Putting aside our new temporary mechanic for now… We focused on why we were here in the first place…

To find goods that I would be able to buy and sell somewhere else at a much higher price.

So far, I have a few candidates for this including the White Powder I saw earlier but the profit margin for buying and selling them were a little low.

I also thought about the possibility of doing some gunrunning, but I realised that it would be a rather big risk since I was a nobody and the gangs in Denibi wouldn't trust me as much as their current suppliers.

So unless I intend to make this into a long term commitment, the risk and returns for this venture doesn't balance out.

That's not even taking into consideration that my cargo hold isn't exactly that big either so I'm limited in the things I could buy and sell.

The best materials for me would be anything that doesn't take up a lot of space but has high value.

Something like… Well… I guess the drugs are one… But as I said, it wasn't really worth the effort for the profit we would make from selling that particular thing.

My companions didn't have an agenda like I did so they were simply enjoying their time looking around this 'market'.

I really can't bring myself to call this a market because it seriously looks more like a convention than anything.

That is… If you ignore the things being sold here of course.

I even saw a few stalls that were literally selling harvest organs and I was wondering who would even buy that.

Mara then told me that underground clinics and also what she called 'hobbyists' would be their main customers.

I decided I didn't want to know more about it so I didn't ask.

I've already walked through most of the area but I've yet to find anything that I could potentially buy to trade.

It's not like there weren't any options, but it's just that the options were not good enough in my eyes.

I sighed, "Is there nothing good here at all?"

Mara turned to me, "If you don't find anything that catches your eye, you can always just come back here tomorrow morning. They will have a new lineup tomorrow."

Oh, that's good to know.

Amber grinned, "It's fine isn't it? Even if we don't find anything here, we could just go to the main black market instead to look for stuff."

That's true. I was just so hyper focused on this place that I forgot we had other options.

I guess because of the price of entry, I was expecting this place to be the best choice and if I wasn't able to find what I want here, I unconsciously thought that I wouldn't be able to find better options elsewhere.

I then checked the time on my Codex and realised that we had been here for quite a while and it was already close to dinner time.

"Looks like it's almost dinner time. Should we head out?" I asked.

All of them agreed except for Ries who waved at me, "In that case, I'll meet up with you later?"

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I raised an eyebrow at her, "You're not joining us?"

"Did you forget? I'm not exactly a guest at this hotel?"

I turned to Mara, "Would they allow us to bring her along?"

Mara smiled at me, "I'm sure they would be willing to overlook us bringing an additional guest in as long as we don't expect them to prepare an additional course for her. If I had to guess though, you would end up making the food anyway."

Lea and Amber nodded at her words in agreement.

Come on girls… It can't be that bad right? Surely the food here would at least be good enough to be palatable after all that money we spent!

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime…

"I guess you'll be coming with us then. I can share some of my food with you if you are hungry," I told Ries.

"Wait, wait, wait! I can let her eat mine! Let me share yours instead, Tera!" Amber protested.

Err… I guess Amber isn't hungry or something? I don't really mind, I guess.

Ries's eyes widened, "Wait… Are your meals going to be organic?"

I nodded, "We went for the all inclusive package."

"Oh no, no, no. I definitely can't accept this invitation then! IThat's way too much for me! Please go ahead without me."

Surprisingly, Amber went forward and grabbed her shoulder, "Oh but I insist~ I was even kind enough to offer my own share of it just to feed you, are you going to say no now?"

"Eh? But… If I didn't go, you would have more to eat and you wouldn't need to sha--"

"No, no, no~ I insist!"

"E… Eh? Ah… Ok?"

Huh? For Amber to turn down her share of organic food… Is she expecting it to be that bad?

Oh wait… I think I know what she's trying to do… She's leaving more space for her stomach so that I can cook for her later, right? Come on… If the food is nice enough, I wouldn't go and trouble their chefs for this.

Sigh… I guess if she's still hungry, I don't mind trying to make something for her as a snack.

We left the hall and there was a staff member outside which we got to lead us to their restaurant that was located on the second floor for our dinner.

There was a waitress at the entrance who scanned us to check our identities, her lips curling downwards slightly when the light shone on Ries.

"Honoured guests, may I check if this lady is accompanying you?" She asked.

"Yes, we picked her up to be our companion for today," Mara explained without looking at the waitress who asked the question.

"Ah, I understand. Do we need to prepare an extra course for her? It will be an additional--"

"Unnecessary," Amber cut in before she finished her words.

She's really insistent on sharing the meal with me huh?

"Of course. Please allow me to guide you to your designated dining space, honoured guests."

The waitress gestured towards the interior of the restaurant before walking ahead of us.

Our dining space turned out to be a private room that was reserved for us, just like the restaurant we had been to when I first ate an organic meal with Amber and Mara.

This one had no windows, however, and the waitress made sure to tell us that the room was soundproof and the food will be brought to us course by course. If we needed anything, we just needed to contact the staff through the use of the intercom by tapping on a specific area under our table.

I took a seat at the opulent round table and rubbed my hands together, expecting the meal to be as decadent as what I imagined a five star hotel would serve.

Who knows, maybe they might have fillet mignons? It's been a long time since I had something like that~

No, I don't know how to make one myself, that's why I'm hoping they have them.

It didn't take five minutes before the door opened and our appetisers were served by a pair of waiters.

Two bowls were placed in front of me and I looked down to see what was our first course.

Hmm… Salad and what looks like mushroom soup?

And the salad looks… Err… Like they just took some random vegetables and tossed them in a bowl.

Ok… I guess this is pretty normal? Let's just try them out for now without judging…

I picked up my fork and stuck it inside the bowl, lifting up a few pieces of the salad to my nose to give it a sniff.

Umm… There's no dressing? That's odd… Maybe it's meant to be eaten without one?

I was about to open my mouth to eat it when I realised everyone else was just staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. We're just waiting to see your reaction to know how disappointed we should be," Mara answered.

Now that's a little mean, don't you think? The waiters haven't even left yet, you know?

I decided to just try it anyway and brought the fork into my mouth to taste the salad.

I started chewing and… It's fucking tasteless.

It just tastes like I'm chewing on leaves… In other words, it tastes like sadness and disappointment.

I called out to the waiters just as they were about to leave, "Excuse me? Do you have any dressing?"

One of them stopped to give me a look that showed he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

"My… My apologies, honoured guest. May I ask what is a 'dressing'?"

Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me…