"Marcus here, over." The first thing Marcus did after they decided on going to the Farland inn to contact Jared, who was supposed to lead them to the black market, was call Hank to update him on what happened on their side and give him new instructions.

  "I hear you, over," Hank replied.

  "We are heading to the Farland inn," Marcus started, "If you hear nothing from us in one hour, you start that boat, 30 minutes after that head to the Voyager, update them on what has happened here and operate following the laid-out plan from there, understood? Over."

  "Understood, over." Hank's words were short as always.

  With that dealt with, Marcus took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he prepared himself mentally for what was coming. He hoped that it wouldn't turn into a fight because he really didn't want to take their chances with the people in this new world.

  "Okay, let's go," he said as he turned to the other two.

  The walk to the inn was tense, at least mentally, they tried their best to keep what they were feeling and dealing with in the inside from their faces, but he was sure that if someone who knew what they were looking for laid an eye on them, they would be able to notice that something was off. Fortunately, no such a thing happened.

  Apart from that, it was uneventful. They even stopped a few of the natives to ask for directions.

  When he saw the inn in the distance, Marcus acted as if he didn't, leading the group away as they studied the establishment stealthily. From the short few glances they managed to get, they noticed that nothing really appeared off about the inn. It had a row of windows that showed its interior, and from that, everything checked. The inn seemed to be like the one they had been to in Windy Cliffs village, working as both an inn and a restaurant, if not a bit more active.

  A few waiters were walking around between tables. It all looked so normal that Marcus wondered for a split second if they had the wrong place. Then again, if your inn was a front to a black market, it was to be expected that it would look normal.

  Acting confused after they moved up the street for a couple of minutes, they made their way back acting as if they had just spotted the inn.

  "Control your expressions and actions," Marcus whispered as they were walking back, "We are going in."

  With that, he led the group inside, pushing the door open. The same normal atmosphere that met him when he was with Dan and the others at Windy Cliffs village was also found in the Farland Inn, a normal enough establishment with nothing showing that it was from a magical world.

  Marcus led the other two with him as he went straight away to the counter where an old bald, but huge man sat. The old man was reading a book, putting it aside as they approached.

  "What do you need? A room or a meal?" The old man had quite a deep voice.

  "A room," Marcus said without missing a bit.

  "Just one?" the old man glanced at the three of them before saying, "We only have rooms with 2 beds, one of you would need to take another room."

  "We can go with that," Marcus said in a casual tone, before adding once he noticed that no one was around, "Would I get a discount or something like that if this place was recommended to me by someone? You are Jared right? I heard that something could be arranged if I brought it up with him."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  It was very brief, but Marcus caught the moment the old man seemed to pause, it was a blink and you miss it moment and he soon returned to normal as he said casually,

  "I will see what I can do." He shrugged. "Who recommended this establishment to you? Not everyone's recommendations are the same after all, you know."

  Marcus looked deeply at the old man who did the same to him. The next part was going to be the most important, it would either end with them in the black market, or lead them to a trap where they would have to fight for their lives. It was risky, but it was a risk that had to be taken at some point.

  "It was an old man I met by chance. What was his name again?" Marcus finally said, shrugging as if the name wasn't that important to him. He then asked the others in confusion before turning back and continuing, "Was it old Corgan? I think that was it."

  Marcus had his full attention on the old man as he mentioned the islander's name, and the expression that the man showed at first was so weird that he wondered if something was off. The man looked confused, extremely so, as if that wasn't the name that he had been expecting at all.

  It wasn't acting though, except if the man had a skill for that, Marcus felt that the man was truly confused when he heard the name for the first time. That didn't last long though, clear recognition soon filled his face as he turned to Marcus with an incredulous expression, it was so fast that Marcus almost pulled his gun to start pushing for a retreat.

  Fortunately, he didn't, and neither did the other two, though he noticed from the corner of his eye George take half a step back as he lifted his hand a bit.

  "Follow me," the old man whispered after getting his expression under control. He then gave a loud hearty laugh as he said loudly, "So you were sent by that Old Goat, why didn't you tell me right off? Come come, let's talk, I want to hear what that old bastard has been up to for all these years."

  He then called one of the workers and had him man the place before inviting the group through a door behind the counter. Marcus gave the other two a glance that he was sure they understood before following after the man.

  The door led to what appeared like a small cozy room. It was obviously made for rest and relaxation, with a small shelf full of books to the side and 3 comfortable-looking chairs, with a small table between them. Here and there on the walls of the room, either paintings or decorative weapons were hanging.

  The bald old man, Jared, turned to them after locking the door from the inside. Marcus could feel how the room felt truly isolated from the world outside, as if by locking the door, the man had cut the whole world off.

  "Where did you hear of that name?" the man asked. His voice was the same as before, deep and heavy, but it had a different quality to it, it was as if it wasn't said by the same person, as if the casual old man from before turned to someone who was used to having his every word followed, no room for questions.

  "By the man himself, we met by chance." Marcus kept his tone light, though he wasn't as casual as he appeared when they were outside, his demeanour returned to his usual. "He recommended we come here and search for Jared. Said that you would lead us to a black market."

  Ever since they entered the room, Marcus kept his hand close to his gun, and he saw the man glance over it, but he didn't seem to care. The more Marcus spoke, the deeper the man frowned, it was as if what he was hearing shouldn't have been possible.

  "You know who he is? Where's he from?" the man finally said after Marcus was done speaking.

  "The Dynasty." Marcus pondered for a long time whether he should say the truth or he should keep it a secret. But the way the man was acting didn't seem as if he was debating if he should lead them to a trap, it seemed more as if the man never expected to hear Corgan's name from them, as if their contact was supposed to be someone else.

  "When did you meet him?" the man said. Marcus noticed that he relaxed his body a bit after hearing that.

  "A few days ago. He was on a mission and we happened to be in a position to help him," Marcus again told half-truths. "As a thank you and to grow the relationship between us he told us about you, that you could help lead us to one of the biggest black markets in this part of the coast."

  "Isn't that idiot supposed to be retired?" Jared murmured to himself as he massaged his bald head. He then focused on Marcus and the gang again as he continued, "You said that you need to go to the black market? What do you need?"

  "A lot," Marcus said flatly, "If we didn't we wouldn't have come to a black market. We need a lot of things, and we need them delivered outside the town if possible. Taking the amount of materials we need out of the town would raise some eyebrows, we don't want that."

  The second request wasn't really something they had discussed before, but it proved to be a necessity when they got to the town. And besides, there should be a way to achieve it.

  "It can be arranged." The old man waved his hand dismissively. He must have seen the suspicion on Marcus's or the others' faces because he humphed and said, "You don't believe me? Do you know why it is quite easy to take things outside the town? After all, you can't be the first to come here asking for a large amount of different materials without a way to take them out after all, how did they do it? Come on, guess."

  "I see you got it." The man smiled widely just as a possibility passed through Marcus's mind, "The market is already outside the town after all!"