Begin with Buying a Slave Girl

It was getting dark.

Lucian and Anna found an inn in Therasis City and settled down.

The dim candlelight illuminated the room, where only Lucian and Anna were present.

"Meow meow~ So delicious."

Anna sat on a stool, eating the bread Lucian had bought her, her cat tail wagging happily.

There weren't many entertainment activities in this world at night.

After Anna finished her bread, Lucian took a feather duster from his system inventory and used it to play with her.

Her eyes fixated on the feather duster in his hand, her pupils following its every move.

Lucian held the feather duster and swung it to the left; Anna reached out to grab it on the left.

Lucian quickly moved the feather duster to the right; Anna missed, then reached to the right to grab the feather duster in his hand.

Meow~

Lucian was too mischievous, playing with her using the feather duster again.

After missing several times, Anna grew a little impatient. She stopped trying to pounce on the feather duster and instead leaped directly into Lucian's arms, grabbing his arm, then sliding along it to seize the feather duster from his hand. She happily exclaimed, "Finally caught it!"

Taking advantage of Anna jumping into his arms, Lucian naturally wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

"Ah!"

Anna was startled when he hugged her, instinctively wanting to break free from his embrace.

"My cute little kitty, you can't escape now."

The cat girl's body was very soft, slender, and graceful. Lucian holding Anna, who was dressed in a black and white maid outfit, felt like holding a warm, soft piece of jade, which was extremely comfortable.

As a beast, Anna's strength was much greater than Lucian's, who was human.

Although Anna showed strong resistance, she struggled more than a dozen times but couldn't break free from Lucian's embrace.

Then, she gradually calmed down, leaning against his chest, gently sniffing his scent.

"Little kitty, follow me from now on. I'll give you delicious food, and I'll protect you."

Lucian took her cat tail, brought it close to her black cat ear, and whispered to her.

Hearing Lucian's promise, Anna's dark eyes stared blankly ahead, quietly experiencing the feeling of being held by him. This feeling was reassuring.

[Ding!]

[Anna's favorability towards the host +20]

[Current favorability: 70/100]

After getting close to Lucian, Anna's feelings for him warmed up even faster, gaining 20 points of favorability at once.

Lucian put away the feather duster, let Anna sit in his lap, embraced her slender and soft waist, and kissed her on the forehead.

The gentle cat girl was fragrant and soft.

Anna never expected Lucian to kiss her. Her blood pressure surged, and her cheeks flushed crimson and burned hot. She broke free from his embrace and stammered, "Ma...Master, it's...it's getting late. I'm going back to my room to sleep."

"Mm, sleep early."

Lucian was also a little sleepy.

...

The next day, Lucian and Anna came to a weapon shop in the city.

During the exorcism yesterday, when the Serenity Spell was used on the demon, the top of the wooden magic staff cracked.

Although Lucian couldn't use magic, as a priest, he still needed to buy a magic staff for appearances.

"Priest, what kind of weapon are you looking for?" the weapon shop clerk asked with a smile.

"A magic staff," Lucian replied.

"Please follow me."

The clerk led Lucian to the very back of the shop, where numerous wooden magic staffs hung on several rows of shelves.

"Do you have any hammer-shaped magic staffs, or mallet-shaped magic staffs?"

Lucian couldn't use magic at all, so a hammer- or mallet-shaped magic staff would be easier to use for Serenity Spell.

"Where would you find that kind of magic staff?" The clerk suspected Lucian was just being difficult.

"You must have metal magic staffs, right?"

"We do."

The clerk dragged a rectangular box from under a wooden shelf. He opened the box, revealing a metal magic staff lying on straw, its top a circular ring, its surface emitting a dark metallic luster.

Lucian picked up the magic staff; it was heavy, estimated to be forty to fifty pounds.

Using the Serenity Spell with this weight would be more effective. Lucian was very satisfied.

"How much?"

"Nine gold coins."

"That expensive? Can it be less?"

Since he couldn't happily reimburse procurement funds anymore, Lucian, who never haggled when buying things, had no choice but to bargain.

"That's the price, there's no way to lower it," the clerk said helplessly. "However, our shop is currently having a promotion: 20% off for purchases over ten gold coins. You can buy some other weapons to reach ten gold coins."

"Then I'll take a look around."

Lucian wandered around the weapon shop for a while and saw that they also sold bows and arrows.

If he bought a bow for Anna and then applied the Super Strike buff to her, her normal attacks with the bow and arrow would not only have long range but also possess immense power.

"How much is this bow and arrow?" Lucian asked, pointing to a black hard bow on the shelf.

"The bow is five silver coins, and arrows are ten copper coins each."

"Take it down, let me see."

The clerk took down the black hard bow.

Lucian tried to pull the bowstring, but it was very stiff; he couldn't pull it even with all his might.

"This high-strength hard bow has long range and great power, making it a favorite among adventurers. As a priest, you certainly don't have the powerful strength of an adventurer," the clerk said.

"Ann, you try."

Lucian handed the black hard bow to Anna.

Anna looked like she had thin arms and legs, but her strength was equivalent to two or three adult humans. She held the bow with one hand and pulled the bowstring with the other, easily drawing the bow.

"Holy cow, that's awesome."

Lucian gave Anna a thumbs-up. The strength of beasts was indeed extraordinary. He turned to the clerk beside him and said, "I'll take this high-strength hard bow, and give me a hundred arrows."

"Alright, sir, the bow plus one hundred arrows will be a total of fifteen silver coins," the clerk said.

The total purchase amount still hadn't reached ten gold coins.

"Sir, would you like some magic armor-piercing arrows? The arrow shafts are inscribed with magic runes, and their penetration is much stronger than ordinary arrows."

Seeing that Lucian had bought a bow, the clerk seized the opportunity to promote arrows to him.

Magic armor-piercing arrows?

From the name, it seemed to be an arrow specifically designed to pierce armor.

The clerk took an arrow from the shelf.

This arrow was clearly different from the ten-copper-coin arrows from before. The ten-copper-coin arrows had a simple structure, a wooden shaft with an iron arrowhead. This magic armor-piercing arrow was entirely made of an unknown, dark blue metal, with numerous magic runes inscribed on its surface, and its arrowhead was incredibly sharp.

"How much is this?"

"One gold coin per arrow."

"What the heck, that expensive?"

Ordinary arrows were ten copper coins each, but this magic armor-piercing arrow was 1000 times more expensive than ordinary arrows.

"There's a reason for the high price. Magic armor-piercing arrows can pierce the shell of a Tier 2 Ironclad Turtle, their penetration is quite astonishing."

"Then I'll buy one."

Lucian decided to buy one magic armor-piercing arrow, thinking it would help him reach ten gold coins.

"The magic staff, bow and arrows, and magic armor-piercing arrow total 10.15 gold coins. With the 20% discount, that's 8.12 gold coins."

Lucian had previously concocted various pretexts to embezzle church funds, accumulating over fifty gold coins. He took out nine gold coins to pay.

The clerk gave him 88 silver coins in change.

Lucian put the magic staff and bow and arrows into his system inventory and took Anna for a stroll around Therasis City.

Father Wilbur had told him that there was a place in the city that sold black stockings, so Lucian planned to buy a few more pairs for Anna.