The Black Market

"Okay, let me do the talking…" Lili said before we stepped into the shady-looking shop, 'PAWN SHOP' was written on the board nailed on top of the door.

Bells chimed, revealing dusty shelves crammed with all kinds of things ranging from halberds to stuffed toys.

The floor creaked with every step we took towards the long counter at the end of the shop. And behind the desk slept a short man. He had a white beard, an enormous beer belly, and a big red nose. Neither a Dwarf nor a Pallum.

"Wake up old man! Got business for you!" shouted Lili as she slammed her palm on the desk with a 'BANG!' jolting the little guy's soul awake.

"HOLY!…" his eyes popped open like headlights of a car, while his body shook like a vibrating cylinder, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

It took him a few comical seconds to collect his 'elderly' bearings before he spoke between huffs and indignation.

"Are you tryin'a give this ol'man a heart attack?"

"You wouldn't be here if you died that easy…" said Lili, as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Oye! Who that eye candy behind' ya?" the man said in his raspy voice as he pointed his finger at me.

"Don't swing that way…" I simply replied with my hands in my pockets.

His eyes snapped in further indignation as he slapped his hands on the table and said…

"Just take the damn compliment! 'Humph!'… Kids these days have lost all respects for their elders…" looking at the giggling Lili, he spoke again,

"So, you got business for me again, huh? Let me appraise it and see how much it's worth…"

The old man then took the spear before disappearing into the back of the room, leaving me and Lili alone.

"That wasn't a Dwarf, was it?" I asked the question spinning in my mind since the moment I saw the old man.

"Nope… He is a Gnome. One of the few races closest to the Fairies and The Great Spirits. Although they have no combat or magical capabilities, Gnomes are the best appraisals one could find… Enough about that. Give me the mana potion you have."

With my head tilted in confusion, I handed her the yellow Grade- 1 Mana Potion I took from that dead guy in the dungeon.

Placing it onto the counter, Lili turned to me and said, "With this out of the way… Let's gear you up."

"Hold on a sec. What's wrong with it?"

Lili's fluffy cheeks took on a shade of pink as her eyes darted around the shop. With a forced chuckle, she replied;

"It's… not a Mana Potion."

"Then what is it?"

"Let's not talk about it, hehe… Why don't you go look around and see if something catches your eye…?" She said while the pink on her face got a shade deeper.

Crouching before her, I brought myself to the same level as her. Looking into her fidgeting eyes, I flash the gentlest smile I could muster;

"Lili… What's in the bottle?"

"No-Nothing! It's nothing special! I'll buy you two vials of Mana Potions! Sound good?"

"Lili… What's in…?"

Like a stick snapping, she jumped up in the air with a monkey red face and hands up as she confessed,

"Wahaa! Fine! IT'S SOME CHEAP APHRODISIAC! YOU HAPPY NOW!?!"

"Ptfff…!"

-Cough! Cough!

/ Wow… Lol! /

With a '-swish!' I Seized them red loli cheeks and pinched them as hard as I could, "You seriously gave me that?!? I genuinely thought it was Mana Potion!"

"Ahhh! I'm sholly! Olkay? Now let me go! You cheek ph'etishist!"

"Ohoho! You like it don't you!"

/Aww shit here we go again… /

The Gnome, the owner of the shop, walked out of the appraisal room only to find me and Lili cheek-wrestling it out and a bottle of aphrodisiac on the table.

"That's some kinky stuff on my table… I'm happy for you, little one." He said as he winked at us with a knowing smile.

Freeing her flaming red cheeks from my grip, Lili turned to him and spoke with an even more powerful fluster, "Shut up, old man! Now, how much for the spear!"

"Well, it's a bonafide Grade-1 weapon with the same Grade Mithril blade… The best I can do is 30,000 Vs." said the Gnome as he stroke his beard.

"Deal…"

"Very well… You want jewelry or cash?"

"Cash this time… And I want to withdraw 50,000 from my account too."

"Going on a Honey Moon, eh?"

"Wh… No! Preparing for war."

"Ahh… So you finally decided to take action!" the man with an encouraging grin on his face.

Lili's lips too curled into a grin as she said with a nod, "Yup!"

Turning back to me Lili said, "Master Argus, take anything you need…"

I on the other hand was so not done with her. So like the civilized young master I am, I got back at her the other way around.

"Yeah�� I think I will. Alright sir, give me five Grade-1 Mana Potions, a Stamina Potion, a watch… and do you have Karambits?"

"Wait! Wait! Two are more than enough! And you don't need a Stamina Potion!" said Lili with eyes wide open and hands on her waist.

I knew this was going to happen, and I had a Jutsu ready for it, it was something I rarely ever used but every time I did, I struck it big.

-GET WHAT YOU WANT STYLE- PUPPY DOG EYES'N LOGICS JUTSU!

My head tilted down and my 'pitiful' eyes stared into Lili's I spoke in a 'quivering voice' while grabbing her hands and swinging them back and forth;

"Please… Lili? It's not that I want to waste your 'hard-earned' money, and you know that! It's just that my fighting style is almost completely mana oriented and I easily run out of mana. What if something happened to me in the dungeon just because I ran out of mana AND the two potions? And as for the stamina potion… You know I get tired easily�� and what would happen to me if I ran out of stamina in the middle of a fight? So, please…? And Karambit is the only weapon I know how to use… So you see, I'm only asking for the essentials! "

Lili stood in dumb stun for few seconds as she registered 'what the hell is happening', and the fact that- for some reason, it makes sense.

"You… This is cheating!"

/ It always works like a charm~/

[Yup!]