Chapter 28

The morning sun filtered through the inn's window, casting a warm glow over the suite. Myne sat at the vanity mirror, brushing her crimson hair with a look of absolute, smug contentment.

Maya stood by the door, her leather traveling pack slung over one iron-clad shoulder. Her posture was perfectly straight, her hands clasped respectfully in front of her. To Myne, Maya was no longer just a naive foreigner; she was a magically bound, fiercely loyal servant.

"We should continue our pilgrimage, Princess Myne," Maya suggested, her voice smooth and carefully stripped of its usual sharp edge. "There are still many provinces that have not yet witnessed your brilliance. The eastern mountain routes are treacherous, but they say the people there are desperate for royal aid. Imagine the devotion they will shower upon you."

Myne paused her brushing, her emerald eyes glittering in the mirror. She absolutely loved the sound of that.

"You are so thoughtful, Maya," Myne purred, dropping the honorific '-sama' now that she believed she was fully in charge. "Yes. Let us ride east. We shall show the kingdom the true power of Melromarc's finest."

For the next ten days, they traveled the winding, rocky roads of the eastern frontier.

The dynamic had completely shifted, yet externally looked exactly the same. Maya did all the heavy lifting, clearing out monster dens and securing campsites. But now, she didn't even have to pretend to be clumsy to let Myne take the credit. Myne simply ordered Maya to defeat the beasts, and Maya obeyed with chilling efficiency, letting the Princess claim the glory when they entered the local villages.

It was the perfect cover. Maya was a ghost hiding in plain sight.

While Myne slept soundly each night, convinced her "brainwashed" bodyguard was keeping watch, Maya was busy. She spent hours in the dark feeding rare mountain ores and monster drops into her Gauntlet, expanding her arsenal and pushing her stats higher.

[Current Level: 26]

[New Requirement Met: Granite Gauntlet Unlocked.]

* [Equip Bonus: Defense +12, Knockback Resistance]

* [Special Effect: Drastically increases the weight of physical strikes.]

On the eleventh day, they arrived at Oakhaven, a bustling mining town nestled in a deep valley. Or rather, it used to be bustling.

As Maya and Myne rode their horses through the gates, the streets were unnervingly quiet. The townsfolk looked gaunt, their faces drawn with exhaustion and hunger. The merchant stalls were empty.

Myne wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What a dreary place. The peasants look like walking corpses."

Maya scanned the crowd, her tactical mind immediately analyzing the logistics. "They are starving. The supply wagons haven't come through."

They approached the town square, where a crowd was gathered around the local cathedral. Standing on the marble steps was a plump, richly dressed priest bearing the crest of the Church of the Three Heroes. He was looking down at the desperate town's mayor with absolute disdain.

"I have told you, Mayor," the priest declared loudly, his voice echoing off the stone. "The Church will pray for the removal of the beast blocking the mountain pass. But divine intervention requires a proper tithe! If the town cannot produce two hundred silver coins, the Church cannot send its holy knights to clear the road. It is the will of the heavens!"

The mayor fell to his knees, weeping. "But Your Eminence! The beast has halted all the silver shipments! We have no money left! If the supply route isn't opened by winter, the whole town will starve!"

"Then you must pray harder to the Sword, the Spear, and the Bow," the priest sniffed, turning his back.

Myne sighed, pulling on her horse's reins. "How pathetic. Come, Maya. Let us find an inn. If they cannot afford the Church's help, they certainly cannot afford ours."

"Wait, Princess," Maya said, keeping her voice incredibly soft and subservient, perfectly playing her role. "Think of the political advantage. This priest is demanding gold they do not have. If you were to step in and slay the beast for free… you wouldn't just be saving them. You would be proving that the Crown is infinitely more generous and powerful than the local Church."

Myne froze. She looked at the arrogant priest, then at the weeping mayor. The wheels in her head turned rapidly. Showing up the Church and becoming the undisputed savior of an entire mining region? It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"You are right, Maya," Myne smiled wickedly. She spurred her horse forward, parting the crowd. "Fear not, citizens of Oakhaven! The First Princess of Melromarc has heard your pleas! My loyal knight and I shall clear your mountain pass by nightfall!"

