Why does this guy have an egg of an ice monster?! Why is he trying to sell it to these people as some magical artefact?

"Gather round, gather round. You will not find a magical artifact rarer than this!" The old man bellowed in a loud voice that carried over the market.

People inadvertently gathered, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"What does it do exactly?" One of the women in the front asked.

"That is a wonderful question, ma'am, but it wouldn't be an artifact if I just told you what it does," the man said cleverly.

"By that, he means that it doesn't do anything at all," Milo snorted. "This is a scam!"

"It's just a glass egg, isn't it?" Another man, who had heard Milo, said.

"Yeah, it just looks like glass!" Another woman agreed.

"Glass?! How dare you? This isn't just glass. This is a rare magical material available only in the Monster Realm. If you purchase this artifact, then you'll find yourself buried in riches," the old man claimed.

But nobody in the crowd really believed him, and people slowly dispersed.

"Let's go, Melina. There's no need to listen to this crook," Milo urged.

"Wait…" Melina stared at the egg. Using Sienna's mana, Melina gently poked at the egg. Something within the egg responded—a very weak magical touch, like a whimper.

"It's dying…" she whispered.

"What's dying?" Milo asked in confusion.

"How much for the egg?" Melina asked.

"Melina!" Milo looked at her in utter disbelief.

"Ah, I see, you have a good eye for magical artifacts. This most—"

"Cut the crap! You're killing the creature inside the egg by keeping it in this sun!" Melina snarled, and the old man flinched back. Judging by his shocked expression, he had no clue what he was selling.

"Creature?" Milo asked in surprise.

"It's a monster egg of an ice creature. The heat is killing it!" Melina accused angrily.

"Young Miss, I have no idea what gave you the idea that it's a monster egg, but it's most definitely an artifact. It's what the adventurer told me!" The vendor shook his head fervently.

"Old man, are you stupid? It looks like an egg! If Melina says it's one, then certainly it is one!" Milo insisted.

"It is a priceless artifact! Do not think you can fool me into lowering the price. If you wish to acquire it, then it will cost you 20 gold!"

Melina was losing her patience. The mana pulsing from the egg was getting weaker by the second. It couldn't endure any longer.

I didn't want to resort to this, but I have no choice.

"Sienna!" Melina said, and the little wyrm emerged from underneath her dress and snarled viciously at the old man.

"Do you really think that a monster tamer such as myself wouldn't be able to recognize a monster egg?!" Melina activated <Mask of Deceit> and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to appear menacing.

Oddly enough, it worked as the man took a step back.

"She's quite famous around these parts. Do you really want to fool this esteemed person?" Milo added.

"I-I swear I didn't know it was a monster egg when I bought it!"

"I'll buy the egg, just tell me how much you paid for it!" She said.

"I… Alright. I paid 5 gold pieces for it," the old man said, trying to appear as if he had given up.

"Don't lie, old man! No way you paid that much for this egg!" Milo argued.

Sienna jumped over to the table and let out an angry plume of smoke.

"Alright, alright! It was 3 gold pieces! I swear! I really thought it was an artifact!" The old man looked so scared that Melina feared he might just have a heart attack.

Sleazy as this old man was, Melina didn't want him to drop dead. Besides, arguing any further would only waste precious time that the poor creature within the egg might not have.

Damn, I won't have enough money for that refrigerator, but I can't just let the poor creature die.

"Fine! 3 gold!" Melina said and slammed the coins onto the table. She then grabbed the egg and ran out of the market.

"Wait, Melina, where are you going?!" Milo asked, running after her.

"The bakery! I have to cool down this egg as soon as possible!" She replied, trying to squeeze her way through the crowd. Part of her was tempted to rush on Sienna's back in her large form.

That would be a bit too much. Duke Sinclair would have me arrested and executed for endangering the public.

"I'll forge a path," Milo said, running ahead of her. Being a larger man, he could cut through the crowd much more easily. All Melina had to do was stick closely behind him.

"Don't you have magitech to look at?"

"Give me some credit—I want to help save this beast too! Magitech isn't going to disappear anywhere."

"Thank you!"

