Lucas' business was thriving. After the last crisis with the mob, he realized more than ever just how important security was. Not just for him, but for the customers as well. If something terribble had happened to one of the customers in the crowd the last time, he would have had a scandal on his hands. No confectionary business could survive the stain of blood, no matter how valuable they were.
In actuality, the laws in the capital city were strict, and they kept the citizens in place. But that simply wasn't enough. Lucas had to be proactive.
Out sourcing his security deal to outsiders was not really what he wanted. He clearly saw that it would affect his profit margin greatly, and also, he simply did not trust anyone enough. Lucas could not help but smile to himself as he reviewed his line of thought, he was becoming more and more like the top C.E.Os he admired in his own time. Growth looked good on him.
After careful consideration, he looked inwardly and decided to upgrade the three fierce women with him. Of course, Lucas knew 'upgrade' meant aggressively filling them with his seed night after night and day after day. He tried to convince himself that he was not a pervert or a womanizer who would take advantage of the girls. He was not going to force sex on any of them who did not want it.
Lucas snapped back into reality and shoved his stimulating-judgmental thoughts aside. This was no time to dilly-dally, he had to conclude his plans for security and cement it with decisive action.
He sighed, leaned back in his chair, and lifted his legs to rest at his work desk. He had run the necessary permutations and calculations, and he saw that there was simply no way around it- He needed more men! It was no longer about the budget or his profit margin anymore. Right now, it was very much about increasing the efficiency of his business so things could run a lot more smoothly.
Asides from security itself, there was the issue of manpower at the store. More hands on deck would definitely increase his output and create room for growth. It was his dream to expand even beyond the lonely store here, and sell on a much larger scale. Maybe even own multiple franchises across the capital city! The possibilities were limitless!!
Lucas had to temper his ambitious fever before he got carried away. First things first, get more men. He needed a team. It was inevitable now.
Twenty four hours later, Lucas acted out the first move in a series of long term plans. He and the three girls headed for the human resources market to pick a couple of capable hands to join the team. He was met with another surprise- there were scores and scores of people waiting to be picked in the job market! Both young and old queued up shamelessly, waiting for providence to grace their hands with a decent gig.
Lucas did not expect this.
The capital city was an industrial and economic power house of its own. He actually expected labour to be very expensive since the capital was teeming with work opportunities. But he appeared to have overestimated the economic situation greatly. There were a lot of people that were out of jobs. He sat back and watched as the girls handled the interviews.
They were not even asking for much. They were more than willing to work for meagre wages, so long as they got something at the end of the week. For every asutue business man, this was the dream situation. They wanted a malleable workforce that would get the job done at nearly slave-like wages. It was truly a pitiable situation.
Once again, fortune seemed to favor Lucas. He could actually hire as many employees as he wanted since there was no scarcity of man power. But he was faced with the same problem from earlier on- Lucas simply could not trust anyone of them. They were all hungry for the pay. Outside their wages, they did not give a damn about his business or its growth. Lucas suspected that ninety nine percent of them would willingly sell him out to the enemy if a live chicken was dangled before their faces.
He also had to consider the security of the girls as well. Knowing just how discriminatory most humans were against other races, he could be putting the girls in grave danger if he hired racists and set the girls over them.
Lucas scratched his head. The consequences of a blunder were simply too much. There was a lot at stake.
As he pondered on how best to test the loyalty of his prospective employees, a small girl bumped into him unexpectedly from behind. "Oh, I beg your pardon sir." Thinking it was an accident, Lucas paid her no mind and waved it off. After all, this was a public place, and such things were bound to happen.
A full thirty seconds passed when Lucas observed that some weight had been lifted off of him. His hand instinctively reached for the pouch that carried his gold coins, and to his surprise, he found that it had been separated from him! His mind immediately went to the small girl. How had she done it? The pouch was literally tied to his belt, and yet, she had managed to snatch it without drawing attention to that region!
Monica observed Lucas touching himself like he was looking for something. She left the others and drew close; "What's the problem master? Did you lose something?"
"My purse," he said bitterly. "I think some little girl just stole it."
Monica's face instantly twisted into a mask of fury. Without even as much as a word, she charged in the direction of the nearest exit to find and punish the thief who had made the sore mistake of stealing from her master. Her steps and demeanor showed that she was not going to show mercy on the little girl when she found her.
A silent understanding passed between Lolita and Catherine. They decided to let Monica handle the thief while they stood by Lucas' side to protect him in case anything else happened. It was a really sound tactic, as the thief could have been bait to trap them into leaving Lucas undefended. It might have actually worked because money was king here, and any thief who dared to steal it would be sought after with all violence.
Lucas did not really care about the thief. "There's no need to chase after her. What joy am I to derive from beating a child? Let's allow this issue to die, we have other pressing matters to attend to."
But the girls insisted; "Master, thieves should not be allowed to go scot free. The thief might be encouraged to continue stealing if we don't mete out the appropraite punishment." Ever with a bright perpective, Lolita added; "Yes, I think it's our civic duty to punish this thief. We might be saving the next victim who might not be as buoyant as you master."
Lucas' shoulders slumped in defeat. He definitely did not want to go through all the hassle of chasing down the little girl because of a lump sum. But the girls clearly had a thing against people who did not rely on hardwork to get by.
Meanwhile Monica was having the chase of her life. She genuinely had not expected the thief to be so dexterous at evading pursuit. After all, Monica was a catgirl. And that came with a very impressive set of skills that made her flexible, fast and a dangerous hunter. But all of those qualities did not give her an edge in this chase.
The thief was good. Pretty damn good in fact. Monica was not too conceited to admit it. She pressed on with accelerated resolve, thoroughly determined to prove her out skills and outrun the culprit. But surprisingly, she could not seem to bridge the gap between them. At the last moment, just when she thought she was about to lose sight of the thief, Lucas changed their course and redirected their path towards a shortcut.
Of course, this was the Heaven A.I system at work. Normally, Lucas would not even be aware of his environment. But in the heat of the chase, the system had run a simulation and predicted the route of the thief by analyzing the city's road network. And as usual, the system had been spot on.
Lucas, along with Lolita and Catherine managed to intercept the thief. The three girls ended up on the hot trail of the culprit, and they went after her like a pack of wolves.
Lucas was indifferent about the whole thing, at least, up until the point when he discovered that the thief was not a human but a leopardgirl. He immediately felt a soft spot for the girl. Having been together with the three girls for a while, he knew just how difficult life could be for a nonhuman. No wonder she was going about stealing.
But unfortunately, Lolita and the others did not bear the same amount of sympathy towards the thief. In fact, there was not a single ounce of sympathy in them at all. With their blood still hot from the chase, they descended on the leopardgirl without giving her a single chance to explain
But much to Lucas' secret delight, he saw that the girls were not gaining any ground at all!! It was turning out to be an interesting chase! They tore through the streets, meandered through back alleys, skipped over fences, all on the trail of one leopard girl!! Lucas' himself had lost count of how many times he had nearly crashed into horse riders and their carriages.
Getting rather impatient, he decided to analyze the leopardgirl's ability. The system promptly responded and drew up a biological schematics of the thief. It turned out her agility was highly dependent on her tail. This came as no surprise, considering the fact that all cats (especially big cats like tigers) relied on their tails for balance.
Armed with this new knowledge, Lucas decided to take action to even the score board. Using a basic magic trick, Lucas clenched his right fist, and a gust of wind responded to his summons. Up ahead, he focused him aim at the culprit's tail and blasted. He did not miss. The attack hit home.