The ginger cat was looking around, as Nikola and Dimitri were checking out the truth pendants. It was eyeing a fish stall, which had plenty of river and sea fish on offer. Hoping that its charges will give it something to eat.
Dimitri was the first one to take off his pendant.
"Ok, I think that it checks out," he said, as he took out his coin purse. "Thank you!"
"This is not the only thing I sell!" The merchant said, as he tried to see just how big the coin purse was. "I also sell bottomless bags!"
Dimitri's eyes began to shine with joy!
Then he saw the price tag.
"Niki, can we please buy one?" Sure, they had Nikola's bottomless bag, but it was now with Andrew and Bleda. Should they be sent to a quest, they wouldn't have anything to put their food in.
"Dimitri, we don't have the money for that. And we should really go to the kobolds for the mining proposal."
Nikola too wanted another bottomless bag. Those were super useful. Not only did they keep the food fresh, but they also kept everything inside safe from water damage.
Dimitri looked at the bag again, then inside his coin purse.
"Timmy and Vera can't be left without milk," Nikola continued. "And we can't be left without food!"
Dimitri sighed.
"I know. It is just that…"
"You are a druid, correct?" The demon merchant asked. Nikola nodded.
"Good! Because I have some land in another dimension which appears to be good only for growing weeds. I will get you the mana rich meat, and then you can bring it back to life, ok?"
The brunette nodded.
But there was an idea in his brain which was not leaving him be.
"Say, is all demonic land in a bad condition?" The green-eyed druid asked.
"Bad is putting it lightly," the merchant said. "It all happened when a Lich decided to use our realms as fodder for his phylactery. But the thing is, that is not to be done. So, we chased him off. But the land is already poisoned."
"Then… how about you spread the word that I am willing to heal land in exchange for money? I won't ask for much. Heck, I can even accept bartered goods!"
For a second, the merchant looked as if he were going to dance. Then he called up his system screen and wrote a message.
Soon, merchants were leaving their stands just to see the druid who was going to give their land back.
"Can you please fix my farm, older brother? I have been living off meat for months now! My teeth are starting to rot!"
"No! Mine first! I have twelve children and twenty grandchildren to feed!"
"Hey, wait up!" Nikola said, as he found himself surrounded on all sides. "How about this: I make a mass ritual, and you all get your land at the same time?"
The crowd cheered. Nikola pulled out a system screen.
"System, how am I supposed to make a mass ritual for this much land? You heard what was happening outside, right?"
"Well… that will involve a lot of mana rich meat. I have no idea if you can eat that much in one setting. Or you could eat the heart of something rare and magical. Let us say… a phoenix's heart? I think I smell one such heart from the stall over there. But remember, that will cost you."
Nikola nodded. As long as he could fix the land, he didn't bother asking the system what the cost would be.
"I need a phoenix's heart, and I will get right down to it!" Nikola told the demons.
"I have one! My last!" A plump lady with curled horns told him. "So that means you will fix my land first, right?"
"I will try to," Nikola had no idea how to find her land. He only knew what he had already done with the Selkie flesh on a small scale.
Still, when he was given the heart, which was still warm and beating, he ate it without protest.
Only for his eyes to roll over and for him to faint.
****
He was near a volcano. A mountain which was smoking and spilling out magma to the outside world.
Nikola had no idea how he was supposed to get out of there. A bird's chirp sounded in the distance.
"Look, I know you are dead," Nikola began, praying that he was speaking to the phoenix, and not some eldritch horror. "But we can be partners! I don't want to digest your soul! I can link it to mine!"
The volcano let out another rumble. The bird's chirping grew closer and closer.
"And not just that," Nikola said, as he smiled. "I can make you my familiar! You can be perched on my shoulder the entire time and see the outside world! Death does not have to be our end!"
Something landed on his shoulder. The phoenix had a lovely ginger plumage and had smoke coming off its feathers.
"What is your name?" Nikola asked, as he began to pet the bird, without getting burned by its flames.
The phoenix nuzzled his head into Nikola's cheek.
"Then I will give you a name!" He said, as he tried to think about one which was good enough. "How about Tony?"
The phoenix nodded.
"Great! Now I can call you Tony Macaroni!" Nikola exclaimed, chuckling as the bird pecked him on the head. "What? You walked into that one."
The phoenix spread its wings, letting its mana connect to the new human. Gently carrying him from the lands of dreams to the Black Market proper.
When Nikola woke, the phoenix was tiny and perched on his shoulder. It was looking at the world with its big, red eyes.
The druid felt mana at his fingertips. Fiery mana, which he knew he had to purify first.
He sat up in the lotus position, beginning to think about rivers and lakes, about meadows and swamps.
When he opened his eyes, the Black Market was green, grass growing over its walkways.
The demons were cheering.
For each one had opened their pocket dimension to see what was happening with their lands, only to see fields upon fields with produce.
Corn, beans, and squash grew side by side. Their age-old dances would be interrupted only during the harvest times.
Bushes became rich in berries.
The foul mana was gone. But its source was not.
Another enemy for Nikola.
But he didn't know that, at that moment. No, he was just ready to collect all the goods he could so that he could deliver the dragon heart to Bleda.
For the children.