Chapter 34 – Dealing in the Inn

Ding!

When I opened the door. "Welcome to— Mori-san?!" The one that greeted me is that little red-headed shrimp.

"Mary!" Wearing a cleaning outfit no less with a broom on her hand which she immediately drop as she runs and jumps towards me. 

"Come here... Hyup!" Of course I catch the midget in my hands as I put her on my forearm. 

"Nice catch Morus-sama." Gabril by my side compliments me with my caught. "And also hello again Mary~" She also looks beside me and greets the catched Mary.

"Hehehe~" Mary seems to have taken Gabril's greeting more than me as she happily hugs my head. "Ms. Gabril's so beautiful I'm so embarrassed hehe~" She scratches the back of her head.

[I'm glad I made you two meet yesterday.] Gabril's so recognizable that Mary knows her even without the wings. 

[Speaking of yesterday...] I pull Mary down the ground and she that she isn't wobbling at all. "Glad to see you look fine now Mary." When I checked her temperature it's not burning anymore and she certainly seems okay now by her carefree attitude.

Mary shyly scratches her head, "Hehehe well you see..." She tries to tell me something but I look noticed two figures behind her. [There they are.] She isn't the only one that's seeing me. 

"Mori-sama!" 

"Welcome back Morus-sama." 

It's my two subordinates; Kumo with the dyed orange hair and Itia with braided hair, came to immediately greet me next. 

[Good to see you two do your own stuff.] The little fact they changed clothes is so great since it means they have a life outside from me, thus having free will. 

I grab their shoulders and gave them a tight hug. "Good to see you again you two." I say before checkingthe two. "First off..." I look at them back and forth. "What's with your outfits?" The outfits that they're wearing are in the same vein of Mary's. 

[They do look great in 'em though.] I gotta give props for that.

With Itia wearing the same cloth bonnet, apron wrapped, white dress as Mary— they most definitely look like sisters. With Kumo on the other hand wearing a more of a knight's outfit under the armor with his gambeson designed coat. 

Itia tries to answer. "Well you see—" They try to explain it to me but there's been a lot of it today. 

A lot of interruptions. "Haha it's because they wanna work here now!" Suddenly a wild Leonon appears grabbing both of their shoulders. "Welcome back Morus." He greeted me with that classic dad smile. 

"Good to see you Leonon." I'm happy that he said hi to me but... "Where's Marina?" I was kinda expecting her to show up.

Leonon widens his eyes for a moment. "Oh her? Well she's..." He grabs onto his cane and moves to the side, letting me see from what's behind Kumo and Itia's back. "She's kinda well... Overdoing it with the whole magic thing." Leonon tries to explain the situation but I can already see the insanity from here. 

"Yup." But I gotta need to go in closer to the scene otherwise...

"Hey you're blocking the way!" With a ding from the door, a bald man raises his voice from me obstructing the entrance. 

"Sorry, sorry." I nodded my head slightly which seem to have bothered my two companions before calming down. Seems like they're getting used to it. 

"Well let's seat together shall we?" I told the ones behind me. 

"Of course!" Itia agrees enthusiastically. "It is a pleasure to be seating with you Morus-sama." Kumo meanwhile agrees fancily.

And... "Hehe I can't wait to sit next to Mary-chan~" Gabril agrees while being Gabril, a pervert. 

I sigh at Gabril's comments before looking down at the little Mary, "Hmph!" Which seems to be pouting a bit. 

"There, there." I rub her head once again. [Yeah I miss this a lot.] So much has happened last night that it feels nostalgic to be rubbing Mary's head even though it isn't even a full day since I left. 

But... "Hey stop blocking the way!!" More drunk-looking guys behind us are shouting. 

[Crap!] I need to stop thinking. "Alright everyone let's go!" I told them as we walk along the main area of this inn, the starting point of this day.

Which has been pretty peaceful so far.

•••

"One starting fish!"

"Another bowl of pottage please!" 

"Gimme a pork and broth!"

"A good beer will do!"

The men that were yelling at us earlier are now all happily enjoying their dishes as if nothing happened. So much so that many of them are ordering seconds. 

Although the Starting Point Inn is officially an inn, it's menu is so popular that it essentially serves as a diner as well with people not even staying for the night going here and eating Marina's dishes. 

I mean who couldn't blame them? "Sluuurp...!" It's absolutely delicious. 

"This is great!" I couldn't help but shout out loud to the tenderness of the fish broth that Marina had concocted with. "Hhhmmm...." I yelp out. [There is simply no comparison.] I don't describe food for filler because it's bullshit but the sourness of the broth and that smoked taste of the fish is absolutely delightful.

