On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

The headquarters of the Black Merchant are spread throughout the continent. They are a massive organization of illegal traders who don't even bother to name their organization properly, hence the straightforward name.

Being in Antares, of course, we are heading to the headquarters located there. Considering what they do, I expected them to be located in a place that is far from civilization or a backwater village, or an abandoned territory.

It was much to my amusement when Abigail told me the headquarters was located in Brontes—the main Brontes. It is not the closest Dukedom to the capital; still, it is a territory under the Kingdom's heavy scrutiny.

The Black Merchant is everyone's enemy that everyone needs. They only care about profit, so they will sell anything to you or your enemies.

You will have to pay to prevent any information about you from leaking; many people threaten the Black Merchant to not sell their information but they always end up on the Bounty Hunter's prey list. The Black Merchant has no power to punch but they have the power to move people to punch for them.

For that reason, while being business partners with the Black Merchant, many people are trying to find their weaknesses. Given the circumstance, usually, people will try to get as far away as possible from their enemies. The Black Merchant thinks differently, however; they find it better to taunt their enemies instead.

Of course, no one dares to move recklessly against them. No one knows the limit of their connection and what kind of monsters they can mobilize.

"Hm…the Dukedom is just a few miles ahead. It's time to wake them up."

We have been flying for 18 hours non-stop from Ziehara to Brontes. Abigail and Gabriela seem to find resting unnecessary or they might have just taken their rest in their carriage, which I am sure they find more comfortable than resting in a tent.

The girls prefer setting up a camp so they can sleep in the tent but there is no time for that. They have to do with sleeping on Genelos' back which is not that comfortable but big enough for them to lean on each other as they sleep.

Of course, there is me who makes sure that none of them falls during their sleep; so, essentially, they are all sleeping in my embrace. This is the only time when I can see why having a significantly bigger body is useful in this world.

Patting each of their hands, I wake them up. "It is time. You don't want to walk like a Deadwalker as we land, do you?" Deadwalker is this world's version of Zombie.

I can immediately see them gradually regaining their clarity until they sit straightly. They take a time to sit silently as they look around—probably figuring out where they are at the moment—and then turn to me to say thank you.

"I'll stay here for a while."

"Me too."

"Yes…I would like to stay here too."

Well, maybe not.

Either way, I nod my head and let them do what they want. It is not like them sitting in front of me is bothersome. What is bothersome is the need to prevent them from falling. Since they are already awake, I don't mind letting them sit before me…. They have to stop leaning on me, though.

A few minutes passed and the time to land finally arrived. Abigail and Gabriela are understanding enough to pull over in the nearby forest. Genelos dives down and enters the forest without moving a single leaf on the trees. He lands softly soon after, prompting us to get down.

Abigail and Gabriela come out of their carriage, which is a few feet from Genelos, as soon as Genelos assumes his lizard form. As the girls and I walk toward them, Teanosvera reveals his crow form and perches on my shoulder.

"None of you looks tired. As expected of the Shadow and his retainers, I guess?" Gabriela remarks as she looks at us.

"What kind of rumors are circulating about me as the Shadow?" I ask in mild curiosity.

"Well, many of them but, in a nutshell, your might is believed to have surpassed the Heroes, which I don't think is far from the truth," she explains.

"Ah, you are also rumored to be extremely benevolent, which is the only thing that I think is an exaggeration," Abigail puts her two cents in.

"I won't argue with you—I completely agree," I say.

After Abigail stored the carriage in her Spatial Storage, all of us make a dash to the Dukedom. We run at the top speed of the slowest person in the group—Winerva—so people will instantly know we are in a group and no one will be left behind.

Upon arriving before the gate, we immediately join the line. A guard spots Abigail and Gabriela in their armor not long after. He walks to us, takes us out of the line, and guides us to a smaller gate. This is a VIP treatment—the proof of the weight the two girls' names have.

"Buy yourself a drink or two," I say as I toss a gold coin to the guard.

"T-Thank you, sir!" he exclaims in delight.

As we pass through the smaller gate, Abigail turns to me. "Do you know how much one Gold is worth?"

"500 Peculia," I answer simply.

"Do you know how much money is that?"

"1000$. What is your point?"

"Wow…you are rich," Gabriela chimes in. "I bet he doesn't know that not everyone can have Peculia in their hands."

I didn't know that fact before I went on a journey with the girls. I always knew that most people used silver and bronze coins as currencies but I didn't know the reason why.

According to the people, only rich people have gold coins. Meanwhile, those who have Peculia are people whose more than seventy percent of their assets are in gold coins—again, rich people.

What makes the two different is the way they make a profit. Those who have Peculia are paid in gold coins, whereas, those who have gold coins are paid in either silver coins or bronze coins which will then be converted to gold.

To be able to have a Peculia, you have to, at least, have 12,000 gold coins in your vault. It will then be converted to Peculia and that will be your only Peculia until you have another 12,000 Peculia to convert.

Due to the bothersome process, not many people are so eager to have Peculia. Still, if they have one—either from trading with someone who has one or from their vault—people will know that they are rich.

"That is the headquarters."

By the time I finished my thought, we have already reached our destination. I look in the direction Abigail is pointing with her chin and find a normal-looking, two-story coffee shop.

I feel quite silly for expecting the headquarters to be a dilapidated building in the least developed area of the Dukedom. From how it has been going, I should have expected it to look just like any normal building in the surroundings.

Conformity is the perfect façade. I am using the same tactic to hide my group's identity and I feel stupid for being astonished by someone who is using the same tactic.

I turn to the girls and say, "I am going inside. You girls can explore this place and chill. Don't be so discreet but don't be too loud. Just act normally."

As I am about to walk, Abigail stops me. "Wait, I will accompany you. Now that I think about it, you are attempting to do something quite risky."

"Do you think you can help me when things turn south?" I quirk my eyebrow; she can't see.

"I can't but I can prevent it from happening."

"Good point." I nod my head and turn to Gabriela. "Do you want to accompany me too?"

Waving her hand lightly, she says, "Nah, I am going to have some girl's time with them."

Immediately turning around, I walk toward the coffee shop with Abigail in tow. People turn their eyes in our direction and, for the first time, they are not focused on me; they are focused on Abigail who wears full armor in the middle of the Dukedom.

Cling-clang!

The bell above the shop's door chimes when I open the door and let it close by itself. No one turns to look at us as they are busy talking with each other while drinking their coffee. It is a very familiar scene but I can't help finding it peculiar. Most of the people in this world, after all, prefer alcohol to coffee, which is not unusual given the harsh living condition.

Walking to the counter, we wait until the barista finished doing his thing before saying anything to him. At this point, the people who didn't seem to care about us when we entered the shop put their curious gaze on us.

"How may I help you, sir?"

The barista turns to us with a smile that lacks sincerity. He stands straight and matches my gaze, clearly showing that he is not afraid.

"I want to offer the manager some coffee beans that have recently become popular," I say. "I guarantee you it tastes just as good as it smells."

"Hoh?"

The barista quirks his eyebrow in interest. He then walks out of the counter and guides us to the second floor, which he claims to be where the manager's office is. It, indeed, is but…whom we find inside is someone unexpected.