It was still early when Ryan and Ellie returned to the city.
He sold the goblins' grimy rags to the tailor by the city gate and their rusty short blades and spiked clubs to the blacksmith in the square. The spoils came to three hundred seventy copper coins in all, about eight silver.
That was roughly three months' income for a farmer who neither ate nor drank.
In the old days, earning eight silver would have taken him a week of toil at the very least.
They had killed thirty-odd goblins; he would collect that bounty from Evelyn later, over the meal.
But now, with Ellie as his helper, his earning rate had multiplied several times over; he reckoned it wouldn't be long before he reached financial freedom.
At the thought, Ryan couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
He turned to look at Ellie, and their eyes happened to meet.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yes," Ellie answered.
The two of them had only had a bowl of rye porridge at noon; their stomachs had long since gone empty.
Ryan brought Ellie into the Red Fox Tavern, meaning to reward her with a proper meal.
He first ordered a piece of black bread and a bowl of meat stew, one silver coin and twenty copper in total.
The black bread alone was just twenty copper; the priciest item was that faintly red-tinged bowl of stew.
Meat wasn't easy to come by in this world — for the vast majority of commoners, at least, splurging on it happened only at festivals. The rest of the time they scraped by on that gluey rye porridge.
"Ellie, what do you want to eat?" Ryan asked, turning to her.
Ellie froze, her gaze blank, motionless as a statue. After a few seconds she finally spoke. "I don't know..."
Evelyn stood behind the counter, looked Ellie up and down, then said to Ryan, "Better you decide. White Mist Island slaves are all like this — they've been trained into tools."
"In that case, get her a bowl of stew and a smoked sausage." Ryan slapped two silver coins on the counter and pushed them over.
The species notes said Cat-Kin demi-humans liked meat, so meat it would be, as her reward.
Evelyn put the money away and turned into the kitchen, while Ryan found a spot in the corner and sat down.
Seeing Ellie standing dutifully to the side, Ryan said to her, "From now on, while you're with me, you don't need an order from me for every little thing. Just do as I do."
"All right." She answered with her mouth, but went on standing there.
At this, Ryan pointed at the seat across from him, hinting at her like mad.
Realization dawned on Ellie, and she quickly sat down across from him.
Not bad — the cat understood how people did things.
Once the tavern maid brought the food over, Ryan picked up a sliced piece of black bread to use as a spoon, scooping up the stew from the bowl.
The black bread was dry and hard; soaking it in the broth softened it a little.
Even so, Ryan still felt like he was chewing a brick, and the longer the bread sat in his mouth, the more it turned sour and bitter.
If the stew hadn't been halfway passable, he couldn't have choked down a single bite of the bread.
Ryan sighed, missing fragrant, steaming white rice more and more...
He noticed Ellie sitting motionless across from him — it seemed that without an order, she wouldn't eat even with food right in front of her.
Ryan raised a brow at her. "Did you forget what I just said?"
Ellie blinked, then picked up the spoon and shoveled the stew into her mouth, wolfing it down; the sliced smoked sausage was gone in two or three bites.
Seeing how fast she ate, Ryan added, "If you want anything else, just say so. As long as it's not too outrageous a request, I'll grant it."
"All right," Ellie answered through a full mouth, still stuffing in one bite after another.
At that moment, Evelyn sat behind the counter watching the two of them, then murmured something to the maid beside her...
Ellie ate fast — in under five minutes she had put away a slab of black bread the size of her face, and the earthenware bowl that had held the stew she licked spotlessly clean.
Ryan swallowed the bread in his mouth and asked Ellie casually, "Why do you eat so fast? Aren't you getting enough?"
The sudden question clearly caught Ellie off guard.
She licked the bread crumbs from the corner of her mouth, then answered haltingly, "On the island we had to fight one another for food. If you didn't grab any, you went hungry."
No wonder Ellie ate like she was at war; Ryan was honestly afraid she'd choke to death by accident.
"Then from now on you can take your time, because no one's going to fight you for it." Ryan paused briefly, then asked, "So — are you full now?"
Ellie lowered her head and mumbled, "Not yet..."
A whole bowl of stew plus a smoked sausage still hadn't filled her — this catgirl had a bottomless stomach.
Ryan pushed the few remaining slices of black bread on his plate toward her. "Then finish these too."
