"Brrrrrrrrrgh!"
Eren produced a loud burp after eating his fourth steak. He felt full and content now that he had ample food in his stomach. He could think again.
"What was that? Fu*ck. I thought I was going to die from not eating."
Eren asked out loud to no one in particular. But Reen was there to answer him:
"Isn't it normal to feel hungry when you don't have food for a few hours? I find it strange that you ate so little before. This is the way we should eat, Erni. There's nothing wrong with this."
Reen told her master to make him feel comfortable. The latter smiled and patted her head before speaking to himself:
'Edgar's journal doesn't mention anything like this from what I've read so far.'
Eren thought before shaking his head. JJ Edgar was swinging in the dark when he wrote that journal. He couldn't possibly know the extent of effects one would feel or experience after being turned into a demi-human.
Eren had realized that this was Reen's trait that had been passed down to him ever since his transformation. Only now did he truly understand what Reen was used to feeling now and then when she was hungry. This kind of hunger would have driven him mad if he hadn't had his extended life experiences to keep him sane.
'No use thinking about it now. Anyway, hunger can be managed by simply eating enough food. It's not the most troubling side effect of my transformational change anyway.'
Eren decided to deal with one problem at a time. He already had a lot of fish to fry these days. He couldn't waste his time pondering over the fact that he would have bouts of hunger pangs from now on.
*******************
"Eren… is that you? How did you progress so much in such a short time."
Agatha asked her master as soon as she saw him. Agatha was staying in Jack's shop, where they were meeting.
Eren hadn't hidden his mana signature. So she could see a distinct difference. The latter just shrugged his shoulders before replying:
"Money and potions are enough to make miracles happen. Anyway, did you do what I had asked you to do?"
'This guy never shows all his cards even to his allies. His opponents would die in suspense.'
Agatha thought and sighed after realizing what kind of a person her master was. She then nodded at him before answering:
"I purchased a two-story building near Jake's shop with the money that you gave me. He helped us a lot with that. We utilized all of his channels and contacts to get the property confirmed.
I've bought the property in your name. You just need to attest the document with your mana signature."
*************************
Agatha had chosen a shop that was situated in a prominent location within the city of Lionhearts. The infrastructure of the shop was simple, elegant, and spacious. It had all the basic amenities and facilities.
Furthermore, the shop also featured an ample-sized underground room that was suitable for Eren's potioning experiments and productions, should he choose to perform them here. This was one of the must-have requirements Eren had set for the shop when he had tasked Agatha. Needless to say, she did everything by the book and got him his first store.
The shop was meant to be used for Eren's potions that he would be selling over the counter. The anthope was ordered to buy a place near Jake's shop so that the potions' import and export would become easier.
Eren also had plans to buy a shop in the city of Laurel. It was blessed with an abundance of potion-related ingredients due to its herbs market after all. Agatha was supposed to go there once Eren had enough funds to make that happen.
Eren was getting poorer by the day even when he was raking Extols in abundance. But that didn't stop him from investing. He knew these investments were the gifts that would keep on giving once they've been set in place.
But that did make Eren more desperate for money. Even his pool of auction money was going to get dried up soon if and when he starts his business and tries to expand. He knew it was going to be a while before he started seeing profits.
*************************
Agatha handed Eren a scroll that had an array seal placed at its bottom. He read the document carefully before imbuing the contract with his mana. The array seal reacted as soon as it came in contact with Eren's mana. The seal changed itself and now had an intricate runic pattern.
Eren handed the document to Marla for further processing. She only needed to ask one thing from him:
"Congratulations, mas… master. You are now a proud owner of a two-story shop in the city of Lionhearts. Now you only need to come up with a name I can register the shop with."
Eren raised his eyebrows after he heard Agatha struggle with calling him a master. He replied nonchalantly:
"No need to call me master if you don't feel comfortable with it. It sounds cliched anyway. Just call me Eren.
About the shop's name. Hmm! I don't want things to be too complicated. Let's stick with White Raven."
Eren replied and started walking towards the exit. Agatha cursed herself for calling Eren master. She didn't want to. But something had come over her and subconsciously affected her.
When Eren came in contact with her, Agatha thought that her status as an anthrope was insignificant in front of him. The pseudo-mutagen elements coursing through her veins were feeling the inherent suppression of the higher being. And that suppression was was manifesting itself in her calling him master.
Eren thought of something before completely disappearing from Agatha's vision and turned back before saying:
"Agatha, make sure that you finalize the procedure as soon as you can. Soon there will be a shit-load of political storms happening all around us. We don't want to delay our plans by getting caught in them.
And you can start living inside the White Raven shop once the procedure has been completed. The top floor will be yours. I'll be leaving now.. See you soon."