Just like all other countries, the Slachal Empire was no different when it came to its hidden corruption and black market that traversed the area.
To survive in a strict and probably the strongest Empire on the continent, black market organizations had to be extremely secretive.
The black market society was just a term coined to describe the general black market's activities, but in reality many organizations worked undercover, some being more well known than the rest.
{"Instead of boring the readers any further with more information, how about you talk to me?"} Viv 2 grinned.
"...?" Viv raised an eyebrow, scowling.
However before he could say anything, Ms Lilia appeared back at the doorway, her face looking slightly tense.
"I'm sorry Vivillian for leaving you here for quite a while, but something urgent has came up." Ms Lilia muttered as she began to quickly tidy her desk, wiping away the drawing on the bored, which erased Viv 2's short existence.
"No problem, thank you for explaining, I'll take my leave." Viv glanced away, fixing his coat as he walked towards the door.
"Hm?"
Something caught his attention, as he saw an engraved silver pendant on the floor.
"Ah, that's mine, I must have dropped it." Casually appearing right behind Vivillian, Ms Lilia scooped up the pendant with a hand before going back to gather her materials. "See you tomorrow then, Vivillian."
"..Bye." Viv nodded, and walked to his dorm.
Elva was in the process of changing in the living room as Viv slammed open the door.
"...Would it hurt to knock?" Flustered, Elva clicked his tongue, looking shy as he put on his shirt.
"It's the front door to my dorm, why would I knock?" Viv rolled his eyes. "Maybe you're just a pervert for changing in the living room."
"...."
Without any more words, Vivillian locked himself into his study and wrote more furiously in his journal.
3 main black market organizations were mentioned in LaD, there were probably more but between these three, it was certain one of them was the culprit.
Despite getting the good ending on some routes, unless you took a hidden capture target's route that involved the black market, there was essentially no information given to the player about the true course of events.
William would simply say he "dealt with" the problem, while Perukono and Darvillion would respond in pretty much the same way.
I only got the good ending routes on the main three, and only dabbled in hidden capture targets...
Viv frowned as he tried to remember the names of capture targets related to the black market.
"..." Ah, there was that guy.
Black Hydra, one of the three black market organizations mentioned. Within, there was a side villain character that was mentioned every so often in the story whenever the protagonist needed outside help.
Though that person was a side capture target, not really that popular because of how little his role plays in the main story, the game did mention how he held considerable influence in the underground.
As he tried to remember what the guy looked like, Viv felt a strange power come within him.
It's nighttime already?
He must have been in a trance again, but it was good timing, today it was a full moon, and possibly one of the only chances to go out and fulfill his makeshift plan.
Black Hydra probably wasn't the one who gave the commoners magic bombs, it was more likely one of their competitors did. They would do anything to take the other organizations down a peg, or any valuable information.
Luckily for him and them, Viv held some nice information of what talents in Einsvul will excel and the private information Lizzy Youtech's lightning abilities.
Soon, a bird emerged from within a pile of clothes, as it flew out from the window and to the town.
After flying for a while, it landed in an alley, and soon a boy with blond hair and green eyes appeared wearing a simple hood and pants.
If you looked closely, you could see Viv's facial features resembled his own, though with slightly different features mixed with a foreign eye color and hair.
Not knowing what exactly to change his appearance to, he took some inspiration from William and changed his eyes into another color.
"Candied apples for 3 coppers!"
"Grilled meat skewers for 5!"
The market seemed to be as busy as ever as Viv pulled his hood up, scanning the streets for any clues of where to find the black market.
The location of it changed occasionally, from a few days to a few months or even years. It was to prevent the Slachal knights from busting them and their activities.
To navigate around this, insignias would appear in random corners of the entire town. If you were near one, it meant that you were going to the right direction of the market.
"Young man, do you want your fortune told?" An old lady creaked out, snapping Viv out of his thoughts.
"Not interested."
Frowning, Viv quickly left the scene, going into a back alley to search for insignias that could lead to something.
The old lady's eyes shone as she rubbed her crystal ball, her beady gaze following him.
"Monster."
As he ventured to the more secluded parts of the town, Viv almost stumbled as he rounded a corner his foot hit a man's leg on the ground.
"...?" Looking back, he saw a drunk man sitting on the ground, looking depressed as he held a beer in his hand.
Seeing how Viv looked at him, the man raised his head.
"Hey kid, want you help out your elder?" The man's eyes were autumn colored, unshaven stubbles on his chin as he said coolly.
"..." Viv turned to leave.
"Oi, wait!" Before Viv could even take a step forward, the man lunged forward, desperately crying as he latched onto Viv's leg. "Noooo...don't goo...Don't you feel sympathy for an old man like me...?!"
"Let go." A dangerous gleam appeared in Vivillian's eyes, as he stared at the loud vermin stuck to his shoe.
"The truth is...I don't want to live anymore...h-hey I didn't say kill me now?!"
The man quickly stuttered as he saw Viv's hand glow with magic. "You're looking for the black market, aren't you?"
"..." Viv's hand stopped glowing, it was all a bluff anyways, his offense magic was nonexistent. If push came to shove, he would just transform into a bird and run. "How would you know?"
"Delicate appearance, clean hair, rich kid aura, and able to use magic. It's check, check, and check!" The man huffed. "My name is John."
"I don't care."
"But you should, I can help you find the black market!" John whined. "You just have to help me fulfill my dying wish..."
"How about you show me the black market and then die?"
