Wuling squeezed through the narrow passage behind the medicine cabinet, then followed a corridor all the way down to an ordinary basement.
Empty medicine crates, old wooden barrels, and dried herbs were piled all around. The walls were built of greyish-black stone bricks, showing no signs of anything unusual.
Wuling walked to a corner and pressed its front paw against a slightly darker stone brick.
In the next moment, pale golden runes lit up beneath its paw, rapidly spreading along the seams of the bricks in all directions.
The walls of the entire basement shimmered simultaneously, followed by a dull, rumbling sound from beneath their feet.
Celine felt her body sink slightly. The surrounding wooden crates and medicine barrels shook gently, and fine dust fell continuously from above.
She instinctively sensed her surroundings, only to find that the aura of the outside world was rapidly receding, replaced by increasingly complex fluctuations of mana.
After a moment, the vibration gradually stopped, and the glowing runes on the wall dimmed.
Wuling retracted its paw, let out a soft meow, and lay down on the ground to stretch its limbs, letting out a long yawn.
Seeing this, Nolani immediately bent down, trying to stroke its back.
The right cat head snapped around, giving her an unfriendly hiss of warning.
“It's been so long, why do you still not let me pet you?” Nolani grumbled, retracting her hand. “I brought you things before, you know.”
The left head couldn't be bothered with her. It leaped up, nudged open the basement door, and quickly ran out.
The area outside the door was no longer the corridor they had come from.
A wide passage paved with black stone slabs lay before them, with magic lamps embedded in the walls at regular intervals, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Celine walked to the doorway and glanced back at the now-silent basement. “Did they dig a tunnel?” she asked, somewhat puzzled.
Nolani nodded at first, then quickly shook her head. “Calling it a tunnel isn't entirely accurate, but you'll understand in a moment.”
The two of them walked forward along the stone path. At first, it was very quiet, but as they drew closer, the sounds of talking and street vending gradually echoed from ahead.
Rounding a bend at the end of the passage, their field of vision suddenly opened up.
A massive underground space stretched out in all directions, with several roads of varying widths intersecting at different levels, leading to a trading district deeper inside.
Rows of magic lamps hung from the cavernous ceiling like a cluster of stars, casting a brilliant glow.
Both sides of the streets were packed with stalls and shops.
Some people sold magical materials that emitted eerie glows, while others led strangely shaped beasts through the crowd.
A potted plant with a human face was busy haggling with a customer.
An apothecary wearing a plague doctor's mask carried a whole crate of murky potions, followed by two cloaked mercenaries of indistinguishable races.
Further away, the constant sound of dice rattling on tables and the cheers of onlookers could be heard.
Occasional disputes broke out, but the troublemakers would always lower their voices before a supervisor wearing a dark bronze mask could draw near.
Beneath this apparent chaos, another set of rules clearly kept the place running.
“Is this a black market?”
“Exactly.”
Nolani spread her arms, smiling as she showed off everything before them.
“Welcome to the largest black market beneath Red Kite—”
“Secret Alley.”
Just as Nolani finished her introduction, someone nearby recognized her.
“Red-haired elf!”
Celine looked toward the source of the voice and saw a goblin standing by a gambling table, waving at them.
“When are you coming back for another round? Today's dice are just missing a bit of good luck!”
A one-eyed man beside him immediately laughed. “Is it her luck you're missing, or the chips she always ends up returning after winning?”
A burst of laughter erupted around them. Nolani waved her hand dismissively, completely unbothered.
“Another day! I have a friend with me today.”
Nolani quickly pulled Celine along, quickening her pace.
Along the way, people frequently greeted her.
Some asked where she had been lately, some tried to sell her newly arrived lyre strings, and an herb merchant raised a bag of seeds from afar, reminding her that the goods she had inquired about last time had arrived.
Nolani recognized every single one of them. Even if she couldn't name them, she knew what they sold and where their shops were.
Celine watched the people constantly waving at Nolani. “You seem to be quite popular here,” she noted.
Nolani lifted her chin with a touch of pride. “It just goes to show my charm. I make new friends very easily.”
Celine glanced at her. “But your friends all seem to be from the gambling tables.”
“How is that possible?” Nolani retorted solemnly. “Some of them I met after I ran up debts with them.”
Celine was somewhat speechless. “You sound rather proud of that.”
“Because at least those relationships are solid.” Nolani waved to the people behind them, gesturing for them to stop shouting. “Ordinary friends might drift apart if you don't see them for a few years, but creditors never will. They'll always greet you with the utmost enthusiasm.”
Looking at the bright, carefree smile on her face, Celine didn't know what to say for a moment.
Running up debts, being chased, and causing trouble everywhere—in Nolani's mouth, these things seemed to turn into amusing anecdotes worth joking about.
She didn't feel pathetic, nor was she ever eager to prove to others how well she was doing.
This elf seemed airheaded, but in reality, she was better than anyone at finding her own place among a complex crowd.
Celine still hadn't completely let down her guard.
But she had to admit that while Nolani was suspicious, she was hard to truly dislike.
“I just hope your creditors aren't enthusiastic enough to corner us here,” Celine said.
Nolani's smile didn't waver. “Don't worry, my escape skills are top-notch.”
