Chapter 85

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Episode 19 - Principles of a purpose [2]

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"Welcome to Zenonia’s Black Market."

The man gave a slight bow, then picked up three simple masks without any flashy designs and handed them to us.

"Wear these masks. Otherwise, your faces might be seen by someone unwanted."

With a smile, the man began explaining a few rules to us in a simple manner.

I put on the mask. It had a smile drawn on it and two holes for the eyes; there were also a few decorative lines so it would not look completely plain.

Anyway, after explaining the rules, the man opened the door behind him.

"Keep in mind that no disturbances or anything loud enough to attract attention will be tolerated, understood?"

His tone became sharper at the end. However, the three of us ignored him and kept walking.

I could sense his annoyance and irritation.

At last, we had entered the Black Market.

The place was not very large. After all, it was located in a small city where only travelers passing from one place to another would stop by.

There were a few improvised stalls, with large sheets spread across the ground where their products rested.

There were also rundown shops with dusty windows and interiors filled with various objects.

Dozens of people walked back and forth.

’Well, time to work.’

Once I had a rough understanding of the place’s size, I extended my senses and used Mana Sense.

The mana of every living being in that place appeared before me.

Each individual’s information, their movements, their positions, and so on.

I examined every one of them, then paused for a second.

’There’s someone pretty strong.’

I slightly raised my head toward the wall located on the other side of the Black Market.

There was some kind of private booth there. Using my senses, I pierced through the walls and noticed several figures sitting inside.

They were drinking some kind of expensive beer or wine. There were three of them in total, but the person seated in the center was the strongest.

’I don’t have any problems with the other two, but I wouldn’t be able to kill the one in the center fast enough before drawing everyone’s attention in this place.’

Obviously, there were dozens of villains there, most of them Class 4.

And the three people inside that booth were Class 5, although the one who seemed to be the leader was at the peak of Class 5.

"There are three Class 5s over there."

I discreetly pointed toward the place where my senses were focused.

"And a dozen Class 4s. The rest are humans or other races. Besides..."

I had also noticed something troubling.

I lowered my voice slightly and said:

"It looks like there are slaves being sold on the other side, to the left."

Luminus looked toward the private booth at the end of the Black Market and then toward the left side of where we were standing.

Charlotte spoke in a low voice.

"We should prioritize the slaves first."

Even though this was a false world created from the memories of the Fallen Maiden, after spending quite some time there, it no longer felt fake, but real.

Normally, I did not care about things like morality. However, the emotions created by the Fallen Maiden’s memories intensified the longer you remained trapped inside the Memory Gate.

’I can feel my emotions slowly increasing. Even though I barely have any emotions, if they become strong enough to overcome my Trait, I might actually experience them.’

My Trait could prevent me from feeling emotions, but it was not absolute.

I had not reached Maximum Mastery. If an emotion was intense enough, I could experience it far more strongly than a normal person.

’Even if the prologue is not very emotional, it is still a world created from memories.’

Meanwhile, Luminus pressed his lips into a thin line before saying:

"Alright, let’s put the villains aside for now."

Charlotte and I nodded, unaware that Luminus’s emotions were beginning to affect us.

***

Upon arriving at a large house, I used my senses and discovered there was a basement. The place was full of villains.

So, the moment we entered, the three of us attacked before the villains could react.

Wielding my sword, I cut through flesh and bone as if they were butter every time a villain approached me.

The red and blue lines in my vision guided me toward the best point of attack while several lifeless bodies fell to the ground.

The smell of blood, very different from human blood, permeated both my body and the entire place.

"It’s clear here."

Charlotte said as she walked out of a room.

"Same here."

Around me, a dozen bodies lay across the wooden floor soaked in black blood.

"Same."

Luminus said while returning and joining us in front of a door.

Using my senses, I noticed there were stairs on the other side.

We quickly opened the door and headed down to the basement.

As soon as we arrived downstairs, the smell of blood grew even stronger.

