Chapter 27: Blackhorn Alley

Chapter 27: Blackhorn Alley

Compared to the Southern District commercial street, the streets of Blackhorn Alley were narrower, more crowded, and noisier.

It was said that many shop owners who had large stores on the commercial street also ran special, mysterious little shops here to meet the demands of more customers. At the same time, they could also obtain more ‘supply’ channels here.

This was a black market for selling stolen goods, which also included a slave market and shops selling Magical Creatures not found outside. There were even places like the ones Helen had mentioned, where ‘Academy City has no such places.’

However, not everyone who came here did so willingly—slaves were sold here.

The road was bustling with traffic. Louis, puffing on his pipe and stepping along the muddy path, began to stroll around.

It was clear that Blackhorn Alley seemed to have many local residents, most of whom had to settle here because they worked here to earn money.

Therefore, Blackhorn Alley was actually more like a small town, with a permanent population of over seven thousand people, and more outsiders than locals.

In this era, that population size was not small. Without tall buildings, the area spread out was quite large.

Not all visitors here came from Academy City, and Academy City was not the only place one could reach Blackhorn Alley from. However, Academy City had the most visitors. So the passersby looked diverse, and their clothing and appearance were all strange and exotic.

Many were clearly Wild Wizards, most of whom had not systematically studied Magic. In the Wizarding World, they belonged to the ‘folk science’ category.

Wild Wizards couldn’t even tell who was a Wizard and who was an ordinary person. They were ‘odd people’ who had blended into the Wizarding World.

In the eyes of Wizards, these folk scientists always had a mysterious self-confidence, and their understanding of Magic was based on ‘I think.’ They were a group who either completely believed in ’empirical learning’ or tried to explain Magic with Muggle science.

Some Wild Wizards were hard to identify and looked like reclusive masters. Some were easy to spot and were clearly frauds.

Wizards generally looked down on Wild Wizards; even robbers didn’t want to bother with them. Because these Wild Wizards were poor and held little value. Occasionally, one might encounter an exceptionally powerful one!

Louis was currently dressed like a Wild Wizard.

Although Wild Wizards were found everywhere, they had never truly seen the Wizarding World. Trouble rarely came to them—and if it did, it mostly came from other Wild Wizards.

They often wore various strange ornaments they thought were useful but were actually useless.

They all seemed to be Witch Doctors…

Blackhorn Alley did have many real Witch Doctors, which was a field of study itself. These Witch Doctors were skilled in Curse and mysticism, and were highly respected colleagues among Wizards.

However, Witch Doctors had somewhat declined nowadays. Most Witch Doctors were not from academic institutions but came from families or certain organizations. Their strength was far inferior to Saint Oak Wizards.

Louis even saw some people dressed like pirates—they should also be Witch Doctors or Wizards. But such outfits made Louis pay a bit of attention to the air. He indeed noticed a salty, damp smell, and there seemed to be the sound of the sea in the distance.

This should be a harbor.

Several students brushed past Louis, piquing his curiosity.

These students were about the same age as Helen. Although they had deliberately disguised themselves, they couldn’t hide the scholarly air about their faces. They came here out of curiosity, but according to Stuart, these students often ended up becoming the objects of others’ curiosity.

What Louis least expected, however, was the contrast in how Wizards inside the alley and those outside treated non-humans.

Outside, non-humans were treated with caution by Wizards, but inside, Louis saw some Wizards leading fox-folk or even Yordles.

There were also Wizards openly taking young dragons around and even hawking them on the street.

And the passing non-humans turned a blind eye to all this.

After watching the hustle and bustle for a while, Louis entered several shops. When he came out, he only had five Ancient Gold Coins left in his hand, but the Gold Galleons in his pocket had increased to seventy-two.

If he sold these coins directly to professors at the Academy, the price would be higher, but Louis preferred to sell them here. Although these unscrupulous merchants made a lot of middleman profit, and he had wasted a lot of time, it was better than having trouble.

Wait! There must be trouble!

Didn’t all those senior transmigrators face obstacles step by step? How could changing money not make someone target you?

That’s what always happened in the novels.

Louis narrowed his eyes slightly, looking back from time to time. Before long, he actually spotted two Wild Wizards following him.

Louis’s heart tightened slightly. Then, at a street corner, he turned into a quiet alley.

They were definitely following him!

Because he had just exchanged money!

