MC Bookstore Chapter 55 The Disappearance of Aslipan
Chapter 55 The Disappearance of Aslipan
Chapter 55 The Disappearance of Aslipan
"Senior, you don't actually like school uniforms, but you're too shy to say it, so you're just asking this on purpose, right?"
A subtle "I understand" smile played on Corella's face.
Nan'an suddenly had a strong urge to shove her head into popcorn.
"You've taken the chestnut wine, you need to get some cash in on it, right?" he said. "Show me the process of selling stolen goods."
"Tsk tsk tsk, changing the subject, looks like I was right."
Finding that Nan'an was not provoked by her words and did not react as expected, Coralina felt bored.
"Senior, you also want to dispose of stolen goods? I'll introduce you to some channels. In the future, could you share some scraps with me, just enough for a little soup?"
Nan'an knew that Coralella was a disgraceful noblewoman whose behavior was far removed from that of a traditional noble lady.
But he never expected that she could carry this "shameful" spirit so thoroughly, and even be so open and proud in positioning herself as someone who longs to "drink the soup".
"You really are proud of it, aren't you?"
"What's so shameful about that?" Clara said matter-of-factly. "Senior, you're an Elru, your identity is sensitive and special, there are many things you can't do personally, you definitely need a sensible and reliable person to help you navigate those places. I'm a pure-blooded nobleman, my ancestors paid blood taxes for Solitz, and I have ancestral property and deeds in Twin Crown City, my reputation is guaranteed, and most importantly, if something happens to me I can't run away, my home is here, absolutely trustworthy."
A pure-blooded nobleman, personally acting as his grey intermediary.
Such wonderful word choice and sentence structure; unheard of in the Gray Star era.
Nan'an is indeed short of money.
Tracking and hunting Eclipses is inherently troublesome and not always successful. It's far easier for someone to take the initiative to take responsibility and help with the operation, even if there's a possibility of being taken advantage of.
"Take me to dispose of the stolen goods first."
Knowing that Nan'an wouldn't agree immediately, Coralina wisely stopped there.
She was clearly familiar with the surroundings, leading the two through a maze of turns until they reached the back of a workshop alleyway that was bustling in the front yard but quiet in the back.
You can faintly hear the sounds of forging, the rushing water, and people drinking, but the deeper you go, the more the noise is blocked by the towering stone buildings, becoming dull and distant.
It was dark and damp here, and the base of the walls on both sides, where no one walked, was covered with moss.
Occasionally, one or two figures dressed in coarse work clothes could be seen silently entering or exiting through an inconspicuous back door, casting a wary glance at Nan'an and his two companions, who were clearly out of place in the workshop area, before quickly disappearing into another side road or behind a door.
As you walk to the end of the alley, crystal lights hang high on both sides, like fireflies in the night, attracting wandering spirits who are visiting for the first time.
"Entering through the main entrance of a street-front shop will only allow you to do business in accordance with Solitz regulations, but if you go through a back alley—"
Coralina grinned and reached out to push open a spotless wooden door beside her.
Behind the door was a narrow but exceptionally clean and tidy short corridor, with walls painted in a soft off-white color and the floor covered with a thick, dark, sound-absorbing animal skin carpet.
Nan'an's steps faltered slightly.
Suiyue, who was beside her, keenly noticed something was amiss and looked ahead in the direction of the gaze.
It's a troll.
Standing nearly three meters tall, his muscles bulged beneath tight-fitting dark leather armor, almost bursting out of the fabric.
Corella also noticed the change in Nan'an's pace.
"What's wrong?"
"No, I just recalled some—exciting scenes," Nan'an said casually.
Clara didn't take it to heart. She took out the mysterious little card that she had said she would give to South Carolina and flashed it in front of the troll guard. To her surprise, the guard actually let her pass.
Is there such a clever use for it?
She led the two into a small, partitioned room. Behind a desk piled with clutter, a black-haired young man wearing a monocle and using a polished crystal to magnify a scroll on the desk slowly raised his head.
"What would you like to buy, sir?"
Clara took out a bottle of liquor from her backpack and placed it on the table: "A premium chestnut and peach wine that can only be found inside Erlu."
The young man paused for a few seconds, staring at the drinks on the table in disbelief.
He poured out a thin layer of wine, brought the glass to his nose, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then brought the glass to his lips, taking a small sip.
After a long while, he slowly opened his tightly closed eyes.
"Superior chestnut and peach wine."
Corella corrected, "It's top grade."
