Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 33 Slang, Codes, and the Abyss

The sun was about to rise, but had not yet done so; the sky was turning a pale white. Dawn was approaching.

The dying firelight illuminated the figure of a human in a gray robe. He leaned against the rock wall at the cave entrance, hands tucked into his pockets, and looked up at the sky.

"It's getting light."

A gray crow perched on a branch, gazing toward the hidden entrance to the cave.

The man in gray yawned and turned to look inside the cave—the shift changers hadn't arrived yet.

A group of short figures appeared at the end of the path, hurrying along. The little guy leading the group was wearing—a bear skull?

A bunch of goblins?

The man in gray braced himself, placing his hand on the short sword at his waist, waiting for the goblins to approach.

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Before the man in gray could speak, Gebu interjected:

"Little Gray Crow"

The man in gray paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the group of goblins in front of him, before replying with a hint of wariness:

"The shadow is long."

"Is the market open yet?" Gebu pointed to the cave.

"...Wait a minute, I don't think I've seen you before?"

"Practice makes perfect," Gebu said, extending his hand for the man in gray to shake.

The man in gray tried to ignore the goblin's outstretched hand, but Geb looked at him with a sly smile.

The human hesitated for a moment, then grasped the goblin's outstretched hand—something hard was hidden inside the small green claw, burning hot from the goblin's body heat. The gray-clad man took it and saw it was a kingdom gold coin.

He casually scratched his waist and slipped the gold coins into the money pouch at his waist.

"Want a beer, brother?" Geb asked. "What's your name?"

The man in gray laughed disdainfully.

"Hmph, a little goblin, yet he knows the rules quite well."

He didn't tell the goblin his name, but looked down at the little guy in front of him.

"We'll be coming over frequently these days to check which house's window has been letting in drafts lately. The wind will bring fruit, and we'll make a fortune!"

Gebu had learned slang from books, and he knew it all by heart, leaving the man in gray speechless.

The translated meaning is as follows:

"We'll be trading frequently these days. Do you have any insider tips on how to make money? You won't be shortchanged if you make any."

"The wind has blown away? Even if the wind has blown away, it won't reach the goblin's ears. You can keep that fruit for yourself."

Seeing that the man wasn't cooperating, Gebu didn't ask any further questions. He waved to his team behind him and headed into the cave.

The man in gray raised his hand and stopped Gebu.

"Admission fee".

"Did I just give it to you?"

"You paid for one person's share, what about the others?" The man in gray raised his chin and pointed to the ten goblins behind Geb.

That's outrageous! It's so greedy! One gold coin is worth a lot of money!

Geb thought to himself, this man looks down on goblins and is trying to fool me—but they've just arrived in this place, and it's not good to get into a conflict with the gatekeeper.

"Goblins are small, so two will count as one," Geb said to the gray-clad man. "It's almost dawn. You've been on guard all night, haven't you? Why make things difficult for a bunch of goblins? Do me a favor... and may Gray Raven live forever!"

The little goblin crossed his arms, forming the shape of a bird, and made a "grey raven greeting." This is how gray ravens greet each other, and Goblin had practiced it for a long time on his way here.

"These criminals have quite a few rules," the goblin thought to himself. "They use all sorts of slang and codes."

The man in gray frowned, looking at the goblin in front of him—this guy was quite troublesome and unwilling to give up easily.

"Alright, you can bring one goblin in."

Upon hearing this, Geb turned around and gave orders to the goblins behind him.

"Tongtong, come with me. The rest of you, return to camp and wait for orders."

The goblins poked his eyes and they lit up, while the others complained bitterly.

"Shut up! Keep an eye on the goods. I'll bring you in tomorrow... I don't need you today."

After saying that, Gebu and Tongtong headed into the cave.

The man in gray glared at him, and as Gebu walked past him, he said irritably:

"Keep your hands and feet clean inside, goblin. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Of course, of course," Gebu said with a smile, his hands behind his back, making a subtle, almost imperceptible gesture.

