Chapter 64: New Investment [II]

“Work for you?” Akemi blinked at him.

She looked very innocent right now. “I don’t know if you’re seeing this but I have the Severed Line Syndrome. I won’t be able to work as an Awakened. Maybe a regular job…”

Her voice trailed off as tears gathered in her eyes once more and Victoria’s bat face squeezed.

’She’s crying too much… do we have to keep her?’

’Yes we do… she might be very young, who knows?’ Koya thought back however with the way she was stacked, he doubted it.

However even on Earth, there were some girls that were young but looked older…

So it could be the same case here?

“I have a cure for this. All you need to do is to work for me and I’ll help you get rid of it. I’ll give you a place to stay and good clothes too.” Koya said, though looking back at the words he said just now… Even the average person wouldn’t believe him.

It was an incurable disease after al—

“Really?” She looked at him with extremely trusting eyes, like a puppy that had just been offered food. There wasn’t a trace of suspicion or doubt in her expression… it was just pure hope.

“Yes, how about we take a cab to my place?” He winced once more. It really sounded like he was kidnapping her or something.

Akemi stared at the ground and gave a small nod.

“I-if that won’t be much trouble… I’ll take any work as long as it’s not prostitution. I’m still a minor after all.” She said and he gave a look to Victoria.

’See, her crying is justified…’ Koya thought and he gave her a smile.

“Sure, let’s see your ID.” He said and began walking. She followed after him while holding onto her luggage or rather the makeshift bag where the luggage was kept. Koya couldn’t help but sigh.

One would expect people that had managed to awaken to be treated with better decency. They reached the sidewalk and she finally managed to bring out her ID to show it to him.

It was a regular citizen ID. It wasn’t exactly that compulsory but if you wanted to cross into another Supercity, then you would need to provide an ID.

He looked at her date of birth and blinked.

“Oh you’re 17?” He asked. That was strange. It was the same age he was when he got kicked out of the Orphanage. Was that a coincidence?

“Yes sir, and ready to work. The head lady of the Orphanage actually sent me out to work. She said I could put my body to good use though I don’t know what that means. She also said I should hide my ID and not let anyone see so I could work and then, she made me sign a contract saying that I had to dedicate 70 percent of my income to the orphanage to help the other children.” She smiled when she mentioned the other children, as if the thought of helping them made the entire situation worth it.

He blinked.

She was pure for someone that grew up in the Orphanage? Did she not realize that she got sent out to turn herself into a prostitute and also advocate 70 percent of her income to the Orphanage? Was the caretaker some kind of villain or what?

’Well whatever, we can charge her to court later.’ He thought as he hailed down a taxi that skidded to a stop.

It was luckily empty.

“Alright, let’s get in.” He said and she nodded, entering the back seat with her makeshift bag clutched tightly to her chest. ’Off to Yuna’s place then…’

…

Yuna in question was seated on a small table with Yuu opposite her. Both of them had a pair of cards in hand and Yuna slammed her own on the table with a grin.

“Full House. Kings over tens.” Yuna said with a confident smirk, already reaching for the pile of cash in the center.

Yuu’s eyes gleamed and she laid her cards down slowly, one by one for dramatic effect.

“Royal Flush… Hearts.” She said sweetly, her voice dripping with false innocence.

Yuna’s face went pale as Yuu reached forward and dragged the pile of 100 royal cash notes across the table to her already substantial winnings.

She stood up and started counting the money with exaggerated movements, making sure each bill made a loud snap sound as she added it to her pile.

“Let’s see… that’s 2,300 royals you’ve lost to me today, Onee-san.” Yuu said while shaking her hips back and forth in a little victory dance.

Her entire body swayed with the rhythm and she threw in a little spin for good measure. “Maybe you should stick to seducing Onii-chan instead of card games. At least you’re good at tha—”

BONK!

Yuna’s fist came down on top of Yuu’s head and the younger girl yelped, rubbing the spot while pouting.

“Ow! That hurt!”

“You were getting too cocky.” Yuna muttered, her face still red from losing so badly.

Immediately after that, the door opened and Koya looked in.

“Are we interrupting something…?” Koya asked and Yuna stood up immediately, bowing to him while trying to kick the pile of money under the table discreetly with her foot.

