When Angel arrived at the Eighth Alley, looking at the bustling wide road and long street, it was truly hard to imagine this was the so-called "alley."
Isn’t an alley supposed to be a deep, narrow path? Or perhaps, the people of the Sandworm Market have misunderstood the concept of "alley."
With continuous complaints in his heart, Angel walked into this broad and lively Eighth Alley.
Although the alley was different from what Angel had imagined, the bustling atmosphere and distinct shops made it easier for Angel to search for the house number.
Number 816 was a place selling live sandworms.
Number 817, the exterior didn’t show what it sold, and there weren’t many people at the entrance.
Number 819 was... the Elysium Pavilion. Although Angel knew the Elysium Pavilion had locations everywhere, the exterior here was intertwined with various sandworms, giving a subtle feeling. Is it meant for human entertainment, or sandworm entertainment?
Angel shook his head and continued forward, Number 820 was a small shop selling sandworm hides.
As he walked, Angel suddenly paused, looked further ahead, 821, 822... every number in sequence was very clear. However, Angel did not see Number 818!
Angel turned back between Number 817 and 819, hesitated for a moment between the two shops, and finally entered Number 817.
From the outside, this shop didn’t reveal what it sold, but upon entering, he saw that the shelves inside were filled with various bottles and jars. However, these bottles and jars did not contain magic potions, but sandworm powder and some sandworm corpses preserved with preservatives.
"Is there anything you need, sir?" The speaker was a middle-aged man with a mustache behind the counter, dressed not like an attendant, but more like an elegant old nobleman.
The middle-aged man with a mustache was merely asking out of courtesy, but when he saw Dangross obediently lying on Angel’s shoulder and couldn’t sense Angel’s aura, his eyes immediately lit up.
He was always good at judging people; anyone who could make an elemental creature submit and still conceal their own aura was more than 80% likely to be an Official Wizard.
For this shop to catch the eye of an Official Wizard, the items were valuable, meaning this was a big catch!
Thinking of this, the middle-aged man with a mustache immediately stood up, approached with a smiling face, saying, "We have Thornscaled Sandworm Powder specially processed by an Alchemist; it’s an excellent casting material for earth element spell tricks. And the Thornscaled Sandworm is just a medium-grade material here. We also have higher-grade casting materials, enough to release spell techniques if you have the strength."
After a pause, the middle-aged man with a mustache leaned into Angel’s ear and whispered, "Moreover, we have a treasure here, enough to appear on the Mesomyia Auction House."
The middle-aged man’s flowery speech was met with hopeful eyes towards Angel. If he bit the hook because of the treasure, this would be a huge profit. Even if he didn’t buy the treasure, buying other casting materials at the spell technique level would still turn a profit.
However, after waiting for a long time, the middle-aged man with a mustache heard Angel ask a question entirely unrelated to the items he introduced.
"I’m not here to buy anything; I just wanted to ask if you know where Number 818 is?"
The middle-aged man with a mustache instantly rolled his eyes in his mind... So, he was just asking for directions! What a waste of enthusiasm.
The middle-aged man with a mustache returned to his seat indignantly, lazily pointing to the side: "I’m Number 817, Number 818 is beside me."
Angel: "But beside you is Number 819."
The middle-aged man with a mustache yawned: "Then that means he’s temporarily gone; his shop is a Mana Hut, it comes and goes."
"Do you know where he went?"
"Who knows, I’m not familiar with him. That kid never likes to interact with outsiders. When he opened his shop, I went over with a bottle of sandworm juice to try and foster a connection. Instead, he spat it out, which infuriated me." The more the middle-aged man with a mustache spoke, the more agitated he became, his brows furrowed into an inverted ’八’.
In Angel’s mind, he silently pondered what a dark culinary creation sandworm juice must be.
"If you’re not here to buy anything, then leave quickly and stop asking about that brat, it’s getting on my nerves."
Angel was unfazed by the other’s attitude and simply said, "Sorry for the disturbance."
He then walked out of the store.
After Angel left, the middle-aged man with a mustache lightly tapped his fingers on the table, muttering softly, "His presence doesn’t feel like the Wizards I know... Plus, he’s looking for Esos’ disciple, perhaps he has some connection to Esos, who could he be?"
Angel was unaware that the store owner had been speculating about his identity. By now, he’d already reached the entrance of Number 819.
Even just standing at the entrance of the Elysium Pavilion, he could smell a strong perfume scent.
Unlike the empty doorway of Number 817, the entrance of Number 819 was a sea of people. Those entering were filled with desire; those coming out looked satisfied.
Angel did not step through the door of Number 819 but approached a server at the entrance to inquire about Number 818.
At first, the server was indifferent, but after Angel casually tossed him half a Magic Crystal, his attitude immediately became attentive.
"Number 818, huh, his shop doesn’t open for more than a few days a month... When he’s not open, no one knows where he goes..."
After receiving the money, the server spoke in detail, but still provided limited information.
A shop that’s only open a few days a month, no way he could just wait here for it to open? What if it stayed closed for a whole month, wouldn’t that be a waste of time?
"Do you know any other details, anything at all," Angel persisted, hopeful for more information.
"Most of what I know I told you, there’s basically nothing else..." The server paused suddenly while speaking.
Angel quickly asked, "Did you just remember something?"
The server was candid: "I did recall something, but it’s just some everyday matters."
"That’s okay, go ahead and tell me."
Server: "I’ve been working here at the entrance for a while, so I’m able to regularly observe the situation around Number 818..."
What the server described was indeed everyday occurrences, things he’d witnessed himself. He didn’t consider it valuable information because every shop here was bustling with people, and he had never been inside Number 818, so he thought there was nothing special about it.
However, while the server may have overlooked it, Angel picked up on a key piece of information from his words.
—Wandering Wizards frequently visited Number 818!
Esos is a Wandering Wizard, and Esos’ disciple would naturally be a Wandering Wizard as well.
Wandering Wizards are also known as Wild Wizards or Lone Wizards. The name might not sound flattering, but it just means they belong to no Witcher Organization; most have no hierarchical inheritance, yet they enjoy more freedom compared to wizards within organizations.