“Gray market?”
“Yeah. Do you remember the last time when you asked whether I know about the black market?”
Forrest poured the wine and handed one to Oliver, and asked.
“Yes… you said you knew something similar.”
“You have a good memory. The Gray market is very similar to the Black market. Technically, it’s more like a side branch of the black market than being something similar.”
"A side branch?
"Yes, I understand that you don't know about them, because they came into existence recently. It's a kind of sales strategy for low-grade products."
Forrest went on with his explanation. From the way he spoke, he seemed to know a lot about the Gray market.
“A gray market is a place that sells small or low-grade goods among the items distributed in the black market.”
After thinking for a while, Oliver took a sip of the drink that Forrest gave him and then asked.
"…What kind of low-grade items are you talking about?”
“Small items like low-tier information, drugs, moonshine liquor, magic items, human emotions, and Life-force, and even sometimes black magic books.”
Oliver was intrigued at that moment.
“Black magic books?”
"Yes, but it won’t be that great. It might be just some basic books."
Forrest said in a passive tone, but Oliver did not care about it.
He was rather excited.
Even if he did not get a satisfactory result right away, he thought he could take the first step toward his goal.
It felt like a clue to the puzzles in his head, and Oliver felt great pleasure in this process of solving the puzzle by taking one step at a time.
"…are you okay?"
"What? Oh, yes… Then, are there places that handle high-grade items?"
"Of course, it's divided into black markets and gray markets just for convenience, but on the inside, they are subdivided into invisible grades. There are definitely places that handle higher-grade items. The problem is, it's not easy to find. Security is tighter."
“How can I gain access to the higher-rated market?”
“You have to spend a lot of money to get an invitation, or you have to befriend a tycoon who has ties with the black market. For example, a person involved with Crime Firm. They are the people most certain to get access.”
“Is it because Crime Firm is the one that’s managing the black market?
Forrest paused for a moment at Oliver's question.
"… You are half right and half wrong."
"…?"
“It is true that Crime Firm is deeply related to the black market, but they do not manage all of them. The black market is more abstract and complex. It’s not controlled by a single entity, but a cluster, so it’s not easy to understand all about the black market… It's dangerous."
Oliver examined Forrest's emotions.
He didn’t know whether the story itself was true or not, but Forrest's emotions were sincere.
It was unexpected.
He knew a lot more than Oliver thought, even though he said he didn't know anything when Oliver first asked about the black market.
"I see."
"Yes, anyway, let's get back to the point. The place I’ll introduce won't be a bad place for your first time. The quality of the products may be a little inferior, but it's not too dangerous. You can also replenish the emotions."
With those words, Forrest gave a note with a rough map along with a strange business card.
The ‘F’ sign of Forrest was drawn on the business card.
"This is a map with the location and an entry ticket. Use the map once and burn it. If it leaks, you may lose your credibility."
Oliver nodded and put the note and business card into his pocket.
“Thank you for the gift.”
"You're welcome. I introduced you to the gray market because you handled the job well. So, I hope you like it.”
“Yeah, I like it very much… Then, may I speak this time?"
“Oh, yeah, you said you wanted to ask something, right? What is it?”
“You said that you will briefly tell me how Mr. Forrest gathers information when I complete the job and return successfully. So can you tell me now?”
"Oh, right. I made that promise, didn't I? Well, all right, it's not that great anyway.”
"Thank you."
Before speaking, Forrest poured some drink back into his glass and Oliver's.
“Um…there are many ways to get information, and it’s surprisingly easy, very easy.”
“Oh, is it?”
“You can think of it as a kind of snowball. When you met some conditions to gather information, you roll it. Then the information gathers on its own… In my case, the condition was being part of the broker's union.”
“Are you from the broker’s union?”
“Yeah, because of the nature of this job, everyone is interested in the information. The rapidly changing situations, accidents, emergence of new characters, etc. So the brokers of the same union just share information at a certain level.”
“Sharing?”
"Only certain levels of information, while more confidential, and detailed information is traded between individuals. Money or information is the basic to build connections between people like them."
"Umm… I see. So, do you get all the information through the broker's union?"
"No. They're business partners but at the same time, they are also competitors. If I solely rely on them then I'll fall behind. Everyone has their own information line. In my case, I use Solvers and information dealers."
"Information dealers?… Are you talking about Ms. Coco?"
“Ah, I guess you two have already met.”
"Yes, on my way here yesterday."
"She is one of the information dealers I do business with. If there's information worth selling, they will come to me, or I'll go and ask for it."
Oliver nodded with interest like a child listening to a fairy tale.
“Then… do you get information only from brokers’ union, solvers, and information dealers?”
Oliver asked while looking at the Forrest. To be exact, he looked at Forrest’s emotions.
“… No. I don’t use it often, but there is another line.”
“Um, where?”
"It's an organization called Heimdal."
“Heimdal?”
“Yeah, it’s a group of magical hackers dealing with the World Tree.”
"World Tree…? Magical Hackers…?"
As Oliver asked a new question, Forrest laughed a little.
“I don’t know that much about both. Well, no one really knows about them. Even the warlocks in the underworld probably don’t know much about them.”
“…can you tell me what you know?”
