Alex and Benezia wait a little off to the side. At the same time, Menchi has stepped into a nearby alley to call her master. Alex leans against a building, watching the people of Yorknew pass by, taking in the scenery.
Looking more closely, he notices all kinds of people with seemingly endless different backgrounds, yet they all share one thing in common.
They all look incredibly busy.
"Interesting place, huh?" Alex asks Benezia.
"The scenery might differ, but wherever you go, societies almost always resemble each other closely," Benezia replies solemnly. "If you visit business-centric planets such as Illium or the Citadel and actually take the time to observe the people living there, you would notice that things are hardly any different."
"I take it Asari societies are still different, right? I mean, you have a lot more... time," Alex asks, genuinely curious.
"You would think so, but that isn't necessarily the case. Time is always scarce, and business rarely waits. While there are certainly exceptions, I would assume such exceptions can be found here as well. As for larger cities such as Yorknew, the atmosphere is almost always the same."
Spider Society is even worse! Princess Jewel should know.
"How?" Alex asks. "You didn't even live inside one!"
Princess Jewel inherited a lot of memories... she just knows how things are. She could never imagine living that way.
"...Well, thankfully you don't have to," Alex says, trying to cheer her up. "No matter what happens."
Finally, after around 30 minutes, Menchi returns, wiping a few tears from her eyes.
"It's hard... not being able to tell the truth," she says, her face still full of emotion.
"I'm sorry," Alex says, pulling her into a brief hug. "You don't need to tell us anything if you don't want to."
"She's in the Empire... far away on an expedition to discover new beasts... ingredients... for new recipes," Menchi explains. "She called it her last big journey."
"...The Empire... that's quite far away..." Alex says. "Probably hard for her to visit... under these circumstances and the importance of her journey."
"Yes... and I don't want to ruin it for her," Menchi continues. "I'll do my best to write her a few mails and letters. I can still tell her about my progress and adventures... in a roundabout way. I can also send her new recipes I've come up with, along with a few ingredients that do not spoil. Anyway, we'd best hurry up."
"Yeah..." Alex agrees.
Looks like she's fine... for now. Just massively disappointed.
The group heads toward the site of the Southern Piece Auction, while Alex tries to call the number on the back of the [Julius Card], which is still part of his Mission item, the [VIP Invitation] he used to enter the world.
When his contact doesn't pick up, Alex sends a few messages instead and soon receives a reply, reading it carefully.
"I'm quite busy and honestly quite inconvenienced by your decision not to accept my generous offer. I could have turned you into a multi-billionaire. Still, if you require something, just enter the auction site. Someone will pick you up if you introduce yourself at the reception."
"What a salty fucker..." Alex mutters. "Though I guess... he doesn't owe me anything."
"Indeed," Benezia confirms. "Considering you only met him briefly and he handed you his card, the amount of help he is offering is already quite surprising. It's most likely based on your Reputation... the Butcher, which always follows you into worlds. Though your identity as a Double-Star Hunter is probably also influencing him."
It's nice to be a bigshot, huh?
Back at the auction site, the group is indeed immediately approached by an employee dressed in a high-class suit, who slightly bows in front of Alex.
"Master Kerber... it is an honor to welcome someone of your stature to our establishment. How may I assist you? Master Julius has contacted me and instructed me to offer my utmost support."
Alex shrugs and gestures toward Benezia. "My... uh... associate requires some... assistance."
"I believe I will be fine on my own," Benezia says, looking at Alex in embarrassment.
"A moment, please," Alex says to the employee before pulling Benezia and Menchi aside.
"I told you about my earlier mission, right?" Alex asks, not giving her time to reply before immediately continuing. "I had a contact in Heaven's Arena called Sua. She helped me out with information about various competitors, along with a manager named Liz. Those two should have generated income from my personal floor. Despite my accomplishments being recognized by the system, I don't have any actual wealth, but they should have earned me something at least. Along with the two items you have with the 'Pricy' tag, you can probably start trading and building up funds, and maybe buy something at the auction. Since you're not familiar with the economy and only have a few days, it'll be difficult, but I believe in you."
"We already talked about that. I'll obtain a phone and take care of it. Focus on your mission, children," Benezia says, glancing at both Alex and Menchi. "I'm here so you don't have to concern yourselves with these matters."
"Good, we'll move on to the markets then," Alex decides. "The mission has already begun, and as always, other players are something we need to consider. It's best we start hunting for our target as early as possible, and while we're at it, we can earn ourselves a fortune. I don't want to miss the chance, I'm pretty much broke, and I need to obtain more funds, or I can't upgrade my items and skills in the future."
