(EP-161.2) Night #2
161 – Day and Night #2
“What do you think? Isn’t it cool?”
Narmi smiled like the radiant moon and pointed her slender finger at the open space.
Following her fingertips, I could see glowstone lights illuminating the way of the bustling pedestrians below.
━Get yours now, new arrival of amanita mushrooms fresh from the dungeon today. They are of excellent quality.
━I killed a dungeon boss and found this cursed sword in a chest. I haven’t tried it yet. Give your offers!
The sound of chattering was loud as vendors advertised their wares. Only then did I realize what this place was.
It was an underground market.
I vaguely remembered hearing about a marketplace where adventurers would buy and sell items within Ark. This must be it.
“I never thought there’d be a place like this under Ark and the church.”
Narmi smiled with her pearly whites as I muttered in awe.
“When there is light, there are shadows. Of course, the church is probably aware of this. It’s just that they turn a blind eye to it.”
The strict church allowed this illegal market to operate?
But I believed I knew why.
Markets like this tended to spring up no matter what you do. Suppressing them might just cause the opposite effect and make them become uncontrollable.
That was why it might be more convenient to have them in one place. It’d be easier to manage that way.
In fact, as if to prove the church’s management, I could see soldiers, warriors, and knights with crosses on their shoulders wandering around the market.
At a glance, they seemed to be browsing through the items, but their gaze was more like that of a supervisor or manager rather than a customer.
Anyway.
I was in this place now.
“This place only opens at night. Mirna Unnie probably hasn’t been here before.”
“Indeed, I don’t think Mirna-nim is the type of person that would come to a place like this.”
Mirna was stricter about the church’s rules than Narmi.
If Mirna was here, she’d definitely look at this place and say, “What an unholy place! This is just a dark hole where people whisper like mice…!” She would be furious.
In that sense, Narmi appeared to have a lower religious devotion than Mirna.
Wouldn’t that mean Narmi’s notion of chastity was significantly less than that of Mirna? You could say she was relatively open-minded.
I hope I’d get a chance to score some points with Narmi soon.
As I was thinking about this, I spotted a stall selling miscellaneous goods. And the one running the stall was a blond-haired Nymph.
“Goldnoi?”
This reminded me of the Nymph who had sold me a high rank spell during Fairy Night. I believed her name was Treasure Nymph Goldnoi.
However, the blonde Nymph frowned.
“Goldnoi? Please don’t compare me to that swindling Nymph…! I’m the Sales Nymph, Dojinoi…! I’m working hard to save money to someday go to the moon…!”
Sales Nymph? What Dojinoi?
Did I meet another Nymph?
Why did it seem like I’d met so many?
“Aah, are you a Nymph? A fairy and a human male, you’re a Half-Fairy…! I’ll give comrade a special discount…!”
A discount, huh?
I took a closer look at what she was selling, from broken pieces of glass, crushed cans to someone’s gold tooth and an unknown dagger. There were also rings, etc.
Among them, a silver earring the size of a nail caught my eye. I thought it looked like a boomerang, but it was actually a crescent moon.
Dojinoi quickly said as if she noticed my gaze.
“You have a good eye…! This exquisite earring is blessed by the Moon Goddess…! It is also made of platinum…! There will be no allergic reactions…!”
Moon Goddess?
As far as I knew, the God worshiped by the church was the Gwangyeom God, referred to as the one true God. From this, the Moon Goddess was probably a pagan god.
Certainly, it was an item you wouldn’t find anywhere else other than an underground market. At this moment, words appeared in my mind.
「Moonlight Earring: Glimmers softly when exposed to moonlight. Doesn’t have any other effects, but is highly popular among women. Slightly adjusts the charm stat.」
While the claim of it being blessed by the Moon Goddess was a lie, it was a fine piece of work done with magical craftsmanship.
“The crescent moon design looks pretty. And its small size is cute.”
Narmi, however, was interested.
Without missing it, Dojinoi smiled slyly.
“If you buy it now, I’ll throw in a painless needle for piercing your ears…. And some anesthetic cream…, I’m giving you all this as a service…! This once in a lifetime deal is only available right here, right now, by Dojinoi…!”
“So how much is this?”
When I asked, Dojinoi got an abacus from somewhere. And based on some criteria I didn’t know, she named a surprising price.
“For the lovely pair, you can get them for just a million coins…!”
A million coins for earrings. I couldn’t tell if that was expensive or cheap. Were they relatively inexpensive for women’s accessories, or were they expensive for earrings?
“I’ll take it!”
Narmi cheerfully exclaimed, as she reached into her wallet to retrieve a bundle of banknotes. With that, the deal was sealed.
I asked.
“Shouldn’t we check out other places as well?”
“No, I like this. But, I’ve never worn earrings before. What should I do? I have to pierce my ears, right? What if it hurts….”
Narmi’s ruby eyes then turned to me.
“Theo, will you do it for me?”
Edited by: faker
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