The shattered crimson moon still hung high in the sky, unchanged whether it was night or day.
But the gray fog that enshrouded the entire Black City had thinned, hardly discernible.
The usually deserted streets had a few figures visible today.
It's true!
Today, once a month, was Black City's safety day. On this day, not only would half-dead creatures not appear, but the underground miners also got a brief respite.
"HUFF..."
Carl exhaled a breath of turbid air, tightened his grip on the items in his hand, and headed straight for the Rakah Market.
The dangers of Black City aren't limited to the half-dead creatures. There are living people too!
The safety day that occurred once a month brought in crowds far beyond the usual, and the bustling noise of the market could be heard from a distance.
Carl squeezed through the crowd and stopped in front of a stall, frowning. "Where's Kolon?"
This was Kolon's usual stall, but the current stall owner was a scrawny young boy.
"You know Uncle Kolon?"
The boy looked up, ceasing his arrangement of the stall, and said while rubbing his hands, "Uncle had to leave due to some matters, and I'm taking care of the stall for him. Whatever you need, just tell me."
"You?"
From beneath the hood of his cloak, Carl looked at him with suspicion.
The 'stall owner' in front of him was too young, and his worn clothes made his ribs visible beneath.
Despite the eagerness the boy showed, desperate to prove himself, his appearance hardly inspired trust.
"Carl!"
At that moment, Kolon's voice rang out from not too far away. "I knew for sure you'd come today."
He approached quickly, grabbed Carl's arm, and pulled him towards an empty corner.
Without waiting for Carl to speak, he whispered, "I've got a lead on a Breathing Method!"
"Oh!"
Carl's eyes sparkled, and he didn't even care about the other's pungent breath that was close at hand. "What do you mean?"
"Hehe..." Kolon chuckled lowly. He directly pulled out a book from within his clothing. "To get this Breathing Method, I had to spend all I've saved up these years. Luckily, that guy was in a hurry to gather money to leave Black City, or else it would have been impossible to get my hands on it."
"Of course, we're all old friends here, and I'm open for negotiation on the price."
Carl, looking at the book in the other's hand, felt his heart thumping wildly. For a moment, he even had the impulse to murder and seize the treasure.
A Breathing Method! This is a miraculous Magic Door that can grant ordinary people Extraordinary Power!
"Perfect."
Composing himself, he suppressed the urge within him and laid down what he had brought. "I've also brought quite a few good items this time."
"Compressed beef in cans, a total of thirty-two pounds, which can be preserved for at least a year, and there's also high-quality fresh milk, all brought in from outside."
"GURGLE..." Kolon, too, eyed the items in front of him, his throat contracting and his one eye gleaming.
Canned meat that could be preserved for a year could fetch an exorbitant price in the underground mines.
Fresh milk was an in-demand commodity as well.
Life in Black City was difficult, yet there were newborn babies. The importance of fresh milk to an infant went without saying.
"That..." Carl pointed and asked, "Can I take a look first?"
"Of course, no problem at all." Kolon's shifty eyes twinkled as he passed the book over, not forgetting to remind, "I have a few more pages with me. Just reading what's in the book won't be enough to learn it."
"Understood."
Carl nodded and quickly flipped open the book.
It's the real thing!
Although he had never practiced a Breathing Method, he knew many Knight Attendants. He had also heard snippets of information and had even made special inquiries into Breathing Methods.
He could distinguish between real and fake Breathing Methods.
Poison Wolf Breathing Method! A very common name, and probably not of a high tier, but any Breathing Method is more than enough for me.
"Huh?"
Touching the characters on the pages, Carl's expression shifted subtly. "These characters, they've been written not long ago, right?"
"Yes."
Kolon nodded. "But that doesn't affect anything, does it?"
"It doesn't, no." Carl looked up and slowly said, "It's just that, it seems that the seller didn't just sell the Breathing Method to you; he must have sold it to others as well."
