I paid him, and he pocketed the money. It was funny that even a small sum like this made him happy. He truly was the sort that liked money, even though he should be quite rich since he possessed this business, with many other life mages under him.
“I heard you were publicly recognized for your efforts during the epidemic. Congratulations.”
His already elated smile extended even further on his face.
“Thank you! This was one of the best moments of my life. You can’t believe how people look at me now. It feels pretty good.”
He was so straightforward with his feelings that it was refreshing. Both his greed and desire for recognition were in plain sight, and he didn’t try to hide them in the least. It was no wonder he managed to break through the rank 7 wall. People with strong desires also had strong motivation and willpower. This type tended to have a greater chance of rising in rank than normal folks.
At the same time, he was able to show his feelings so easily precisely because of his status. A rank 7 life mage in this region of the world was almost invincible. Only a completely crazy person would try to antagonize him, much less attack him. He could probably just point in a random direction, and a flock of fighters would rush to destroy anything that way, to earn a favor from him. A good life mage was often the difference between life and death for people who often got injured, after all.
We chatted a little bit more until a rich client arrived, requiring his services. After that, I bought some new clothes, hiding any leftover traces that anything had happened to me. There was no need to worry Suuru more than necessary since she was a bit jumpy about these things. I wasn’t too sure how Minsto would react, though.
**********
After the man left, Erin continued to placate Orun for a long time. His crying might have tired him since he eventually fell asleep in her arms. She put him to sleep in his bed, following which she turned toward her other brother. Her gentle, mother-like expression changed completely, a face full of anger replacing it.
“What the hell went through your head, Ren! I told you repeatedly not to show this place to anyone! And you even let him touch Run? Are you insane?”
Her sibling might have felt wronged because he didn’t feel like backing down today.
“You’re the one in the wrong! How could you attack Mister like that? After all he did for us? He’s the only reason Run has been able to eat normally these days in the first place!”
“Shut up! Why aren’t you listening to me?”
“You should shut up! Do you believe I didn’t think about it before bringing him here? But you ruined everything!”
“What’s there to be ruined? We can do well without his food, anyway.”
“Argh! You’re so stubborn! It’s not about the food! And even if it was, no, we don’t do well without his food, and you know that too.”
There was a moment of silence, the two glaring at one another with all they had. Aren, who had always been smaller than his sister, was starting to grow quickly these days, placing them almost at the same height, which annoyed Erin a lot. On top of that, he was disagreeing with her more often, and she felt her authority escaping her.
“If it’s not about the food, then what?”
“You don’t know because you didn’t even give us the chance to talk. You looked like a beast, attacking him like that. I can’t believe you even made Run cry.”
“Shut up already! Stop repeating the same things! Answer my question!”
Deep inside, she was well aware that she might have gone a bit too far. She initially only intended to hurt the man a bit and separate him from Orun. However, something strange happened midway through her assault. For some reason, the feeling of her claws and fangs penetrating his flesh had been strangely… good. Plus, the man had stayed pretty stoic through the act, which felt like she wasn’t hurting him that much. An unexpected heat had invaded her body, coming from very deep inside, pushing her to lacerate him more than necessary. She wasn’t sure what happened as she instinctively had felt the need to go further, until, until…
She wasn’t completely sure until where or what, but that’s what she felt. Even simply thinking about it now and the heat would crawl back up, even if only a shadow of the wave that engulfed her previously.
Aren sighed while shaking his head, looking like he couldn’t reason with her, which angered her even further.
“He came today with a proposal for us. He wants to employ us in his new store that’s going to open in a few days.”
“What? Ridiculous. How could you believe something like that?”
“Because he showed it to me.”
“Show what?”
“His store. We went there together, even inside it. It’s enormous, you know? Three stories high, and in a rich district.”
“Wait, what? You went outside the slums?”
“That’s right. We went together and he showed me his store. And he told me he wanted us to work there.”
“That’s absurd. Why would a rank 0 his age own such a store? And why would he want us to work for him?”
“That’s what we were going to talk about, but you spoiled it. This was our chance to finally leave this horrible place and give a better life to Run. Damn it.”
“You’re too gullible. I always tell you not to believe what adults say.”
“I’m not listening to you anymore. I saw it with my eyes. And that Mister, he’s only done good things for us. He’s always treated us nicely, despite how you treated him. I trust him.”
“Fool! You should never trust strangers!”
However, Aren turned his head to the side and stopped listening. He only muttered quietly, but loud enough for his sister to hear.
“I hope he’s still going to come tomorrow.”
Erin glared daggers at him, but he didn’t care. She could only bite her lips and prepare for another potential intrusion on the following day.
**********