‘I went to eight shops to exchange money, and I could still be followed! They’re not ordinary characters!’

Right, they must have been sent by a shady shop owner!

Louis decided to strike first—this was called decisive action.

At the corner of that alley, the two passing Wild Wizards never imagined that many things often happened just because he had glanced their way in the crowd.

The two of them, following their usual route back to their gang, walked into that quiet, muddy alley. There, they saw a strange young Wizard smiling at them.

Another lunatic who had lost all his money at the Red Fox Den.

The two looked at each other, somewhat speechless. They had things to do and weren’t in the mood to deal with that guy, planning to simply walk around him. But then they noticed something wrong with their surroundings.

The entire alley began to writhe like the gullet of a giant snake, and many terrifying monsters appeared all around. The lunatic, however, had vanished.

The two men started fleeing in a cold sweat within the alley, constantly dealing with the evil spirits attacking from all sides, but the alley seemed like an endless maze.

To make matters worse, a pair of huge eyes in the sky kept staring at them, continuously chanting various Magic Spells. In shock and anger, the two Wizards fought fiercely against those eyes.

All of this was their Dream. In the real world, the moment the two men saw Louis’s eyes, they rolled their eyes back and fell to the ground.

[Two poor strangers fell victim to a foul deed. Louis firmly believed…]

Louis ignored the Narration, frowned, and examined the arms of the two Wizards. He saw a special tattoo: “I knew I hadn’t seen wrong. This tattoo is a ‘Voodoo substitute’ drawn with the blood of a pure maiden carrying resentment. It can block one Curse for a Wizard, or allow the Wizard to transfer the Curse’s power to that poor girl—she has become their ‘Voodoo substitute doll.'”

The two Wizards before him seemed to belong to a gang—the Voodoo Gang. In their pockets, Louis also found a box. Inside the box were many strands of small fox fur.

These furs were neatly bundled into several portions, each portion representing a victimized girl—it was simply perverse.

Their identities were clear without saying more.

Rubbing his face, Louis suddenly felt a bit awkward again: “But they really don’t seem to be robbers. Is the security in Blackhorn Alley really this bad? Are these just ordinary strangers?”

[It seems you have also noticed that the security situation in Blackhorn Alley is very ‘poor’—well, it indeed is poor. But perhaps you shouldn’t just deal with these small fry; you should do something truly meaningful…

Or, while treating this place as a playground, perhaps you could help the Dark Domain Wardens with some tasks. The Ministry of Magic and Mr. Stuart would surely be very pleased… Of course, it might also attract the Agents’ investigation.]

[You suddenly grew excited, seeming to look forward to being caught, as you’d heard the prisoners in the Black Prison were quite interesting—are you regretting not choosing A back then…]

Louis selectively ignored the Narration and looked at a new task that had suddenly appeared.

[Task: Poor Security—The Terrifying Serial Criminal!

Every time you defeat 6 Wizards, you will become stronger.

Completion Rewards:

1. Random attribute +1

2. Experience +50;

Description: This task can be completed once per week. When the people you defeat exceed 6, and at least one of them is a Dark Wizard/evil spirit/Agent, you will receive an extra reward: +1 Mana.]

‘Ahem, this serial criminal must be referring to someone else. I will work hard to catch him and make the security here better and better. Well, eliminating six people per week.’

After this segment of Narration, Louis found that he could now see hints in his Storybook about whether people around him were Dark Wizards. He could also see some people’s sin values. It was written right before him.

[The two ‘strange Wizards’ (Sin Value: 9, 12) lying before Louis were already under his Nightmare Curse…]

Previously, although every move Louis made was accompanied by Narration in the book, passersby were generally referred to as ‘strangers.’ But now there were hints like ‘Wizard.’ This made it easier to distinguish who was a Dark Wizard and who was an Agent.

Moreover, although these two men before him had done many bad things, they couldn’t be called ‘evil’ or ‘Dark Wizards.’

‘Capturing Dark Wizards seems to come with a bounty, which can be sent to the Black Prison through Stuart’s channels. What a pity this can’t be done openly, otherwise I’d definitely get a promotion and raise… Hmm, but it could be used to promote Stuart.’

The two guys before him were clearly not Dark Wizards, but Louis didn’t let this good opportunity slip—they had made the first move!

He used Marionette to drag the two deeper into the alley and then tested various Magic Spells on them.

He only left after the proficiency of all these Magic Spells had increased.