Bullish in Another World: Isekai Trading for Survival

Chapter Eleven: Unraveling the Flow

Chapter Eleven: Unraveling the Flow

Mia woke the next morning feeling as if her mind had run a marathon. The visions from the Flow still buzzed in her head like a hangover after an all-night trading binge. She had barely slept after returning from the wizard’s tower, her thoughts consumed by the dark figure she had seen siphoning the magic. Her usual worries about the market seemed small now, dwarfed by the threat that loomed beneath the surface of this world.

Sitting up in her small rented room, Mia glanced at the glowing stones on her desk—gems from the dragon's hoard, pieces of the fortune she had risked her life to obtain. She had planned to use them to secure her future in the market, to build the foundation of her trading empire. But now, the stakes were so much higher than just amassing wealth. The very lifeblood of Eodora, the magical Flow, was under threat, and she was one of the few who knew about it.

As she dressed and prepared for the day, Mia couldn’t shake the feeling that time was running out. Whoever—or whatever—that figure in the Flow was, it wasn’t content with just siphoning energy. It was building toward something, and she had to figure out what before it was too late.

Her first stop was Logan’s stall in the trading district. The familiar clamor of shouting traders and clinking gold was almost comforting in its normalcy, but Mia couldn’t see the market the same way anymore. Every flicker of magic, every sudden shift in prices now felt like part of a larger, invisible game.

Logan spotted her before she reached him, raising a hand in greeting. His expression shifted to one of concern as he saw the look on her face.

“Mia, you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said, leaning against the counter with a crooked grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Something like that,” Mia replied, lowering her voice. “Logan, we need to talk. Privately.”

Logan raised an eyebrow but nodded, gesturing for her to follow him to a quieter corner of the stall. Once they were out of earshot, he crossed his arms, his carefree demeanor dropping slightly.

“Alright, spill it. What’s going on?”

Mia took a deep breath and began explaining everything—the Flow, the wizard’s warnings, and the dark entity she had seen draining the magical energy. Logan listened without interrupting, his expression growing more serious by the second.

When she finished, there was a long pause. Logan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed.

“So you’re telling me there’s some ancient, shadowy figure out there that’s sucking the life out of the magical energy that runs this world?” he asked finally.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Mia replied. “And it’s getting stronger. If we don’t figure out what it’s after—and how to stop it—there won’t be a market left to trade in.”

Logan let out a low whistle. “I gotta say, this is a bit outside the usual ‘buy low, sell high’ strategy.”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Mia said quickly, “but I saw it, Logan. The Flow connects everything—the market, the traders, the resources. And something is manipulating it, bending it to its will. If we don’t act, everything could collapse.”

Logan frowned, clearly trying to process what Mia was telling him. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head.

“Alright, I believe you. You’ve been right about crazier things before, and if you’re this shaken up, I’m not going to question it. But what do we do about it? I’m good at working the market, Mia, but this? This sounds like we’re dealing with powers way beyond us.”