Chapter 19: The Magic Shop in the Rabbit Hole
Mr. Crow had only been an assistant for a short time and didn't know about the underground gatherings among wizards.
"It's a place where items are sold. It's not a very formal one, but it's a large gathering of wizards. It's time to make something to sell." Darien sighed.
"So when should we go?" asked Sewell.
"Tomorrow, we'll make some more potions and hopefully sell them," Darien said.
There are three underground markets in the continent of Aristu. The largest one is located under the royal city, quite a distance away from Lord Hayden's territory.
If you take a horse carriage and travel day and night, it will take at least three days and three nights.
It's time to take necessary measures.
"Do we really have to do this?" For the first time, Sewell had a hint of doubt about his dearest master.
"Yes, that's right, jump quickly, I don't want to kick you." said Darien.
They were now in the cellar.
And in front of them was a dark cave.
It was bottomless and cold wind was blowing out of the cave.
No matter how you look at it, the probability of breaking a bone by falling is greater than the probability of falling into the first underground market.
"Please let me help you." Sevier came forward.
"Help with what?" Darien put the hood of his cloak on his head.
The next moment he was hugged, and then his body fell lightly into the cave.
Mr. Crow is determined to be Mr. Mage's cushion and will never let Mr. Mage get hurt in the process of falling into the black hole.
"Let go." Darien pushed Sevier's face away.
The two of them were like jellyfish floating in the sea, the hem of their cloaks spreading out like the hem of a jellyfish's skirt, wrapped up and slowly falling down.
"Okay, master." Sewell let go expressionlessly.
Darien was like a fluffy black dandelion, floating in the bottomless cave.
"Would you like a cup of tea, master?" Sewell encountered a tea table with a ready-made teapot and teacups on it while falling.
"Any candy?" Darien asked.
"No, but there are cocoa blocks." Sewell flipped the utensils on the table.
"Forget it, I won't drink anymore. Why are you so far away from me?" said Darien.
"It's the wind," said Sewell.
It was recommended by Mr. Master.
"Hmph." Darien understood.
Fortunately, the hole was not that deep and bottomless. Not long after this conversation, their feet touched the floor.
Directly in front of them was a small door that looked like it was locked.
"You'd have to be a real wizard to get past me," said the face on the doorknob.
Darien had been a real wizard eight hundred years ago, so the test of the human face was not difficult at all.
He raised his fingertips and pressed the nose of the human face with a little light.
The door lock clicked, but the door didn't open.
Darien frowned and said with a human face, "The new regulations require a 10-silver toll to enter the market. Since there are two of you, you should pay me 20 silver coins."
What a lousy rule! How could he not know about it? There wasn't such a rule in the past 100 years, or the past 30 years. Humph, this must be blackmail.
"Alas." Sewell sighed and observed a moment of silence for the human face.
The human face suddenly felt a creepy chill, and then it saw the faceless wizard in front of it reaching out his hand.
"W-What are you doing! Don't come over here!"
Darien grinned and jerked the doorknob up and down, cracking the brass face. "I'll give you a chance. Think it over. Now tell me, do I have to pay a toll to get in here?"
The human face panicked but tried to remain calm: "Uh uh uh... you have to pay a toll to get in! It's just a rule! You... even if you uh uh... tear me down, you can't change this rule!"
Haha! Let’s face the real storm!
The human face found that its body was melting. It was like a lump of cream that could be molded into various shapes at will. Darian pressed its head in his hand and rolled and flattened it.
"Ahhhh! Stop, stop! Hurry in and restore me to my original state! Quick!" It let out a loud scream, just wanting the bully in front of it to go away! Don't touch it anymore!
"I'm sorry, I can't." Sewell shook his head and looked at Darien.
"I can let you go. Tell me the truth, was it your idea to collect tolls?" The bully Darian pinched harder.
"Well..." The human face hesitated.
"Hmm?" Darien said threateningly.
"Oh, I just want to save some money to make myself into pure gold! Other door locks are either gold or silver, and are inlaid with beautiful gems, but mine is only copper. How embarrassing!" The human face closed his eyes and shouted.
