"Come work for me."

James was a bit surprised by the offer.

He first scanned Jared with his eyes, his well-fitted brown shoes, black trousers that didn't look too big or too slim, and a black shirt with a slightly opened button at the top.

Reaching his face, he could see how handsome he was, semi-long hair that fell all the way to his neck, brown eyes so beautiful he could keep staring at them for days.

"Wait… Are you… a sex trafficker?"

Jared's face immediately turned pale at the question.

[The goddess of trade laughs at your predicament.]

Lucy covered her mouth, as if trying to stop herself from cracking up out loud.

"What makes you think I am a sex trafficker?" asked Jared with a calm look.

"You told me to come work for you… and you look too pretty to be a male."

Jared sighed, his palm covering his face, too disappointed to even give a meaningful response.

Lucy stepped in.

"Lord Jared is the chief of Sikone village. He needs a blacksmith, and so he is asking if you'd be willing to fill the spot."

Now looking at her, James narrowed his eyes.

"He is the chief of a village?"

"Yes."

"I find that hard to believe. Why is someone in charge of a village here in another village?"

Lucy was stunned to see how stupid the man was.

"I-I already answered that a while back… he needs a blacksmith," she repeated.

"Oh." James suddenly had a serious look on his face. "Am I that pathetic? That even scammers are trying to pull a prank on me?"

Lucy, just like Jared, was speechless.

She looked at Jared, waiting for him to say something before she lost her cool and attacked the boy out of frustration.

"You own this store, right?" Jared finally asked.

"Yes…"

"Since you don't believe me, I'll tell you my offer. After that, if you still think I am a fraud, then I'll walk out that door and never come back."

"You won't be buying weapons anymore?" James had a sad look on his face.

"I won't be buying anything from someone who makes me out to be a fraud."

"…"

"…"

"Fine, I'll listen to your offer."

Jared raised a finger.

"For every month you spend working for me, I'll offer you 5 gold eres, a building of your own, and a business partnership with other villages to expand your reach and profit."

"5 gold eres… a month?"

"Yes, and to make things easier for you, I brought with me a contract. That way, if I am indeed lying, you can sue me to the council."

"So that means you'll get in trouble if you're lying?"

"Yes."

"Hmm…"

James was definitely not financially stable in any way; in fact, on most days, he only got to eat once a day since he had no money.

So hearing Jared bring up such an offer was tempting, if anything.

But at the same time, he wasn't sure if he could fully trust him.

"Okay, fine, I believe you, but only because I don't want to lose a customer. You'll buy my works now, right?"

"Of course," Jared smiled mischievously at him and then, from nowhere, whipped out a contract. "Here, sign here so we can finalize our deal."

Without thinking about it, James snatched the contract from him.

"Is this where I'll sign?" he asked, pointing at a specific part on the paper.

Jared was actually shocked James didn't bother to read what was written in the paper.

It was the first time he had ever seen someone do that, even from his former world.

"Yes, just sign on the line there," he replied.

"Okay."

James poked his thumb with a small pin and then signed on the contract.

As soon as he was done, he handed the contract back to Jared.

"There, signed."

Jared was still surprised, as seen with the expression on his face.

On the contract was a written agreement for slavery for more than 500 years. He knew James would not agree to such a thing, so he planned to offer him a chance that would exchange that for an exclusive contract that bound him to Sikone and Sikone alone.

But this… this also worked in his favor.

"We have an agreement then." Jared stood to his feet, putting the contract away. "I'll come for you when I'm heading out of the village. You should get your stuff ready before I return."

"Eh?"

Suddenly, Jared threw him a sack, no bigger than a purse.

"Here, you can store all your load here. Don't worry about the capacity; it's unlimited."

With that, Jared turned around, heading out of the store with Lucy following behind him.

James, still on the ground with a perplexed look on his face, soon realized what he had gotten himself into, a little too late.

"…eh?"

Meanwhile, outside the shop, Jared and Lucy were strolling down the road.

Since the blacksmith they came searching for had been secured, all that was left was to meet the village chief of Ravana.

"Lord Jared, can I ask a question?" Lucy trailed behind Jared.

As they walked down the shabby road, while Jared looked like a simple man with a handsome face, Lucy was more like an attractive woman cosplaying as a maid.

They both stood out among the crowd like a sore thumb.

Jared couldn't stand the eyes glued on his body; as such, he was a bit awkward.

"What is it?" he replied, his head lowered.

"Why did you decide to hire that blacksmith? There was a better one next to it. Anyone would be happy to work for 5 gold eres."

Jared was quiet for a while, allowing the murmurs of the crowd to take over for a moment.

"True. You're right; there was a chance I could have gotten a better blacksmith with the same offer."

He paused and then continued.

"Say you see two stray cats on the road: one looks raggy and has never known peace, hunger, or the luxury of shelter, and the other has had it all, has lived it all.

If you were to save both cats, how do you think it would end later on, or better still, how do you think they would feel about you?" he asked.

Lucy replied, "I assume they would both be grateful for your help."

"And you would be right. At the end of the day, I rescued them. That said, nothing I offer the luxurious cat would impress it; it has already seen it all. Even if I shower it with all the love and affection it needs, it would only give it as much value as it could muster in that moment. Eventually, it will all be normal to it.

But if I offer the same cat that has known nothing but poverty a piece of bread, it will hold me high on a pedestal."

Jared turned around to look at Lucy. "I would offer less and get tenfold the praise and loyalty I could get from the rich cat. Do you understand? The world is not so easily defined."

Lucy sighed. "I guess I expected a response like that from you. Doesn't that also mean you are extorting the person?"

"Allegedly…"

Jared turned around, and just when he was about to take another step—

{Master, hello! Can you hear me?}

He paused.

'Paimon…'

{Master~!! I missed you so much!!!}

'Do you have information on Ravana's chief?'

{Yes, and I don't think you'd be proud to know what kind of man he is.}

Jared wasn't all too taken aback by it; he was already expecting the worst anyway.

'Let me hear it then; give me everything, and don't leave a single detail out.'

Jared replied as he stepped into a lonely alleyway, Lucy guarding the entrance like a wall.

{Well, from what I saw, he is a pretty chill person, too chill, like a lazy chill. I think his name was Roswell. And he also doesn't do anything; at least, I have not seen him do anything. He basically just lies down in bed, drinking and eating all day. So there was nothing much I could gather.}

'I see. A lazy leader.'

Jared went into deep thought for a while, two scenarios hinting in his mind.

Either the leader of Ravana was so smart, all he did was give instructions from the comfort of his bed, or there was someone else pulling the strings, and he was just a mascot.

'Paimon, come back to the apartment. We'll need your directions to know where the lazy leader is located.'

{Master? You do know we are bound by a master-servant contract, right?}

"What?" Jared ended up blurting out loud.

{You can just teleport to where I am. We are practically connected.}

Jared went mute; he was most definitely not aware he had the ability to do that.

[The god of dragons shakes his head in embarrassment.]

Carrying what seemed to be a pissed-off look, Jared stretched his hand to Lucy.

"Let's go already."

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