363. Tierney's Gradual Growth

After a whole morning of running around, there was still nothing to show for it. The black market had few vendors in the morning to begin with, and with the underground forces in the outer city recently tearing each other apart, fighting over the vacuum left behind after Uzloni, Perth, and the others' factions had been purged, the black market had become even more deserted.

Before returning to Night-Kirin City, Landen had originally wanted to visit Emmanuel, but outside a courtyard, he saw a familiar fine horse: Vine Wind.

This was a nameless street. The dirt road was pitted and uneven, full of filthy water. The gate of every courtyard on the street had been patched up with all kinds of materials, and on one slightly newer gate, some unknown magic pattern had been painted with the cheapest magic ink.

Landen recognized the gray-green Magic Beast Horse, and Vine Wind naturally recognized Blaze's master as well, coming over to Landen with great affection. Peering through the crack in the gate into the courtyard, Landen saw an empty yard and a wide-open door, and felt a little worried that young Tierney might have fallen into some kind of trap.

"Young Master Joyason, these Mana-Less are people a certain client asked us to take away. You're a person of standing in Dragon Tooth City too, so don't make things difficult for us." In the somewhat derelict room, a tall fellow wrapped in a heavy cloak spoke to Tierney Joyason. Behind him stood five or six slightly shorter subordinates, similarly dressed in cloaks. "You're all from great families, unlike us. We're just a bunch of hired hands, people who do work for others."

"What a coincidence. I'm also here at someone's request." The young knight was clad in Magic Pattern Armor. Facing an