In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 13 Read online

  “The market isn’t dangerous if you’re there to buy, but there’s one golden rule you must follow... Never ask about where something came from. If you follow that rule you’ll most likely be safe.” Euri explained a little more. That made sense, if the place dealt in stolen goods. It’d be suspicious to start asking questions about the wares. In the worst case scenario, the Black Papillon might end up targeting whoever was asking around.

  “What are we doing, my liege?”

  Hrm... Well, as the saying goes... Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  “Alright. Take me there. But let me just be clear, I’m not going to help you fight this organization, alright?”

  “Tsk... Ah well... That’s fine. I’ll use the chance to snoop on the enemy for a little bit. Now we just need to wait for Rouge... Oh wait, there it is.” Nia’s gaze turned toward one of the fort’s side entrances. I saw something small walking in from the forest.

  Its body was red, a dark and burning crimson. It almost looked like a knight in full armor, but it was also incredibly tiny. It had spikes jutting up from its head. Despite its size, it was lugging along a massive wild boar, one about the same size as a car.

  It clearly had an incredible amount of strength... It dropped the boar down in front of us with a heavy thud.

  “Welcome back. How far did you go?”

  “Northward. Deep in the forest. Met unexpected danger.”

  “It talks...?” The voice was somewhat mechanical, but the red Gollem had clearly spoken. I remember that the wolf Gollem alongside Elluka had also spoken, but a bit more eloquently. It was about as conversational as any of the Babylon sisters were.

  “Rouge, this is Touya. He’s the one that gave us the items we used to repair you. And Touya, this is Rouge. It’s my partner. Technically, its full name is Blood Rouge, but Rouge is easier to say casually.”

  “I have heard of you. Gratitude is extended.”

  “Ahh... Don’t worry about it, really.” The Gollem bowed its head. It felt like its appearance and its manner of speaking clashed a little... But honestly, it felt pretty human in its motions. Est’s Gollem, Akagane... That one definitely felt a lot more robotic than this one.

  If I recalled correctly, Rouge was part of a special Gollem sub-type called the crown series. Apparently, the crowns were legendary legacy models with exceptional skill. They were supposed to outclass all the other Gollems in the world... But frankly, I hadn’t seen too much to be impressed by from this little guy.

  “Rouge, we’re headed to the black market. Wanna come?”

  “I shall accompany you. Master.” Rouge nodded softly toward Nia. They kind of resembled an older sister and little brother more than a master and robotic servant. Then again, Rouge was clearly far older than Nia was.

  “So, where is it?” I whipped out my smartphone and used it to project a world map.

  “Here’s the fort we’re in right now... Currently, the black market is in the city of Goldose, which is to the south... Right here. Goldose is a casino city, come to think of it.”

  “W-Wait a second... Is it a big, gaudy city that shines out into the night?”

  “Yes, are you familiar with it?” That city of all places... The place where I went and gambled like crazy that one time... Weird that I didn’t catch its name until now.

  Then again, I did lose all my money there... I was probably more focused on that.

  “So wait, is that city controlled by the Black Papillon?”

  “No, the black market venue changes every month. This time it just happens to be in Goldose, but that doesn’t mean Black Papillon has anything to do with that city. Though it does mean someone in the city’s higher-ups has accommodated them.” They probably circulated their location to prevent being caught out by the government. Nia certainly knew a lot about them.

  “Only a thief can catch out a thief. We have our own methods of catching information, you know.” Euri grinned as she brought a finger up to her lips. The Red Cats were certainly a group of chivalrous thieves, but they still employed underhanded means. They could then use any information gained via such dark channels to their advantage.

  I kind of felt like they shouldn’t have been telling an outsider like me such sensitive info, but it’s not like I was going to do anything with what they’d told me.

  “We can travel to Goldose without a problem... But are you guys fine to come with?” Nia was the leader of the Red Cats, so I had some reservations about taking her out into the open. She responded by waving a dismissive hand and grinning.

  “Very few people know I’m the leader of the Red Cats, you know. Plus, Rouge will be with me... It’ll keep me safe from harm.” It seemed like even though the Red Cats were infamous, their leader’s identity wasn’t widely known. I’d planned on using [Mirage] to disguise us if it came to it, but that didn’t appear to be necessary anymore.

  We informed the other Red Cats in the fort where we’d be headed and left behind a small mouse that I’d summoned for them.

  They’d be able to communicate to the mouse if anything suddenly came up, and the mouse would convey the message to Kohaku and I.

  Nia excitedly watched the summoning and immediately begged me to teach her how to do it. She looked crestfallen when I informed her that it was Dark magic, and she didn’t have any kind of talent for that school.

  We walked together to the outer district of Goldose, which wasn’t too far from the forest. Even a city as gaudy as this had a dark side to it. This city’s underbelly was, of course, the slums... A place where the destitute wandered around, the last stop for those with no more dreams.

  Once we made it there, we headed into a back alley and used [Gate], then used it to enter the main street of the city itself.

  The neon lights weren’t blaring since it was daytime, but the city still looked just as flashy.

  We headed up toward the central district and paid a toll at a gaudy gate to enter.

