Chapter 429: Mira on Market IV
---
Mira made the decision before Dawn House’s main gate came fully into view.
The older woman would not go to Sekhmet.
There was no point.
She was old, sick, exhausted, and visibly worn down in ways the younger five were not. Even if pure blood had once meant something valuable in her case, the present truth mattered more. She needed medical treatment, food, and rest before she could become anything else. Dragging her before Sekhmet now would only waste time and show him a problem instead of a useful choice.
So Mira stopped in the road before the estate walls and turned to the two guards who had accompanied her from the contract market.
"You will take the old one to Dawn Auction House," she said. "Not for sale. For treatment and holding."
That made the older woman lift her head.
She was tired, but not absent.
Mira continued, "She gets a room, water, proper food, and a healer if one is available. No chains unless she gives a reason. No resale posting. No market board. No one touches her contract without my order."
The first guard bowed at once. "Yes, Lady Mira."
The second nodded. "It will be done."
The older woman spoke after a moment. "Why?"
There was no fear in the question. No gratitude. Only the question.
Mira answered plainly. "Because you are in no condition to be useful to anyone yet."
The woman accepted that with less offense than many younger people would have shown. That alone made her more interesting than Mira had first assumed.
Then Mira added, "Rest first. The rest later."
The old woman looked at her for one breath longer, then nodded once.
There was no unnecessary drama.
Mira motioned, and the two guards led the woman away by the side road toward Dawn Auction House.
Only after they were gone did Mira turn back to the remaining five.
Mira looked at them one by one. Five young women unwanted by both sides of their own inheritance. That made them valuable.
"Come," she said.
The tallest of them asked at once, "Where?"
"To Dawn House."
Another looked in the direction the old woman had been taken. "And her."
"She is not your concern right now."
That answer did not please them. They did not need to be pleased. They needed to move.
Mira led them through the main gate of Dawn House, and before any servant could step too near or any curious maid could begin making herself useful, Mira reached through the blood connection and called for Sekhmet.
"Master, I brought six people from the contract market. Please come to the guest house."
It was not a loud call. She said enough. Which carried urgency without noise.
"Come to the guest house. Five candidates are waiting for your confirmation."
She felt the answer in the simple fact that the call had been received. That was enough. He would come if he wished, and if he came, he would come unseen.
Mira did not head toward the main building. Instead she led the five toward the guest house standing outside it, close enough to remain under full house control and far enough that unknown pieces would not be moved through the heart of Dawn House too early.
The girls noticed.
Of course they did.
The smallest one asked, "We are not entering the main house?"
"No," Mira said.
"Why?"
"Because you have not earned it."
That silenced her.
They went inside the guest house and up to the second floor. The hall there was long, clean, and simple. Three doors to one side. Two to the other. A window at the far end. Good line of sight. Easy movement control. Easy servant access. No obvious exits.
Mira stopped them there.
"You wait here."
The tallest looked toward the nearest door. "For what."
"For the next decision."
That was enough to make the space feel colder.
One of the others asked, "How long."
"As long as necessary."
The smallest asked, "Who decides."
"I do."
No one liked that answer.
Mira continued before fear could turn into useless questions. "Water will come. Food will come. Bedding will come. No one leaves this floor without permission. No one tests the house. No one tests me."
That landed properly.
One of the girls glanced toward the stairs.
Another toward the window.
Another toward Mira herself.
The tallest just kept looking at her.
Interesting.
She would likely be the first problem.
Or the first to become useful.
Both were manageable.
A servant appeared at the stair corner and bowed.
"Lady Mira."
"Give them water first," Mira said. "Then food. Nothing poor. Nothing to fancy. Send two maids on this floor."
"Yes, Lady Mira."
Mira looked once more at the five girls. "Wait here."
Then she went up the smaller stair to the upper guest chamber.
Sekhmet was already there.
Of course he was.
