Black Hearted Mage

Caesars returned to the Cavill family. He eagerly entered the room and began carefully selecting weapons and leather armor. Items belonging to the Saint Laurent Church could only be sold for the price of magic steel, while items not belonging to the Church could fetch a considerable price. However, cashing in on these treasures was not an easy task, as he had to set up a stall in the Imperial City Plaza.

At this moment, Caesars felt the few gold coins in his pocket, his brow furrowed slightly. Although he still had a lot of precious mage equipment waiting to be sold, it was all elven. So, he secretly made up his mind to find a way to raise more funds for a rainy day.

As a high-level magician, Kaisas had the right to exchange magic crystals from the Mage Alliance or the Northland Tower every year. This also meant that he had to pay a considerable amount of gold coins every year.

The next morning, before the sun had fully risen, Caesars arrived at the Black Prison. This ancient and mysterious castle exuded an awe-inspiring aura, as if telling of the countless legendary stories it had witnessed.

When Caesars stepped into the castle gate, he was startled by the sight before him—the number of people waiting here today was significantly higher than yesterday! Furthermore, the division of labor among them was extremely clear, with each group responsible for identifying a specific type of equipment. This significantly improved the efficiency of the entire process compared to yesterday.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already afternoon. After a long and intense period of work, all the equipment was finally counted and recorded. At this moment, Kaisas breathed a long sigh of relief, the heavy stone hanging in his heart finally falling.

"Lord Carlos, how do we enter the legendary black market?" Full of doubts and curiosity, Caesar turned and walked towards the spy chief who had been in charge of supervising this transaction, and asked him sincerely.

"Take this sign and go through our grocery store. The black market is located underground in the Imperial City's Grand Arena. There are only two entrances to the black market. Hawkeye controls one, and Shadow controls the other. The black market is completely safe and utterly harmless. No one dares to take action there. Wear a mask and disguise yourself when you enter. It's best to return the same way you came out!"

As the spy chief spoke, he pulled a small piece of metal from his pocket and handed it to Caesars. The metal looked ordinary and unremarkable. If one didn't look closely, one wouldn't even be able to spot the faint inscriptions on it. These words marked the name of a shop called "Maple Leaf Grocery Store."

Caesars carefully took the piece of metal, examined it carefully, and then put it away. Then, curiously, he continued, "Lord Carlos, I've heard that the magic items sold on the black market are quite expensive, but I don't know what kind of magic items they are."

The spy chief frowned slightly and replied perfunctorily, "They're nothing more than some magical protective and offensive items. But you still have to go in and take a look for yourself, after all, there are other things inside with ridiculously high prices. Remember, this black market usually opens in the morning and closes at sunset. How about this, I'll have someone take you there to broaden your horizons!"

After saying this, the masked spy chief waved his hand, appearing somewhat impatient. He had just received a large number of items from the Church of Saint Laurent, and he was anxious to discuss and evaluate them with the higher-ups of the Hawkeye Organization in order to formulate a new plan against the Church.

Caesar cursed inwardly, "What a bastard who's going to destroy the bridge after crossing it!"

Not daring to show any dissatisfaction, he simply turned and left silently, following a member of the Hawkeye group. Meanwhile, in the ancient castle's meeting hall, a tense and heated discussion had already begun...

The Colosseum, a vast, ancient open-air venue in the Outer City, hosted daily slave fights and served as a legal venue for resolving various grievances. Killing a nobleman was a felony elsewhere, but legal in the Colosseum.

In this scorching and unbearable hot weather, the streets seem to be melted by the sun. They are empty and even a single person is hard to find.

The grocery store called Maple Leaf was about a hundred meters away from the bustling and lively Colosseum. Between the two lay a wide and prosperous street, with six or seven shops of different styles in between.

Entering the grocery store, a dazzling array of merchandise greeted the view. They were densely packed onto the shelves, filling the entire space, leaving only a narrow aisle barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The middle-aged man who had led Caesars in pulled out a token engraved with an eagle eye and held it out to the person at the counter for inspection.

"Master Mage, please show him your badge for review. He needs to keep a detailed record of the number of people entering here!" The middle-aged man's tone was very respectful.

"Okay!" Caesars replied, then calmly took out the piece of iron and looked around the shop with interest. The man behind the counter glanced at the sign, and suddenly a low mechanical sound came from the back of the shop.

Then, the middle-aged man expertly led Caesars toward the back of the shelves. It turned out the mysterious entrance was hidden there. Its design was truly ingenious and ingenious. The pile of ore, once tightly stacked behind the shelves, now slowly parted, revealing a passage leading underground. A closer look revealed that the ore seemed to be held together by some alchemical gel, concealing no apparent hidden secret.

Because it uses mechanical transmission and there are a lot of minerals that block magic power, the magician cannot detect anything.

Walking down the stone steps into the underground passage, one was greeted by a series of magical lanterns. The passage was straight, and at the end, one could see the magic steel gate. Several figures in leather armor stood guard at the edge.

Without any conversation, when Caesars walked to the iron gate, the masked guard opened it. There was still an iron gate in front, but on both sides of the passage, masks were hung.

"Master Magician, you can go in after putting on the mask. For your safety, it is best to leave here. I am going back to the Black Prison. I hope you can enjoy your stay here!"

Caesars nodded, but in his heart he wanted to kill this bastard. He watched the middle-aged man leave and randomly picked up a leather mask from the wall. As he walked towards the iron gate, a guard opened it.