"So how much money did you get?" Darien had prepared a hundred ways of blackmail.
"Not a single copper coin... I was beaten just after I said it..." The man looked very depressed.
"Useless thing. Open the door and don't waste our time." Darien said coldly.
The small door leading to the underground bazaar opened towards them, and a person's face choked and said, "Goodbye..."
Darien and Sevier emerged from behind a wall and walked into an alley.
The underground market is very large, and the places assigned to them after entering through the door are random. As long as they take two steps forward and walk out of the alley, they will stand on the street of the market.
If you want to buy something, just look at the shops on the left and right or the stalls on the ground, but if you need to sell something, you have to pay additional rent.
It cost one gold coin to rent a shop for a day, but only one silver coin to sit on the ground outside and spread out a piece of rag.
Of course, there is a third option. Darian lowered his head and counted the tiles on the floor. After finding a crooked arrow, he raised his foot and walked in the direction of the arrow.
After taking two steps, he turned back to Seville and said, "Let's go. What are you still standing there for?"
The depths of the alley are very quiet, and compared to the bustling and brightly lit entrance, it feels like the wrong direction.
Sewell followed immediately.
One after another, small arrows appeared hurriedly on the floor tiles, one after another, racing against each other, afraid that they would run slower than Darien and would not be able to lead the way.
Darien walked and stopped, squinting his eyes to find the arrow on the floor tiles. Occasionally, he stopped too quickly and was hit by Mr. Crow's firm chest.
After being hit one, two, three, four, five, and six times, Darien turned his head and glared at Sewell: "You did it on purpose, right?"
Sewell waved his hand innocently: "My dear master, please forgive me. Crows have very poor night vision."
Excuse.
Darien raised his foot and stepped on Sewell's leather shoes the next moment: "You did it on purpose. If you bump into me again, I'll put you in a birdcage and use you as a doorbell."
Seville's night blindness was cured immediately.
After walking through several alleys, Darien stopped in front of a wall with a gorse relief.
He pressed the blooming flowers and unopened buds in order, and with a click, a keyhole appeared.
Darien pulled out a key.
Seville felt that it looked familiar, as if it was the one he wore around his waist.
Huh? When was he touched?
Darien, who knew a few tricks of theft, inserted the key into the hole and turned it a few times. The wall was pushed open and a door appeared behind it.
When the door was opened, the wall lamp behind it lit up automatically, and inside was a small shop with a loft.
The store shelves were bare, save for thick dust and spiders slinking from corners.
"Clean this place up, and then we'll open up," Darien said.
"Okay, master." Sewell rolled up his sleeves.
Brooms and dusters flew everywhere, and the mop was repeatedly soaked in the bucket of water, and soon the place was cleaned and looked brand new.
With the finished potions on the shelves, the raw materials locked up in the medicine cabinet upstairs, and the cauldrons set out, it's time to open the front door and welcome guests.
Pull open the shutters on the window and turn over the sign on the door. Mr. Mage's branch in the underground market has finally reopened after many years.
Except for some immortal customers, the last customers who came to this store to buy things have probably been buried in the grave long ago.
Darien has complicated feelings about this store. He spent a large sum of gold coins to obtain the deed to this small piece of land, but he only has a short time to open the business here, and he has not made any profit since he started operating.
The shop is located in the best location in the underground bazaar. When the shop is lit up, it immediately attracts the attention of passers-by on the street.
“This store is still open.”
"Last time I wanted to rent this place, I was rejected because it was privately owned..."
"I've heard that potions here work best, but my grandfather heard it from his great-grandmother."
Soon, the first guest who was brave enough to try came in.
"Welcome, what can I do for you?" asked Sewell.
"I need a bottle of Richmond Catalyst and an ounce of Devil's Claw Vine Carbon," the guest said.
"A bottle of Richmond catalyst costs 15 silver coins, and an ounce of Devil's Claw Vine Carbon costs 1 gold coin." said Darien.
"I want to see their quality first." The customer did not nod or turn away, but decided to inspect the goods first.
