Not a barbarian warrior.

The suddenly appeared boy guided Eugene and Lorena somewhere. The boy’s steps were confident.

He turned off from a wide main street into a side alley, then continued through narrow alleys, over small walls, and through dog holes barely big enough for one person to pass through.

Eugene, who had the largest build among the group, experienced some trial and error passing through the dog hole, but managed to squeeze through safely nonetheless.

The place where the boy led the two to after all that was a shabby tavern.

The wooden door was rotting, and the rusted hinges made creaking sounds as they swayed in the wind. There were cracks running here and there on the building’s walls, and it was overall so shaded that sunlight barely entered even though it was daytime.

“We’ve arrived.”

The boy spread both arms wide with a bright face, pointing at the tavern. As if to say, hurry and go inside.

Of course, Eugene didn’t move his steps as the kid said. Go into such a suspicious place? Who knows what kind of guy might jump out from inside? Not a chance.

He stood in front of Lorena, looking around warily. Lorena put her hand on the staff hidden in her bosom.

Seeing the two’s appearance, the kid waved his hand and said:

“Pretty sister, this is the only way to buy the items you mentioned cheaply.”

“P-Pretty sister…?”

“That’s right. Pretty sister.”

“Hehe… Eugene, did you hear? He called me p-pretty sister…”

While Lorena raised the corners of her mouth and giggled, Eugene still didn’t let his guard down.

“Explain in detail.”

“There are many reasons why things are expensive, but one of them is because they pass through many hands in between. But here you can buy much cheaper. Because it doesn’t go through unnecessary hands.”

Eugene, who seemed to have noticed something from the boy’s words, opened his mouth:

“Those unnecessary hands you mentioned…”

“Shh. Let’s hurry inside now. It’s not good to stand around here for long.”

The boy grabbed Eugene and Lorena’s hands and hurriedly headed towards the tavern.

As they opened the door and went inside, the shabby interior of the tavern, much like the outside, came into view. Inside the store with not a single customer, a middle-aged man who looked like the owner was sitting in a chair, letting out a long yawn.

“Yawn… It’s not business hours yet. Hm? Kid, what brings you here?”

“Mister, do you have any quartz, lead, and mercury left? If you do, can you show me? This sister is looking for them.”

“…I don’t have mercury, but I have the others. How much do you need?”

“About two hundred grams of quartz, and a hundred grams of lead…”

“Hmm… Wait a moment.”

The owner pushed aside the floorboards on the ground, then carefully lifted the floor. As a small hidden space inside was revealed, he reached his arm in and fumbled around, then soon pulled out a chunk of pure white quartz.

“Will this do?”

Lorena took the quartz from the owner and examined it this way and that. She, who hadn’t expected to find such good quality quartz in a place like this, said with shining eyes:

“Hmm… No cracks either… It’s good! This should be enough…!”

The owner then took out a lump of lead from inside the floor and placed it on the table. It was clearly well over a hundred grams. He said with an indifferent face:

“I can’t match the weight exactly, so just take it generously.”

“H-How much is it?”

The owner spread both palms wide to show. He was saying to give him ten silver coins.

“Ten silver coins? Why is it so cheap…?”

“Heheh… Of course it’s cheap. Who would buy smuggled goods if they were expensive?”

“S-Smuggled goods?”

Only then did Lorena realize that what she was doing was black market trading. She looked around with a pale face. It would be big trouble if someone caught them.

The owner said to the flustered Lorena with a relaxed expression:

“Nobody knows anyway. I’ve been doing business here for years. Just pay up and take it quickly.”

Lorena hesitated for a moment but finally took out silver coins from her pocket and held them out.

It was fine as long as they weren’t caught. Besides, they weren’t going to stay in Eslan for long anyway. Rather than paying nearly two gold coins to that Alchemy Guild, she concluded it was much better to take a little risk.

After finishing the transaction, the owner tidied up the floor again and laid down the floorboards. Eugene’s group, who had come out of the tavern, immediately left the place following the boy.

The three people again went through narrow alleys, over walls, and through dog holes. Eugene, who had barely squeezed through the dog hole, said:

“…Isn’t there another way?”

“This is the safest way to move.”

The boy moved through paths that seemed unlikely for people to use. While moving to another store, Eugene’s group was able to encounter no one.

“Now, you should be able to buy orpiment and mercury here.”

This time too, it was a shabby store. As they went inside, an indescribably terrible smell wafted out. Eugene and Lorena could immediately tell what this smell was from.

Inside the store were all sorts of well-dried medicinal herbs and poisonous plants in baskets.

The old woman sitting leaning on a wooden chair stared at Lorena’s appearance, then got up without saying a word.

The old woman carefully put yellow powder from a drawer onto paper, wrapped it well, and handed it to Lorena.