“No Master, welcome back.” She replied while staring at the ground. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to come again.”

“Well I did.” He said and Victoria jumped down from his shoulder, transforming back to her Vampire form in a shimmer of red mana. “And I brought another member of the team. Do you have space for her to stay?”

He wouldn’t know since he hadn’t been upstairs… He had instead slept on the couch last time.

Akemi walked in and looked around with wide eyes, taking in every detail of the apartment like she’d never seen anything like it before.

“Woah.” She said, her voice filled with genuine wonder. “A real living room…”

Suddenly Koya was very concerned about her living conditions back at the Orphanage. What the hell had they been keeping her in?

“Yes Master.” Yuna gave a nod. “But you’re replacing me so quickly…? I know I’m not that talented but if you could give me anothe—”

Koya had a feeling where this was coming from.

“She’s a minor.” He replied flatly and Yuna blinked.

“Oh.” A smile broke out on her face and Koya really wondered what she was imagining. “Yes Master, I bought this apartment initially to have a lot of free rooms so there are other rooms here.”

“I thought you bought it because the buyer came at a very cheap price for a multi-room apart—”

“Shut up.” She turned to her sister with a scowl and then smiled as she turned back to Koya and stood. “I can house her Master.”

“Good that’s what I needed to hear.” Koya said. “Before we finalize your work, you need to take a bath…”

She was sprayed with an obscene amount of perfume and he didn’t even want to know what this perfume did, but she had said that it came from the Orphanage’s lady so he knew there was nothing good there.

The smell was sickly sweet and artificial.

“Before you do, please show us your clothes. You can dump them on the ground.” He said and she puckered her lips a bit in what attempted to be a proud smile.

“Okay, Head Lady also bought me these pair of clothes.” She dumped them on the ground from her bag and aside from a wrinkly toothbrush and an empty bar of toothpaste as well as a ragged sponge, there were five new clothes… except that these clothes weren’t beautiful, but rather were short and thin, barely leaving any place for her to show off anything aside from her body.

Fishnet stockings, crop tops that wouldn’t even cover half her torso, skirts so short they might as well have been belts.

These were the clothes of a prostitute and even Yuna’s face turned horrified however for a completely different reason.

’So an underage prostitute has more potential to be at my Master’s side than me?’ She thought and her knees grew weak. She was a failure.

“You’re not allowed to wear any of these. Just wear one of my clothe—”

“No!” Victoria and Yuna yelled at the same time and he looked between the girls who were adamant against it.

“Yuu-chan, bring over the biggest shirt I have.” Yuna said and Yuu ran upstairs, her footsteps loud against the wooden floor.

She returned moments later with some huge oversized shirt that made Koya wonder why Yuna would want to wear it. It was practically two times her size and looked more like a dress than a shirt.

“Onee-san was going to buy it to show off her curves, however with the shirt on, her breasts didn’t even sho— Ouch.” Yuu yelped as Yuna pinched her side hard and grabbed the oversized black shirt from her hands.

“This would fit her perfectly.” Yuna said and Koya nodded while Victoria gave Yuna a grateful smile to which Yuna responded with a salute.

Then she walked over to Akemi… Yuna noticed Akemi had a disconnected crest, and wondered why her Master bothered but she led Akemi away toward the bathroom.

Koya sat down on the couch and turned to Victoria.

“Tori, can you take care of her? I doubt she knows how to use proper soap.” He gave one last look to the sponge and prostitute clothes on the ground before Victoria kicked them aside with her foot.

He didn’t hate these clothes, however he hated their purpose. They were tools meant to exploit someone who didn’t even understand what was happening to her.

“Okay…” Victoria said and ran off after them, leaving him alone in the living room. Yuu had also gone with her sister to show the newbie to the bath.

’System, now the cure? Is it something I make or buy from you? The store is closed but you said it’s available. I need it today.’ He thought.

「Host only needs to buy the cure, I will automatically place it on the target during the Master-Slave contract process.」

’And how much is it?’ He expected a crazy price, like half of what he had earned facing Numb.

「The price of the cure is 50,000 FP. No discounts and it is non-negotiable… would you still like to purchase?」

「Y / N」

’Fuck you.’ He thought.