Kolon's expression changed.
Carl's guess was right. The price the man had quoted was too high for one person to afford on their own.
So he simply copied several books of the Breathing Method and sold them to multiple buyers.
"We are old friends; I won't lie to you," Kolon said. "Indeed, there are other sellers in the market selling the Poison Wolf Breathing Method just like me, but can you be sure that what you buy from them will be the complete version?"
"Although I've never practiced any Breathing Methods, I know that if a single word of the Magic Door is wrong, it could prove fatal."
He declared emphatically, "This book of mine has not undergone any alterations!"
Carl fell silent.
Indeed. His goal was the Breathing Method. Where he bought it from was irrelevant. Even the price wasn't important.
Of course, he couldn't fully trust the other party either.
"The Breathing Method is of no use to me. We can negotiate the price. However, there is something else."
Kolon leaned forward, whispering, "Do you want to leave Black City?"
"Leave Black City?" Carl raised an eyebrow. "I can't afford Madame Butterfly's two thousand black stones."
"Not through Madame Butterfly." Kolon waved his hand. "I know of a group that can secretly get people out of here to nearby Vitelli City for just three hundred black stones."
"A secret route?" Carl's expression changed. He had heard such rumors but never considered trying them. "If you get caught, it's a death sentence!"
At the marketplace entrance, several corpses would occasionally hang from the tall wooden frames, most of them belonging to those who had tried to flee the city.
"Dead?" Kolon's face showed a hint of scorn. "In a place like this, what difference does it make whether you're alive or dead? It's just a matter of sooner or later."
Carl still shook his head.
He had a way out and it hadn't reached the point of risking everything. He changed the subject back, "Let's talk about the Breathing Method."
"Fine then!"
Kolon sighed.
Shortly thereafter, the two agreed on the deal, and Kolon beckoned to the youth at his stall.
"Her name is Ayala. If I'm not here, you can look for her. Don't be fooled by her thin frame. She's very sharp-witted."
"Ayala?" Carl scrutinized her. "A girl?"
"Yes."
Ayala rubbed her hands together, her large eyes staring straight at him. "Sir, I hope you'll give my business plenty of support in the future."
Carl touched the book inside his jacket, his heartbeat quickening as he hurried back to his dwelling after leaving the marketplace.
Having waited for so long to get his hands on the Breathing Method, he was now somewhat impatient to start.
"Hmm?"
"BANG!"
The broadsword, still in its scabbard, collided with a wooden stick, and Carl stumbled back but steadied himself at the entrance of the alleyway.
Several silhouettes loomed in the alley.
And two men lay on the ground, barely alive.
This seems to be a murder scene. Did they launch a sneak attack just because I was passing by and they were worried about being seen?
An unwarranted calamity!
"Gentlemen."
With sword in hand, Carl slowly backed away and spoke gravely, "I have nothing to do with what's here, and I haven't seen anything."
"Uhh..."
From the crowd, a burly figure stepped forward, his gaze falling on Carl, especially lingering on the broadsword.
"Boss!"
Someone whispered quietly, "Should we...?"
"Forget it."
The burly man spoke in a muffled voice, gesturing to Carl. "Go on, get out of here!"
Carl retreated step by step and, once a safe distance away, turned and sprinted, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.
"Boss."
In the alley, someone said, "That man doesn't seem to have practiced a Breathing Method. It wouldn't be hard to take him down."
"There's no need."
The burly man spoke up. "His sword handling is very stable. He might not be without skills, and the bulge in his sleeve could very well hide a sleeve arrow."
"The main point is..."
"He doesn't carry any goods, so killing him would bring no advantages. It's not worth taking unnecessary risks. Let's get this place cleaned up first."
"Yes, sir." One of the subordinates nodded, holding a blood-dripping longsword as he walked toward one of the men on the ground and plunged the sword down fiercely.
"SHLICK!"
Blood splattered everywhere.