“Mix a pinch in water and drink it morning and evening.”

As the old woman looked at her with pitying eyes, Lorena was simply bewildered.

“…?”

She knew that what was in the paper was powdered orpiment. Orpiment was highly toxic and should never be eaten. But why was she suddenly telling her to mix it with water and drink it?

“Um… There’s a problem…”

“What?”

“First, the amount is not enough…”

“That should be enough. You might die if you eat too much.”

“…Why do you keep telling me to eat it when you know that…?”

At Lorena’s question, the old woman tilted her head. She seemed to have just noticed there was some misunderstanding.

“You didn’t come to me to give up the child…?”

At the question asking if she hadn’t come looking for an abortion drug, Lorena hurriedly shook her head.

“Eh…? Eeh…! N-No, that’s not it…?”

Then the old woman burst out angrily:

“Then you should have said so from the start…!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

As Lorena bowed her head, the old woman let out a long sigh and asked:

“Then what are you going to use that powder for?”

“Um… I’m trying to make something…”

“You know how toxic it is, right? You’ll have to handle it carefully. So, how much do you need?”

“Ah, and I need mercury too… As for how much I need…”

Lorena was able to get orpiment and mercury from the old woman for thirty silver coins. Having made a good deal, she packed up the materials with a beaming face and came out of the store.

“N-Now let’s hurry back…!”

She had a beaming face at the thought of making artifacts right away. Now all that was left was to return safely to the mansion.

Eugene and Lorena moved their steps following the boy’s guidance. As they were moving like that for quite a while.

While passing through a narrow alley, a group blocked Eugene’s party’s path. The guys, who all looked like ruffians, appeared as if they had been waiting and said:

“Hey, you’ll need to pay a toll to pass through here.”

“…”

The kid who was leading the way turned his head to look at Eugene. The boy had an expression full of fear.

Eugene entrusted the boy to Lorena who was behind and stepped forward.

“Eu-Eugene… Should I step in…? You don’t even have a weapon right now…”

Eugene shook his head at her words. If they caused a big commotion in a place like this, it could make things even more troublesome.

As Eugene stepped forward empty-handed, the thugs who had been hanging around the back alleys took out small knives and rushed at him.

As it was an alley narrow enough for just one person to barely pass through, Eugene only had to deal with one guy at a time. This was a very easy task for him.

Eugene immediately snatched the knife flying towards his face, then struck the opponent’s chin.

“Ugh…”

Not only did he lose his knife, but the guy who stepped forward first lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, the other guys realized Eugene’s skills were not ordinary, but for some reason, they didn’t back down.

Eugene quickly subdued the next guy as well. Similarly, he took away the weapon and kicked him in the stomach, making him fall to the ground.

“Ah… Damn it…”

The remaining guys let out low curses, and only then left the place. Eugene lightly clapped his hands and said to the boy:

“Let’s hurry.”

“Y-Yes…”

The boy who took the lead again moved forward more cautiously than before. Eugene felt the path had become much narrower and more complicated than earlier, but he silently followed behind the boy.

After moving like that for quite a while longer, they were finally able to emerge onto a main street where many people were passing by.

“Phew…”

The boy who had safely gotten the two out without further incident let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Eugene patted the boy’s head and said:

“You did well.”

Although they had encountered some trash at the end, the boy had been an excellent guide. This kid deserved a reward. How many silver coins had they saved thanks to him?

Eugene immediately took out several silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the boy.

Then the boy opened his eyes wide and looked back and forth between the silver coins in his hand and Eugene’s face.

Of course, that wasn’t the end. Lorena also took out silver coins from her pocket and put them in the boy’s hand.

For a boy who had been wandering the back alleys of Eslan, it was truly an enormous sum.

The boy alternately looked at the silver coins filling his hand and the faces of the two people with wet eyes, repeatedly bowing his head.

“Th-Thank you! Thank you!”

Eugene patted the boy’s shoulder and said:

“Go home safely. Don’t let some weird guy take it from you.”

“Yes!”

The boy immediately hid the silver coins in his hand deep inside his clothes.

His guidance ended here. The boy did not come out of the side alley leading to the main street.

The place he had to return to after finishing today’s work was the back alleys of the city he had just left.

Eugene and Lorena waved their hands to the boy and left.

As they walked towards the mansion, the two talked about the boy.

“Will he be okay… Wh-What if someone takes his money…”

“He’s a smart kid, so he won’t let it be taken easily.”

“Hmm… I’m still worried though…”

“All we can do is hope for luck to be with that child. There’s nothing more we can do for him beyond this.”

“That’s true…”

Lorena nodded and prayed inwardly.

For the nameless boy they had just parted with to have a safe future ahead.