188 The Money Cat

Odeta was still unconscious so I tucked her into the sleeping bag first.

Climbing out of the tent, I found Emilia tossing the corpse of Sariena into a pit she had dug out which I had set on fire for her. Apparently you have to do that or corpses would turn into undead over time.

That was the case with monsters found outside of dungeons as well and I had a moment of panic since I had not been doing that for my monster kills, wondering just how many monster zombies I inadvertently created over the years. Then she told me removing their Mana Crystals prevents that from happening which made me sigh in relief.

"Lady Aster," Emilia took a step back from the fire and bowed to me. "I cannot express how sincerely apologetic I am for our current situation."

I didn't really know what to say since this was my first time experiencing this as well but I tried anyway, "Umm… I er… It's ok?"

She straightened herself before flashing me a smile, "That's perfect~ In that case, since this portion of the trip is not included in your itinerary, I would have to charge extra, you see? I can waive the fee of saving your life in those waves and survival fees since you brought your own equipment, but the detour fees will need to be calculated!"

I stared at her for at least a minute.

"Are you… Being serious?"

"Of course I am, Lady Aster! I never joke when it comes to money!"

"But… Shouldn't you be the one taking responsibility for allowing this to happen in the first place? So I should be the one getting compensated?"

"Oh my, I'm sorry to inform you that your safety is actually not guaranteed on board the ship, Lady Aster. We only guarantee a good time on board! So anything that happens outside of it is also outside of our responsibility!"

"But… Shouldn't safety be included in having a good time?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not, Lady Aster, especially when some people's definition of fun is betting their lives in an arena."

Ah… I get it…

Still… To see how she went from completely accommodating to me while on the ship to this was quite jarring to be honest… I guess the possibility of earning more money was what triggered the change.

That gives me an idea.

"I don't suppose you have some kind of tent or shelter with you right now?"

She tilted her head at me, "Ummm… I do not. Is there a problem?"

I grinned and gestured to the tent I had set up, "Well… I need to receive some kind of payment for you to use that as well. I think the price would be the same as how much you're charging for this detour~"

Emilia blinked a few times at me before unexpectedly breaking out into a smile, "Heh… I admit, you got me there. I would also hate to sleep outside in this weather too so I guess I have no choice but to take you up on that offer."

The both of us looked up to see the rain still pouring down on us without mercy with no signs of it stopping anytime soon.

"Why don't we go inside the tent first?" I suggested.

The Nekomata agreed and we clambered inside the tent, our clothes dripping wet.

It was big enough for all of us to squeeze in there and lay down rather comfortably but now we had our wet clothes to deal with first.

I had already stripped Odeta out of her clothes and left them at the side to dry so she was fine, that left Emilia and I who were still soaked to the bone.

I shivered, finally feeling the cold seeping into my bones so I quickly started stripping myself, turning my back to Emilia to at least retain a little bit of decency.

Emilia also did the same though she maintained an air of elegance as she undid the straps of her kimono, as though revealing her naked self like this was no big deal.

Soon enough, I was naked and I started arranging my clothes in the pile next to Odeta's before using a little Pyromancy to heat up the air inside the tent.

"Lady Aster… Is certainly quite gifted."

I thought she was talking about my magic until I realised her eyes were looking directly at my crotch.

"Umm… Thanks? You look pretty too. How does your skin look so smooth?" I asked, trying my best to ignore her bare chest that was poking out in front of me.

"Oh, I have a very strict skin care routine especially since I'm out at sea most of the time. If Lady Aster would like to know, it'll cost you one Crea!"

"Umm… I'm good… Although I need to ask if you're fine sharing a sleeping bag since I only have one extra…"

She looked at the sleeping bag on the floor before looking back at me, "This would mean that our naked bodies would be touching, doesn't it?"

"I… I guess so?"

"In that case, I'm afraid Lady Aster will need to pay for touching my body too. A fee of one hundred Creas should suffice!" She grinned, stretching her palm towards me.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Or… You could just sleep on the floor instead?"

She quickly retracted her palm, "Ehehe~ What I meant was that if it was anyone else, I would have definitely charged them that much money for even touching me. But for Lady Aster, I'm of course willing to make an exception for you!"

That was a really fast change in attitude.

I decided not to comment on it and simply slipped into my sleeping bag before looking up at Emilia to gesture for her to join me.

Emilia followed me in soon after, the Nekomata crawling into my cocoon where both of us were fully naked.

With the two of us stuck in that same sleeping bag, I could feel our bodies starting to heat up to a comfortable temperature again.

And because we were in such close proximity to each other and coupled with the fact that Emilia was indeed quite a beautiful lady, I found myself slowly hardening down there.

I tried not to think about it and cleared my throat, "So… Umm… How did you and Lisa meet?"

Emilia smiled at me, "Oh~ Personal information of mine costs a hundred Creas per information~"

I narrowed my eyes at her, "You really do like money, huh?"

"Just like how Lady Aster likes sweets, right?"

Touche…

She chuckled, "I'm kidding. There's some things I won't sell for money either but there's no point in me hiding this anyway, since Lisa would tell you if you asked her. It honestly wasn't anything special so sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting some kind of gallant or exciting story~"

Emilia shivered a little and huddled closer to me, her boobs pressing against mine and I could feel the distinct shape of two things poking against my chest.

She didn't seem to notice as she continued her story, "We were doing our usual stopover at Crown Capital City so I went out to look for more business opportunities within the city itself. While I was surveying the less affluent part of the city, several of them jumped on me and while I managed to kill them, one of them managed to wound me. Unfortunately, that was enough for the poison to take effect and I was stumbling around the streets while trying to get back to my ship."

"Why were you even in the bad part of the city?"

"Heh, does Lady Aster not know? That's where you can make the most money~"

"I… I see… And that's when Lisa found you?" I guessed.

She nodded, "I think I collapsed on the ground at that point, thinking that this was where I was going to die when she found me. She then dragged me back to her shop and fixed me right up with her potions."

"How did she know the antidote to the poison?"

That was when Emilia's face scrunched up, "She didn't… So she basically made me her guinea pig and tried all sorts of potions on me. I remember wishing that the poison would kill me faster a few times during the ordeal, but I can't deny that she saved me."

"Remind me not to let Lisa test her potions on me…"

"Sure~ For one Crea~"

I pouted at her and she shrugged, "Anyway, that's about it, really. She healed me and the only thing she asked in return was to let her buy and sell stuff using our trade network, something that I could easily do. To be honest, I thought she was trying to seduce me back then but I see that was not the case."

"Eh? Why would you think she's trying to seduce you?"

"Come now, Lady Aster. You're also someone who belongs to a family with a lot of wealth and influence. Surely you've met with hyenas who get close to you for the sake of gaining both of those through you?"

Ah, like people marrying into rich families to get a part of the inheritance.

I shook my head, "I've mostly kept my relation to my Family a secret so no one knows about it except a select few people."

"Heh… That's good. Trust me, it's not worth it."

I believed her.

She then snuggled closer to me, "Anyway, that's enough for tonight… We should sleep."

It was my first time cuddling with her but I have to admit it was quite comfortable, especially when she started purring after she fell asleep.

So cute~