Nighttime
Gim is in one of the streets near the bridge as always.
waiting for about thirty minutes before the customers enter from the opposite side of the alleyway. Two nobles went for Grims Place while the others went near the other seller.
"Hello to you, good sirs, what can I do for you."
Grim asks the nobles.
"Yes, we would like to have two dead deflower, devil's tongue, and the porridge."
"Certainly, sir, that would be 2 gold and 20 silver col."
After the transaction is done, Grim saw Horse closing near him.
" I see your product selling. maybe you want to get your master's product to be more recognizable. haw about you and I get into some sort of partnership. I promise I would not share the recipe and the procedures, and I would even give you connections down here. What do you say?"
Grim thought about it but still plan to refuse when he suddenly remembers that he needs to create those silver plates now or he would have to wait until next Sunday. deciding he needed to sell his recipe fast, he told Horse to get into another ally that is more hidden than the current one.
"Here's the deal horse, I will give you the recipe and how it's made, but in exchange, you give me money. and a way to enter the underground market." gim was sure there was an illegal market in a city this big, although not as easy to find as other hidden store black markets have more variety compared to the all surface market combined.
Mark gave a troubled look, glancing at the only exit way in the ally. After some time he gave Grim a frown like he was given a hard bargain on one hand he can get a customer underground and a recipe that can make him rich slowly but surely and on the other is the gang that may come after him if Grim where to tell them where his recipe came from leading to him getting beating up and was forced to surrender said recipe. " I either get rich or get rich and then get beaten. this potion only sells because this is not in the black market yet." After another minute of waiting, Grim's face, which looks darker than before, finally saw marks' lips move.
" OK, I'll buy your potion, but I will only take you to the entrance level where there are a few illegal items, I can't let you see the deeper side." Mark gave Grim a warning, but it's mostly for his safety as well.
" So how much is it?"
Grim replied with a blank face." 30 gold cols no less no more My teacher also needs some small funds for his experiments." Grim kept the act of having a teacher backing him.
"Who would talk about a 30 gold col as a small fund? it can already buy land near the merchant district." Mark wore a disbelieving gaze focused on the potion formula that was in the newspaper, Grim already wrote the formula and recipe from a newspaper and charcoal he always had on him.
" Is it a deal or not?" Grim said while holding a paper near the puddle under his foot.
" Of course! Here's the 30 gold. Let me have that for you." While giving the notes worth 30 cols, he also tried to reach the potion formula.
but before he touched it, Grim swayed his arm, dodging the approach.
After seeing this, Mark became nervous and angry
"It is already mine. We made a deal." he protested
"You still did not give me the location for the entrance."
Mark seemed to recall the topic and tried to give false information but was halted as he remembered the teacher backing the kid, making him reveal the true entrance honestly.
"it's near the Royal Port. After entering the bridge, you will find a canal leading to nowhere it was built as a bunker but was abandoned. After some experts sat, it might get flooded. After entering the right you will be greeted by rats in cages that have some notes on them. inside it is a password for entering it is always random so make sure to always check that. After that, go back and turn left this time, then go right. if you see red paint retreat, it means it's inspection day blue for changing to another entrance yellow for grand sale and green for normal days. Remember to continue going forward before opening a wooden door and closing it three times it means you are a customer two for the worker, and four is for the hunter." After some more explanation, Mark asked I'd he have any other questions.
"What is a hunter?"
Mark contemplated before saying, " I don't know I, roomer has it that they can create destroy and control objects, some say they can predict the future while others said they bring plague and curse. buy to me they are just hunters, but instead of killing animals, they kill humans."
Grim was quite puzzled by the details but chuckled it as an 18th-century legend like Jack the Ripper or Maria Labo.
"You gave me a lot of information for someone who looks so normal." Grim tried to complement Mark. instead, he was lectured about being a normie.
" Being normal makes you invisible in society if you want to live in it be normal unless this kind of society restraints how you live. not all humans are above the norm... only brave or lunatics break the chain called normalcy."
After some profound words that even Mark finds enlightening, he left with the recipe.
"That sure is a weird kid. it's like talking to a 30-year-old man."
" That some deep quotes coming from someone so ordinary, just to say that life is always meaningful but humanity interprets it as blessings or curse."
After He left, Grim returned to the orphanage to catch some sleep.
"What are these symbols look like to you, John?"
"it looks like the Philippines' ancient writing. baybayin, the root word for it is to spell, but from what we see here, it's not just a spelling but may be an actual spell revolving around the whole universe!" John a linguist exclaimed in puzzlement and awe.
Come on, men, maybe they are like energy that has been jumbled up because of the observation. Remember when our ancestors first experimented with light and a double slit. it's just like that now we know that due to quantum lock, an atom will stay the same as long as no ether was left, meaning as long as it's not observed it would always act like energy." Another scientist snicker while explaining.
"Maybe I'm going to visit the country and see if items or artifacts correspond to these symbols.
Morning July 3, 1805
outside the corin city, near the river.
A plate of silver with engravings on it is lying in a stone.
" Thankfully, this silver plate was already bout 2 days ago, i only need a jeweler named Geon to engrave and be paid this morning, now with this thing and a quiet environment is the only thing that's needed.
