A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 45 Broom Alley

Is this old man the manager of Dema Bar?

The man lying on the lounge chair was about sixty or seventy years old, his face flushed and his nose even puffy. In the March weather, he was wearing only a thin vest, sloppy beach shorts, and a pair of flip-flops, looking like a homeless person.

The old lady who was cleaning nearby was much more elegant. She was wearing a beautiful floral dress and her white hair was braided. It was obvious that she was definitely a beauty when she was young.

"Hello, someone asked me to see the store manager." Quinn said politely to the old lady, "Can you please call him for me?"

"Oh, as you can see, he's asleep. He won't wake up for a while." The old lady stopped wiping the table and asked, "Who asked you to come?"

"Ankuya."

"Ankua?" The old lady was stunned for a moment, then revealed a look of surprise. "Oh, that kid hasn't been here for almost a month. I miss him so much. I told you not to go to work at Grindelwald. There are so many troubles every day. Oh, sorry—"

She remembered that Quinn was still beside her, so she started calling out, "Xiao Gu, Xiao Gu? A friend from Ankua is here, please greet him~"

Quinn originally thought that "Xiao Gu" was the manager, but unexpectedly a waiter serving wine came down from upstairs. The old lady smiled and said, "Just tell him if you have anything to say." Then she continued to wipe the table, not caring much about what Quinn wanted to do with the manager.

The waiter who came down was dressed in a suit and tie, a respectable tuxedo. He was very old and a disabled person - one of his sleeves was empty, and he was holding the plate with his one arm.

Despite this, the old man gave people a sharp sense of oppression, just like a sword, even if a part of it was broken, the remaining sharp edge could still cut iron silently.

His eyes lingered for a moment on Quinn's hair and pupils.

".What's up?"

"I'm going to Broom Alley and need someone to vouch for me. Ankua told me to come to the manager of the Dema Tavern and said he would take care of it."

For some reason, Quinn felt like the old man was sizing him up.

After listening, he nodded slightly.

"it is good."

Then, the old man put the wine tray aside, wiped his hands, and walked into the tavern in silence.

Quinn caught up with him.

This pub is weird.

When I walked in, I found that the drinks in the pub were all valuable goods. There were several bottles of whiskey that Ankuya carefully stored at home, but they were casually placed at the bottom of the wine cabinet. On top of them were all kinds of vintage treasures, even the bottles were made of crystal.

I'm afraid a wine cabinet is worth as much as this shabby house.

Wine cabinets filled with fine wines are everywhere, placed next to cheap beer and wheat wine, like random garbage.

Rich people wouldn't go to such a shabby tavern to spend money, so who was the owner selling all the wine to? Did he drink it himself?
The customers in the shop are all from the Western Continent, including some tattooed gangsters and refugees who have been deserters. They are unusually well-behaved in this tavern with only three old men, sitting quietly behind the bar without even smoking.

The Dema Tavern had a door on each side, allowing access from both Eastville and Westville. This was clearly an illegal structure, as passing through the tavern meant circumventing the high walls and toll booths, but there were no law enforcement officers stationed around it, and no one attempted to cross between taverns.

It seemed as if the guests of this remote tavern were all tacitly observing certain unwritten rules.

The old waiter brought Quinn into the wine warehouse. He opened a heavily dusty cabinet and fumbled around for a moment before pulling out a card. He said calmly, "Take this to the bank on Broom Lane and say it's from the Dema Tavern. Turn left and go to the restroom at the end. The second-to-last cubicle is Broom Lane."

"Thank you." Quinn took the card and looked at it. There was only an elegant iris drawn on it.

The old waiter stared at him in the darkness for a long time.

"Excuse me, young man, where is your hometown?"

"Hometown? I'm from the Western Continent."

"Western Continent?" The old waiter smiled slowly. "Is it also in the countryside?"

".Sort of."

"Hehe, you can come and have a drink when you have time."

After saying that, he walked away with his hands behind his back, leaving Quinn bewildered.

Why did he say "also"?
Is Ankuya also from the countryside?
Quinn put the card with the iris picture on it into his shirt pocket, picked up his suitcase, and walked to the end of the corridor.

After entering the toilet, I didn't smell any strange smell. Clean toilets are rare in the other world, and the old lady cleaned it very carefully.

The second-to-last cubicle had its door jammed with a wooden stick and a piece of paper saying "Blocked, Do Not Use" taped to it.

Quinn walked over and removed the stick, then opened the door to find an ordinary toilet: a somewhat old squat toilet, a trash can, and a flush handle. It was narrow and cramped, nothing special. Quinn patted the wall; it was solid.

I closed the door again, but nothing changed.

He stood on the squat toilet and pondered for a long time, his eyes finally falling on the flush handle.

"Damn it, no way..."

After hesitating for a long time, he grasped the handle and pulled it down hesitantly.

Puff! ! Crash!
Everything in front of his eyes went dark in an instant. If the wall he passed through when leaving Grindelwald that day was like passing through jelly, then Quinn felt like he had slipped and fallen into a pit. It was hard to describe, it was not a pleasant feeling.