The others on this table are also in love of the food in here. "Hehe it's free for mee~" Mary, being the daughter of the owner here gets to call the shots and have the food for free, much to the envy of the customers. 

But she seems to be eating it rather gluttony. "Be careful there Mary-san, here." With Itia focused more on etiquette and appearance cleaning the stains on Mary's clothes. 

[They look like sisters for sure...] I couldn't help but thin my eyes and lips at such a scene while the spoon's still midair. [It's nice my subordinates ain't humaphobes.] I just made that up. 

Though when I turn my eyes to the one beside me... "No Leonon-sama, I don't need to really..." Kumo seems to be having a little trouble right now. 

"Haha don't be Kumo!" it's Leonon drinking from his wooden mug. "...Ah! You Kumo have a body of a man!" Clearly inebriated, the drunken Leonon has his arm wrapped around poor Kumo's shoulders as he keeps tightening his biceps. "I know of man when I see one, and although you ain't got meat for now I can tell ya have great potential kid!" With a smile he finishes his fitness advice by slapping Kumo's back as his form of encouragement. 

"...Gulp." It seems that Kumo has gotten used to it somehow; ignoring him completely and just drank from the cup. 

[Oh well...] Kumo doesn't need any kind of muscles since he's stronger than a human and especially since his skin and muscles are just a cover for his spider appendages. 

"...Though I'd like the musclular type as well..." Since it is a good body type to have, [But there's too much of that of my life now.] Arin and Beharren for one, and now Leonon. 

I look beside me to see a wide-eyed Kumo, "See?! Even Morus likes it!" With Leonon giving the widest of grins as he drinks from the cup with the most satisfied of faces. 

"...What I do?" I ask the both of them, only to see Kumo...

"I will do my best to achieve that body of your choosing!" He immediately bows his head swearing he would do something that I asked as unbelievable. 

[...Wait did I say it out loud?] Yes you did, dumbass. "Sigh..." I created a misunderstanding. [I need to do something!]

I look at him with haste, "Don't worry about it Kumo!" To try and clear this understanding. "You don't need a muscular body Kumo, you're already strong enough." Is what I told. 

Kumo looks up at me, "...If you say so Morus-sama." And begrudgingly accepts.

[Thank god...] I take a sigh of relief. [Kumo's a handsome prince and definitely not a wrestler.] Although he has the face of Arin I don't know if his youth and height is enough to make it work.

After that I take a look at the man slamming his cup at the table for averting a crisis. "Muscle's the most important thing on a—!Bleurgh!?" Before he could start a rant like someone on a fitness board, she finally arrives. 

Marina, "I ask for the spirit of the river Niño himself to calm my husband." Looking like she had a vein popped out she chants a spell to which a sphere-shaped water comes out of thin air and swallows Leonon's entire face to the neck, practically drowning him. 

"Hhhhmmppgghhh!!!!" With his face turning blue Leonon is being submerged by his own wife. 

After a few dozen seconds, "Alright, I stop!" It's still her husband after all so Marina stopped chanting when she sees Leonon's mouth opening. 

"Haa...." Leonon is still breathing heavily, but Marina isn't that kind.

"Come here!" By pinching his ear, Marina takes away Leonon from us as she takes him back to the kitchen. "Stop laying on your lazy ass first thing in the morning and help your own wife in the business!" Leonon almost like giving up he receives Marina's each nagging all the way. 

"Also Maria dear! Help me with giving out the dishes to the people here!" On the kitchen now, Marina ask help to all her family. 

"Okie!" Of course she obliged. "I'll be giving you your dishes now Mori-san, Itia-san, and everyone!" Mary gives us a wave before going to the kitchen. 

Now that the family are gone now, we could all think of what just happened. 

"Hahahaha!"

"Poor Leonon!"

"Now she rules the roost!"

The customers, which knew the couple well, received their little show with glowing praise. 

One of them, "Haha I have to be thankin' ya Morus!" The ones sitting next to us, are people that I particularly noticed. 

"Torta ye sly dog! Look at the bush on 'ur lips! Yer as old as me mole on me arse!" With weird accents, the two extraordinary gentlemen are the definition of a pair of drunken old man. 

"Shut up Borta!" But the reason I'm interested in them is... "This Morus girl made our little niece have her magic again fool!" Initially because they are related to Marina as her uncles. 

