The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

"Uhhh... no thanks," Adrian waved his hands. "I have a daughter and I am not looking for a wife or a harem. I just need an expert potion maker and herbalist for my territory. Take me to your brother."

She did not hesitate and locked the shop doors two hours earlier than usual.

She led him through the dark streets to a tiny rundown house. It only had one small bedroom, a living room, a messy and tiny kitchen along with a bathroom.

Adrian stepped into the small bedroom. Her brother was lying on a bed and he was extremely thin and scrawny. Thin green lines were all over his hands and forearms but they didn’t go above his elbows.

"Hasn’t hit his chest or neck yet," Adrian murmured. "Barely entering the final stage."

"Four months ago," the sister whispered.

Adrian took out the vial of thick black sludge from his pocket and shoved it into her hand.

"Wake him up. Make him chug it."

She shook her brother and he let out a small groan as he opened his eyes and looked at her. She didn’t hesitate and emptied the contents of the vial into his mouth. Adrian watched as he swallowed the bitter liquid and passed out again.

She looked at his hands. "Nothing happened."

"It is not a magic miracle cure," Adrian sighed. "It takes time to fight the infection. By tomorrow morning those green lines will fade slightly and he will need regular doses to completely wipe it out. I will come back tomorrow."

She nodded frantically.

Adrian left the house, but he didn’t head back to the inn.

He pulled the heavy cloak from his ring. Up went the hood, shadowing his face completely. Then he took a detour straight into the absolute worst part of the slums.

He stopped at a filthy blacksmith shop. An angry looking brute was smashing a hammer against scrap iron.

"I need to buy some drinks," Adrian said and the blacksmith stopped.

"Pay up."

Adrian placed ten gold coins on the counter and the blacksmith swiped the cash and nodded toward the back.

Adrian followed him into a storage room filled with various weapons. The guy kicked a moldy rug aside and yanked open a trapdoor.

"Down you go," the blacksmith grunted.

Adrian climbed the shaky wooden ladder and a damp tunnel led him straight to a massive steel door. Two giant guys in pitch black armor stood in the way as they looked at him.

"Membership?" the left guard growled.

"Don’t have any, but I’m here to buy one."

The guard tossed him a heavy bronze badge. A skull with a sunburst carved right into it. Adrian pocketed the metal and handed over a fat stack of silver coins. The guards finally grabbed the handles and hauled the heavy doors open.

The Black Market.

It was a massive underground cave system. Red torches lit up the dirt floor. Dozens of shady wooden stalls were crammed together while masked weirdos haggled in whispers.

Adrian stepped into the crowd and started walking.

People were selling hardcore drugs, illegal poisons, stolen noble crests, banned magic research papers full of failed spells and various other things.

Adrian ignored all the junk along the way until he finally found a stall selling a stack of books.

The cloaked vendor was asking one hundred gold coins for a single mid tier knight manual. Adrian paid without haggling and shoved the book into his dungeon storage.

He didn’t have time to check this place every single day so he walked to the massive wooden Notice Board at the center of the cavern.

A bored looking guy sat at a desk under the board.

"How much to post a buying request?" Adrian asked.

"One gold coin per day," the guy said.

Adrian gave the guy four gold coins and grabbed a piece of charcoal and paper. He then wrote a message on a blank sheet of paper.

BUYING MID TIER AND TOP TIER KNIGHT MANUALS. BUYING MANA BREATHING METHODS AND SPELL BOOKS. BUYING ANYTHING RELATED TO KNIGHTS AND MAGIC. PRICE NEGOTIATED IN PERSON.

Below this, he wrote another line that wasn’t as bold or big.

Note: I will come back 4 days later to settle all the transactions.

He pinned the paper dead center on the board. He turned around and walked out of the black market.

He went back to the inn and forced himself to sleep.

The next morning he walked back to the potion shop.

The tall gorgeous herbalist rushed out from behind the counter the second he walked in. She grabbed his hand, dropped to her knees and actually kissed his knuckles while tears were streaming down her face.

"Thank you!" she sobbed loudly. "Thank you so much! His hands look better! The green lines are shrinking! I do not know what I would have done without you!"

Adrian awkwardly pulled his hand back.

"I will close the shop today," she swore. "I will pack my things and I will follow you anywhere. I will dedicate my body and soul to you."

"Just relax," Adrian said. "Like I said, I am not looking for a wife, concubine or a mistress. Keep the shop open for three more days if you wish, there’s no hurry. We’ll be leaving for my barony once I’m ready."

Four days passed quickly.

Adrian spent his nights in the inn, just relaxing. But on the last night, he headed back to the black market, only to see that his notice board advertisement had worked perfectly. Desperate thieves and rogue mages flocked to him.

He bought eight magic books. Seven were different mana breathing methods and one was a rare book on runesmithing.

He hit the jackpot on knight manuals. He bought forty four manuals in total. Forty of them were mid tier techniques and four of them were actual top tier manuals.

It confused him. Why did the Royal Knight Academy only teach a high grade mid tier manual when top tier manuals existed in the criminal underworld?

He stopped caring. He spent almost six thousand gold coins worth of mana crystals in buying the massive pile of books. He sent every single book directly into his dungeon storage.