After dinner, Ryan brought the two of them back to his home in the slums.
The already cramped house, now with one more person in it, grew more crowded still.
Maeve stood in the middle of the room looking around, eyeing the draughty mud walls, and asked timidly, "Master... this house really won't collapse?"
She'd adapted pretty fast — already calling him master.
Ryan shook his head. "It shouldn't. Evelyn said she reinforced it with magic, so there's nothing to worry about for now. Once I've got money to spare, we'll rent a bigger place near the square."
Ellie slipped past Ryan sideways, bent slightly to fold the pale-blue dress, and set it on the pile of clothes.
"The market's full of people coming and going — no telling how many hands have touched that dress. Wash it before you wear it." Ryan pointed at the wooden chest by the bed and went on, "Once it's washed and dried, you can fold it and put it in here."
"All right." Ellie turned and fetched the tub, put the dress in it, then ran the water and began washing it with great care.
It was plain to see how much she treasured that pale-blue dress.
"Why not try it on first and see if it fits? You're going to bathe in a bit anyway." In the dead of summer, after a whole day running about outside, everyone reeked of sweat — even the flower-fair Ellie was no exception.
She nodded and, just like that, lifted her top and began to change.
Unfortunately, her chest was once again wound tight with bandages, so thoroughly that Ryan could only make out a faint outline.
Ellie soon had the dress on. She stood there like a block of wood, holding the hem and swaying it left and right.
Standing there, she was like a patch of sky blown loose by the wind, the pale-blue dress draping over her curvaceous body; Ryan was utterly captivated.
As the dress cinched at the waist, the lines of Ellie's figure grew more pronounced, radiating a charm all her own from the inside out.
Wait!
Why was this thing low-cut too?
Ryan had picked the wrong one for Ellie by mistake.
He gave a couple of dry coughs, then praised her with complete sincerity. "Beautiful. You're the most beautiful demi-human I've ever seen — it's like there are stars in your eyes."
Ellie nodded without speaking, quickly took the dress off and folded it again, seeming a little bashful.
"She really is pretty — shame she doesn't talk much." Maeve scratched her head, then found a corner to sit in. "Master, when do we get to eat something? I'm hungry."
"Are you a pig? We just got back from the tavern and you're hungry already?" Ryan looked at Maeve in disbelief.
A piece of black bread was bigger than your face; a single one stuffed Ryan to bursting, but Maeve apparently still wasn't full.
It seemed he really had brought home a bottomless pit.
"Then you can stay hungry for now. I usually only eat twice a day, noon and night." Ryan waved a hand.
Maeve sighed, clutched her belly, and flopped onto the floor with a piteous wail.
She really was too lively — fallen into slavery and still this cheerful.
To be so sunny under circumstances like these, she was most likely a few cards short of a deck.
Ryan rummaged through the earthenware pot on the hearth and finally dug out a piece of black bread left over from several days back. It had gone even harder, almost too stiff to squeeze, and its aroma had faded a good deal, but it should still be edible.
After all, black bread was baked so dry and hard, with so little moisture, that stored somewhere cool and dry it could easily keep for years without spoiling.
"Eat up. Tide yourself over." Ryan tossed the bread to her.
Maeve sprang up just like a dog and caught the bread in her mouth.
"Ooh, fragrant black bread... Master, you're a good person." Maeve licked her lips and began savoring it, bite by careful bite.
Ryan raised a brow at her. "So, setting aside the master-slave thing, are we good friends?"
Maeve nodded solemnly. "Of course! You give me meat, so we're friends!"
The instant she finished, a System panel suddenly appeared.
[Name: Maeve
Current Affection: Level 2
Become acquainted with Maeve (Achieved)
Become friends with Maeve (Achieved)
Become close friends with Maeve (Not yet achieved)
Develop a healthy romantic relationship with Maeve (Not yet achieved)
Current Codex reward: Strength, Endurance, and Agility each increased by 15%]
"Holy hell, that works?" Ryan's eyes went wide.
A moment later he felt his body seem to change somehow.
Hot and flushed, and full of power...
For some reason his abdomen felt a little sore and swollen too.
Ryan lifted his shirt for a look — his abs had grown more defined, and so had the muscles elsewhere.
This boost let him see the gap for what it was.
[Ellie provides a 5% bonus; Maeve provides a 10% bonus.]
"Evelyn and I are friends too — why isn't she counted?"
[You have to get her to admit it with her own mouth.]
"Wh-what is it? Your body looks really solid." Maeve had long since finished the black bread, and fearing Ryan might do something to her, she hugged her legs to feel a little safer.
"Nothing. I just suddenly felt like admiring myself." Ryan got up, walked over to Ellie, lightly poked her in the side, then asked very seriously, "Ellie, are we friends?"
Without missing a beat, Ellie said, "I'm a slave."
"Say it. We're friends."
"We're friends." Ellie obediently repeated it.
But the bonus from the System didn't change, still that pitiful 15%.
"What gives? It's not working," Ryan asked inwardly.
[Ellie has to truly believe it, from the bottom of her heart.]
Ryan was exasperated half to death by the System.
He stood facing the wall for a while before he recovered.
"I'm tired. Hurry up and bathe, then get to bed early." Ryan turned back to the two little animals.
Maeve sat bolt upright and asked, puzzled, "There's only one bed in here — where are you going to sleep?"
Ryan was momentarily lost for words; the girl had things downright backwards.
"Obviously I'm sleeping in the bed." Ryan glanced at where Ellie had slept the night before, then pointed to the spot directly across from it, near the hearth. "You sleep here."
Dim as Maeve was, she was just about obedient enough.
The moment Ryan pointed, she got up and went to sit there.
"Make do for now — this is all we've got at the moment." Ryan dug two linen sacks out from under the bed, patted off the dust, and handed them to Maeve. "Use these to pad it. There aren't any other old clothes."
Maeve nodded, stuffed the sacks straight under herself, and sat quietly in the corner.
Seeing her settled, Ryan put his hands on his hips and looked from one beast-eared girl to the other. "So — who bathes first?"
Ellie said nothing, still sitting quietly in her corner.
Maeve glanced at the tub and asked, a little bashfully, "Where do we bathe?"
"In the house, obviously. Did you want to bathe out in the street?"
Maeve pursed her lips, her little worry practically written on her face — she was afraid Ryan would take advantage of her.
She shut her eyes and dropped straight off to sleep. "I'm a bit sleepy today — going to bed first..."
"Relax. You're not half as pretty as Ellie — I've got zero interest in you." Ryan waved a hand.
Maeve's eyes suddenly opened, and she said with a sulky pout, "That's a good thing..."
Ryan didn't answer her, just stripped off and stepped into the tub, having Ellie run the water beside him as he bathed.
Once he'd washed himself thoroughly, it was Ellie's turn.
She was as uninhibited as the day before, peeling off clothes and bindings without a second thought, not caring in the least that Ryan was right there. As she bathed, those fuzzy cat ears twitched gently atop her head — utterly adorable.
All at once, a bold idea came to Ryan...