Sewell consciously brought both ingredients up.
The guest pulled out the cork and smelled it, then held it to the candle flame to peek at the liquid inside the bottle, and used silver tweezers to poke the black carbon block in the jar, preparing to open it.
"We don't bargain in this shop." Darien smiled.
The guest paid 1 gold coin and 15 silver coins, put the bottle in his arms and left.
The first customer left the store safely, which greatly improved the credibility of the entire store, and the second and third customers came one after another.
"Do you have that in your store...that one..." The second customer turned up his collar. Although his face was hidden under the hood, one could tell without even looking that he had a shifty look underneath.
"What is that?" Darien smiled, he didn't guess.
"That's it... the aphrodisiac." The guest slowly approached and Darien slowly backed away.
An ostrich duster was stuck between them, closer to the guest, who almost got a mouthful of dust.
After urgently retreating, I looked up again and saw a hooded figure whose face was completely invisible: "Sorry, you're too close."
"We don't sell illegal drugs here. Perhaps you will need charm potions and transformation potions. The two can be used together to achieve the best effect." Darien said.
A charm potion will make the subject dislike the user after the effect wears off, while a transformation potion will only last for a short time. Everything has a price.
The guests left.
After half a day, the store sold a lot of catalyst base liquid and raw materials, but basically no one bought potions.
"Today's income is 34 gold coins and 17 silver coins. After deducting the cost of making the catalyst and base fluid, we made a profit..." Sewell calculated in his notebook, "34 gold coins and 6 silver coins."
"Alas." Darien sighed.
Finished magic potions are very expensive, but most of the raw materials are not very valuable. Most of the people who come to the underground market to buy things are wizards who can make potions themselves. There are also many wizards selling potions, but few of them can sell the finished potions at a high price.
Darien dared to say that the potions he brewed on this street were the best, but there were many competitors and the prices were cheaper, so it seemed that he was doomed to not be able to sell them here.
I can only earn some pocket money.
"Close the door and go home," Darien said.
The storm that Elvira requested this morning has not been created yet. Now that it is getting late, it is time to go back and create a fierce storm.
Mr. Wizard was in a bad mood, and creating some lightning and thunder could really help express his mood at the moment.
After locking the door, they followed the small arrow and returned to the dark cave again. The human-faced doorknob said nothing, and if you looked closely, you could see that its nose was crooked.
Darien's cloak was lifted by the wind, and they took a moment to return to the cellar.
"Go get the feathers of the Solo bird and the potion made from the Clodi shell, and find me on the rooftop terrace." Darian untied his cloak and handed it to Seville, then went straight to the terrace.
It was supper time and they hadn't had dinner yet. Darien sat cross-legged on the terrace with his stomach rumbling. Sewell soon came up with feathers and potions, as well as a plate of sandwiches with smoked fish and mustard pickles.
A very good sandwich that will fill Mr. Mage's belly.
Darien, sandwich in hand, dipped the tip of a feather into ink and began drawing circles on the floor with his bare hands.
Drawing a magic circle is a very simple task for Mr. Wizard. He only needs to use appropriate materials to draw a big circle and then fill it with magic spells, then the magic circle will play its due role.
"Sevier, go tell Mrs. Fitch to close the windows and put in the clothes, and have Kenneth and Jenny dig up the herbs planted in the field and put them in pots," Darien said. "A heavy rain that will last for several days will come in half an hour." Darien said as he chewed a sandwich.
While people were running around in the manor, picking up the sheets hung outside, digging herbs, closing windows and moving sandbags to stop the accumulated water, Elvira was pacing anxiously in the room with a pillow.
When I walked around the bedpost for the thirty-second time, finally, the shadows of the trees outside the window swayed, a loud thunderclap struck the darkness directly, and violent rain poured down from the sky.
Elvira immediately rushed to the mirror and skillfully ruffled her hair and nightgown, pinched her thigh hard, and rushed out of the room holding a pillow.
"Sister Anna, can I sleep with you? It's thundering and I'm so scared..."
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