Heart of a Merchant

The man lumbered along the main straightaway, beginning to feel the weight of the sculpted girl lugged on his shoulders. If this was an average market, the other shoppers might’ve stared incredulously, maybe even stopping the man. However, the anthropomorphic blobs simply treated him like another visitor, some even stopping him to ask for directions – even though they didn’t need them. It would actually be more unusual if something normal was happening.

He continued past numerous stalls, each trying to sell their wares: fishing hooks, empty bottles, pants, cucumbers – pretty much anything. The man wasn’t looking for a stall though. Instead, he kept his eyes between the stalls, scanning them until he found what he was looking for: an alleyway.

It was quite strange to see an alleyway between two stalls, mainly because there had been no others anywhere in the market. Compared to the pure white expanse encompassing every direction, it was more of a muddled gray spanning a single corridor. It felt as though most of the mana had disappeared, and yet there was an oppressive atmosphere hanging over, expelling anyone who came near. Of course, the man confidently walked in, no worse for wear. To him, it was just an eerie feeling – nothing he couldn’t handle.

As the man went further in, the muddled gray continued to lose its light. It wasn’t long before the world around him became pitch black. Somehow, everything was illuminated, making it difficult to lose one’s way.

It was then that the man noticed something that appeared to pop into existence: a boy, slouching against what would be presumed as the wall. If one had to describe him, he was like a real-life kids toy, used and abused in every conceivable manner. The first thing one noticed was his missing legs and left arm. Then, there was the exposed muscle in small chunks around his body; the skin that had once been there was torn off. Once closer, one could see an empty socket where his right eye was. His bottom row of teeth were meticulously extracted. Finally, the right skull was ripped open, and a piece of brain matter had been dug out. If anything, the boy should’ve been dead. And yet, the boy was alive, indicated by the slight rise and fall of his chest, as though he was in perfect health.

“Ah, welcome back. I hope you forgive me for not standing up,” the boy said, staring at the man with his remaining eye.

“Of course. Though, I imagine if you wanted to, you could without issue.” The boy shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to deign the man’s statement with a response.

“So, what would you like to buy?”

“A heart.” The boy nodded his head. The next moment, he plunged his remaining hand into his chest, cracking his ribs, ripping his own heart out. The heart continued to beat with a steady rhythm – no blood came spurting out. The boy seemed fine, though that was to be expected. He was a manaform, after all.

In response, the man bit his finger, causing a bit of blood to trickle out. He held it over the boy’s head, letting the blood drop into his mouth. The boy greedily swallowed the ambrosia, thanking the man for his payment.

After cleaning up his wound, the man set the girl down. Using the chisel he still had on hand, he opened a cavity near the girl’s chest. Although he didn’t need to confirm it, he still found it satisfying that everything on the inside was sculpted perfectly. The man then laid the heart into the stone corpse, connecting the intricately carved arteries before resealing the hole. All he had left to do was dress the body with a skin and–

“Huh?” The man let out a hushed gasp. The girl’s gray body rapidly gained color, turning a healthy pale. Her skin became soft and supple, and her cheeks had a slight rosy tint. Her eyes then blinked, replacing the pearl white with a more natural tone. The only things that remained were her crystal irises and her gray hair.

Although her chest rose and fell like a normal person, she made no further movements. Her body was relying purely on instinct, only moving what was necessary to maintain her equilibrium. While the man expected this much, he didn’t think the girl would look like a person on her own. In his mind, that made her an anomaly – something much better than he could’ve hoped for. His expectations of her massively increased.

The man grabbed the girl’s hand, pulling her to her feet. She seemed to be able to stand and move, provided someone was dragging her along. He didn’t have to carry her then. The man started walking back–

“Wait a moment,” the boy spoke, stopping the man in his tracks. His voice carried a certain gravitas, something unexpected from such a broken looking person. Even the man couldn’t walk any further. “What are you trying to do? You’re meddling much more than usual.”

The man didn’t speak, nor did he turn around. No one could begin to fathom what kind of expression he was making, but the boy understood.

“Well, like the others, I won’t stop you. Just be warned: your actions may save this unfortunate world you hold so dear, but even the slightest misstep will lead it to destruction that much quicker. But I guess for you, that has long become commonplace.”

The man walked away, never looking back. The girl plodded as her hand was pulled along. As the void brightened once again, he could barely make out the boy’s voice from behind.

“This will be the last time I see you as you are now. I wish you luck on your endeavors, o hapless man who legislates all.”