"Sounds good," Menchi replies, back at her cheerful and confident self.
They exchange a few more details, like phone numbers of various contacts, before parting ways with Benezia, who remains at the auction site.
Alex and Menchi leave together, heading toward the massive flea market, which isn't too far from the auction grounds.
"I've been here before," Menchi explains. "Though I didn't care much for the flea market, since my interest lies in food. Still, I can at least show you around. Make sure to use Gyo from time to time. That's the surefire way we talked about to discover hidden gems."
Gems!
"Hehe," Alex laughs. "No need to remind me to watch out for loot. I'm the Avatar of Greed. Also, Jewel, not literal gems, but expensive items."
Princess Jewel is the Avatar of Gems.
"You know, Jewel, sometimes it's better to stay out of conversations if you have nothing meaningful to add," Menchi says, looking genuinely baffled at the spider on top of Alex's head.
"I have to agree... also, we don't have any money—I just realized that. Once Benezia gets our earnings from Heaven's Arena wired, we might need to get some from her," Alex adds thoughtfully.
Princess Jewel always has meaningful things to add. Also, she'll just steal whatever she likes. This flea market can't stop her. Spiders eat fleas!
"Is this true?" Alex wonders before facepalming.
Getting distracted again... back to the topic at hand.
"Stealing, huh... If it's possible... if it's not a store... yes... it could work. I mean, it's not like we have much of a choice," Alex reasons, looking slightly embarrassed.
"I've got some money in my pocket," Menchi says, pulling out 20,000 Jenny in small bills. "It's only natural... I always carry at least some cash."
"Nice," Alex comments, grabbing a few bills and storing them in his inventory. "Makes sense, I guess."
Holding hands with Menchi, who moves forward playfully with long, energetic strides, they enter the flea market.
Thousands of small stands come into view, filled with hundreds of thousands of items scattered across the ground or placed on hastily assembled wooden shelves and tables.
"So many people and stands..." Alex mutters, activating Gyo as he scans the area. "But most of it is just junk or something that I can't recognize the worth of. Many treasures don't contain Aura... it's just a shortcut to spot things created by geniuses after all."
"I'll take the left side, you take the right side, Alex," Menchi suggests. "Jewel can replace one of us after a while. We need to rotate so we don't exhaust ourselves."
Princess Jewel agrees! She can even look at the right and the left side at the same time, because of her superior number of eyes.
With their plan in place, the group begins moving through the enormous flea market.
It doesn't take long before Alex spots something—a small wooden bowl with extremely detailed, intricate carvings. As he picks it up and examines it, the system reacts, recognizing the item.
[Wooden Bowl]
World: Hunter x Hunter
Quality: Light Green
Note: An old wooden bowl that has bravely endured centuries of history. It was created by a skilled tribal craftsman.
Note: Can't be taken out of this world.
Nice... I need that bowl. I can't shard it or take it with me, but we can turn it into money. Let me try to buy it first, I've got some cash, after all. These things look fairly common and worthless. Without Gyo, I wouldn't have noticed this crap.
"I don't have much time," Alex says to the seller, an elderly woman. "Can I buy this bowl?"
"I have nothing but time, young man, and in a sense, time is what I'm missing the most," the woman replies with a gentle smile.
"That's rather ironic, isn't it?" Alex says. "Still, I'd like this bowl now."
"And I'd like as much money as possible, which is why I follow the rules of this particular flea market. If you're interested, write an offer on the tag attached to it," the woman explains calmly. "If your offer is the highest when the market closes, you can pick it up."
Alex glances at the tag and sees a single offer of 200 Jenny, made by a man called Zepile.
Motherfucker... Zepile. Don't you have a real job? I guess I have no choice.
Sighing quietly, Alex steps away, activates Zetsu, returns, and simply snatches the bowl, leaving behind a 1000 Jenny note in its place, placing it under a half-filled teacup close to the woman.
Good job, Soulmate! Princess Jewel approves. Though why did Soulmate leave money behind?
Because I'm a hypocrite and won't feel too bad if I do that. Realistically, she wouldn't have gotten more. She probably wouldn't even notice... still, I feel better that way... that's just how I am, Jewel. Anyway, it looks like there are two types of items to find here. Full standard equipment, which exists in all places, as well as items that can't be taken out of this world, like this bowl. Those are the ones we need to sell or trade here, or we'll lose them when the mission is over.
Soulmate is too kind.
Am I? I feel like a rotten thief and vulture... still, I need to do this! I need more and more!
"Let's go! Let's clean up the place!" Alex orders with renewed passion.
"Yes!" Menchi replies, looking impressed.
Yes, Soulmate.
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