He stood near the narrow side opening that gave a downward angle into the hall below. He had positioned himself where he could see the five without being seen by them. Good. That was exactly what she had wanted when she called him.
Mira shut the door behind her.
She continued, "One was very old... The old one was sent to Dawn Auction House before the gate," she said.
Sekhmet looked at her. "Why?"
"Because she is too old, sick, and worn down enough that she needs treatment, food, and rest before anything else. There is no point putting her in front of you now."
That answer pleased him.
Not because it was kind.
Because it was correct.
Mira stepped a little farther into the room and said, "The five in the hall are the reason I called you."
Sekhmet turned his gaze back toward the opening and looked down.
The five were still where Mira had left them.
Human girls.
No scales spreading. No alternate forms. No monster reveals waiting under stress. Just five young women with mixed blood and market wear still on them. One stood with her back near the wall. One sat on the stool but not comfortably. Two had shifted closer together without seeming to notice they had done it. The tallest remained standing in the middle, watching the stairs with contained suspicion.
Sekhmet watched them in silence.
Then Blood Eye moved behind his ordinary gaze.
Mira stayed quiet.
The room settled.
A few breaths later the system answered him.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Five human female candidates identified.
Bloodline condition: Human bodies carrying diluted medusa blood.
Compatibility assessment: High potential for Mira-line subordinate development.
Projected result: Lesser Crimson Gorgon / Hybrid Lesser Vampire variants possible.
Risk level: Acceptable under guided conversion.
Recommendation: Observe. Stabilize. Build trust before any transformation attempt.]
Good. Very good.
Sekhmet let the information settle in and looked at Mira.
"You chose the right kind."
That line struck her more deeply than she showed. Because it meant precision. Not luck. Not an accident. But selection.
Mira asked at once, "They can become mine?"
"Yes," he said. "If handled properly."
Her eyes sharpened. "When do I turn them in?"
She didn’t ask if I could turn them. Nor should I. She directly asked When.
Sekhmet turned fully from the opening and faced her.
"That is your responsibility."
Mira held still.
He continued. "If they are to become your subordinates, then the timing is yours to decide."
That made sense to her immediately.
"But not now," he said.
That made her focus deepen.
"For now, you look after them. You learn them. You let them begin to trust you, and you decide whether they deserve any trust from you in return."
Mira listened without interrupting.
Sekhmet added, "And they must step toward that path with open eyes."
She asked, "And if forcing them is faster."
His expression did not change. "Then it is still forcing."
That sat between them for a moment.
Mira said nothing.
He continued. "Do not push them into the bloodline because it is convenient. Do not take the market’s chain and simply paint it red."
Mira studied him differently after that.
"You do not want to be that kind of master."
"No," he said.
Then, because polished lies were useless between them, he added, "At least not yet."
That made her understand him better.
Better than a noble speech would have.
He was not pretending he would never force anyone. He was saying this was not the place for it.
Mira nodded slowly. "Understood."
Below them, one of the girls shifted and another turned as the servant arrived with water. The little movement in the hall mattered because it reminded Mira what this actually was. Not theory. Not bloodline fantasy. Five living people downstairs, waiting without knowing how close they already stood to being remade.
Sekhmet said, "Watch them first. Learn who leads. Who follows. Who bargains. Who hides fear. Who hides spite. Who breaks. Then decide."
That was the real order.
Not delay from softness.
Delay from precision.
Much better.
Mira accepted it at once. "Yes."
She turned toward the door, then stopped.
"The old one."
Sekhmet looked at her.
"If she survives and becomes useful later."
"Then decide later," he said. "Not before she can stand properly."
That, too, made sense.
Mira nodded once. "Yes."
Then she opened the door and stepped back out into the upper guest level, where five fully human girls with mixed medusa blood waited in a hall without knowing that the man above them had already judged them worthy of becoming something else.
Note: Dear readers, Check out the ’Blood god reincarnated as the Mudblood Heir’ book. See what happened to the Blood God after he died.