Forrest checked his watch.
“Um… I’m sorry, but can we do it later? I have an appointment with an important guest.”
"Ah…"
Oliver exclaimed in regret.
He checked his watch, and obviously, quite a bit of time had passed.
Even though he was very curious, Oliver still nodded obediently.
Having already heard enough interesting information, he thought it was inappropriate to bother anymore.
"Yes. I understand."
"I'm sorry. I'll answer you later when I have time."
“No. You have helped a lot…ah!”
Oliver began to search through his pocket as Forrest got ready to leave.
“What are you doing?”
“Wait a minute. I have something to give you. I don’t know if it will be of any help to Mr. Forrest.”
With those words, Oliver took out a bottle of potion, books, and documents that he had obtained from the wizard’s workshop.
Forest showed interest as he looked at the items.
"Is this…?"
“I found it at the Wizard’s workshop. I don’t know for sure, but I thought it would be useful.”
Forrest looked through the books and documents more actively. The emotions of joy and pleasure shone, and among them, there was shock and surprise when he saw the potion.
"… Did you really get this from the workshop?"
“Yes, I just picked it up because it was there. I don’t know if it’s all right.”
“It’s all right… I thought it was a gift-giving day, but it turned out to be a gift-receiving day.”
“I am glad that you liked it.”
“Thank you very much. Will you come again tomorrow?”
After thinking for a moment, Oliver shook his head.
"No. Since Mr. Forrest told me about a good place, I think I'll go there tomorrow."
“Okay then, see you later.”
After shaking hands with Forrest, Oliver came out of the restaurant.
As he stepped out onto the street, he looked at the map that Forrest gave him.
The map showed a marketplace in District T.
It was a little strange that the Gray market was located in a normal marketplace.
But, that was not important for Oliver.
The important thing was that he finished the job successfully, and although it wasn't a black market, he was still able to gain access to the Gray market which was a side branch of the Black market.
He wanted to go right away, but he was tired because he had been working all night, so he decided to go to bed tonight.
He could not believe that he got a lead already, he was really looking forward to tomorrow.
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
If the expectations were high, the disappointment will also be higher.
This was a passage that Oliver read from Joseph's journal in the past.
It was a phrase Joseph wrote when he couldn't conquer Wineham due to the intervention of the pharmacist and had to share it with the Dominic and Anthony families.
At that time, Oliver could only understand the meaning of this phrase, but could not sympathize with it, and right at this moment, he understood how Joseph felt.
He was sorry for Forrest, who took the best care of him, but it was just that the Gray Market he introduced to Oliver was a huge disappointment…
Or maybe Oliver was expecting too much.
His heart raced with anticipation while walking around the busy marketplace in the district, and he gave the business card to the gatekeeper who was disguised as a fruit vendor, but as soon as he walked in, his excitement turned into utter disappointment.
The first thing that came to Oliver’s mind was – it’s way too ordinary.
The Gray market, which was secretly installed inside the marketplace, was very similar to the marketplace on the outside.
It was just the same thing.
A stand with stacked fruits, a butcher's shop with meat on it, and a wagon parked with strange herbs.
No, that was not the big problem.
The biggest problem was, the products sold here did not meet Oliver's expectations.
As Forrest said, in the gray market, people who looked like warlocks were selling emotions and Life-force extracted, in small stalls, but the quality of these emotions was very poor.
It was as if they were forcibly squeezed out.
And it was the same with black magic items like gluttonous bags, leather masks, watcher's eyes, and energy supplements.
Compared to what he saw in the workshop of Joseph Family and Gylph’s workshop, the items here were very crude.
He had never made some of these, but he thought he could make better than this if he was asked to make it right now.
In a way, it was obvious.
What was in this market was at best a trumpet for third-class thieves.
Oliver was expecting too much because it was connected to the Black market.
In the end, a side branch was just a side branch.
Still, Oliver decided to purchase some items for his experience since it was a waste to go back empty-handed like this.
He bought one of each of the extracted emotions and Life-force, a leather mask, a gluttonous bag, and a watcher's eye.
Oliver had the same things now, but they were well-made items, so he was afraid to use them for experimentation, so he bought these items for his research.
When he thought like that, he felt good in some ways.
So, after putting the emotions and black magic items in the bag, Oliver decided to spend the rest of his time exploring the gray market.
He found nothing of interest, but he still looked around to familiarize himself in case the next time he visited another gray market or black market.
As he went deep inside, he could see something different.
There were also places selling old watches, stuffed animals with strange looks, elixir made from the Life-force of animals, cheap Pilgarets, and even books.
It was not books about black magic or demons, but it was strange books with pictures of naked women.
Anyway, Oliver looked around the gray market and bought more leather belts and cases to store test tubes and left the gray market.
Although he frequently got tired after leaving the Joseph family, he was never bored or disappointed.
Oliver headed to the accommodation feeling that way.
He felt like he was exhausted.
Just as Oliver was about to leave he felt something.
It was only for a fleeting moment, but he definitely felt something.
It was something similar to the Lightning Wizard he had met in the past.
It was definitely not an illusion, and when he turned his eyes he saw an old man sitting at the end of the market.
“Hello, mate. How about reading a book?”
(To be Continued)
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