- Arthur's POV -
" Master, I am back. "
Since he entered the building of the guild, it became oddly silent, where people would barely whisper around him, even as he sat at a table with Stella by his side.
Having to wait while being stared at and be the source of chatters around almost made his skin prickly, but fortunately for him, Mariane was back more or less sooner than what he expected, giving him the liberty to finally leave.
" Welcome back, Mariane. "
Getting up from his chair, Stella followed his movement in silence while he welcomed the company of his maid that he dearly missed, especially after being in such an uncomfortable position for so long.
Walking towards the exit of the guild, since he knew it would be a bothersome topic to approach in front of so many people having ears for stories about him, he waited first to leave the city before asking the important question he had in his mind from the start.
" .. How did it went ? "
" I believe her worth to be at a high commoner wife level, maybe a lower servant of a noble's mansion based on her skills alone. "
Harsh words left her mouth, but the tone she used to speak was somewhat soft, as if she found such a result acceptable for a woman being an innkeeper.
" What if she was compared as a slave ? "
" ... "
Asking a question, he also wanted to know her worth if she was compared to someone of the lower of the lowest levels among living beings, and Mariane, apparently surprised by his questions, thought about her answer before giving him an appropriate reply.
" ... I don't know much about her night skills, where most woman slaves prevail, but she could be the second highest tier slave, just behind fallen nobility.. probably. "
' Fallen nobility... It's been a long time since I haven't heard that term. '
Ignoring her doubts as even she didn't knew much about the value of slaves, or where Luce would stand among other girls based on her sexual tendencies, his focus remained on that single term, describing families that tried to rebel against royalty or committed many crimes.
' There was a five star card like that, wasn't it ? '
To be honest, there were a lot of cards being fallen nobility among different races, but as a five star ? There was only three of them, to which only one was part of a certain meta, and it was the one Arthur remembered only for a small moment.
" Master, do you intend to take her as a slave ? "
Feeling Mariane's stare under Stella's question, Arthur was put in a situation where he needed to explain more about his thoughts and why he asked such a thing.
" I don't know yet, I was merely asking, but if we were to take her along with us, it might be good to prepare an alternative so she won't be able to reveal anything. "
He didn't knew how the whole slave thing worked to be honest, as he recently learned that they existed in this world as well, but if it was the same kind as in the game, where a slave couldn't even try to disobey, it would be worth it to try it with her.
But the main raison why he even thought about making her a slave, wasn't because she proposed to be one, but for her masochist tendencies, since with what she showed him so far, she sure lead him to believe that she would actually like such a treatment.
" Master sure has a lot of secrets.. That's suspicious. "
" I have more than what you can imagine, but you'll get to know them, eventually. "
Answering with a much lighter heart after one of his problems was somewhat resolved, or more like, being treated by Mariane, for today, he had only one objective.
Even if he started his day later than usual, it wouldn't change the fact that by tonight, he will reach the level four, as he needed only very few points to get to the threshold of the required experience.
' Soon I'll get to level five.. I hope you didn't lied to me. '
Praying to receive something really good after having most of his rewards being taken away at every level up, without taking into account that he had to start from scratch again, he also definitely hoped that he didn't lie, for that man's own good, that is.
_________________________________________
[ Status ]
Name : Arthurion
Level : 4
Title : None
Affiliation : None
Team used : -
Cards in possession : 4
Wasn't there a saying about life being full of unexpected things ?
His stroke of recent bad luck, at least, was one of such thing as he got another dud, a two star this time, but still not what he searched for.
Putting the card inside the book, he decided to at least grab the few rewards along with the white inscriptions for that said card and it's only piece of gear, which he quickly used them all on her.
' Maybe I shouldn't try to go for an elf archer, but.. Anything else seems somewhat wrong, doesn't it ? '
With a sigh on his side, he shook his head to the stare of Mariane and Stella that he had been receiving, signaling that it wasn't the right time to summon that card.
" .. Master, I've been willing to ask since last time, but why are we focusing on summoning three star cards only ? "
Receiving Stella's question, which could be called clever from her point of view, it was as clear as water that she didn't knew the mind of a gacha player, but he also had another reason for aiming so high in the first place.
" Well, if I wanted only numbers and strength, then surely, I would summon as much as I can, but we don't have such a luxury, and if we want to not raise anymore doubts, we have to focus on quality instead of quantity, but there's another important reason to which a three star is the bare minimum for our party. "
" Which is.. ? "
" It's pretty simple, but if they're not at that level, they won't be able to follow Mariane's pace, and when fighting, it will just restrict her even more, so while I value every cards I summon, we can't, as of now, bear the possibility to have our strength be weakened. "
The difference between grades wouldn't lie, and the increase in stats will just get bigger the higher one's level would reach, so taking his time, he slowly explained those concepts to Stella which had yet to hear about it.
" .. Then, shouldn't I be glad to be a three star and having been summoned by master-.. ? "
" You are a different case, Stella, while it's true that most cards need stars to show their value, it only works for fighting classes, priest are needed at every level, and unlike them, supporters can't show their true worth unless they are at the same or a higher grade than four star. '
If he were a bit more honest in his words, he would say that he just needed a priest that could heal, and not a barrier master or a detoxification one, but remembering an old meta, there was that four star priest that shined more than five stars one, until it was outclassed by a new card that came out.
" I see.. It's pretty complicated, isn't it ? "
" Well, I'm the one doing the choices, so don't worry about it, and eventually, I'll summon everyone at one point, just not now. "
Raising his hand, he approached it from her body and slowly patted her head, lightly playing with her ears at the same time.
" Alriiiight, hehehe.. "
Seeing how she would show her hapiness so openly made his heart feel sweet for some reason, but under someone else's stare, he couldn't play favorites.
Turning his face to look at her, he could see the maid, lightly pouting, as it has been quite some time since he hadn't patted her as well.
With a nod on his side, he agreed for her to step closer, and with a wagging tail and a light blush on her cheeks, she surely did it, to which he could only uphold his part of the deal and started playing with her hair and fluffy ears as well.
' .. I'm sure if there is a paradise, it would look something like this. '
The charm of both girls being so expressively shown, he was also glad that they seemed in much better terms than when they first met each other, though he didn't knew the exact moment when they both got so close, at least, he was happy with it.
" .. Arthur... Will you let me be the one that please you tonight.... ? "
A soft, shy and enchanting voice reaching his ears, he could feel a shiver traversing his body as certains thoughts rushed his mind about his maid.
" ... Let me eat something first. "
And he immediately accepted with the condition to fill his stomach beforehand.