But it was not the blood of villains.

In my vision, white lines traced the entire surroundings.

Small bodies. Lifeless boys and girls.

Some had different features.

For example, some had longer fangs and pointed ears; others had tails and nonhuman ears.

Children of different races were lying all over the floor.

"They’re all... dead, but how?"

Charlotte’s voice was filled with disbelief, shock, and anger as well.

"They were still alive not long ago."

I muttered while using my senses.

There were no villains there. In fact, the villains themselves were lying on the floor with knives stabbed into their throats.

’These bastards killed themselves that easily... and took the children with them too.’

There were cages all over the place, boxes covered with cloth, and various tools used for torture, among many other things.

The lifeless bodies of the villains lay not far from the children’s corpses.

"This is fucking awful."

I let out a sigh while looking at some dolls inside the cages.

After inspecting the place for a while, Luminus opened her mouth and said:

"Let’s get out and finish this."

She turned around and walked up the stairs. Seeing her emotions, I said nothing and made no attempt to stop her.

"She’s really angry... but so am I. I don’t know why."

Charlotte murmured while looking around before turning her gaze toward me.

I shrugged and said:

"Depending on how emotional the memories left behind by the owner of a Memory Gate were, those emotions can affect us as well, and..."

I looked at Charlotte’s emotions. They were clearly forced emotions, since they did not belong to her.

But they were the same emotions Luminus had at that moment when she walked out, only much weaker, of course.

"Be careful. Don’t let someone else’s emotions overwhelm you. It’s not something that can be healed or removed."

Charlotte did not nod, but the emotion of concern was a pretty clear response to me.

Inside a Memory Gate, emotions are everyone’s greatest enemy.

Many people break down emotionally and end up dying or falling into a coma for a period of time in the real world.

Others manage to overcome and complete the Memory Gate, but they inherit the protagonist’s emotions afterward.

Memory Gates have their rewards, but they also have consequences.

At least, the issue of emotions still hadn’t affected me too much, but looking within myself...

My emotions were starting to grow stronger. Not intentionally or through experience, but simply with the passage of time.

’At the very least, I need to keep my emotions from surpassing my Trait before reaching the end.’

Eventually, we stepped outside. Outside, no one seemed to notice anything strange about the house behind us.

We had been discreet enough to kill a dozen villains within seconds of entering.

"Lead the way."

Luminus said while staring directly at me before turning her gaze forward again.

I nodded and started walking.

Since I was the only one capable of distinguishing the villains thanks to my senses and Mana Sense, it didn’t take long for us to find the next ones.

In what seemed to be an alleyway, there were two men and a woman.

’Sexual harassment, huh.’

Luminus was the only one who moved.

She appeared right behind both villains.

She drove her sword straight through one of their heads from top to bottom.

She grabbed the second one with her bare hands and squeezed with so much force that his head exploded.

Blood, fragments of brain matter, and pieces of bone filled the alleyway.

The organs and intestines of the first dead man slowly spread across the ground.

The woman, who looked fairly young, froze completely.

"What is a child doing here?"

Charlotte said as she approached the scene where Luminus was standing.

"You shouldn’t enter a Black Market so easily, you know?"

The girl, who was no longer wearing a mask, looked at Charlotte and spoke:

"T-they told me medicines for erosion poisoning were cheaper here, so I came... but those people brought me into this alley."

"Did you really follow them that easily?"

Charlotte let out a sigh and shook her head.

"Look, you shouldn’t trust anyone in this place. You shouldn’t even trust us, so I recommend that you leave this place, understood?"

The girl nodded several times, thanked them for saving her, and ran toward the exit of the Black Market.

Charlotte kept sighing, while Luminus simply watched in silence.

Then, after a few seconds, Luminus said:

"Let’s go after the next villain. Let’s not waste time."

Luminus walked out of the alley. Charlotte glanced at me briefly before following after Luminus.

’Mhm... I guess she’s already being affected by Luminus’s emotions, huh?’