The last day before meeting the Marquis...

Elrianthe woke up early in the morning. The first rays of sunlight came through the uncovered window, illuminating the interior. After rubbing her eyes and a few yawns, she noticed that Alison's bed was already made up and her friend was absent. Seeing no alarming signs, she decided to lie back on the bed.

However, she didn't want to fall asleep again, so she opened the system and checked today's challenges. They were remarkably unusual, and one of them required her to do some shopping. However, the task did not specify what the shopping was to be about. Elrianthe wasn't going to spend the whole day in her room; she had already thought about exploring the city yesterday. She could complete this fun challenge on occasion.

She reminded herself that she still had 3 development points to use. Turning to the [ Development Tree ], she noticed that even here there were changes after selecting a new class.

[ Choose one of the available options; available choices: 3 ]

[ +2 any stat points ]

[ +1 level for any skill ]

[ Expansion for any skill ]

[ Random effect or skill from the available pool ]

Elrianthe already knew what she wanted to invest in. She first raised the level of < Illusory Aura > to 5. She then invested +2 points in Presence, raising it to 10. She spent the last point on getting a new expansion for < Pheromones of the Deceiver >.

< Blind eavesdropping > - When the host closes his eyes, he gains the ability to eavesdrop on the thoughts of those within range of the pheromones.

'Hey, this is terribly excessive! I can read people's minds? This is a violation of people's basic right to privacy! But I'm not human anymore... The ability to read minds can save my life more than once,' thought Elrianthe, recognizing the enormous potential of this ability.

Without any hesitation, she spent nearly 8,500 free XP to develop the < Pheromones of the Deceiver > skill to level 6. This gave her an increased amount and speed of pheromone emission, reduced sensitivity of targets under their influence, higher efficiency of pheromone-assisted illusions, and a further reduction in the cost of using these skills.

There was the sound of footsteps in the corridor. Elrianthe's room was at the end of it, so it wasn't hard to guess that it was Alison or Gaz. She decided to test her new ability.

She released pheromones which quickly filled the entire room like a fog. They were invisible to anyone except Elrianthe, who was frankly surprised at how quickly she could spread them.

The door handle moved, and Elrianthe turned to face the wall, still lying on her bed.

Wire: 'Ah, how cute she looks when she sleeps. But she shouldn't stick her butt out like that. She provokes guys. It's a good thing she's here with me.'

'Alison...' thought Elrianthe, holding back a laugh at her remarks.

Wire: 'I brought my favorite breakfast. I hope she'll like it.'

'Okay, that's enough. I don't want to invade her privacy,' thought Elrianthe, pretending to wake up, and turning on the other side.

“Good morning,” said Alison with a smile.

“Hey, Alison. Did you bring breakfast?” she asked, stretching out on the bed.

“Of course. Please enjoy,” Alison replied, placing a wooden plate on the table.

Elrianthe got out of bed and sat down at the table. There were two portions on the plate - for her and Alison. In a wooden flat bowl lay an omelet of eggs, fried sausages, some beans in sauce, and a few slices of bread. Everything was fresh and prepared by the owner himself.

'I didn't think I'd eat better here than in my previous life,' thought Elrianthe, then set about to eat.

The huge smile on Alison's face betrayed how happy she was to see Elrianthe, who was clearly pleased to try everything one by one.

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“This is the best breakfast I've ever had in my life,” Elrianthe commented, pushing the empty bowl away.

“I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's my favorite breakfast,” replied Alison proudly.

“Really?” asked Elrianthe, faking surprise. “Then I want to know more of your favorite dishes,” she added.

“I'll be happy to prepare them! As soon as we're free...” replied Alison.

Her enthusiasm quickly cooled when she remembered the situation they were in. Both were still slaves, and Elrianthe was to be sold to the marquis as early as tomorrow. Although Alison did not know the detailed plans, she trusted Elrianthe unconditionally. She was confident that she had everything thought out and was pursuing the best course of action.

“I was thinking of visiting some stores, but I don't have a broken penny with me. Do you think someone will buy back some of your potions?” asked Elrianthe.

