Chapter 17

The heavy velvet purse of gold sat innocently on Maya’s nightstand, a silent testament to the Queen's deadly game. Five hundred gold pieces. In this world, it was the kind of money that could start a war or buy a kingdom. Maya intended to use it to buy survival.

She moved quickly. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, and a quick check of the adjacent room confirmed Myne was still deeply asleep, exhausted from the previous day's "fainting spell."

Maya donned her dark traveler’s cloak, securing the hood over her head. She slipped out the inn window, relying on the [Spider-Silk Gauntlet] to silently lower herself to the cobblestone streets below.

Her first stop was the city's underbelly. With a few heavy silver coins pressed into the palms of the right alleyway informants, she found the entrance to Melromarc's black market—a sprawling, subterranean bazaar operating right under the Church's nose.

The air smelled of stale ale, exotic spices, and dried blood. Vendors sat behind stalls laden with illegal goods. Maya approached a merchant selling high-grade, restricted monster materials.

Without a word, she dropped a single, shining gold coin onto his table. The merchant's eyes bulged.

"I want your rarest drops," Maya ordered, keeping her face hidden. "Things the Crown strictly forbids low-level adventurers from owning."

Ten minutes later, Maya walked away with a satchel full of contraband: a vial of Chimera acid, a shattered piece of a Wyvern's scale, and a chunk of heavy, magic-nullifying Meteoric Iron.

As she walked through the dimly lit tunnels, she secretly fed the items into the sapphire on her knuckle.

[Requirement Met: Chimera-Acid Gauntlet Unlocked.]

* [Equip Bonus: Attack +8]

* [Special Effect: High chance to corrode enemy armor on impact.]

[Requirement Met: Wyvern-Scale Gauntlet Unlocked.]

* [Equip Bonus: Defense +10, Fire Resistance (High)]

[Requirement Met: Meteoric-Iron Gauntlet Unlocked.]

* [Equip Bonus: Magic Defense +15]

* [Special Effect: Can shatter low-tier magical barriers with physical strikes.]

She smiled beneath her hood. She was becoming a walking siege engine.

Her next stop was located on the very edge of the slums. The sign above the massive, circus-like tent read: Beloukas's Marvelous Monsters & Servants. The Slave Merchant.

As she stepped inside, the smell of animals and despair hit her. Cages lined the walls. A short, impeccably dressed man with a top hat and a deeply unsettling smile bowed low. "Welcome, welcome! A new customer! Are you looking for a strong worker, a fierce fighter, or perhaps… something more exotic?"

"I don't need a slave," Maya said flatly, her eyes sweeping over the cages. "I need a companion. A monster."

Beloukas's smile widened. "Ah! A beast tamer! Right this way." He led her to a massive table covered in dozens of large, speckled eggs resting in incubators. "These are monster eggs. You never quite know what will hatch! It could be a basic Filolial bird, or perhaps a majestic dragon! It's a game of chance, my lady."

Maya didn't have time for a weak pet, but she remembered how the MMO pet mechanics worked. A monster bonded to a Hero's weapon often received massive stat boosts. She pointed to a large, expensive-looking egg resting in a gold-trimmed incubator. It was pitch black with swirling crimson veins.

"I'll take that one," she said, dropping thirty gold coins onto the table.

Beloukas practically vibrated with greed. "An excellent, premium choice! It will hatch within a few days if kept warm!"

Maya carefully secured the heavy egg in a padded sack slung over her shoulder. The sun was fully rising now. She had one last stop to make before Myne woke up.

She pushed open the heavy wooden door to Erhard's smithy. The burly blacksmith looked up from his anvil, wiping soot from his forehead. He did a double-take when Maya pulled back her hood.

"The Gauntlet Hero," Erhard grunted, crossing his massive arms. "You're out early. Where's your royal shadow?"

"Sleeping," Maya replied, stepping up to the counter. "I need an armor upgrade. The best lightweight, reinforced chest plate you have. Something that fits under my tunic. But that's not the main reason I'm here."

Maya reached into her cloak and pulled out a heavy leather pouch. She dropped it onto the counter. It clinked with the unmistakable, heavy sound of gold. Alongside it, she placed a smaller bag filled with the leftover black market drops—high-quality monster bones, rare ores, and venom sacs.

Erhard frowned, opening the pouch. He stared at the fifty gold pieces inside, completely stunned. "Kid… where did you get this kind of money? This is a fortune."

"Don't ask," Maya said seriously. "I need a favor, Erhard. You know the Shield Hero, Naofumi?"

Erhard’s expression softened slightly, turning grim. "Yeah. Poor kid came in yesterday. Looked like he hadn't slept in days. He bought some basic gear, but he's barely scraping by. The whole city is treating him like a plague rat."

"I know," Maya said softly. She tapped the bag of gold and materials. "The next time he comes in, I want you to give him this. Upgrade his armor, give him these monster drops so he can unlock his Shield skill tree, and slip him some of the gold. But—and this is the most important part—you cannot tell him it came from me."

Erhard raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You're helping him survive."

"If he knows I'm helping him, he might rely on me, and he can't afford that right now. He needs to build his own strength and his own party," Maya explained, her dark eyes entirely serious. "And if the Kingdom finds out I'm funding the Shield, they'll come for both of us. So lie to him. Tell him it's a special promotion. Tell him you hate the Church and want to see him succeed. Tell him whatever you want, but leave my name out of it."

Erhard looked at the young woman standing before him. She was playing a wildly dangerous game, manipulating the royalty, the black market, and the Heroes themselves. He slowly nodded, a massive, respectful grin spreading across his scarred face.

"You're a crazy one, you know that?" Erhard chuckled, scooping the gold beneath the counter. "Alright, kid. Your secret is safe with me. I'll make sure the Shield gets the gear."

"Thank you, Erhard," Maya smiled.

Thirty minutes later, Maya slipped back through the window of her inn room. She quickly hid her new black market gauntlet forms in her status menu, carefully wrapped the monster egg in the thick blankets at the foot of her bed to keep it warm, and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

She walked next door, carrying a tray of fresh pastries and hot tea she had ordered from the innkeeper. She pushed Myne's door open with a cheerful, perfectly innocent smile.

"Good morning, Myne!" Maya chimed. "I brought you breakfast in bed! I hope you're feeling better today, we have a lot of leveling up to do!"

Myne sat up, stretching like a pampered cat, entirely unaware of the massive shadow war Maya had just funded while she slept. "Oh, Maya-sama. You spoil me."

Interactive Choice: The Egg Hatches

Three days pass. Maya continues to use Myne to power-level her stats during the day, reaching Level 18. Meanwhile, Erhard successfully passes the resources to Naofumi, giving the Shield Hero a massive, secret power boost.

On the evening of the third day, Maya is sitting alone in her room when she hears a loud CRACK from the foot of her bed.

The premium black-and-crimson monster egg is hatching.