Together, they successfully got through the crowd. Melina channeled a bit of mana into the egg as they ran, hoping that it would help to sustain the life within. Sienna appeared rather worried, too, chittering at the little egg.

She wanted to help, but since she was a fire monster, there wasn't much she could do in this scenario. But luckily, the egg managed to hold on until the got into the bakery.

They stormed inside and ran to the storage room. Melina placed the egg inside the chill box and closed the lid while supplementing the egg with a small but steady trickle of mana.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"What's all the ruckus about?" Master Gilbert came and peered into the storage. "Milo? What are you doing here?"

"Good day, Master Gilbert! We're saving magical creatures!" The young carpenter said cheekily.

Gilbert gaped in surprise for a second, then glared at Melina. "Girl…"

"I'm sorry, Master! I just went to look at magitect, hoping to buy us a new refrigerator, but then I saw an old sleazy man trying to sell this poor ice creature egg as an artifact, but it was dying in the heat!" Melina explained in a hurry.

"I helped!" Milo said, looking completely unapologetic and rather proud. Sienna chittered in agreement.

Gilbert sighed. "I can't take my eyes away from you for even a second. Well, you think the creature will survive?"

Melina felt the egg with her mana. Its life force wasn't diminishing anymore, but it wasn't getting stronger either. "I don't know. I think elves might know more about these things than I do."

"Should I go and bring one of the elves here?" Milo asked.

"Don't you have places to be, boy?" Gilbert asked.

"Not really. I'm just here to rest, and I'm quite invested in this egg now."

"I'd go and find somebody myself, but I'm afraid of leaving the egg," Melina said. She was the only one who could supplement it with the proper amount of mana. Theoretically, Sienna should be able to do it too, but her fine control over mana wasn't as delicate as Melina's. Not to mention that the wyrm might accidentally channel fire mana instead of pure mana like Melina.

"Don't worry, I'll find someone. Is there any particular elf I should be looking for? Any idea where they might be?"

"Look for either Illitran or Elowen. I have no idea where they might be during the festival. Doing patrols somewhere, most likely," Melina said. She almost mentioned Heillia too, but stopped herself at the last moment. The apothecary would likely demand a hefty payment for her help.

"You could try looking for Etrian in the Tailor shop," Gilbert added.

"No idea where that is, but I'll ask around," Milo said, not looking discouraged in the slightest.

Melina wondered whether it was really fine to ask him to do it—he was essentially a stranger in Sunglow. But before she could object, Milo was already gone. All she could do was remain near the egg.

"Really? Another monster? What are you going to do with two of them?" Gilbert grumbled.

Melina looked down, and Sienna chittered pitifully. "It was dying…"

"Monsters get killed around here daily," Gilbert protested.

"That's different. They attack people. This is just an innocent egg."

"What happens when it hatches?" Gilbert asked.

"Master, we have a wyrm and a nightmare living with us. I don't know what would have to hatch from this egg for it to be worse than that," Melina shot back.

"Yeah, I suppose I can't argue with that. But you have to keep that thing in check," Gilbert warned.

"Of course I will. Sienna will help, won't you?"

The wyrm chittered in approval, looking determined.

"Fine, do what you will. I hope you don't come to regret this."

"Yeah, me too…"

Half an hour later, Milo returned together with Etrian. She suspected that he might have been the easiest one to find on this busy day.

"Good day, Miss Melina," the drow man greeted her politely.

"Good day, uh…" Melina realized that she hadn't really addressed the drow properly until now. She always made a point of avoiding him. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"Just Etrian is fine, if I can call you Melina," the drow smiled warmly.

"Yes. That is quite fine. Thank you for coming, Etrian," Melina said sheepishly.

"So I heard you have a problem with a monster egg," Etrian said.

"Yes. I'm not quite sure how to properly incubate it," she said and led the drow into the storage. She opened the chill box revealing the egg inside.

"Oh! Fascinating! Milo informed me that some vendor in the market was trying to sell it as a priceless artifact," The drow asked in surprise and reached down to touch the egg.

"Yes," Melina confirmed.

"The old guy didn't seem to know what he was selling," Milo added.

"That is worrisome news. It means that there are more monster eggs being sold somewhere," Etrian said as he gently lifted the egg out of the chill box.