A generous bowl of stew had already stuffed him; Ryan really couldn't eat another bite.
Ellie hesitated a few seconds, but in the end chose to obey.
At that moment, the System's voice returned.
[Ellie's Loyalty has increased. Current Loyalty: 10%]
A bowl of stew bought 5% Loyalty; with enough funds, he reckoned it wouldn't take long to max her Loyalty out.
[System note: the higher the Loyalty, the higher the subject's inner obedience and the less likely they are to betray you. Loyalty also affects how fast the subject's Affection Level grows.]
In short, Loyalty governed how efficiently Affection rose; the higher the Loyalty, the faster Affection climbed — and with Affection maxed out, maybe she'd even tread on his back for him.
"Take your time eating. I'm going to chat with the tavern mistress for a bit, see if there's any work tomorrow."
Ellie nodded obediently, her tail swaying gently behind her.
Ryan got up and walked to the counter, looking at Evelyn, who was bent over her accounts.
An instant later her status panel appeared before him.
[Congratulations, Host, on encountering a Legendary-grade unit. System appraisal in progress.]
And the beast-eared girl's status panel swiftly took shape before his eyes.
[Name: Evelyn Amelia Verrells
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Race: Demi-human (Fox-Kin)
Current Status: Healthy
Talent Details——
Strength: C
Endurance: C
Agility: A
Intelligence: S
Perception: A
Luck: E
Overall Quality: Legendary
Current Affection: Level 1
Current Loyalty: None
Tap to view detailed body measurements——]
The first thing Ryan saw was a long string of a name, and then his attention was caught by something odd.
He could view body measurements too?
Hesitating even half a second would be disrespectful to Evelyn; without a second thought he reached out and tapped.
Sadly, no matter how he tapped, the detailed data wouldn't open.
No need to guess — the System was obviously sabotaging him.
[You really do have a thing for young mothers.]
"I'm just curious. A woman with that much allure to her, and she's only twenty-six — barely older than me."
Just then, Evelyn's voice cut through his thoughts.
"What are you doing? Standing in front of me pointing and poking at thin air for ages — have you been cursed by a devil?" Evelyn's brow creased; it seemed she'd been staring at him for quite a while.
"Nothing. Just getting a little exercise in after a good meal," Ryan explained breezily.
At that moment, the mischievous Mira came darting out of the kitchen again.
She threw her arms around Ryan's leg and tilted her head up to gaze at him.
"Running around again, you. Come here and let me pet your ears." The moment Ryan reached out, Mira gave him a bite.
This sharp-toothed little fox liked to nip when she played with him, though usually not too hard.
Truth be told, Ryan still hadn't figured out why the child kept running over to play with him.
Evelyn's brow knit at the sight, and she said coldly to Mira, "If you don't want a hiding later, take yourself upstairs."
Mira pursed her lips and let the words go in one ear and out the other.
Still clinging to Ryan, she pointed at Ellie, who was gnawing on bread, and asked in a pouty, wheedling voice, "Who's this big sister?"
Ryan glanced back at Ellie, then bent down to scoop Mira up and introduced her with a straight face. "Her name's Ellie. She's my household's maid."
Evelyn came out from behind the counter, raised a hand, and crooked a finger at Ryan without expression, signaling him to hand the child back.
Taking Mira back, Evelyn gave her cheek a light tug and warned, "Run off again and I'll lock you upstairs."
"But I want to play with big brother Ryan."
"No." Evelyn refused flatly, then passed the child to the maid beside her to be taken into the back kitchen.
Ryan leaned against the counter, exasperated. "You're so stingy — you won't even let the kid play with me."
Evelyn looked down, flipping through her ledger, her voice as cool as ever. "I'm not in the mood to chat. If you've nothing to do, move along and stop blocking my business."
Ryan leaned on the counter, tilting slightly toward her. "I've finished off those goblins. When do I get paid?"
He handed over a sack of goblin ears. "Thirty-two of them. Seven silver."
Evelyn took the sack, glanced inside, then handed it to the maid beside her.
She picked a few silver coins out of the jar and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Now that you've got money, when do you plan to pay me my rent?"
Ryan looked at Evelyn, then at the silver in her hand, and after a moment's thought said, "Could I maybe borrow a little more money off you...?"