"Haha that's right!" Borta makes a hearty smile. "It's like I'm back twenty years ago!" And looks at me with eyes full of sincerity. 

"Definitely! Twenty years and nothin' changes!" Torta meanwhile looks at me as well. "And it's all 'cause of ya Morus girl, thanks for makin my niece and nephew-in-law happy again!" But this time he lowers his voice for the first time and thanks me sincerely, with Borta nodding as well. 

I got slightly embarrassed to see two bearded old men apologizing to me. "...Thank you so much, as her friend now it's natural for me to do so." But even though I'm not one for people thanking me I know enough how valuable what I did and didn't try to humble it. 

""Haha yeah..."" And both of them start explaining things. 

"As the ones that initially funded her when she first became an adventurer, it still pains us deep when we heard that our little Marina was cursed by that bastard." Torta clutches his hands. 

"What's worst though is that bastard hid his tracks and made Marina the crazy one for saying the truth! I know my Marina more than anybody else and I knew she would never make such a big lie." Borta grits his teeth before gulping down a beer. 

"We felt so pathetic that even when we made a promise to her late parents to protect her at all cost, she still suffered!" It seems Torta's wroth is going up as he continues to explain so Borta gives him his share of the beer. "That's why we immediately ran our fat asses towards here when we heard the news of Aqua Strider's magic returning. I wanted to thank ya so much when we heard her say that yer the one responsible for pulling it out." Borta finishes his explanation off with drinking the last beer and screaming, "Seconds please!"

"Yeah Morus the news of ya bein' a witch doctor residing in my niece's inn had spread like wildfire!" Torta only told me that as a supplement. 

But for me. "...Is that so huh." There is nothing that I could say but that. [So this is the result of my actions.] My mentally has always been to care for those that care about you or that you care about, so I don't really bother with the ripple effects of it since it involves people I don't care about. 

Now... [I made someone's family member get cured from something that's practically incurable.] Of course people are gonna notice, then if someone's getting noticed... [I'm attracting attention.] Without even realizing it with only my few actions I'm receiving a ton of attention, with only two days the people of this world are already noticing my existence.

[Then it won't be long when that Jhsovenne hears about this.] I will never forget about the name of the man that hurt my friend Marina. Now more so since it is likely we will cross roads at some point.

I clutch my arms, [So I'm gonna be bringing trouble from now on.] I am confident in my abilities but I don't know that I'll be able to perceive and deflect any threats.

I bit my teeth. [I'll need to—] But I was wrong for one thing. 

That I would be the only one that'll be dealing these threats. "Do not worry Morus-sama; we can see that you're thinking for your own. So please, let us be of use from now on." With the knowledge that Gabril knows far more about me than I thought, I wasn't all that surprised now that she seems to directly read my thoughts. 

After that, "I swear that my loyalty isn't through mere words and I will eliminate any insect that cross your way."

"Of course! We will never let anything be a threat to Mori-sama! I will destroy any that may inconvenience you!!"

Through their own way, Kumo and Itia also let their intention to protect me come through. 

"And... Any friends of Mori-sama I would also protect." Itia turns her head to the side as she said that.

"Fufufu." I couldn't help but giggle about it though. [Yeah you definitely care about her now.] The red headed shrimp. 

After I finished giggling, "Thank you guys, that helped me calm down now." I told them sincerely. [Although I never want any of them to have any threats of their own, it is not bad to have them assist from now on.] That's right, one of the first things to become a person is to have empathy and be able to help and cooperate each other on their own. So I'm totally not against it. [Besides I would need extra hands from now on.] 

I look at Gabril; seemingly helping me at the right time, and look at her to make sure she knows what I mean. [Thank you.] It's simple and her slight bow is an indicator of it. 

But there's also another thought as I look at her. [I decided to not tell Kumo and Itia about the whole dream thing.] For one it will be convoluted to explain it and two, [Although I may be lying to my companions, there is just no benefit of telling them.] The two's image of me will even more become messy for even me to accept and it would only create discord between Gabril and the two. [That isn't really what I want.] Is what I concluded.

Now that I have thought what I wanted. "Haha! You Morus may be the first rich person that I know to have such a loyal entourage!"

"Well that'll make the nobles all finicky! That may be why she travelled here in the first place!"

Torta and Borta are talking about me from the side. [Seems like Marina even told them my fake foreign noble story.] Technically it's not fake but that isn't the point. 

But I won't let them freely talk about me without a fight. "Uhm Torta, Borta, I'd like to ask you two something." I said to them. 

"Oh really?"

"What is it Morus girl?"