"Guest, there's no premium chestnut wine on the market." The young man smiled faintly. "You and I both know that only members of the Ellu family are qualified to enjoy the special supply from the Palka family."
Coralina readily agreed: "Okay, it's one of the best batches from the higher-ups, so how much can we give them?"
"Given that you opened the lid before your visit, I regret to inform you that I can only offer 500 copper kel."
"Why don't you just sneak into the Senate's guarantee office and withdraw the money yourself?!" This time, the disgraceful noble finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "500 copper kels? Are you expecting me and my friends to eat 100 meals of black bread and bean soup straight away? Superior chestnut wine is only worth 1 silver kel!"
“Selling something like this involves risks. You’re not a newcomer; you should know our rules,” the young man politely but slyly offered his reason for haggling. “Could you visit another store after dark? Or could you find someone to vouch for this bottle of wine, proving it truly came from Ellu?”
Nan'an suddenly interjected, "If it can be proven, can this bottle of wine be exchanged for Demon-Suppressing Dust? Any amount is fine."
Suiyue's magic storage device still has a lot of room for improvement.
After entering the black mist a second time and controlling the rhythm of magic output, the silly Niu Niu cried out "I can't take it anymore" after only two more breaths.
After his resurrection, Nan'an was always curious about the limits of the bonuses that summoning heroic spirits could provide to him.
Waiting for Suiyue to slowly improve takes too long; relying on magic energy technology to experience the peak situation first is urgent.
The young man laughed; he clearly thought Nan'an's request was somewhat "naive."
"A bottle of chestnut wine won't do, but if you can really prove it, I'd be willing to give you some anti-magic dust privately."
Nanan lowered his head and whispered to Clara, "Are personal information kept confidential when making a transaction here?"
"Of course, they're in this business, and these are the rules they have to follow."
Knowing what was going on, Nan'an looked up and pushed Suiyue, who was still eating popcorn, forward: "She is Erlu."
"Guest," the young man's professional smile became somewhat forced, "this joke isn't funny. The name 'Elu' isn't something you can just use for personal gain."
Just as he was about to tell him to leave, a hidden door on the inside of the cubicle, which was originally blended into the wall and almost invisible, silently slid open a crack.
A slightly aged voice came from behind the door: "That's enough, Witt, I'll do it."
The gray-haired old man, leaning on a hardwood cane, slowly walked to the table, picked up a glass of wine, took a sip, and calmly glanced at Suiyue and Nan'an before turning to give instructions to the young man.
"Bring me a portion of the Demon-Suppressing Powder."
"teacher?"
"Bring it here."
As soon as the young man pushed open the door and came out, a sharp glint appeared in the old appraiser's eyes.
"My lords of Elu—if you wish to know anything, you don't need to pave the way with drinks. Just reveal your identities, and we will cooperate."
Nan'an immediately understood. With a smile playing on his lips, he said in a deliberately profound tone, "We just want to sell the drinks we can't finish."
Silence spread through the cubicle.
The old appraiser stared into Nan'an's eyes for a long time before saying seriously, "We don't know anything about the batch of living corpses that Tearfire Academy lost. As far as I know, no fragments of gods and demons have appeared on the black market of Twin Crown City recently."
Nan'an stepped on Corella's foot.
Although the disgraced nobleman was disgraced, he was not stupid and immediately stopped the surprised and doubtful words that were about to burst out of his throat.
Nan'an asked, "Is it possible to sell them in batches, so it's less obvious?"
"That could only be because someone is specifically in charge of handling it and doing it secretly. Otherwise, if there are multiple and frequent contacts, the news would eventually spread within the industry."
During the conversation, the appraiser named Wit returned to the cubicle with a bottle containing a fingernail-thin layer of anti-magic powder.
"The Demon-Suppressing Dust is a gift for our first meeting." The old appraiser took out another gold coin from the drawer under the cabinet. "Consider this payment for this bottle of Chestnut Wine—we truly know nothing about the Tears of Fire."
Seeing that Nan'an had accepted both gifts, the old appraiser breathed a sigh of relief and personally escorted the three to the main gate, watching them disappear into the bustling crowd.
"Teacher—are they really Elu? They're so young."
"The Tearfire Academy only recently lost the Living Corpse, and Twin Crown City is on edge, with everyone searching for that audacious thief—and then, at this critical juncture, two young men claiming to be E'lu, suddenly appear with specially supplied chestnut wine to sell the stolen goods?" The old appraiser sighed. "Don't you think—this coincidence is a bit too much?"
Nan'an was completely unaware of the black market merchant's thought process. He got his hands on the anti-magic dust and even got a free gold coin. He gained a deeper understanding of the "violent" reputation of the Elu.
