[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dawn-walker":3,"chapter-dawn-walker-dawn-walker-chapter-129":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Dawn Walker",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1836786,2443,"Chapter 129: Contract Market VII","dawn-walker-chapter-129",129,"\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time moved. At first it felt like ten minutes. Then twenty. Then the hall’s bell rang twice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s gaze remained steady. He did not fidget.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In purgatory, waiting was survival. Waiting taught patience. Waiting taught you that panic was useless, and control was everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Auri remained still too, unshaken by time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, footsteps approached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clerk returned, slightly breathless, cheeks flushed from moving quickly through corridors where other people’s greed tried to slow him down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bowed. \"Sir,\" he said. \"Arrangements are complete.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s eyes lifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clerk gestured toward a corridor lined with darker wood and cleaner rune-carvings, the kind of corridor built for private negotiations where secrets were bought and sold in whispers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Private Room Seven,\" the clerk said. \"Rune-silence applied. Two guards outside. Mira has been escorted. The twins have been escorted. They are waiting.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Auri’s posture tightened subtly. Not aggressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ready.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lead the way,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corridor felt colder than the main hall, not because of temperature, but because fewer people breathed here. Fewer eyes watched openly. But more eyes watched secretly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They passed doors with small plaques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Room Four.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Room Five.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Room Six.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clerk stopped at a door marked with a simple symbol: a circle inside a square. A neutrality rune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two guards stood outside, armor plain but heavy, hands relaxed near weapons, eyes sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clerk held up a small token.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guards glanced at it, then nodded. One pressed a palm to the door rune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rune flashed once, then faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clerk stepped aside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your thirty minutes begin when you enter,\" he said quietly. \"If you require an extension, an additional fee applies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not reply. He placed one hand on the door and pushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door opened smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stepped inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was simple. A table. Four chairs. A candle burning low. Rune-lines carved into the walls that hummed faintly, sealing sound like a lid on a box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door closed behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not sit immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood near the door for a heartbeat, letting the room settle around him. Rune-silence wrapped the walls like a lid, swallowing the distant noise of the Contract Market until only the candle’s small crackle and the faint hum of contract runes remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three women sat at the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mira on the left, posture straight, hands folded, eyes alert in a way that suggested she had learned to listen for danger even in quiet rooms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Across from her, the twins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vera and Vela.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Same height. Same face. Same dark hair pulled back neatly. Same steady breathing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But not the same eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One watched Sekhmet like a judge watching a defendant walk into court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other watched him like a person counting exits in case the court caught fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Auri remained behind Sekhmet, half a step back, still as shadow. She did not sit either. The room was sealed from eavesdropping, but Auri treated sealed rooms the way blades treated sheaths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Useful, but never fully trusted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet walked to the table and finally sat, calm and controlled, as if this was a business meeting instead of three fates waiting to be purchased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze moved first to Mira.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mira,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She met his eyes immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, sir.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not waste time with comfort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why are you here,\" Sekhmet asked. \"Why sell yourself in the Contract Market.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mira’s jaw tightened very slightly, not from fear, but from irritation at the question itself. Like the answer should be obvious to anyone with eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she still replied with discipline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because I want to get stronger,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice was steady, but the words carried weight. Not a childish dream. A decision made after seeing what weak people became in Null.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have talent,\" she continued, \"but talent is not a sword if you have no whetstone. I need resources. Training. Protection from people who think a woman alone is a convenient thing to take.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She glanced down at her hands for a moment, as if seeing all the doors she had been forced to knock on and all the smiles that had turned into threats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she looked up again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am willing to sell my service for ten years,\" she said. \"After that, I want to leave.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Leave,\" he repeated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes,\" Mira said. \"I will not belong to anyone forever.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Auri’s gaze sharpened behind Sekhmet, approving of the spine in that sentence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s voice remained neutral.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And after ten years,\" he asked, \"what do you do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mira’s eyes did not flinch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I take revenge,\" she replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The candlelight flickered, and for a moment her face looked older than twenty-two. Not in wrinkles. In experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet watched her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Revenge was common.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Revenge was cheap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Revenge was something the city sold daily and called it justice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he still asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"On who.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mira’s lips pressed together. Her eyes cooled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is no point in you knowing it,\" she said. \"Not yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not react with offense. He waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mira continued, voice controlled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you buy my contract,\" she said, \"and you show me that you can be trusted, and you show me that I can become strong enough under you, then I will tell you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She leaned forward slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Until then,\" she added, \"it is not your burden. It is mine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not awkward silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A deliberate silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A boundary drawn with words instead of runes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet studied her for a long moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could have pushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could have demanded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could have used authority like so many men here did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the way Mira spoke told him something more valuable than the name of an enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It told him she was not desperate enough to reveal her heart for a discount.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It told him she had a goal beyond survival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It told him she would not become a mindless tool easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was useful for a manager. It was also dangerous as a puppet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s gaze flicked briefly to Auri.\u003C\u002Fp>",1004,"2026-06-09T06:31:32.937Z",1,"novelbin.me","951e58cdef3c4c50d6e7109fb9e2e8c7b669b4f62a6c42341b5494b84f0f4218","dawn-walker-chapter-130","dawn-walker-chapter-128",359,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdawn-walker-cover.jpg"]