”
Even with Violet’s temperament, standing on the platform and witnessing everything below, she couldn’t help but show surprise.
The flickering lights of candles and magic lamps shimmered like fireflies in the night. The lighting fixtures set up on the buildings outlined the panorama of the vast marketplace.
Here, surprisingly, was an enormous underground trading market built underground.
The man walking in front turned around, his somewhat nostalgic voice sounding at this moment.
“Welcome to the shadows of Demon Suppression City, the paradise of poachers and criminals — the underground black market trading venue. As you can see, they don’t sell anything legitimate here. You ladies better be prepared mentally.”
“Things that aren’t legitimate? Like what?”
Mr. Side-Swept Bangs looked at the dark-haired girl asking the question expressionlessly.
“Things like various types of drugs, poisons, **, illicit alchemical products with unknown purposes and sources, forbidden spell books and magical artifacts, oh, of course, there’s also the favorite trade of poachers, those valuable slaves captured from other races.”
“Oh~”
The priestess elongated her tone, then showed anticipation.
“They indeed aren’t very legitimate. It sounds quite interesting though. If there’s a chance, could you take me to see it?”
“?”
Mr. Side-Swept Bangs couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. He thought that after hearing these things, the black-haired girl, although her character might be somewhat bad, would at least show expressions of shyness or disgust. But now, her reaction, it’s like she’s no different from those seasoned criminals.
What exactly are they here for, investigating the Ghost Thief Group and that incident for...?
Not paying attention to Side-Swept Bangs’ somewhat odd expression, Violet glanced at the bustling underground market entrance below, which was even more lively than the surface market of Demon Suppression City, and proactively asked the two guides.
“So, what do we do next, go directly to find the new contact you mentioned?”
Upon hearing this, Eileen turned around voluntarily, casting a somewhat subtle glance at the two girls before shaking her head.
“I don’t know where the contact is. This underground market is jointly organized by several large poaching gangs in Demon Suppression City, and it’s a mix of all sorts inside. The Ghost Thief Group seems to have had some trouble recently. According to the rules, even if we external contacts want to reach the organization, we can only leave a signal at a designated location. When the contact person sees it, they will come to find us. Do you understand?”
Violet frowned, her silver-blue eyes briefly meeting Eileen’s gaze in the air, but the latter quickly looked away without a trace. So Miss Priestess spoke up.
“Find? Where do we find them? Do we go directly to your home in the slums?”
“Of course not.”
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Eileen gestured to the stone house connected to the tunnel behind her.
“This is the meeting point where the contact person will come after seeing the signal. Generally, the contact person won’t casually go to members’ homes, and I rarely come down to the black market.”
“I see...”
They were just a petty criminal gang, yet they had all these protocols.
“So, how long do we have to wait? Are you going to make us stay here for days?”
Obviously, Mr. Side-Swept Bangs couldn’t answer this question either. After all, he had been out of the Ghost Thief Group for over a year, and many things had changed since then. So he, along with Violet, turned to Eileen for an answer.
After hesitating for a moment, she gave a response.
“I can’t be certain, but normally, as long as I contact the contact person with the most urgent signal, they should come immediately. The time frame is usually between a few hours to a day.”
“But there’s one thing, during this time, you can’t stay nearby. Otherwise, if the other party notices anything unusual, my line will be completely compromised.”
The gray-haired girl’s gaze swept over Mr. Side-Swept Bangs, finally resting on Violet and Miss Priestess. This time, she didn’t avoid making eye contact with the priestess.
“So before we begin, I think it’s necessary to confirm what exactly your purpose is for this trip. Are you just searching for the hiding place of the Ghost Thief Group? Or is this a large-scale eradication operation, with more troops already arriving on the outskirts, preparing for something?”
“Um...”
This question indeed required a proper answer.
It seemed that Eileen was unaware that the Ghost Thief Group was responsible for kidnapping Moon Shadow’s royal offspring, exacerbating the conflict between the two sides. Side-Swept Bangs hadn’t told her this, probably to keep her from worrying or to keep her as far away as possible from the terrifying center of the storm.
Violet currently had no intention of bringing up this matter either. There was a subtle sense of discord and doubt in her mind, something she still hadn’t quite figured out.
Most importantly, although Mr. Side-Swept Bangs seemed to trust Eileen completely, for Violet, she was still a stranger she had just met. It was still necessary to exercise some caution.
So, it was necessary to choose an appropriate explanation.
One that could justify the actions and also serve as a probing reason.