The reason he even wanted a Healer was not only to heal the team if they got seriously injured but also to perform support spells and buff the entire party’s stats during difficult fights.

Healers could increase attack power, boost defense, enhance speed, and even provide temporary shields… They were known as powerful support mages for a reason.

He clicked his tongue and pressed Y. Immediately the tab disappeared and he almost felt like the System scammed him, however he took a deep breath and sat properly on the couch.

“I should wait for the girls.”

…

Minutes later, Akemi knelt on the ground with Koya standing over her and Victoria between them.

Yuu was upstairs doing her homework and Koya wanted this done quickly.

Yuna stood off to the side, watching with interest.

“Akemi.” He said and she looked up at him with those same innocent, trusting eyes. “From now on, you’ll refer to me as Master.”

She gave an innocent nod and looked up at him as her lips parted.

“Master. Please hire me.” She said and Victoria raised one hand which she took and Koya placed his hand in hers, making Victoria blush a bit.

“Sanguine pactum servitutis, vinculum aeternum, dominus et servus, uno sanguine ligati.”

Akemi felt a burning pain at her neck but gritted her teeth and tried as hard as possible to bear it, however she could not.

She let out a scream as the brand finished up and Victoria let go of her hand quickly then something weird happened… Her right eye was burning up and tears began falling down to the ground.

“Ma… Master… I don’t feel so good.” She said and let out a groan as the two separate lines of her crest began glowing much to Yuna and Victoria’s surprise.

Even in her era, there was no cure for this so Victoria really wondered how he wanted to manage it.

The crest joined and a burst of mana covered her entire body, making her scream louder. The incomplete awakening caused by the fact that her crests didn’t join completed and the screaming died down gradually until she was just panting on the ground.

They all looked at the girl who now looked and felt like a normal Awakened. Her crest was joined and mana could circulate in her body too.

The glow faded and left behind a perfect unbroken line.

She sniffed as she could feel the changes running through her entire body and ran at Koya, hugging him at the stomach.

“Ma… ma… master… thank you.” She said as she continued hugging him tightly, her voice muffled against his shirt.

“No problems. I expect you to do everything I say from now on.” Koya said and she nodded eagerly against his stomach.

“For this… Master, I would die for you.” She said and Koya sighed.

These people really had to be serious with the kind of promises they made. “But I have a question, Master?”

“A question?”

She blinked up at him innocently and pointed to the tattoo on her neck with one finger. “What’s this?”

“It’s proof that you belong to me.” He said with a sigh. “Now come on… all of you, we need new clothes and equipment for tomorrow. I’ll also have to call home and tell sis I won’t be coming back this week.”

“Master… you want to buy us clothes?” Yuna asked. She already had her own options but she wouldn’t mind if he bought them for her.

Having her Master personally select clothing for her would be an honor.

“Yes, you don’t want them?” He asked and she shook her head vigorously.

“I’ll cherish even a pair of underwear.” She spoke aloud and blushed while closing her mouth immediately… She couldn’t believe she had said that aloud.

“Good, call Yuu… let’s all go together.” He said. Soon they were all outside and waiting for a taxi to pass on the street.

’I might need to buy a car…’ He thought but a taxi passed shortly after and he stopped it with a wave. ’Maybe I’ll check the prices with Nami when we get back on Monday… and we’ll have to postpone the date. I forgot about that in the heat of the moment.’

…

“Watch out!” Yuna yelled out as a monster was leaping in Akemi’s direction. She didn’t even make an attempt to attack despite the arrow in her hand as well.

Yuna shot at the Wolf monster and hit it in the head with a mana mode enhanced shot, killing the rust class monster easily.

The creature collapsed in a heap. “Are you okay…?”

Akemi looked at the approaching Yuna and was about to tear up… Her bow was still drawn but the arrow was pointed at the ground instead of at the monster that had nearly mauled her. Her hands were shaking.

Koya watched from a distance, his face gradually shifting from confusion to realization to complete exasperation.

He had forgotten to put several things into consideration.

The fact that she didn’t want to kill.

Not only was this girl very innocent despite her origins but she was also a “saint” as well who refused to take a life because the monsters didn’t deserve it.

She probably thought the wolf was just hungry or lonely or some other ridiculous justification.

’Ah… I’m fucked.’ He face-palmed himself.

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