Chapter 34: Choosing a Profession Part 3
The moment Kael's group reached the counter, the receptionist had already prepared three pens and registration forms neatly arranged on top, evidently guessing already what the group came for to do.
In her years of experience working as a receptionist on the fifth floor, there were only three types of people who approached her. First, those who want to get to know her and ask her out. Second, those who have business with the President of the Merchant Union. And second, those who want to register to become a merchant, which she is tasked with handling.
"Just fill in the paper and pay the registration fee of five gold coins to officially become a merchant," The female receptionist beckoned with her delicate hand.
"We only need one," Kael grabbed the pen prepared next to the registration form and started filling up the empty and required blanks with familiarity.
The receptionist nodded her head without any problem and took away the extra pens and registration forms.
In no time, Kael was already done and immediately handed the form to the receptionist along with his ID Card and five gold coins.
"Thank you!" The female receptionist nodded before starting to process the form and the ID Card using a magical device in front of her.
The device was like a combination of a typewriter, scanner, and printer that uses materials found on Avalon.
After a few blinking blue, green, and yellow lights and clanking noises, white smoke was released from the top of the magical device, and an updated ID Card popped out underneath.
"Here's your updated ID Card, and this booklet is your merchant guide form." The receptionist handed Kael his ID Card back, along with a small book that she had taken from a drawer on her table.
Not wanting to raise any more suspicion, Kael accepted both and thanked the receptionist.
At this moment, Kael was finally and officially a merchant.
"In one week, you may return to me to receive your merchant insignia."
A merchant insignia is a token or a badge that acts as proof that one is a merchant.
"In the meantime, you can temporarily use this token to prove you are a merchant," The receptionist said as she handed Kael a golden token with the insignia of the Merchant Union, which is a sword and a book crossed together with a shield at the very center behind the two symbols.
These three symbols indicated the three core purposes of the Merchant Union.
The sword and book refer to their purpose to unite the warrior and mage into one unified organization.
The shield refers to its purpose of protecting and fighting for Avalon.
By combining the two, it implies that the Merchant Union exists to gather everyone to protect and fight for Avalon.
Fight for what?
That was a secret that Kael still doesn't know exactly to this day.
In his first life, he heard rumors that there was once a huge, powerful group that existed in Avalon in the past that used to be their common enemy and had brought great destruction and calamity to everyone. It was one of the main reasons why people mastered various branches of manipulating mana to the point that different races came into existence.
There was also a rumor that the Merchant Union was called a different name in the past. If he could remember correctly, it used to be called Protector of Avalon. He doesn't know why they changed their name or whether this was even the truth or not, since it was merely a rumor in his first life.
He did, however, discover a few evidence of their existence in the continent of Exvoria. But those weren't enough to prove that they truly existed a long time ago.
"Thank you!" Kael expressed his appreciation.
Since they were done with their task here, the trio immediately went down to the first floor.
Lawrence wanted to explore the Merchant Union and see the different products they are selling, but Kael rejected the idea since they still needed to return to their camp as soon as possible to prevent any dangers from befalling that place.
Although Kael was extremely familiar with the direction towards the slave market. Honestly, he could even lead them to the cheapest yet best slave dealer in the entire Sylvaris Kingdom. He didn't bother doing so and let Lawrence and Jayem lead the way.
The trio rode a public carriage to reach the place quickly.
After travelling for more than a kilometer and passing multiple alleyways, Lawrence finally told the coachman to stop at a certain alley.
Paying the transportation fee that merely cost three silver coins, since they didn't bring anything else with them, the trio then walked inside the alleyway.
The pathway they followed was dark and unappealing for the majority of the people, but none of them hesitated and continued their journey until they finally reached a corner that seemed to be the entrance of a huge open area.
On top of the entrance hung a sign that said Dark Flower Alley in huge and bold fonts, and underneath was a black-colored rose.
"I believe they called this place the Dark Flower Alley. It's apparently one of the low-level black markets of the Sylvaris Kingdom."
Black markets are spread in various locations in a single kingdom and are divided into three different levels depending on the size, security, and location of the black market. The levels are low-level, mid-level, and top-level. Just like with the Merchant Union, the higher the level, the more advanced and exquisite the items being sold.
Without any hesitation, the trio walked inside and was instantly greeted by a huge crowd of people walking around the place while dressed in black cloaks. Some of them even covered their entire body and faces to completely hide their identities.
These people were silent as they walked around the black market, looking for items that would catch their attention. Unlike them, the merchants were the only ones making loud noises to attract customers.
Kael, Lawrence, and Jayem didn't care about their attire as they started exploring the place. Also, nobody seemed to care as everyone was fully focused on their own matters.
Looking around, the stores in the area were either wooden stalls or roughly constructed podiums.
In a low-level black market, there are no permanent spots like a walk-in store or shop, as this place strictly follows the rule of first-come, first-served basis. To be more precise, whoever grabs the spot first gets to own it for the entire day.
As they looked down, the ground was a simple stone brick that had countless cracks and tiny pools of dirty water.
Nobody cared, though, as the people didn't hesitate to step on them to go about their way to their destination.
Some were even standing still on top of these dirty pools of water, not showing worry or disgust on their faces, as if used to it already.
Kael's group no longer bothered looking around further as they turned their attention to their task at hand.
In this kind of place, it was quite easy to spot the slave dealers.
As long as the spot was a podium, there's a high chance they are slave dealers, as these kinds of businessmen need to stand on a slightly higher level than everyone to attract the attention of customers and for them to be able to easily showcase their products.
However, the problem was looking for a high-quality slave in this low-level black market. Just from the name itself, this place also sells low-level and cheap products.
What else could they expect from those kinds of products, right?
But every now and then, as long as one searches hard and looks closely, one would sometimes be lucky enough to spot a good quality product.
"Bulky beastman warrior for sale! Three gold coins for those with a complete body, while one gold coin and five silver coins for those with missing limbs! The fewer the limbs remaining, the lesser the price!"
"Hardworking barbarian for sale! Hardworking barbarian for sale! Grab one quick before I run out of stock! Refund is guaranteed if they're not hardworking!"
"Looking for a slave to satisfy your carnal desire? Worry no more, as we have freshly captured human beauties here! The minimum price is ten gold coins!"
Countless slave dealers were hawking their products to attract potential customers nearby.
Kael's group would occasionally turn their attention after hearing them, but would soon look away in disappointment.
Firstly, the one saying they were selling a bulky Beastmen warriors was only selling slightly muscular Beastmen slaves that they've registered as warriors not too long ago. The majority of them even lost a finger, a hand, a foot, a limb, or even one of their eye or their ears, which was more than enough proof for them to believe their assumption.
Secondly, the so-called hardworking barbarians, also known as the orc race, didn't even look like barbarians anymore with their thin figures and malnourished bodies. And speaking about a refund, that might be true, but the problem is whether they could even find the slave dealer after proving the slave they sold was not hardworking at all.
Lastly, human beauties? Turns out they were just barely attractive female human who were covered with thick layers of makeup.