Grim look around, located rather deep into the woods, even if a child were to shout in here no one will notice, coupled with the noise of a running river it can be said to be a good hiding spot. checked if he had missed something, then prepared to do the ritual for the transfer.
"Okay, baby, let's begin."
Grim walk forward, then backward, jumping and hopping like a cripple dancing, honouring the Gods by raising his hand and then waving them like waves. (I don't have to do this. I just need a small silver plate, then raise his hand before bowing or nodding). After that, he nodded and then touched the silver plates. while his doing that, he chanted a prayer.
"Oh, Solomon the crafter, The inventor, The one with knowledge, With the key of history, the lock of present and the door of future.
I am a stranger in a strange land, I longed for home, and I longed for Earth.
Please, help me to find my way back, to the place where I belong.
Give me the knowledge I need to open the door of tomorrow."
After chanting those words and closing his eyes. waiting for any abnormality to befell him.
"There's nothing stranger he-."
then a light of colours flashed past his eye, followed by his scream of suffering and pain. white letters like that from a book or a computer. huge amount of knowledge is flowing inside his body until it is released in the opposite direction. Strangely, even though he was bombarded by knowledge, he does not remember nor understand the topic of said knowledge.
"My mind, it's like being hit by a hammer. It hurt so much that I began to hallucinate." After some time to adjust to his surroundings, Grim looked in every direction, only finding blue lines that converged ahead of him with a white screen showing either a steam-powered lamp or a train of unknown origin. In front of him is a bookshelf.
" I'd love it if I were brought back home. What did I do wrong? this is why I hate mysteries. There is no formula, no pattern, and doesn't confer logic."
After some despair and regret, Grim stabilized his mind, preparing to use any possible means to go back from Earth.
" it is said that quantum tunnelling formula followed by wormhole technology can theoretically bring someone from the first dimension to the second dimension and 22nd dimension.
but it's hopeless. I'm stuck in an era of steam. I might as well accept the fact and discover what lies beneath. maybe in this world, there are gems of power or a cloak of invisibility." After thinking optimistically, Grim examines the bookshelf.
' It is filled to the brim with books of knowledge no one knows wisdom surpassing humanity a hundredfold. understanding of reality so vast that the universe itself will become words and formulas being toppled by it. is this my golden finger? Is the writer finally giving me overpowered books? is this the transmigrated bookshelf?'
in front of Grim Laid, a bookshelf with intricate, designed silver corners. and eye at the back two hands hugging the shelf like guarding its secret.
the inside of it is ..... empty.
" Empty. empty..empty... WHY IS IT EMPTY? what am I supposed to do with it? smash heads with it?"
even for Grim, who has a cold heart, was broken after discovering a defective golden finger.
After some time of waiting and testing, Grim gave up and tried to return to the real world. he tried thinking of escaping falling or summoning a door but was left stump when it didn't work."What should I do to leave?"
Grim tried one last time. He raised his hand and tried to empty his mind. this time it works, he started being engulfed by knowledge.
returning to the real world.
"There's no change."
Grim tried moving in circles, observing any phenomenon that may occur in chanting those words. Seeing the same grass and the same trees, Grim didn't think too much and headed to the city gates and returned to the orphanage. he continued his cooking for the night and sleeps early. not knowing that a spade tattoo is starting to surface on his dominant left arm.
Afternoon
a man in his thirties is observing the playground of the orphanage near the sea church. from what he can observe, there are no abnormalities in the child, the same for the child in the light church orphanage.
"Although being strangely mature for his age, geniuses like them do act strangely just like a certain king in the past."
Morning July 6, 1805
Three days had passed, and the investigation was finally lifted without Grim's notice.
inside the Manor, Rodrigo was sitting in the living room drinking tea. opposite her stands, two men reporting about their investigation.
"Ma'am Ezra from the light churches orphanage has normal interactions and reputation. except for the time he sometimes whispered unintelligible words, we further searched for this kind of behaviour and saw that he might have a disorder but only mildly."
Rodrigo agreed and then proceeded to sip his tea.
" How about the sea church?"
The man answered.
"Nothing noteworthy, only that he sometimes mumbled to himself. all those words are clear, but when put together, they become unclear. maybe this is also common for those who love creation?"
the man asks in puzzlement.
" Both have a trait of a genius, but as the saying goes, a genius is like one side of a coin and a fool on the other. flipping the coin might result in getting either a mind of greatness or a mind of madness."
After recounting a king's quote from a certain era, Rodrigo produced in calling her butler, telling him to bring him the kids this afternoon.
while this is happening, a certain gang is preparing for a raid in the Royal Port.
" Boys, let's take the loot then escape no fancy plan just get in and take." A man in his twenties shouted at the group of 5 gangsters. They are preparing to raid the port after some Intel told them that a certain drug was docked south of the Royal Port.
" YEAH!!"
the men laugh and shout.
"Wait, what is that on the floor."
a box-like contraption that looks like a suitcase can be seen near the legs of the one pointing.
"Maybe there is a mon -"
before the man finishes his words. The building, which the house said gangster exploded. only a woman can be seen near the site.
"This is the last. I hope I can get back to my lab soon. all these reverse-card baddies make me want to kill them. wait! They are already dead. Hahaha!"
If someone sees her in this situation, not only children but even adults would fear going out and about when a certain loli is to suddenly leave a case near them only for it to explode.