The crowd erupted into desperate, sobbing cheers. The priest turned back around, his face turning an ugly shade of puce as Myne stole his audience and his leverage in one swift motion.

An hour later, Maya stood at the entrance of the narrow, rocky gorge that served as the town's only trade route.

The air smelled of sulfur and rotting meat.

"I will provide covering fire from this ridge, Maya," Myne ordered, taking up a safe position on a high rock outcropping. "Flush the beast out."

Maya nodded blankly, walking into the gorge.

She didn't have to walk far. The ground trembled. From the shadows of a massive cave stepped the blockade: a Level 32 Venomous Manticore. It had the body of a massive lion, the leathery wings of a bat, and a thick, scorpion-like tail dripping with caustic purple venom.

It let out a deafening roar, spreading its wings to take flight.

Not today, Maya thought.

[Equipping: Spider-Silk Gauntlet]

Maya didn't wait for the beast to charge. She sprinted forward, launching a thick, heavy web of silk directly at the Manticore's left wing as it tried to lift off. The sticky threads tangled in the leathery membrane. Maya planted her boots into the dirt and yanked backward with all her Level 26 Strength.

The Manticore shrieked, its takeoff aborted, and crashed heavily into the rocky canyon wall.

"Now, Myne!" Maya shouted.

"Fire Slash!" Myne cried out from above. A wave of magical flames washed over the beast, singeing its fur and blinding it temporarily, but doing little actual damage to its high-level health bar.

The Manticore thrashed, whipping its venomous tail blindly toward Maya.

Maya dropped the silk and smoothly shifted forms.

[Equipping: Granite Gauntlet]

Her forearms were instantly encased in thick, jagged, incredibly heavy stone plating. As the scorpion tail snapped forward, Maya didn't dodge. She stepped into the strike, raising her granite-clad left arm to absorb the blow. The stinger sparked harmlessly against the magical stone.

With her right arm, she delivered a devastating, momentum-fueled uppercut directly into the Manticore's jaw.

The CRACK echoed through the entire canyon. The sheer weight of the Granite Gauntlet shattered the beast's lower mandible. Before it could recover, the shadow stretching from the canyon wall elongated. Onyx shot out, his jaws clamping down on the Manticore's vulnerable throat.

Between the massive blunt-force trauma and the shadow wolf's critical strike, the beast's HP hit zero. It collapsed, bursting into a shower of light and high-tier loot.

[Wave Target Defeated. EXP Gained: 6,200]

Maya exhaled, rolling her heavy shoulders. As she walked forward to collect the drops, her keen eyes caught something strange glinting in the dirt where the Manticore had fallen.

It wasn't a monster drop.

Maya knelt down, picking up a heavy, broken iron collar. The metal was etched with complex, glowing runes designed to enrage and confine a beast to a specific area. And stamped right into the center of the iron was the crest of the Church of the Three Heroes.

Maya’s blood ran cold.

The priest didn't just refuse to help them, Maya realized, her grip tightening on the iron collar until the metal groaned. The Church put this monster here on purpose. They choked off the town's supply line to extort them for silver and assert their dominance.

It wasn't just prejudice against the Shield. The Church was actively acting like a mafia, sacrificing the kingdom's own citizens to line their pockets and consolidate power.

Maya quickly shoved the heavy iron collar deep into her inventory before Myne could scramble down from the ridge.

"Exquisite work, Maya!" Myne cheered, walking up and nudging the dissolving pixels of the beast with her boot. "That was barely a warm-up. Come, let us return to the town and collect our adoration."

Maya stood up, her face perfectly blank, her posture perfectly subservient. "Yes, Princess."

But inside, a cold, calculated fury was burning brighter than ever.

Interactive Choice: The Evidence of Treason

Maya now possesses hard, physical evidence that the Church of the Three Heroes is using corrupted monsters to extort and starve the King's own citizens. How does she utilize this explosive discovery?