The other goblins stood at the cave entrance, eagerly watching, wanting to come in together. The gray-clad man immediately turned around, looking at them sternly. The goblins, feeling slighted, had no choice but to leave reluctantly.

The cave was high and narrow, winding and twisting. In less than half a minute, Gebu and Tongtong could no longer see the entrance.

After the two goblins rounded a series of bends, the cave finally opened up to them—it was an open area.

A torch illuminated the old elevator, its heavy mechanical gears supported by a massive boulder. The goblin approached the edge of the elevator shaft—the wooden frame structure stretched into the ground, its end unknown.

Is this something that the Grey Crow would really create?

Gebu looked at the bottomless abyss and felt a little dizzy. "My god, it's so deep!"

This underground market truly is an "underground" market.

There's no use thinking about it so much, we're already here.

Gebu and Tongtong stepped into the elevator one after the other, and Gebu pulled the wrench.

The elevator suddenly shook, startling the two goblins who nearly fell to the ground.

It paused for a moment, then the gears began to turn, the metal creaked, and the wood cracked with a terrifying sound...

The elevator began to descend slowly... The torchlight disappeared overhead, and after a dozen seconds, Gebu was completely plunged into the bottomless abyss.

"Inhale—exhale—"

I'm a little nervous... Take a deep breath.

Geb considered the situation in his mind; it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that the other goblins couldn't get in. He didn't plan to make any deals on the first day.

There are only two things: listen and see.

Yes, the first thing to do in order to do business is to conduct market research.

Market prices are inaccurate when written in books; even goblins know this.

For example, the price set by the old shaman can be changed with just a word.

Not to mention the bustling black market.

First, you need to investigate the price range of each item to know how much your goods are worth and how much you can sell them for. Knowing your resources is crucial for making informed bets.

"Tong Tong, remember, talk less, don't cause trouble, and stick close to me."

Geb said to his companion.

Tongtong nodded and made a "closed" gesture over his mouth with his hand.

"Observe carefully and tell me immediately if you find any problems."

"Waaah," Tongtong mumbled with his mouth closed.

"You can say now... never mind, this is fine."

The elevator was still running, and the two of them had no idea how deep they had descended—the air had become damp and cold, filled with an unpleasant musty smell.

Gebu weighed his belongings in his hand. How much was he worth now?

We're so poor! So incredibly poor!

He found 20 gold coins on the half-elf wizard, 10 of which were used to cast a spell to summon a summoned creature—the toad had never died, so Geb could keep summoning Big Eyes without spending any more money.

Adding the 1 gold coin bribed to the guard, I have 9 left.

Unhappy had 50 gold coins, the initial capital given to him by the old shaman on this trip to the market. For a goblin, this was a huge sum, but it was far from enough to buy alchemy tools and materials.

According to the book "Turning Stones into Gold," just a basic set of alchemical tools, including a crucible, mortar and pestle, measuring cup, straw, balance, etc., would cost more than 1000 gold coins!

1000 gold coins! You couldn't even make that much money by slaughtering all the goblins in the camp and selling their meat!

How much do I have now?

59 gold coins, plus two bottles of calming potion and two bottles of strong laxative.

Besides the cash, the goblins brought some spoils of war, such as furs, herbs, and animal bones, the value of which is currently unknown.

Oh right, I almost forgot about this.

Gebu pulled a money pouch from his crotch, opened it, and looked at the glittering gold coins inside.

Ding.

+11 gold coins.

70/1000.

Geb revealed a goblin-like sly smile.

This was stolen from that gray-clad man. Hey, Wizard's Hand, that's a good spell.

Who told him to be so rude? He got what he deserved!

Just as Gebu was gloating over his cunning, the elevator slowly slowed down, the gears creaked and groaned, the platform braked, and it came to a stop.

A sudden commotion filled Gebu's ears.

Wow……

Under the flickering torches, a complex underground market, as if alive, opened its filthy and noisy belly to the two tiny goblins.