What's your dying wish?
"Hey! Your thought and speech bubbles are mixed up!"
"I don't care either way....but what do you want." Viv cleared his throat, looking down disgustedly at the black haired man.
"I want to reminisce about my childhood...you see..."
John began to slowly prattle about his past to Viv, who felt his eye twitch as he tuned out the story.
Maybe he should just beat this sorry guy up until he spit out the black market's location...
"...And so, that's why I need you to find my Aranka back!"
".....Huh?" Viv froze after hearing the familiar word.
"Urgh, were you even listening?" John silently shed a tear. "Anyways, I lost my childhood Aranka, if you could find it, it would mean a lot to me and I will give you the current black market's location. It's an average wooden one with the initials, J. H. engraved on it."
"...An Aranka huh." Vivillian's eyes lowered, as he remembered the familiar toy. "...Where did you lose it."
"It was somewhere around here..." John hiccuped sadly. "I couldn't find it after searching all day, so I grabbed a drink and passed out here. It was one of the few good things I had as a child...poor, poor me..."
"...I won't make any promises." Scrunching his brows, Viv gulped back the original words in his throat.
As Viv turned to leave, he could feel John's gaze mysteriously pierce into his back as Viv began his search for the toy. Once he was certainly out of sight and earshot of the guy, he transformed into a cat and began looking around the surrounding area for the toy.
—-
As he searched, he felt strange as he looked fruitlessly for the toy.
Why did I do this again? I really should have just beat him black and blue...he was just a drunkard after all.
Searching in the smelly trashcans, Viv felt his nose wrinkle in disgust as he pulled out a half eaten rotted apple.
As he walked through the alleyways, moving boxes, junk, and trash out of the way, he saw the moon rise from behind the building.
The market had quieted down as the merchants returned to their families, and Viv didn't know how long he had searched by now. He felt as if the world had begun to quiet down, a feeling that made him uneasy.
That drunk guy was probably out of his mind, there could be no aranka, and he had just wasted the only chance he had to get in contact with the elusive black market.
Pessimistic thoughts swirled around in his mind as the air around him began to feel heavy.
"..." Viv transformed back into his disguise, and leaned against the wall, feeling helpless as he saw the moon slowly move by.
It's been a while since he was this impulsive and stupid...
Maybe it was the fact that his physical body was still young, he may have memories of his past life but physical aspects like having an underdeveloped brain might have influenced him.
"...and it's definitely not because of her."
A short hitch of his breath was heard as his thoughts involuntarily leaked out.
"..." Not good, he could already begin to imagine her.
"What's the matter, Angel?"
Breaking the silence, a child's voice filled with innocence sounded in his ear.
A little girl no older than 7 tilted her head, her faintly moonlit body standing in the dark corner of the alley.
Her ruby eyes shone, long, silky black hair fluttering behind her as she stood barefoot on the street, a white dress being the only thing that cloaked her.
"Stop tormenting me, move on." Viv looked up, holding in a breath as he saw the girl from his memories.
Why...? Angel, don't chase me away.
The little princess's eyes filled with tears, as she stared straight at him, feeling wronged.
I'll behave from now on, and I'll stay away from ledges. You called me here after all, so I'll behave as best as I can...
Rubbing her eyes, glistening crystal tears fell from her face and hit the ground.
So don't chase me away...please, you're my only friend.
"The dead stay dead, and the living must move on."
Viv stared at the princess.
"You don't belong in this world anymore."
How mean...you're so mean angel...
The little princess sobbed, as her little body quivered in the cold before spring air. She seemed to shake like a leaf, invoking any material instinct in anyone who saw her.
But now, it was Viv who was taller, and his facial features showed hints of maturity after all those years.
Viv stood at the edge of the wall, bathed and covered in the moonlight that peaked out from the buildings.
Meanwhile, the little princess, stuck in time and just as she was before her death stood in the depths of the alley's corner.
It wasn't the first time Viv has had visions of talking to the little princess, but it was the first time happening outside and not in his dreams or room.
She only came occasionally, whether she was made up of his feeling of regret or if it was truly her, Viv would never know.
But what regret would he have to feel? He barely knew her, so what made her plague him like a terminal illness?
"Come here, Princess." Viv spoke bluntly. "You can't stay here forever."
The little princess slowly stopped crying, uncovering her face, as she looked at Viv with sad red eyes. She turned to a trash can beside her, and pointed to it.
What you look for is in here.
Another tear escaped her eyes, as she cowered back into the dark alley.
I cannot join you.
As quickly as she had appeared, her body shattered into a million small pieces as she flew away, back to explore the world and reunite from the ground she sprung forth from.
"..."
Of course, it didn't work this time either. Coaxing her in the future should have more care to it.
Stepping forward, Viv opened the trash can and dug through it, having mixed feelings as he pulled an aranka from the bottom.
The initials J.H. carved on it with a dull knife.
There was no time to even be bewildered, as suddenly a man stumbled forward from the shadows.
"Ah, you found it!" John cheered happily as he saw the aranka in Viv's hand. "Thank you so much for your help, I was just trying to grab another drink and it seemed you were here too!"
"..."
Viv stared at John.
"Well, I'll keep my end of the deal!" John whistled, as he happily grabbed the aranka from Viv's stiff, cold fingers.
Walking forward, John seemed to be in a more upbeat mood as he casually fiddled with the aranka, and turned back as he realized Viv hadn't moved."
"You coming~?"