Melina realized that he was right. She didn't know why this adventurer would sell the egg to the old crook, but he surely wasn't the only one. Where did he even get it? It must have been in the Monster Realm. Could it be that there were some rogue adventurers heading into the passageway near Sunglow. She'd have to warn the Guildmaster of this possibility.

"But I think you came to its rescue just in time. The creature inside is fine now. What a lovely little creature it is!" Etrian hummed, gently stroking the egg.

"Oh, you know what it is?" Milo asked curiously.

"A very rare and graceful beast. I believe it will be a wonderful addition to your bakery," he said and handed the egg back to Melina.

"What should I do for it to hatch?" She asked.

"Keep it in the chill box during the day and take it out at night when it's cool. Either this storage or the rooms upstairs should do just fine if the room hasn't heated too much during the day."

"But what is the creature in the egg?" Milo asked.

"I think it's best kept as a surprise," Etrian said and winked.

"Aww…" Milo whined.

Melina was curious to know too, but she suspected that the drow wouldn't tell her no matter how many times she asked.

"Thank you for your help," Melina said, bowing.

"No problem. Once it hatches, feel free to come to ask for tips. I'm quite familiar with its kind," Etrian said and waved goodbye.

"Well, that turned out better than expected," Milo said. "I really want to know what's in there though…"

"I can send you a letter once it hatches?" Melina suggested.

"Well… I suppose there's not much point in hiding it. I'll be moving to Sunglow soon," Milo said.

"What? Really? Didn't Master Declan want you to move to the capital?" Melina asked.

"Yeah, but I honestly never liked the idea. Who'll care about me in the capital? I'll be some crazy carpenter who wants to create magitech," Milo said.

"What about your illuminated signs?"

"But I want to make actual magitech, not just pretty signs! I figured that in Sunglow, people might be more open to my experiments. I see your sign is definitely doing a good job," he hummed.

"You'll certainly be welcome here. But you might be quite busy at the start since this place hasn't had a carpenter in a long time," Melina warned.

"That's fine. It'll give me the starting funds I need to buy magitect parts," Milo said, then leaned in closer and whispered. "I heard that Sunglow recently got their hands on some pretty good Monster Realm materials."

"Guildmaster won't be happy to learn that the information has been spreading."

"I don't think many know of that. I think Master Declan learned it from somebody in Sunglow. But if this information does spread, I want dibs on those rare materials," Milo hummed.

"Maybe I can put in a good word for you," Melina said.

"Really? You've taken to this town like fish to water. Calling the shot with the Guildmaster." Milo laughed.

"We've made an arrangement. I cannot promise anything though."

"That's alright. I'm just excited to move here. Even Master Declan will be sad to let me go. Says it's a pain to deal with a new apprentice," Milo laughed.

They continued chatting over some tea while Melina kept an eye on the icy egg. Its pulse was slowly regaining strength which put her mind at ease. It was a wonderful distraction, because another problem was gnawing at the back of Melina's mind.

Initially, her mind had been distracted by the egg. But once it became clear that it would be fine, Melina began to worry about meeting Duke Sinclair again. What would she even say to him? How could she convince him that she wasn't a threat? How could she make the man believe that keeping her in Sunglow would be more beneficial for him?

"Is something on your mind?" Milo asked suddenly as she became increasingly more distracted.

"Oh, I just have a meeting with someone rather important soon," Melina said nervously.

"Oh, is it the Guildmaster?" Milo perked up.

"The Duke…" Melina muttered.

"The Duke?!" The young man paled, then glanced at Sienna. "Is it about her?"

"Her and all the other things I've been doing, I imagine…"

"I wish I could help, but I'm afraid there's not much I can do against the Duke…"

"Oh, I think I've held you up for too long already. Don't you want to head to the magitect market?" She asked.

"It was fun chatting with you, but yeah, I should probably go before it closes," Milo nodded. "Good luck and see you around!"

She waved him off and then looked at Sienna and the egg that sat on the table.

"System knows I'm going to need every bit of luck I can get," she muttered to them. It was 3 pm. Time to prepare for her meeting with Duke Sinclair.

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