The two of them look surprised for a moment, [Now time to the main question.] I happily thought; looking at their roughen palms. 

•••

"Is that so huh...." Borta gets into thinking.

I nodded, "Yes, as two people that had been working in the industry for many decades. I'd like to ask about your advice and experience in your businesses." I told them my question in summary. 

The main reason why I said I'm interested in them is because... 

"I don't really think my blacksmithing business would be of any 'elp." Said by Torta.

"Yeah, same with my leathercraft." Said by Borta. 

...They are involved in the guilds of this city. [Since I'll be working here from now on I'll take any advice from these two veterans.] Is what I wanted when I first heard of their occupations.

"No, anything that you two would say about the guilds is going to be incredibly helpful when I set up my own shop in the future." I said to them with motivation. 

[I would like to get some knowledge first before I blindly jump in.] Getting to know each guild individually, the prices, values, trade routes, competitors, the government, basically everything involving a business. [As an office worker information is everything.] Even if it is annoying to check every part of a report I do acknowledge it for giving me the most amount of information I could use. 

""I see..."" The two of them hold their chins and begun to think. 

"Yur business will be involving the sellin of magic items and a treatment service right? That's what you said?" Torta is the one that questions first. 

"Yes, I'm confident in my magical abilities." I nodded. [Well I always knew I'll be involved in the magic business when I first thought of making money here.] But the thing I was surprised about is the magical treatment. [I'm already called a witch doctor so why not fit into that image?] Is my thought process. 

"Then first off your main competitors will mainly be the Mages Guild and the dedicated stores in the Nobles Distict." Borta said to me. 

"I see.." Makes sense. [The guild there's dozens of mages at once so it makes sense and those specialty stores also makes sense.] If you are in the Nobles District that is.

Torta's left eyebrow goes up a bit; "But from yer looks it seems that yo want to set up shop here right on de'commons." Noticing my intent. 

I nodded at him, "Yup." And I explain my reasons why. "From the place that I came from magic is as common as the people living there, and magical items are as regular as any kind of furniture. So far only the magical stones used by merchants are the most that I saw so far." I declared. 

[Obviously I know that if the world's magic has gone down then the use of equipment derived from it would have gone down as well.] I'm not that stupid. [But letting people experience and use magic is the very first step of restoring magic once more.] It is a known fact in the game that the use of magical items; even if you're not a user of it, would make you gradually more proficient at it. Since you are technically using a form of chant to use them. 

But back to the twin's reactions, "I see...." Borta ruffles his chin. "The place ya came from must be dang impressive then." With Torta scratching his bald head. 

"I dunno what u be doin' do to save gold if you wanna let magical items be used for us peasants but somehow I can put trust in you."  Borta looks at me with a smile. "Well I'll be stayin here for a bit longer, so how bout we talk more of the finer details of ur plan, right my brother Torta?"

"Yup!" Torta approves. "I'll be giving ya my full support in your endeavors!"

I smile, "Thank you." And bow my head as well. "Okay let's—" But just as I was ready to immerse myself in the business. 

"Mori-saaaan!" It's Mary. "Mama's calling for you!" Running towards me and interrupting our talk. 

But.... "Okay Mary, I'll come." I just can't damn refuse her. "Sorry about that you two." I apologetically said as I scratch my head. 

"Me too! Sorry uncle Torta and uncle Borta!" Mary is self-aware enough to know that she interrupted us, what a selfless girl. 

""That's alright ye two!"" They both said with a laugh. 

[But I can't just leave the two of them alone.] So I look for someone to... [Ah!]

"Kumo, Itia, Gabril, I have a task for you." It's perfect. "You three are gonna be talking to these two for the further details of our plan of business, so listen carefully and talk it out okay?" I gave them a task and have a mild threat, it's the best way to make orders in my opinion. 

"Yes, I shall execute this befitting of Morus-sama." Kumo responded immediately. 

"No problemo~" Gabril does what she does.

"Y-yup! I'll do this as you wish Mori-sama!" And Itia nervously said so. 

[Oh yeah! Itia!] I can't believe that I'm only bringing this out now. 

I move in close to Itia. "Here Itia, if you do this task well you will open this letter as your reward." And gave her bOb's letter.

"R-really?! Just for me Mori-sama??" Even if she doesn't know the content she's really happy about it, perhaps the mystery is why she's so happy about it.

"Yup." But I found it cute so I rub her head. "It's something very special." I said to further motivate her. 

To which it... "Yes! I'll do my very best just for you Morus-sama!" Worked spectacularly.