Celine smiled faintly. “Not after you met me, they aren't.”
“Let's talk about something else,” Nolani suggested.
Celine let her lead the way, but her eyes swept over their surroundings once more.
Nolani seemed to run up debts wherever she went and was often treated as a fat sheep at the gambling tables.
Yet when the people here saw her, most of them just teased her. Very few showed actual hostility.
These seemingly messy favors and debts had instead allowed her to weave a rather complex network of connections within Secret Alley.
This elf was clearly not as unreliable as she appeared on the surface.
The two of them arrived at the registration desk of the underground passage. A man wearing a black half-mask spoke without raising his head:
“Guarantor.”
“Nolani.”
“Any companions?”
“Yes, Celine.”
Nolani fished out a few metal tokens with blackened edges from the innermost part of her coin pouch and pushed them onto the counter.
The man counted the black tokens, then looked up at Celine.
“First time?”
Before Celine could speak, Nolani chimed in first. “First time taking this route.”
The man didn't press further, simply sweeping the black tokens off the counter.
Below, a palm-sized wooden chest suddenly jumped up, opened its lid lined with tiny teeth, swallowed all the black tokens in one gulp, and landed back in its original spot.
The man continued, “Once you enter the main city, you won't have an official entry record.”
“Regular patrols won't actively check you, but legitimate inns, guild archives, and high-value contracts all require legal identification. If you want to register a backdated entry, go to the White Feather Registry in the city.”
“Give them the code from here, and you can still get added to this morning's caravan list before sunset.”
He pushed over a small wooden slip carved with a feather pattern.
Nolani pocketed the wooden slip. “Got it.”
After leaving the registration desk, the two continued through the underground market.
Celine didn't stop, but she memorized all the stalls along the way.
She had originally planned to find a way to shorten the travel time to and from Crow Candle Castle on this trip.
The Red Kite underground market might offer easier access to strictly regulated spatial technology than the shops on the surface.
As they passed a medicinal herb warehouse, Nolani's steps slowed slightly as well.
Several sealed wooden crates were piled in a corner, their sides painted with a simplified green shade symbol—the shipping mark used by the Green Shade Merchant Guild.
Celine noticed her gaze but didn't press her here. It wouldn't be too late to ask once they got out.
The two of them walked all the way to the other end of the underground market.
At the end of the narrow stone path was an upward shaft, with an iron ladder fixed to the wall.
The man guarding the entrance seemed to be an old acquaintance of Nolani's. After they chatted for a bit and he briefly checked their passes, he unlocked the first iron lock at the shaft's opening.
“Up there is Warehouse Number Seven. Once you go out, don't linger at the door, and don't look back to find the entrance.”
Nolani had clearly taken this route more than once. She climbed up the iron ladder first, quickly reached the top, and skillfully felt around beneath the wooden floorboards for a moment.
She pushed the trapdoor upward. A beam of bright sunlight streamed into the passage, causing Celine, who had just grown accustomed to the darkness, to instinctively squint her eyes.
The trapdoor was located inside a storage room.
Wine barrels, old furniture, and bundles of dried herbs were piled around, and the air carried a faint musty smell.
An elderly couple was in charge of guarding the exit.
The man sat by the door repairing wooden crates, while the woman organized ledgers by the window.
When they saw Nolani, they only looked up to verify the wooden pass before saying hurriedly, “The patrol passed by half a quarter-hour ago. Turn right when you go out, and don't block the door.”
“And remember to register your identities before sunset. If you get caught and accidentally expose us, you know the consequences.”
Nolani agreed with a smile and left a few black tokens behind.
Once the two elders went back to their work, Celine lowered her voice and asked, “What happens if we get caught?”
The smile on Nolani's face faded slightly. She glanced back at the newly closed wooden door, her tone uncharacteristically serious.
“You die.” Nolani continued, “The black market has existed beneath Red Kite for so many years, and it's never been just about bribing a few guards. Every exit has someone responsible for it, and every person passing through must have a guarantor.”
“If someone is unfortunate enough to get caught and leaks the entrance, the location, or the identity of the guide...”
She lightly drew a finger across her neck. “The people down there have ten thousand ways to make them shut up forever.”
“And what about the guarantor?” Celine asked.
“They'll suffer the consequences too, of course,” Nolani replied.
“At best, they lose all transit privileges, and no one in Secret Alley will ever trade with them again.”
“At worst... they might end up with nothing left but a hat floating down the river.”
Nolani stared at her intently, emphasizing repeatedly:
“If you're questioned by the patrol, just say you entered the city with a caravan and haven't had time to get your pass yet. Getting lost, forgetting, losing your documents—any excuse works.”
“Just don't mention Secret Alley, and definitely don't mention Matilda.”
She added, “And me.”
Celine looked at her tense expression and said, “You didn't seem to think about all this when you guaranteed for me just now.”
Nolani fell silent for a moment.
“At the time, I was mostly thinking about getting you inside first so I wouldn't end up hanging from the eaves again,” Nolani muttered.
“Do you regret it now?”
“A little,” Nolani admitted, but her smile quickly returned. “But since we're already here, as long as you don't sell me out, we'll both get by just fine for now.”
Rate on N.U.
