Wildness and Masks

Ogre would never know what kind of fate awaited him a month later.

Anyway, he's quite happy right now.

"Oggy, how come you're out so quickly today?" the backdoor guard routinely asked.

"Master Yard told me he found a more professional mural restorer, so I've been reassigned to clean the storage room," Ogre lied without batting an eye.

"Does the storage room even need cleaning? Did you get your wages for today, Oggy?" the guard reminded him.

"Uh, I think I forgot." Ogre scratched his head, overwhelmed by the information he had just received, causing him to forget.

Playing the part to the end, collecting his wages—Master Yard should understand, right?

"Oggy, you—how could you forget something like this? Here, take it. This is the leftover from before," the guard said, pulling out a small pouch of coins from his waist and tossing it to Ogre.

Ogre instinctively caught the pouch and opened it to count.

One, two... a total of twelve copper coins and two silver coins.

'There's an extra silver coin...' Ogre lifted his head and picked out a silver coin from the pouch.

"You gave me too much." Ogre had a moral compass for what he could and couldn't take.

'This silly kid, can't he just keep the extra for himself... seriously.'

The guard snorted and waved his hand. "I added that for you. You should eat better while you can't find work. At your age, you can't make up for a malnourished body later."

Ogre wanted to say he didn't need an extra silver coin.

But after a moment's thought, he accepted the kindness. "Thank you, big brother guard."

After Ogre left, the guard looked at the empty back hall and showed a somewhat wistful expression.

"Sigh, youth is wonderful."

***

Since he didn't have to continue laboring on the mural, Ogre had some free time to head to the black market early.

With a light step, Ogre walked straight into the more chaotic slum area.

Compared to the sunlit main city.

The chaotic and narrow slum seemed out of place—where even the light of truth and dawn never shone on this land.

In Ogre's view, this area near the Demon Beast Forest was essentially no different from the forest itself.

Turning a corner, the patterned mask once again appeared on Ogre's face.

In places where truth and dawn don't shine, strength is the only language.

The weaker Oggy was more suited to the main city.

While the 'Gourmet' was more suited to the arena and this chaotic place.

Although the Professional Association and the stationed kingdom army were right next to the slum.

They didn't care much about what happened inside—unless there was a demon beast invasion or a large-scale massacre.

The existence of the slum itself served as a buffer against demon beasts.

Initially, the people who came here were homeless drifters; the main city wouldn't take them in, so they settled near the relatively safe Professional Association.

As time passed, more and more refugees arrived, and the outer construction became increasingly large.

This was mainly because the Church only took in young orphans.

Children with potential could be nurtured.

But adult drifters were different; they weren't cost-effective from any angle. If they were lucky, they might be hired as laborers; if not, they could only try their luck in this area.

Almost every girl in the slum, after giving birth, would choose to send her child to the Church.

This had become an unspoken rule.

As the slum grew larger, many criminals could also hide among the refugees, and gradually, some shady businesses began to develop within this 'protective wall.'

As for whether any nobles were involved.

That's hard to say.

After all, nobles rarely cared about commoners, let alone these tax-exempt poor.

And the black market Ogre was heading to was deep within the slum.

Many illegal wizard apprentices, second-hand dealers, and other intelligent beings of various races gathered in this place.

Many items unavailable locally could be found here—including slaves of various races, though the prices... were hard to say.

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan

Of course, the sources of these items were even harder to say.

Their quality was generally not guaranteed.

The only standout might be the various tasks in the black market, which often offered much higher rewards than those from the Professional Association.

These were designed for those Extraordinary Beings with questionable identities.

Ogre was sure.

The real Professional Association definitely had people planted here, and the task organization in the black market might even be run by the Association—to make use of these money-driven individuals.

In a way, the black market area was still the safest place in the slum.

The black market ensured the rights of both buyers and sellers, and if safety was a concern—the random distance teleportation array at the exit could be used for a fee.

Whoever thought of that was a genius.

"Turn all of these into money for me." Ogre took out some miscellaneous items from his bag—mostly jewelry and gold teeth.

Some he collected in the forest, others were 'gifts' from those who liked to bully the weak.

Ogre usually only picked up more valuable materials because they were easier to convert into money, but the downside was—only the exchange at the entrance would take them.

"Oh, and this too." Ogre took out half a bottle of leftover Healing Potion.

"This potion's quality isn't low, good stuff." The dwarf appraiser rubbed his hands. In the black market, high-quality Healing Potions often sold at a premium and were in high demand.

Even half a bottle could be diluted with inferior Healing Potions to make at least five bottles!

Half a bottle at half a Gold Coin was the official price, but in the black market, it was worth at least three Gold Coins.

If Ogre had a 'stall,' and his own magic resistance wouldn't dilute the potion's effect, he wouldn't convert it directly into Gold Coins.

"Turn it all into Gold Coins for me," Ogre said.

"Alright, please wait a moment, dear customer." The dwarf appraiser began calculating the price.

Compared to dwarves, the gnome race wasn't as stocky and appeared much shrewder.

Though it's said that dwarves and gnomes share a common ancestor, their talents in weapon crafting are evidently different. Most importantly, gnomes don't like drinking and rarely grow beards, and even if they do, they're very short.

Compared to similar goblins, gnomes aren't as greedy, though they both have a talent for appraisal.

But gnomes are much more popular than the cunning goblins who look like goblins.

After all, gnomes don't generally like to steal money like goblins.

Even in the Church of Truth, there are quite a few gnome members.

"The total is twelve Gold, fifty Silver, and fifteen Copper Coins, my customer." The gnome swiftly packed the three types of currency into a small black pouch and handed it to Ogre.

For transactions of this level, the pouch was complimentary.

Ogre put away the money, then took out ten Copper Coins to give to the gnome, in exchange for a one-time identity token to enter the black market.

These tokens were engraved with magical runes that identified the holder, allowing them to pass through the black market barrier, but only once.

Though the barrier's protection wasn't great, if you tried to force your way in, you'd have to consider how many you could take on.

"Here is your identity token, dear customer."

With the token in hand, Ogre stepped into the black market.

He was mainly here to purchase Transcendent food for 'consumption.'

As for the black casino inside and some deceitful items, Ogre didn't plan to touch those.

In any case, the ogre's meal box was ready.