“I think they will. I don't have the faintest idea how much they'll offer for them, though. If you want to go out on the town, take Gaz with you. I don't want you to be alone,” replied Alison.

“Sure. I don't want to get lost, after all. It will be faster with Gaz,” assured Elrianthe, getting up from the table. “Don't you want to come with me?”

“We'll attract too much attention. I'm still walking around in my priestess outfit,” replied Alison.

Elrianthe glanced at her own clothes, which she had borrowed from Mitta. His pants, shirt, and a few other items of his clothing were in much better condition than the rest of the gang. Still, Elrianthe had to adjust everything to fit her figure.

'I should also look around for something new,' she thought, looking at the shirt that barely contained her abundant breasts. Since she had started eating properly, her body had taken on an even sexier shape.

“Thank you for the delicious breakfast, Alison. I'm going to take this day to the limit,” she said, waving goodbye.

Gaz appeared after a short while. Elrianthe was already waiting for him at the front door of the inn.

“Do you have money?” she asked.

“I do, but why are we spending my savings?”

Elrianthe measured him with a stern look.

“Aren't you supposed to make a fortune on me tomorrow?” she threw in response to his doubts.

“Right, but now it won't be my fortune anymore,” he said.

“The savings aren't just yours anymore either. They are ours,” she replied, pushing open the door.

“That's right, my lady,” sighed Gaz, and they headed toward the market.

“What were you planning to do later?” asked Elrianthe suddenly.

“Later?”

“After you sell me,” she specified.

“And what would I do...” burbled Gaz, avoiding an honest answer.

“You mentioned about savings yourself. I doubt you're collecting to rebuild your hideout. Am I wrong?” asked Elrianthe, raising an eyebrow.

“No... Well, the others are dead, so they won't find out that I planned to abandon them. It's been going on too long. If it weren't for you, I might have bolted long ago,” he replied.

“What about Alison?” she asked.

“Alison? What does she have to do with this?” wondered Gaz.

“Don't pretend you have nothing to do with her.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” he insisted.

“Alison spent a whole month in that cell and not a hair fell off her head. Were the ruthless bandits afraid of divine punishment for hurting the priestess? Or did someone at the head of this group forbid it? Hmm?”

Gaz did not answer this question.

'I can read your mind, Gaz. I know you have a crush on her,' thought Elrianthe.

“I can see how you look at her. I also noticed that she is not comfortable in your presence. You wanted to take her with you, didn't you? You tried to talk to her, but she refused. She wasn't interested in you. Even though you let go, the others were afraid to approach her anyway, because they knew they could lose their fingers for it,” Elrianthe said.

“How do you know all this?” he asked shocked.

“I'm neither blind nor stupid. I put the facts together,” she replied with a devious smile, then entered one of the stores.

The place they entered was empty. Most of the merchandise offered by the store hung freely on the walls or was spread out on elongated countertops.

Tie: “Aren't they afraid of thieves?” she asked Gaz.

Tie: “The shopkeeper probably has protection, but why is there no one behind the cash desk...”

Elrianthe browsed through the items for sale like shoes, gloves, necklaces, and rings.

Then they both heard a fierce argument in the back room. The shopkeeper was shouting at some thug who wanted to force money from him. In the end, the bandit snatched his pouch with the last coins and, threatening him with consequences in the future, made it clear that he should pay for security on time and didn't care what business he had with other groups.

'Apparently, this is the protection...' thought Elrianthe, watching the thug and shopkeeper coming out of the back room.

The thug only gave them a threatening glance as he walked past them, and headed for the exit.

“Ouch! I'm very sorry. Clumsy of me. Ha ha,” Elrianthe said timidly, after bumping into the man.

“Fuck! Look where you're going!” yelled the man.

“Sorry, my fault,” she repeated, bowing.

The man squirmed with displeasure and left the place.

Tie: “What did you do?” asked a confused Gaz.

Tie: “Now I can buy whatever I want,” replied Elrianthe, smiling.

In her hand, she held a pouch stuffed with coins.

“Fuck...” muttered Gaz.