Chapter 382 Back Where We Began
After several minutes of near concussion-inducing travel, Lyrian reached the place where Ounis had told him to go.
The fat young man had passed out a few minutes ago already, so Lyrian arrived at his last given directions and stopped.
Lyrian stood in front of the Rocks Adventurer's Tavern with a puzzled expression on his face.
'Seriously? It was here all along?' He said to himself with a slightly ticked-off inner voice.
He let go of Ounis' leg before taking his hood off and revealing himself.
At that moment, there had formed a crowd of people around him.
Why? Well, seeing a high-ranking noble be dragged through the streets by an invisible force wasn't normal to see daily.
It intrigued people so much that they just had to come and look at what was going on.
Lyrian walked over to Ounis' side, ignoring the people, and slapped him a few times on the cheek.
Ounis abruptly woke up, looking around with a flustered expression.
Panting heavily, he stared at Lyrian with aggressive eyes. However, on seeing Lyrian's serious gaze stare back at him, he quickly mellowed his expression.
"How could you do such a careless thing... you nearly killed me. If I had died, you would have lost a valuable thing for your mission... do you know that, Lord Lyrian?" This was all Ounis managed to say.
He couldn't combat Lyrian with aggressive words, so instead he decided to use some sort of logic to reason with the MVP.
"Although it sounds like a joke, you aren't a normal person. You're stronger than most. I knew you wouldn't die by that much trauma." Lyrian said, facing the tavern once again.
"Jeez... can't compliment me without an insult huh," Ounis replied, standing up as he clutched his head.
"Although... I'm surprised you didn't get a concussion. I was actually expecting you to get one." Lyrian said as Ounis paused.
'What... the hell is wrong with this guy!?' He inwardly yelled.
"I guess that's a compliment..." He admitted as Lyrian began walking forward.
"Come, show me exactly how to get into this market."
Lyrian walked into the establishment with Ounis, leaving the onlookers baffled.
"This kid is making my life in the city... quite enjoyable actually." A bystander exclaimed, grinning.
"I know, right? He does exactly what I want him to do. Beat up arrogant fools, and do crazy stuff that I would have never expected to have seen. What a great addition to everyday boring life!"
"Hahaha! I hope he stays here longer! It will be entertaining to have him around."
They all laughed, as Lyrian made his way directly to Kavenough, the owner of the place.
The old man saw Lyrian's stern expression, and then noticed Ounis walking behind him with a guilty face.
Immediately, a wave of anger brushed through Kavenough, 'That... fat bastard! He revealed it to the public!?' He mused, quickly addressing Lyrian.
"Lord Lyrian... how are you doing?" He politely said. 'You know... maybe it's just a coincidence that he is walking in here with Theageld. Hopefully, that is the case, and the black market hasn't been revealed to the public just yet...'
Lyrian ignored his question and went straight to saying, "Skip the antics and let me into the black market. Quickly."
A few people nearby looked at Lyrian as he said these words. They also had quite serious expressions on their faces.
This was clearly not a very easy matter. Kavenough noticed these faces but was currently in a state of stunned surprise.
'Ah... well there goes to hoping that it wasn't revealed to the public.' He dreaded inwardly.
Before the tavern owner could reply, Ounis jumped into the conversation, "Hey! Look, I know this looks bad, but trust me, It's not as bad as you think it is."
As he said this, Kavenough stared at him while gritting his teeth.
"You are permanently banned from this tavern." He said through his teeth with spiteful words.
"Just, listen! Don't get so uptight." Ounis looked left and right before leaning in.
"I didn't reveal the black market to the public or anything... I'm just helping Lord Lyrian with his investigation. Only he knows."
Kavenough was slightly taken aback by hearing this.
With a puzzled expression, he faced Lyrian, "Is it true? So only you know?"
Lyrian swiftly replied, "Yes, what he says is true. He didn't reveal information about it to anyone else but me. At least... information about where it's located."
At that moment Kavenough took a deep breath in and exhaled in relief.
"Good... if it's just you, then I don't mind." Kavenough leaned in this time, "Listen... do not have a wrong impression of me. I am in no way truly associated with the black market. It's far too big of a business for a measly guy like me to be involved in. My tavern is simply one of the many entrances, and I get compensation for having it be one."
As he whispered this to Lyrian's ear, Lyrian didn't reply. It was because he didn't really care what Kavenough's reasoning was.
However, Kavenough took this silence as a sign of Lyrian not being convinced, so he continued.
"It's already there, and even if I denied the compensation and didn't let this place be an entrance, it would still be there. So, why not take compensation? Right?" Kavenough awkwardly laughed.
"A-anyways... here, follow me." He made his way out behind the bar and toward a door to the side of the backroom of the bar.
The door creaked open as Lyrian and Ounis followed Kavenough inside.
Kavenough flicked his finger, sending a spark of ember across a rope surrounding the room--enlightening it all in a dim flame in the ceiling.
Lyrian looked around to see a quite large wine cellar room, with dusty barrels of
wine lined up against the wall.
He followed Kavenough to one edge of this room, hidden from the rest, and saw the old man place his right hand on a random wall.
After 30 seconds of closing his eyes, Kavenough pushed his legs into the ground and thrust his palm into the wall.
At once, a loud bang sounded as the wall in front of him collapsed into a thousand pieces.
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