  It kind of felt like paying an admission fee to enter an amusement park...

  “So, whereabouts is it?” There were several dome-shaped casinos in the central district, owned by different people. I imagined that at night, this place was like a battlefield, with each competing to attract more customers and revenue.

  There were also regular buildings surrounded by emptier land here and there... The casinos weren’t open during the day time, and I was mostly curious about where the market was. “We’re heading to Goldman’s Casino... Or rather, where the casino used to be.”

  “Used to be?”

  “A few months back, the owner of the casino was arrested for a lot of illegal deeds, including running a gambling ring based on combat. He was having slaves fight Gollems to the death, and profiting from it. We’d intended to defeat them ourselves, but we were beaten to it...” Nia started to pout a little and kick at the ground. I wondered what was up with her when Euri chimed in.

  “The owner of the casino ended up being defeated by the owner of a black crown, much like the boss. She’s in a bad mood because one of her rivals took all the glory before she could.”

  “Don’t say that!” Nia grumbled and flicked Euri on the forehead. The assaulted girl flinched and brought her hand up to the point of impact, tears welling up in her eyes. It certainly made a nice painful noise there.

  A red crown and a black crown? Could the crown series be color-coordinated or something? “Regardless, the new owner of the casino dome is working with Black Papillon and letting them host the market there.” That made sense. I opened my map and looked at the city’s layout. Thankfully the name of the casino hadn’t been formally changed yet, so I was able to locate it with little difficulty.

  We walked over to the dome and found ourselves being stared at by two gatekeeping Gollems. They were about three meters tall and were made of steel. They were huge... Not exactly as huge as my Frame Gears, though. They seemed very old-fashioned and sturdy, that much was for sure.

  A group of thuggish looking men was han
ging around the entrance, and they wandered over to us.

  “We got customers?” The roughest looking guy stared me down with a sneer on his face. If this place was actually a casino, his behavior certainly wouldn’t have been acceptable.

  “If ya came here to buy, it’s one gold a person. If ya came here to sell, show us yer wares.”

  “...We’re here to buy. Three gold, right?” The man just nodded along to my words. He clearly wasn’t here for conversation.

  It was around a hundred thousand yen per person... Gollems didn’t seem to count as people in the eyes of the black market, but we had to pay for Rouge’s admission when we entered the main district of the casino city. Though I didn’t have to pay for Kohaku or Luli, so I didn’t really understand their standards.

  I handed over three gold coins to the man. He wordlessly gestured toward the Gollems with his head.

  We passed through the entrance and came out into a completely barren hall. It seemed like all the casino decorations had been completely cleared out.

  Compared to the casino I’d entered the last time, this one looked tremendously shabby.

  There were no poker or roulette tables, there was no fancy chandelier... There was just a bunch of grubby-looking tents and stalls lined up around the wide open space.

  It was mostly set up like a flea market, but both the customers and the shopkeepers looked incredibly gruff or suspicious. The place certainly gave off a great big criminal underworld vibe.

  “It’s rather lively, my liege.”

  “Kind of feels like an antique market, yeah...” There were all kinds of things on sale in this place. There was jewelry, weird-shaped vases, even peculiar animals I’d never seen before. I found myself starry-eyed, looking around at everything I could find. There were a lot of devices that incorporated magical power into their design... I found a few magic artifacts, too.

  Oh, crap. I’m getting off-track here...

  I looked around the entire place, but I couldn’t see anything even vaguely resembling a Gollem. I felt duped.

  “Touya, in a market like this, the more expensive stuff like Gollems are located in a different area. Euri’s already gone off to ask about it, so just wait a bit.” I’d personally thought the stuff I was looking at was pricey... But apparently, this was the cheap stuff. That made me more nervous about what Gollems cost.

  After a little bit, Euri returned. It seemed like the more expensive transactions were being made down in the basement.

  We came to a heavy, black door. It was guarded by some beefy-looking men. Once again, we had to pay a toll. Geez...

  I was annoyed, but I had to bear with it. I paid enough for three people, and we began our descent toward the basement.

  We headed down into the basement and found a smaller room with various Gollems on display. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some humanoid, some animalistic, some big, and some small.

  It was pretty amazing to see them all lined up, the atmosphere was almost like being at an expo. Still, I was there to buy.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Hm...?”

  Nia nagged me to keep moving. I was standing and gawping like a moron. We navigated past various customers as we looked over the different models available.

  “I can’t tell the difference between legacy and factory models...”

  “When you get used to seeing them, it’s pretty easy to tell based on the parts they have. The design is often telltale, too. For now, just use the price as a guide. Legacy Gollems are way more expensive than their factory counterparts. From time to time you might even find custom-made Gollems, too.”

  Gollems excavated from ruins were known as Legacy Gollems.

  Gollems that were mass-produced using modern technology were the Factory Gollems.

  Then there were one-of-a-kind units that were made to order, and they were Custom Gollems.

  Rouge was a Legacy Gollem, while Mr. Sancho’s Crab Bus was likely a Factory Gollem.

  I looked at the prices and saw a few Gollems with an extra digit in their prices. Interestingly enough, though, nearly all of them were labeled as having no abilities.