Pirion once said that once you get involved with the Living Eclipse, the Deer are a bunch of lunatics, and most people wouldn't want to associate with them.
Coralina took out her personal communication sculptor and contacted acquaintances at the academy. To her surprise, she learned that just three days ago, a batch of living corpses that had just been transferred to the morgue at Tearfire Academy had indeed disappeared.
In the capital city of Solize, a serious theft occurred on the important grounds of the academy, which directly alarmed the Senate.
As a result, the sheriffs and guards of the two crowns were mobilized, and the underground order, which had previously turned a blind eye, received the "friendly greeting" of the Solitz official iron fist.
The black market, thrown into chaos, also mobilized its own resources to assist the sheriff.
Both above-ground and underground order are searching for this ruthless corpse thief.
With the Solitz version of the manhunt order in effect, black market merchants from all walks of life have been repeatedly instructed to become informants, just waiting for this master thief to sell his stolen goods.
Clara suddenly burst into laughter.
The moment Nan'an revealed his identity as Erlu, the old appraiser was probably scared out of his wits. He mistakenly thought that someone in his shop had been caught red-handed by Erlu in a secret transaction. Regardless of whether it was true or not, he immediately paid money to save his life.
"I also deserve some credit for this Jinkelli project, so sharing it equally isn't unreasonable, is it?"
"As a nobleman, can you be any more greedy?" Nan'an was utterly speechless.
"I thought it was a stereotype that nobles were greedy, what's wrong with that?"
""
Sometimes, talking to Corella can feel really frustrating.
The crow returned to the museum and, guided by the librarian, found Gunn, who was completely hidden by stacks of books on the table.
Immersed in the ancient history of Gray Star, he was completely unaware of his old friend's arrival.
A book was gently tapped on his shoulder, and Gu En seemed to wake from a dream.
He asked, "When did you get back?"
"It's been two days. I heard you were busy, so I didn't bother you." The Raven casually picked up a book from the library, noticing it was related to werewolves. "Are you looking for Aslipan?"
Gunn nodded slightly.
The fog surrounding Nan'an became a thorn in his side.
After failing to obtain any useful information from "The Bookworm" and "Nan'an", he turned his attention to Aslipan.
Nan'an's description is very distinctive: high-ranking, burly, with an inverted triangle physique, a female gray-maned werewolf, and a fierce and bloody fighting style. As a result, Nan'an's current "capture the head" show is partly due to being influenced by what he has seen and heard.
"Any leads?"
“A little,” Gunn explained. “I changed my approach to the search and made a few assumptions.”
Bewitching Crow pulled up a chair, sat down, and gestured for his old friend to continue.
"According to Nan'an's description, the Red Rat Adventurer's Group later became a more stable team, centered around him, Aslipan, and the Bookworm. So, with the Bookworm going to the capital of the Zanti Empire for further studies and Nan'an dying, what will she do next?"
The crow dismissed it: "Reorganize the Red Rat Adventure Team?"
"It's something you'd do. No matter what, as long as you have a breath left, you'll fight the Black Mist." Gunn sadly put down his book. "I put myself in Aslipan's shoes—one close friend died in battle, another left the team to pursue further studies, and the hard-earned team fell apart—maybe it's time to live a more peaceful life."
"You mean—Athlipan is giving up being an adventurer?"
"Witnessing the death of someone close to you can change a person," Gunn emphasized. "So I researched records related to the Zanti Empire, paying particular attention to descriptions of excessively large and exaggerated female werewolves, and focusing on the timeline five years after Nan'an's death."
Around that year.
The bewitching raven involuntarily leaned forward, closer to Gunn.
"In 1605 on Gray Star, in the Crimson Wood Tavern on the outskirts of the Zanti Empire's capital, there lived a gray werewolf owner named Grandy."
"Historical records state that she was incredibly strong and robust, which attracted the knights of the Zanti Empire to challenge her. She always asked the loser to buy a cup of mead for each tavern customer, hence the name Mead Werewolf."
"This mead werewolf purchased the crimson logs on Gray Star in 1601. After 1605, the tavern's popularity skyrocketed in the various universities of the Zanti Empire, with records indicating that a constant stream of academy mages visited it," but I still haven't been able to find the reason for its explosive popularity among the academies.
The crow stroked its chin, vaguely sensing something.
"Can't find it?" He pondered, then suddenly looked up and met Gu En's gleaming eyes.
"You noticed?" Gunn said. "We can't find any information about nerds either, can we?"