Fortunately, the darkness ended quickly, and the feeling of weightlessness came, and a completely different scene appeared before my eyes.

Quinn fell out of a huge pipe, and just when he thought he was going to land on his butt, a miraculous lifting force caught him and he landed steadily.

The ground beneath his feet was engraved with exquisite arcane lines.

Quinn looked up and saw a bustling alley.

This is a commercial street. An ancient ramp runs through the alley, with shops lined on both sides. Looking up, you can't see the sky, but rather a rock covered with fluorescent plants. A sign with a gold border floats above the alley, with a broom tied to it, and the words "Broom Alley" written in ancient Terran.

There were all kinds of strange people walking in the alley. Some of them wore wizard hats, some carried bird cages covered with black cloth, some rode three-meter-long giant toads, and some had half of their bodies made of mechanical creations.
Weapon shop, arcane item shop, monster material recycling shop, arcane ancient book shop, publishing house selling strange newspapers, adventurer's guild, inn run by succubus, offices of arcane departments of various countries.
This is the inner side of the city, a market built in the mountains, and Sweep Lane, a commercial street facing the mysterious world.

Quinn followed Ankua's instructions and walked along the alley towards the highest point.

He saw more than one pipe along the way, and from time to time, people would slide down the pipes and be caught by the arcane. Passersby were not surprised, as it was obvious that this commercial street had more than one entrance, the Dema Tavern.

In Tamilan, almost every big city has such a mysterious market. The managers of the market are usually the Adventurer's Guild or the country, and the manager of Broom Alley is Grindelwald. This alley was almost created to serve students. It is very safe. Except for the teachers and students of the college, anyone who wants to enter must have a guarantor.

Here, you don't have to worry about buying fakes or being cheated, and the prices are relatively reasonable. This is perhaps the only secret market in the world that operates with integrity. Every shop is carefully selected by Grindelwald, and many are even run by graduates of the academy, making it perfect for a Muggle like Quinn who knows nothing about identification.

At the end of the alley, there is a building made entirely of marble embedded in the mountain. It has a luxurious Baroque style and looks like a palace.

That's a bank.

[Clock Tower]—A sign was engraved on the door of the bank. Quinn walked into the bustling lobby, found a counter with no queues, handed the card with the iris printed on it to the goblin behind the counter, and said:
"From the Dema Tavern, applying for a shopping card."

Goblins looked a bit like the goblins Quinn had seen, with the same short stature. However, they were not as ugly as goblins. Aside from their pointed ears, they looked more like humans, with normal skin color. They were much more intelligent than goblins, loved money, and were good at accounting.

The goblin took the card, put on his glasses and looked at it for a while, then handed back a slip of paper with a number on it:
"Your item is a bit rare, so I need to verify its authenticity. You can go to the waiting area and wait. I'll call your number over the PA system when you're ready."

Quinn nodded slightly.

Cash transactions are not common in the Mystery Bazaar.

For example, some monster materials or magical beasts can cost tens or hundreds of gold pounds, while items with extraordinary properties or rare spells are even more expensive, and hundreds or even thousands of gold pounds are normal.

Naturally, it is impossible for customers to carry so many gold pounds on their bodies, so in order to facilitate transactions, Saoba Lane usually uses a small advance payment model - that is, the bank gives customers a shopping card embedded with magic crystals, which can be used to pay directly within a certain limit. The bank pays the store and then sends a bill to the customer, which is settled every month.

If the customer runs away, the guarantor will be responsible for repaying the money.

Clock Tower, a name Quinn has often heard recently, is one of the largest chaebols in the world and the oldest arcane organization that has continued from the last era to the present. Its headquarters is located in the "Clock Tower Bank" in the East Country.

On the marble ceiling of the waiting area, you can see a holy pattern of a silver full moon, which is a missionary painting of the Full Moon Church.

The largest shareholder of Clock Tower Bank is the Church of the Full Moon, a very unique small pantheon whose believers are almost all arcane mages who believe that the moon is the source of all arcane magic, which contradicts Grindelwald's atheism.

There is a piano under the full moon.

The strings lie quietly on the spacious guitar case, and the black paint with a waxed surface reflects light like a mirror.

Quinn approached curiously, looked around the piano, then lifted the lid and scanned the keys.
88 keys, 52 white keys, 36 black keys, three tuning pedals.
Quinn pressed down with both hands, and his slender fingers leaped up, playing a short but pleasant melody, "Concerto in D minor K466", a piece he had practiced countless times. The melody was exactly the same as he remembered it, the piano's tone was beautiful and moving, and the keys were just the right strength.
Quinn frowned slightly. This was the piano on Earth, exactly the same from the tone to the details. Could it be that one of the brave men was a pianist?
Applause came from behind.

"Wow, you're amazing! The piano has only been around for less than 40 years, and there are already such beautiful arrangements!"

A familiar, clean and clear voice. Quinn subconsciously turned his head and their eyes met.

Immediately, he and the applauding girl said in unison:

“Hey, why are you here?”

The girl with beautiful cold tea brown curly hair and a small oval face was none other than the lovely clerk Miss "Uther" who recommended the brave book to Quinn that day.

(End of this chapter)