"Good." I finished rubbing and went back to Mary, "I'll be back you guys." I wave my hand for a bit before walking towards the kitchen. 

"Bye bye Itia! Let's play later okay?!" Mary seems to have too been caught up in the moment though.

•••

"Welcome Morus, sorry if it's a bit awkward to talk right now—" Marina apologized to me first but not bowing her head otherwise her face's gonna turn to soup. 

I can understand why. "Yeah it's alright." Right as I enter I see Marina stirring up the pot of soup that she has on live flames in the middle, churning and fanning it as the steam heats up the whole room. 

"Maria! Help your papa with this pork head!" With Leonon chopping up and cutting pig and fish parts at the very back of this kitchen. 

"Okay!" Mary quickly rushes forward to help leaving me behind.

I look at the whole room in full view. [What a very chaotic scene.] Marina's working on a sweat from the steam and Leonon's trying his best to balance both chopping off meat parts while holding on to his cane by his armpits. 

The picture of it all makes the cooking shows in the 2010's that I used to watch seem baby play compared to this whole kitchen.

One thing that I loved though from all of this chaos. "Oh the spirit of the pot I have churned, sink everything that's above your surface and become one." Is the beauty within the swirling pit itself. 

When I looked closer to Marina's pot I was shocked to see all the ingredients: the herbs, bones, and seeds; all melting and breaking down and becoming one with the broth, turning it into a rich color. 

All by using only a single chant. [Only high-end pressure cookers can break down substances that fast.] But Marina's only using a pot and a bonfire for god's sake! 

[If this were on Earth...] It would revolutionized the cooking industry.

Marina looks at my shocked face and made a giggle. "Impressive right? I've use my magic to heat up this broth to melt the ingredients and incorporate it better. I thought of this for years but I can't really do it because of the curse." She scoops up the soup and blow the heat off. "Here, because of you I can now cook better and made my life easier at the same time." And hands the ladle to me. 

Of course, "Don't mind if I do." Why would I refuse the offer?

I sip it in one go. "Delicious!" I shouted out loud.

[It's so creamy...] The soup is just great, no need to explain it. 

I gave the ladle back to Marina with a satisfied face as she returns turning the broth. 

I wipe the saliva that has dripped to my chin and look at her cooking with wonder. [So magic can also have uses like that huh?] In Endless since the simulation of taste isn't that good compared to more recent titles, cooking culture hasn't really taken off and so food focusing on better stats was preferred rather a tasty snack. 

[I wonder what uses I'll expect next?] Now that cooking with magic is a thing, the possibility is endless. 

Marina looks at me once again. "Well Morus I have some—" But alas the good old thing known as... 

"Mary! Be careful with the meat!" Interruption come into play. 

Mary and Leonon are struggling to hold the chunks of meat together. "...Fine." I sigh to myself, "I'll help out!" And ran to the two. 

"Wait I wasnt—!" Marina didn't get a chance to hear what she's gonna say. "...Maybe later." 

•••

"Finally!" Marina stretches out her back and shout aloud. 

"Alright you take a rest for a bit hun, I'll carry all of these now." Leonon said as he pushes the little cart off to the customers. Since he only have one leg he uses that to bypass it and deliver all the dishes at once. 

Now in the kitchen are only me, Marina, and Mary. All standing and not really doing anything right now. 

"So uhm..." This is getting awkward. [Think of a good coversa....ah!] "Hey Marina, what is it that you want to talk about?" She was about to say something to me earlier. 

"Oh well you see..." Marina weirdly looks at Mary over and over again till her cheeks are finally puffed up enough to make her shout. 

And what she shouted. "I want to learn magic Mori-san!" Is something that certainly raised my brows. 

"Maria! You can't just—" Marina seems to be having a headache over this while I, "Wait didn't you say that you wanted to join the sewing guild?" Am confused to say the least. [It's one of the first things you said to me.] And I will never forget that. 

"You see Maria?! I told you—" Marina's nagging some more until. "But you said that I acquired a talent for it! See?!" And when she put her hands up, while focusing directly on it I can see... 

[Sparks.] Little bits and bobs of light coming out of Mary's fingers. Normally a magic of this level means nothing to me but... [Mary didn't say anything about having magic until now.] I need an explanation. So I turn to the one that knows about this. 

