24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 138

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24-Hour Friendly Market Specializing in Dimensional Items Episode 138

 

Episode 138. Glimmerstone (3)

 

I began climbing the stairs with a natural attitude, pretending not to be cautious.

 

The guards didn’t try to stop me.

 

As expected, the black robe seems to be a guaranteed identification pass.

 

I maintained the weighty elder concept while slowly passing through the second floor corridor.

 

My target was naturally in front of the tantalizingly named ‘Classified Information Handling Room.’

 

Classified information – I’d be an idiot not to go in.

 

The door was tightly shut and there were no signs of other people in the corridor.

 

The only people visible from a distance were the two guards watching the stairs.

 

I moved carefully to avoid making footsteps and grabbed the door handle.

 

‘…Seriously.’

 

It’s locked.

 

It’s only natural since it says classified, but somehow I even felt betrayed and disappointed.

 

It’s strange that things have gone so smoothly until now, and the people of Glimmerstone did nothing wrong by locking the door to manage classified information.

 

But I have Sam-i, the universal key.

 

[⁕ I’m not a key, I’m the basic guide provided by Babel to the ‘Open Market Manager’ :)]

 

‘Go get me an item that can open locked doors. Don’t tell me everything, just bring one with good performance.’

 

After enduring Sam-i’s cheeky back-talk and giving the command, search results appeared shortly after.

 

[Master Key Set (B)

 

A magically enhanced key set. Makes absolutely no noise.

 

Consists of 3 keys total, each capable of opening physical locks, magical locks, and concealed locks respectively.

 

When used, the appropriate key is automatically selected and glows.

 

However, effects may be limited in S-grade or higher advanced security facilities.

 

-Creator: Rem]

 

[⁕ This is the most traded item in the market, with simple usage instructions :)]

 

For once, Sam-i handled things well without me needing to yell again.

 

‘So a B-grade item can break through up to A-grade?’

 

In today’s world where grades are everything, this is practically an upset.

 

I can see why it has the highest trading volume.

 

As soon as I gladly paid 867 gold, a key ring with three silver keys appeared in my inventory.

 

When I approached the locked door handle with the key ring, the key with an orange tag began to glow.

 

The moment I inserted the glowing key into the hole and turned it, a faint vibration like clockwork moving resonated from inside.

 

Just as described, there was absolutely no noise.

 

‘Jackpot. I need to sell this.’

 

Since it shouldn’t be misused everywhere, maybe I should listen carefully to the reasons why it’s needed before selling it.

 

With that thought, I slowly opened the door.

 

Entering the quiet, empty room, I locked the door again and grumbled quietly.

 

“What’s with this place being black and white everywhere you go.”

 

The classified information handling room looked like an ordinary office, but like the outside, it was entirely gray.

 

Gray metal cabinets and bookshelves lined the walls densely.

 

On the gray wooden table occupying the center of the room, four gray chairs were placed.

 

‘What’s with gray wood now?’

 

Having lived my whole life seeing only brown wood, it was an incomprehensible color to me, but that wasn’t what mattered.

 

The important fact was that there were so many documents filling everything from the table to the bookshelves that they covered the gray symphony.

 

Probably all of this was Glimmerstone’s core information treated as ‘classified.’

 

There was so much that I didn’t even know where to start.

 

I first approached the table and picked up the document placed on top.

 

[Vernium Mana Stone Reserve Status]

 

…Hmm, this is extraordinary from the start.

 

I turned the first page of the document without hesitation.

 

Vernium was the clear reason for the war currently taking place.

 

As the last mana stone mine remaining in this world, Vernium’s reserves were sufficient to be a factor that would intensify the war.

 

But.

 

“…What? 5 years?”

 

I read through the document again with an absurd tone, but that didn’t change the content.

 

With Vernium’s current mana stones, they could only stay afloat for a mere 5 years.

 

And that’s not for four cities, but just one city.

 

It was no different from four cities fighting over one lifeboat.

 

If this war ended well and the scenario was cleared, the problem would become even more complicated.

 

If Aeteria, which would be incorporated as one floor of the Tower of Babel, could no longer stay afloat and became a structure that falls infinitely…

 

‘It could result in no benefit at all.’

 

Then it would be natural for the raid team that cleared such a dimension to be criticized.

 

Even if the raid team risked their lives to clear this floor.

 

People might point fingers asking what was so difficult about clearing a scenario with nothing to gain.

 

Originally, people tend to focus more on results rather than the process.

 

‘Ah, of course, there’s no reason I should understand the raid team’s circumstances.’

 

Still, they’d be raiding using the information I painstakingly discovered, so if this dimension gets treated like trash, that would be too unfair.

 

I’ve only checked Gearsgard and Glimmerstone so far, but both cities have high-level technology.

 

If these cities’ technology disappeared due to a crash, that would be too much of a waste.

 

‘Well, isn’t there some other way to keep the cities afloat?’

 

Thinking that way while rummaging through other documents, I discovered one thick file folder with a hard cover.

 

The cover had this title written in elegant handwriting.

 

[Agreement Terms with Floraban]

 

“This is it!”