"Master Mage, you can only stay in there for three hours. After that time you can only come out tomorrow!" The guard kindly reminded Caesar.

"I'll just go in and take a look around and come out. It won't be long!"

Outside the iron gate was a small square, with a massive stone pillar in the center, serving as the base for the arena. In the middle of the black market, stalls were set up, surrounded by shops.

The black market wasn't big, or even tiny. It took Caesars less than half an hour to walk around it. Everyone wore masks, and there was an air of mystery everywhere. He was a little disappointed with the items; nothing caught his eye, but the various offers piqued his interest.

Caesars stopped in front of an inconspicuous shop that was buying several types of badges at high prices.

"I have the emblems of the Church of Saint Laurent. How many do you want to buy?"

The emblem of the Church of St. Laurent was nothing but scrap metal in Caesar's hands. A lot of copper was mixed into the silver, and it was not worth a few silver coins.

"Two hundred gold coins each, a total of two hundred badges to buy!"

"Trade with magic crystals!"

"no problem!"

The shop was filled with a mysterious and oppressive atmosphere. The people inside also wore masks, making it difficult to see their true faces. The slightly hoarse and low voice sounded like that of an old man who had experienced many vicissitudes of life.

Caesars nodded slightly, and counted the emblems of the Church of Saint Laurent with a focused expression. After carefully checking each one, he successfully completed the transaction with the other party.

Entering the black market, he discovered that the magic crystals were not cheap. Although compared to the regular market, they were only 70% to 80% of their original price. After careful consideration, Caesars finally gave up the idea of ​​buying the magic crystals. After all, the gold coins he had on him were very limited.

What surprised him even more was the massive black market buyup of various herbs from the Endless Forest. Herbs that were already quite valuable were now being priced at staggeringly high prices. Golden ginseng, in particular, commanded a whopping price of over 200,000 gold coins.

If the elven elders had not expressly prohibited the sale of golden ginseng, I'm afraid Kaisas would have been unable to suppress his inner urge and would have gone to the Endless Forest to explore and dig up these valuable treasures.

But the biggest problem he faced now was a lack of gold coins. Furthermore, the scorching weather made setting up a stall in the square unsuitable. Looking around, the vast square was completely deserted from morning till night.

Kaisas learned about the black market in Fire Maple City, as well as the approximate price of magic crystals, and other important information. Thus, he had accomplished a small part of his mission in Fire Maple City.

"Now it's time to go look for Uncle Jack!"

Kaisas calculated that he should be able to find someone within a month. Autumn would arrive in a little over a month, and a large number of mercenaries would arrive in Fire Maple City. That would be the perfect time to set up a stall.

When Caesars left the black market, the spy chief of the Black Prison received a magic message.

"You damn bastards, why didn't you remind me of the emblem of the Church of Saint Laurent? I wasted an extra 40,000 gold coins for nothing!"

Carlos slammed the table in the conference room and looked around at the people in the room.

"Oh, I don't think I found any Demon Steel Bow today?"

As soon as the spy chief finished speaking, an old man on the side started shouting.

The Magic Steel Bow is the finest of all Magic Steel weapons. To ensure its elasticity and toughness, the Church of Saint Laurent crafted the bow from pure Magic Steel, without adding any other metals.

"I was careless this time, but there won't be a next time!"

"Lord Carlos, why do you say there won't be a next time? Apart from Hawkeye who purchased the weapons and equipment of the Church of Saint Laurent, no one else would do this!" Someone in the conference room asked.

"We have received five to six thousand pieces of equipment from the Church of Saint Laurent. This shows that the other party has been severely damaged. Don't forget the purpose of our acquisition of their equipment. They have been damaged, so we should take action against them. By the way, how is the investigation in the south going?" The spy chief looked at Hawkeye's think tanks.

"Commander-in-Chief, the two southern border nobles are extremely vigilant and have stopped recruiting mercenaries. However, the families of the two earls are nowhere to be found, and their properties in the imperial capital have been secretly sold."

An old man reported the latest news, which made the spy chief frown. "These two country nobles are very cunning. As long as they are still in the territory, we will continue to keep a close watch!"

"Lord Carlos, it may be difficult to keep a close watch on them. The two earls live in a stone mine, which is difficult to monitor." A middle-aged man in leather armor took out a photo stone and placed it in the magic projection device.

A huge 3D image appeared, showing a quiet mine, its entrances and exits marked by high walls and arrow towers. The entire mine looked like a massive fortress, heavily fortified.

“When did the mine appear?”

The spy chief exclaimed in surprise. Earl Soren's mine, producing building stone, had originally been an open-pit mine. But now a mine cave had appeared, which defied common sense. Open-pit mining was the most cost-effective, requiring no minecarts or tracks.

Count Soren's mine not only had mine carts, but also used wide-gauge mine tunnels. Although this made it easier to transport stones, the cost was much higher.

"Master Carlos, the mine was discovered not long ago. It must have existed a long time ago and was always covered by a huge wooden house. The wooden house collapsed a few days ago, and we discovered the mine!"

"Continue to closely monitor the mine!" The spy chief said without hesitation, and the middle-aged man on the side looked a little helpless.

"Commander-in-Chief, it's no longer possible to monitor the mine. A larger cabin is already under construction, and all the trees outside the mine have been cut down, even the weeds have been cleared away. The guards from Sauron Castle have all arrived at the mine, and those high-level stalkers of unknown origin are probably lurking around the mine as well!"

The spy chief frowned and tapped the table lightly with his leather-gloved left hand. The country nobleman was very cunning and had many secrets hidden in him.