"What do you mean they failed!?"

"I'm sorry, my lord, but it seems like someone interfered. Bhatos and his crew are all in the wind."

"Damm, those bastards. All that money, I gave them, and they can't even kidnap a single girl."

"My apologies, would you like me to send some people to find Bhatos?"

"No, we need to focus on what's at hand; we lost our only bargaining chip. What's the bastard duke doing?"

"From our inside man, it seems like he had just regained consciousness. We also have a plan to dispose of Estiel, who is currently locked at the prison. It seems that his father is trying everything he can to get him released."

"Good, make sure that he doesn't leak anything about us. Do we know anything about this person who interfered?"

"Yes, our inside man has reported that this individual is not to be underestimated and extremely powerful. He took down the Ralot's family golem."

"Ugh, another nuisance, place a target on him with the dark guild. We need him eliminated; make the bounty a hundred pieces of gold."

"Understood. Shall we proceed with plan B?"

"Yes, gather all our men."

♦  ♦  ♦

""We're sorry!""

This is what greeted me as soon as I entered Lilliana's home. A group of maids all lined up and bowed down apologetically. These were the ninjas that had broken into my room last night.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Masato. It would seem like our maids need to be retrained." Lilliana says as she also bows apologetically.

"Uhh, sure, no problem," I said whilst scratching my head; I had no idea what the correct thing to do in this situation. The guard trio was snickering behind me; I can HEAR you!

"Ummm, Masato, who is this young girl in a pretty dress?" Lilliana looks at me with emotionless eyes. Which also makes Celia scared and grab my arm.

"Well...I guess she is now my slav-" as soon as those words left my mouth, Lilliana screamed.

"Masato, I had thought you were a respectable and honourable person, but I did not realise you were into little girls!!"

"Wait no dont mistunderstand! That slave merchant mistreated her, so I bought her."

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"Oh..."Lilliana suddenly goes red, "My apologies for jumping to conclusions.

"No worries there, if it's alright, could she use the bath?" I asked.

"Of course, Viola show her how everything works. Masato, my father, has woken up; he would like to speak to you."

"Oh, okay. Celia, follow that lady; she will get you cleaned up."

I follow Lilliana, who takes me to her father's bedroom. Inside was the same man who now looks completely revitalised. Wait, I think he looks younger now?

"Ah, you must be the one who saved my daughter and me."

"Yes, that would be me," I replied.

"I heard that you have some amazing powers?"

"I guess I do have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Haha, you are certainly interesting. Now the matter at hand, I would like to reward you. You can ask for anything as long as it's within my capabilities."

"I suppose some money would be fine. I just registered as a mercenary, so having money to buy things would be nice."

"Very well, Williams, bring it over."

A refined looking butler enters the room, holding a tray with several large pouches on top.

"Inside, there are two platinum coins and five hundred gold coins. I heard that you have a storage skill, so this should be fine for you. I wish we could give you more, but our finances are not endless."

"No, I understand. May I ask how much is a platinum coin worth? I'm not that familiar with money."

This time Lilliana explains. The money in this world was copper, silver, gold and platinum.

10 Copper Coins = 1 Silver Coin

100 Silver Coin = 1 Gold Coin

1000 Gold Coin = 1 Platinum Coin

A single gold coin can get someone a decent inn to stay in and good food to eat for a month; in other words, I overpaid when I bought Celia. Wait, no, I now have 2500 Gold coins, which means I just won the jackpot.

"I understand, thank you very much."

"One more thing, Masato. Would you like to work for me?"

"I'm thankful for the offer; however, I would rather not involve myself in nobles affair."

"Hmm, that's understandable. But again, I thank you very much for saving my daughter and that medicine. If there is anything you ever need, do not hesitate to rely on the Lucera house."

"Thank you very much, as soon as I am done. We will take our leave."

I stored all the money in my ring but kept ten gold coins to use so that I don't have to take it out of my storage every time and reveal my storage skill. I then went to check up on Celia.

A group of maids had stopped working and were watching Celia, who had stuffed her face with some food like a pet hamster. She sees me and tries to swallow all the food but nearly starts to choke.

"Take your time, here drink some water," I said, as I handed her a glass of water and patted her back.

"Thank you, master."

After she finished eating, we took our leave. Lilliana saw us off, but something told me that I would be seeing her again very soon.

We wandered around the city; Celia was still hungry, so we tried out all sorts of food. My favourite was the skewers made from the meat of monsters called batbird. We then, later on, found an inn to stay.

I chose this inn because it has bathtubs in some of their top-end rooms; it costs us three silver nights for a double room.

It was getting quite late, so we went to bed. I teleported to the forest during the night to check in on Kumo, who was having a feast and even built herself a nest. There were quite a few monster parts that she couldn't eat, so I stored them, and maybe I could sell them. Of course, it wasn't like I was strapped for money right now, but I will run out eventually, so it was best to earn some money as well.

This also gave me some time to think about my future plans. I could stay here in the capital for a while to gain some knowledge before heading out to the broader world. I could also start selling Kumo's thread as a business. If I remember correctly, Lilliana said that Demon Spider threads were extremely expensive.

Kumo, who can somehow read my mind, brings me several balls of her threads.

"Wow, thanks," I quickly put them all in my storage, "Well, good night, try not to overhunt and keep out of sight from any humans entering."

I teleported back to the inn and promptly went to bed.