 

The best clue to understand why Floraban’s diplomatic corps came to Glimmerstone and what kind of agreement they made!

 

With a sense of triumph, I dug into the goldmine buried among the documents.

 

The first page of the hastily opened file contained a detailed table of contents, followed by copies of contracts.

 

It was quite heavy, giving off a strong scent that something important would emerge from here.

 

I buried my nose in the documents and thoroughly scanned the contents.

 

The contents of the documents were as expected.

 

Along with the fact that Glimmerstone and Floraban had made an agreement, detailed requirements from both sides were written.

 

Then I frowned.

 

‘…What?’

 

Among the items Floraban requested from Glimmerstone, there was one thing that strangely caught my attention.

 

“Glimmerstone is providing growth acceleration items to Floraban…?”

 

Growth accelerators in a city where Elves live and love nature?

 

‘Are the plants not growing?’

 

Well, it could be that they purely want to make plants grow better.

 

But for that to be the case, the faces of the Elves I saw earlier were too serious.

 

Perhaps some problem occurred in Floraban, which I haven’t visited yet, forcing them to make an agreement with Glimmerstone.

 

Floraban would receive various items including growth acceleration items, and in return agreed to cooperate when attacking Gearsgard.

 

“But this has now fallen through.”

 

The reason could be found in documents nearby.

 

[7A Alchemy Lab Theft Incident Report]

 

A few days ago, important materials were stolen from the alchemy lab, a core department of Glimmerstone.

 

On the first page of the report was a small memo listing items that could be made with the stolen materials.

 

A considerable number of materials needed to create the items promised to Floraban were included.

 

‘Is this why the promised delivery was canceled and the agreement broken?’

 

With the puzzle pieces fitting together step by step, I pondered with a serious expression.

 

Of course, breaking an agreement involving war couldn’t be decided carelessly.

 

That would probably be decided through intense negotiations with the serious-faced Elves who came today.

 

More than that, it didn’t seem like a simple theft.

 

“The timing is too perfect…?”

 

Right at this moment when there was a plan to attack Gearsgard.

 

The materials that were the most important element of that agreement just happened to be stolen?

 

If you piece it together, it could all end with ‘that’s possible,’ but this is the Tower of Babel.

 

Nothing ever just passes by.

 

Hoping that perhaps the culprit had already been caught and the matter resolved, I thoroughly examined the documents to the very end.

 

[Presumed to be theft by external intruder.]

 

There was nothing except one unhelpful line.

 

‘This is strange.’

 

No, the situation is way too suspicious.

 

Glimmerstone is definitely a city with strict security.

 

In the first place, they said outsiders without entry permits couldn’t enter Glimmerstone, and the process of entering city hall also involved quite detailed entry procedures.

 

‘…Or not?’

 

Thinking about it again, it might be surprisingly lax.

 

They let me, who was just wearing a black robe, steal all their top-secret information, so calling this strict security is a bit…

 

If I had to describe it, it would be more accurate to say it’s a heavily controlled place.

 

‘To the point where they won’t let you speak on the streets.’

 

Anyway, the current situation where an outsider infiltrated the synthesis room, a core facility of such a place, and ‘selectively stole exactly what they needed’ is extremely contrived.

 

Was it really an outsider?

 

Maybe there was an internal traitor?

 

I rummaged through other documents while considering various possibilities.

 

In the process, I discovered one document and brightened up.

 

[Verilsha Movement Report]

 

Verilsha, the city where the Tower of Babel rises upside down.

 

I had only confirmed its shocking appearance while falling, but I still had no information about Verilsha.

 

Recalling Brozen’s words, he said it was a city where engineers lived alongside mages after some transitions.

 

That’s all I know.

 

So if I ever go on a field survey, it would be good to familiarize myself with Verilsha in advance.

 

There might be a law there saying black robes are treasonous and you can only wear purple robes.

 

However, there wasn’t much content inside.

 

Just that Verilsha only actively participated in the war in the early stages, and currently maintains a neutral attitude, stepping back from the war between the four cities.

 

Whether they’re not making any effort to compete for Vernium at all, Verilsha’s movement report had ‘still quiet’ expressed in various ways.

 

I shouted into the air in bewilderment.

 

“That’s suspicious as hell!”

 

What, in a world where cities fall without mana stones, they’re just sitting still without fighting?

 

From one perspective, you could consider them peace-loving moderates, but this world is currently in a survival game where cities’ existence is at stake.

 

Even if it’s just 5-year survival, they should still absolutely need mana stones.

 

‘There must be something fishy about them.’

 

Thinking that way, when I carefully examined the report again, I saw more suspicious points.

 

There was only superficial information, hardly enough to call it a proper report.

 

Either the city is truly shrouded in mystery making investigation itself difficult, or they’re intentionally blocking information from their side.

 

Whatever the case, there seemed to be no reason not to suspect Verilsha, who’s just sitting idle in the current situation.

 

“Wait, isn’t Berilsha the mastermind behind all this?”

 

It was the moment I voiced this surprisingly plausible theory.

 

Click-

 

I instantly froze and stared at the door.

 

The door handle I had locked was turning.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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