  It seemed like Gollems with skills were hard to come across.

  “Over there, my lord.”

  “Ohoho.” Kohaku pointed out a Gollem that didn’t have the tag denoting lack of skill.

  The Gollem was green, around two meters tall. It was gorilla-shaped and had extremely thick arms. There was also what resembled some kind of tank on its back.

  “Excuse me... Does this Gollem have a skill?”

  “That it does, my boy. It has a limited range, but it can manipulate the earth.” That was interesting... It’d probably be a useful tool for engineering or labor. That price-tag was a little steep, though... It was close to five-hundred million yen. If it was left lying around, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see it get stolen... Though considering it was in the black market, I had my suspicions that it was probably stolen already.

  I wondered if the Black Papillon group was handling security here...

  I was fairly confident that I’d be able to steal everything in here and make it out, if I wanted... But I’d refrain from drastic acts like that.

  “Oh, Touya. What about this one?”

  “Hm? What about it?” Nia pointed at a set of machinery that looked more like a wearable power suit than any Gollem I’d seen so far. It looked as though it was meant to be worn over the limbs and back, like a powered exoskeleton. I didn’t realize Gollems could be so varied. “This one’s a Gear Gollem. It might not look it, but it’s super useful. It works alongside its master and responds to your mental processes when you wear it.” It looked interesting, but I wanted an autonomous model.

  “What about this one, Touya?” Euri led me to a series of lined-up display boxes. Specifically, she was pointing at the Gollem in one of them.

  It was about the size of a child. Around Rouge’s height and weight. This one was white at its base and had a more feminine form. There were two other identical models next to it, the only difference between the three were the fluorescent colors adorning their bodies. One was green, one blue, and one red. They even had glowing parts on their head that were meant to represent hair... They were incredibly crafted, even I could tell that much.

  “Humanoid models are really rare...” Nia muttered to herself as she surveyed the three legacy units. When compared to the heavily-armored Rouge, or the exoskeleton and gorilla models I’d seen earlier, these ones looked a little more like humans.

  To be honest I wasn’t as impressed as the onlookers. Back at home, I had a whole bunch of perfectly human-like gynoids living on Babylon. As realistically human as they were, these Gollems were still clearly inhuman and doll-like compared to the likes of Cesca.

  “Do these ones have skills, then?”

  “Sure do, son. Got my guarantee! But these little pretties ain’t been activated, so I can’t tell you what abilities they actually have.”

  Gollems had devices in their central area that typically registered an individual as the Gollem’s master and then brought them online, but apparently, the device wasn’t working in these three models. For that reason, they’d never been activated. The shopkeeper had taken them to an engineer, but he wasn’t able to fix it, so he just decided to sell them as they were.

  “That’s why I’m sellin’ them for so cheap. Wanna buy one?” The chubby man rubbed his hands together as he grinned.

  Hmph... Is this seriously cheap? That’s seventy royals, that’s several hundred million yen... That’s a hella high price...

  The gorilla one from earlier was only 500 million, and it had an ability, too... Are you telling me these are better?

  “Geez, kid... Look, right here. See?” The shopkeeper pointed toward the chest of one of the Gollems. There was a tiny ☆ mark, a series of small numbers, and some words I couldn’t make out engraved there.

  “Ohh... A star mark! That explains it... Are these Gollems part of the Eto
ile Series?”

  “Ahh... I see.”

  Euri and Nia seemed satisfied by the meaning of the symbols. Euri turned to explain the situation. Apparently, Gollems marked with that star were part of the Etoile Series, which are considered extremely advanced and high-performance models even amongst other Legacy Gollems.

  The mark probably represented the person who originally crafted them.

  I was also quietly informed of the small crown emblem engraved into Rouge’s neck. Apparently, that was the way to identify if a Gollem was part of the crown series, too.

  “Is it fake, then?”

  “No way. You can’t bring fake goods into the black market. He’d be barred from coming back, or even killed...” That made sense enough. Even without knowledge of what their skills were, just knowledge of the fact that they were Etoiles was enough to drive up market price. That was the nature of the market, for you...

  “So, laddie? You buying or not, hm? These models don’t usually go for this cheap...”

  “Hm...” In all honesty, I was looking for a much tougher robot to act as a guard. A menacing one like Akagane would’ve been ideal. These three looked more like they’d be suited to being caretakers or housekeepers more than anything.

  Doctor Babylon would be able to analyze them and safely activate them once I brought them back home, I knew that much. Even if she failed, I knew she’d keep trying until she figured them out completely. Thus, I made my decision.

  “Alright. I’ll take them... But before we ring it up, hear me out.”

  I activated [Storage] and pulled out an adamantite ingot, and showed it to the suspicious trader. He looked at it for a while as the pieces began to click in his mind. Then his eyes shot wide open.

  “Th-That’s... adamantite?! Where in the world did you...”

  “Ah-ah-ah. Don’t forget the rules. No asking about origins, right? I will take all three of these Gollems off your hands for a hundred and thirty royals, and this ingot.”

  “A-All three...?! H-Hmph... L-Let me be sure it’s genuine first...”