"Sigh...." Marina holds down her forehead. "Well Morus." She seems to understand my look at her completely. "This is all coming from your friend Kumo, but he said that the time that my curse was lifted and the time that my Maria got sick seems to be around the same." She pauses and pats Mary's head. "Then when my little girl finally got well on sunrise is also when my magic finally stabilized and was able to use it like I did back when I was the Aqua Strider. At which point Itia told me that my Maria has unlocked the talent of magic." Marina finishes her explanation by grabbing a nearby stool to sit on and calm her headache. 

"..." I am once again speechless. [So my original theory was right after all.] When Mary got sick I hypothesized the timing of the curse and the illness being very suspicious but forgetting about it for being too conspiratorial. [But now...] I look at Mary. 

"Sniff... Sniff..." But my silence meant another thing for her. "...So Mori-san... I shouldn't have..." Mary's blaming herself. 

"Come here." I immediately sat down and rub her head and wipe away the tears forming in her eyes. "Your mother is just concerned for you that's all, she already planned your future so she's very distressed when you said you wanted learn magic." I said to her. 

But... "No." Marina counteracts my statement. "I don't want another one of my children to become like me, to be taken advantage of by powerful people for their talents. I don't want that man to see my little Maria and try to harm her..." She gribs her hands. "I don't want my Maria to suffer like I did." And grits her teeth. 

She looks at us once again. "...So no, I can't, I don't want to do this but I can't for your sake to agree to do it Maria." Then finally refuses. 

I scratch my head. [Well there's that...] And look to see a Mary nodding to her parent's demands.

Oh if reality was that simple. 

"No mama!" Mary grips onto her skirt as she defies her mother. "I admire Mori-san! I want to be like her! To be cool, beautiful.... To save people... That's what I want to do now mama, I'm sorry!" Even when opposing Marina's wishes she still apologizes. Classic Mary. 

My eyes lit up for a moment, [It's kinda like when I first wanted to quit my job.] It was the first time that one of my sisters, the oldest, had a quarrel over. I had to spend years just to prove that Endless isn't worthless and can actually be used to earn money. [But we made up and even played it herself from time to time.] I smile in retrospective from that as I witness a similar moment unfolding in front of me. 

"Who's going to protect you Mary! Who?!" It feels like this moment is just made for me. 

"I will." I finally step forward. "Mary said that she wants to be like me right? Then what better way than to study under me, she won't have to go outside and she'll always be by my side when we do, and she'll have time to sew. It's a great deal." And had to side with the kid. 

[I'm sorry Marina.] I understand your plight, really I do. But in the end I just feel like you're wasting Mary's potential and that Mary is genuinely in on this. 

"Hmm!" Mary is nodding in agreement. 

Now that the two of us have joined up, "..." Marina is concerned and.... "....Fine." Capitulates.

"I will approve of this for now but..." Marina looks at Mary. "Dear turn around and close your ears for a minute please?" Her tone is completely unlike that of her usual self which made Mary submit completely.

Now that she's out, "Hmm? What are you doing?" Marina holds onto my collar and tightens her grip. 

"I will approve of this for now but..." She tightens the grip further and looks at me in the eye. "If one scratch ever occurs to my Maria, I will have no choice but to kick you out of this inn." Her monotone is unlike any that I heard of, and certainly the polar opposite of the look of lust she gave me earlier tonight. This one's like a gun that's staring at me. 

But this just meant... [You really love your kid huh?] It's normal to do so but I really admire her like now. 

I should be terrified of this change of personality but... "You have really beautiful eyes right now." Her red eyes is glowing like blood as it stares it's underlying wrath onto me. Making me wriggle inside. 

I hold onto her hands that's holding my collar and I stare at her as well. "Of course, I'll take a very good care of Mary, just for you." My purple eyes and her red eyes look at each other with almost a killer's intent. 

But for me, [The thought of you punishing me is really alluring.] Am I a masochist now? Who cares, she's probably into it as well. 

As I thought. "That's a promise." Her eyes finally calmed down and let's go of my collar, instead holding to my arms. "This is a deal between women okay? You can't break it." Almost like nothing happened, she gave me a wink. 

I couldn't help but smile though. "Okay~" I then move to Marina's ear, "I hope you'll give me that stare more in the future." And trigger something inside her. 

And when I look. "Fine..." She responded with a wiggly smile. 

She likes it. 

Chaaruzu_Corner

But anyways sorry if this only came out now, school, you know the drill. I do the bulk of my work in the worning so yeah.

Anyways two new characters, this one's side characters but they'll help out in the business side and stuff xD they have accents in the original and so is here! Then yeah a little in between chapter the plots be moving next chapter xD so yeah, arigatou!