Chapter 17: Why do I feel like I’ve been scammed?
Kendrick was slightly taken aback; he truly did not expect Elrose to actively refuse his daughters’ requests.
But that might be for the best.
It saves him the trouble of having to refuse them himself and then being berated for being cold-blooded.
“Ah, isn’t Angelic Onee-san staying?” Stella’s small face was filled with disappointment.
“Mm.” Elrose gently nodded, “In any case, I can’t keep causing you trouble.”
“But where do you plan to go after this?” Lilith said, puzzled, “Didn’t you mention that your home already…”
“Let’s take it one step at a time.” Elrose smiled, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it; there will surely be a way.”
“But you’re just a young girl, completely defenseless and all alone; how can that not be worrying?” Lilith tried to persuade Elrose to stay.
“Lilith.” At that moment, Kendrick’s deep voice rang out, “Since Miss Elrose has made her choice, we should not worry about her.”
“How can you not worry? Elrose has no combat ability, no mana, and no money. Her only advantage is her looks. A girl like that might as well be left in just her underwear on the street in the blink of an eye.” Lilith said indignantly, “And you say not to worry; what would worry even mean? