Chapter 612 - 608 – THE QUEEN’S DISGUISE, A FAKE ID CARD, AND STACIA’S MAGIC STALL

The next morning, as dawn was just sweeping the black steel towers of Nocture with a reddish-orange glow, the main palace was still wrapped in peaceful silence. Sofia was still asleep in her private chamber after spending half the night finishing bureaucratic reports, while the palace guards kept orderly watch at their posts. In the midst of that calm, a slender shadow stepped out from the balcony of a private chamber through a nearly invisible spatial gap.

Sylvia wore a plain traveling cloak that covered half her body. Behind her, Sol followed with silent steps, while Noir had melted completely into the shadow of the Queen of Death’s cloak, ready to accompany this morning’s secret adventure. Without leaving a single word for the officials, apart from a short note on a table, Empress Sylvia chose to slip out of the great city’s limits quietly, to avoid the lavish welcome her thirteen million citizens always gave her.

After walking about five kilometers through the forest on the city’s outskirts, away from the energy rail lines and Nocture’s outermost watch posts, Sylvia finally stopped in a green, grassy clearing ringed by lush trees. It was very quiet here. There was only the whisper of the morning wind and the distant chirping of mutated birds.

"This place is safe enough from prying eyes," Sylvia murmured.

She raised her right hand and summoned a small silver mirror from her System Storage. Concentrating and channeling a little disguise magic, she began to change her appearance drastically.

First, her jet-black hair shifted slowly and changed to the natural brown common among middle-class human adventurers. Her heterochromatic irises, which glowed blood-red and majestic gold, dimmed too and turned a warm brown. Sylvia held the mirror up to her face to check her work.

"Hmm... not bad," she judged. "But the structure of her face and her natural aura are still too conspicuous. Like this, I’m still too beautiful for an ordinary human on the street."

She did not want to draw attention with her perfect face. She wanted to blend in as an ordinary street vendor. After thinking for a moment, Sylvia cast a more complex disguise spell.

In an instant, the bones around her ears slowly lengthened, forming the elegant pointed tips typical of the Elf race. Her brown hair shifted color again, this time to a beautiful but unobtrusive soft blue, while her eyes transformed into a clear emerald green. Sylvia looked into the silver mirror again.

"Yes, this is good enough," she said, satisfied. Her appearance had now become that of a wandering elf girl with soft blue hair and friendly emerald eyes, a look commonly seen among the immigrants and cross-race merchants seeking a living in Nocture’s territory.

"Sol, your turn," Sylvia said, glancing at the small golden cat beside her.

Sol snorted softly through telepathy. ’Why do I have to change form too? This golden fur of mine is the aesthetic masterpiece of the world.’

"If you walk through a public market as a golden dragon in the form of a tiny horned cat, the whole district will be in an uproar within five minutes," Sylvia replied flatly. "Change your form now, or I’ll cut your grilled meat ration in half."

The threat worked instantly. Sol let out a stifled whimper; his small body was wrapped in a soft golden glow, and in the blink of an eye he became a thick-furred golden dog that looked intelligent and friendly, though the glint of intelligence in his golden eyes stayed the same. Noir, meanwhile, remained in his true form, hidden in the shadows, because a shadow never draws attention under the blazing sun.

With the disguises done, Sylvia waved her hand in the open air. From her System Storage, a medium-sized armored off-road vehicle appeared with a soft thud on the grass. The car had been completely modified by Stacia’s cold hands, using a black star-steel frame and powered by a high-capacity pure mana crystal core under the front hood.

Sylvia opened the driver’s door and sat in the plush driver’s seat, while Sol hopped in and sat quietly in the passenger seat beside her. With a touch of a magic button on the dashboard, the mana-crystal engine hummed softly, giving off a very efficient vibration of pure power without a trace of polluting smoke. Sylvia pressed the gas pedal, and the off-road vehicle glided smoothly back toward the main gate of the metropolis of Nocture.

By late morning, Nocture’s north gate was extremely busy and crowded. Thousands of people, human refugees from remote regions, dwarves hauling iron ore, elf merchants carrying forest spices, and beastkin selling their hunting spoils, stood in a long, orderly line to pass the gate checkpoint. The gate guards checked every arrival carefully but quickly, making sure no dangerous elements or enemy spies slipped into the city.

The off-road vehicle Sylvia was driving calmly joined the line of vehicles and pedestrians. She drove at a relaxed pace, enjoying the lively atmosphere around the gate. After waiting a dozen or so minutes, her turn came at the main checkpoint.

A guard in light steel armor stepped up to Sylvia’s car window and raised a hand in a polite salute. "Good morning, Miss. Welcome to the Metropolis of Nocture. Please show your ID card or entry permit."

Sylvia turned with the friendly smile of a blue-haired elf and handed over a thin metal ID card that reflected a faint magical glow. Sylvia had made the card herself the night before using high-level alchemy techniques. It was a perfect replica of an official Nocture Merchants Association document, one that even senior appraisers could not tell from the real thing.

The guard took the card and pressed it against the magic scanning stone at the side of the post.

PING!

The scanning stone gave off a bright green light, indicating that the document was valid and registered in the city’s central system. The name shown on the post’s magic screen was ’Runa’, an independent merchant from a western satellite settlement.

The guard returned the card with even more respect. "Please go in, Miss Runa. Happy trading in Nocture, and have a pleasant day."

"Thank you very much," Sylvia replied, softening her voice a little to sound natural.

She pressed the gas pedal and drove her off-road vehicle through the magnificent gate into the clean, orderly quartz-asphalt streets of the metropolis. As planned, Sylvia drove straight to the headquarters of the Nocture Merchants Association, which stood magnificently in the main administrative district.

On arriving at the association building, whose architecture combined white marble pillars with crystal glass ornaments, Sylvia parked her car in a designated area, then walked in, accompanied by the golden dog (Sol), who walked faithfully at her left side.

In the spacious main hall, bustling with merchants coming and going from every corner, Sylvia headed straight for the self-registration counter. A neatly dressed female clerk greeted her with a friendly smile.

"Good morning, how may I help you, Miss?" the clerk asked politely.

"I’d like to register to open a temporary trading stall in the people’s market district," Sylvia answered calmly.

"Of course. Weekly stall registration carries an administrative fee of 10 silver for a seven-day lease," the clerk explained, handing over a magic contract sheet.

Sylvia reached into her cloak pocket, took out ten gleaming pure silver coins, and handed them over the desk. The clerk took the coins and processed them in the administration system, then took a small glass ball the size of a marble out of a desk drawer.

"This is a stall expansion orb, the latest research result from the Alchemy Department led by Miss Stacia," the clerk said as she handed the glass ball to Sylvia. "It’s very easy to use: place the orb in the middle of your assigned empty plot in the stall district, then press the button on its center. The orb will expand and transform into a complete standard stall building."

The clerk continued in a slightly firmer tone, "Please keep in mind, Miss Runa. After your seven-day lease ends, this orb must be returned to the association office intact. If you violate this or try to run off with it, the internal magic tracking system will lock onto your position immediately, and you will be banned from trading anywhere in Nocture’s territory forever. In cases of theft of research equipment, the punishment can even be execution on the spot by the law enforcement team."

Although the rule sounded very cruel and authoritarian to an outsider, Sylvia actually felt proud inside. It was exactly the kind of high-security standard she had designed together with Stacia to keep order over the city’s technological assets.

"I understand. I won’t break the rules," Sylvia answered calmly.

"Good. Your plot is in the Street Food Stall District, Block C, Number 14," the clerk said, handing over a small map. "For your information, stall layouts in our district are strictly grouped by type of goods: the clothing area is in the north block, medicine and spices in the east block, weapons in the south block, and culinary and food stalls specifically in the west block."

Sylvia nodded in understanding. She took the stall-summoning glass ball and the small map, then turned and left the association building for the parking area where her off-road vehicle waited.

A few minutes later, the mana-crystal-powered off-road vehicle stopped in front of an empty 4x4 meter plot in Block C of the Culinary District. The area looked clean, with finely packed sand, and was surrounded by dozens of other stalls already neatly set up and selling all kinds of delicious food, from mutated mushroom soup to sea monster meat skewers.

Sylvia got out of the car, holding the glass ball in her right hand. As instructed, she stepped to the exact middle of the empty plot and set the small glass ball on the ground.

She pressed the little button on the surface of the orb, then quickly backed away several steps past the plot’s boundary line.

ZRRRT... CLICK!

The glass ball suddenly gave off a dazzling bluish glow. Within seconds, it floated up, split into thousands of magical energy particles, and gradually expanded to form a sturdy magic wooden frame with a fireproof canvas tent roof, complete with a glass display counter, a grill stove, high stools, and a wooden signboard still blank at the front.

"Wow... Stacia’s work isn’t bad at all," Sylvia murmured, praising the efficiency of the scientist’s invention.

Without wasting time, Sylvia opened the back door of her off-road vehicle and began unloading all the trading supplies she had prepared in her system storage the night before. Boxes of high-quality mutated fowl carcasses, glass bottles of the Deadly Spicy Sauce, honey-butter sauce, melted-cheese sauce, and the special marinade were neatly arranged on the stall’s display counter. The sharp, appetizing aroma of spices began to rise faintly as soon as the sauce container lids were opened.

When all the arranging of the ingredients was done, Sylvia turned to the golden dog sitting politely nearby, watching from a corner of the table.

"Sol," Sylvia called in a half-warning tone. "I’m going to park this off-road vehicle in the official parking area at the end of the street. Watch the stall for a bit. Don’t you dare touch that chicken that’s marinating, understood?"

Sol barked twice, short, and his thick, furry tail wagged slowly as if to guarantee that he was the most reliable stall guard in the whole world. ’Don’t worry, Your Majesty. The honor of a dragon, er, a dog, is on the line here.’

Sylvia eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but finally got back into the car and slowly drove it to the public parking area, about a hundred meters from Block C.

But only a few dozen minutes after Sylvia left, Sol’s culinary instincts took over his mind completely. He turned toward the large container of mutated chicken pieces soaking in the secret spice marinade. The aroma of magic garlic, ginger, and sesame oil rising from the container tortured the faith of his very sensitive nose.

"Just one little piece..." Sol murmured in his heart.

His muzzle slowly drew close to the edge of the container, and then his long tongue shot out and nimbly snatched a small grilled chicken wing left over from last night’s experiment, tucked in a corner of the container.

CRUNCH... YUM!

Before Sol could fully enjoy the crispy deliciousness of the chicken, a cold shadow suddenly passed over his head.

THWACK!

A light but commanding knock landed right on his golden-furred head.

Sol jumped in shock, leaping back and curling up small, and found Sylvia already standing beside the stall table, her emerald eyes narrowed sharply. The Queen of Death had come back from the parking lot faster than expected.

"I knew it, you can’t be trusted even in the form of a dog," Sylvia said in a cold tone with a hint of amusement.

Sol flicked his ears and put on a pitiful, innocent face. ’That... that was just quality control, Your Majesty! I was only making sure the seasoning soaked in perfectly!’

Sylvia gave a small huff and did not prolong the argument. She shook her head, picked up a pair of food tongs, and lit the mana-crystal grill stove on the stall table.

A soft blue flame lit steadily under the non-stick iron grill. Sylvia laid pieces of fresh mutated chicken on the grill.

SSSSS...

A savory sizzle sounded the moment the meat touched the hot surface. The chicken fat melted slowly and mingled with the secret marinade, and within seconds the intensely strong, sharp, appetizing aroma of grilled spices began to spread to every corner of Block C of the Culinary District, catching the attention of every passerby nearby.

The first day of the Queen of Death’s secret grilled-chicken stall, in the heart of the city of Nocture, had officially begun.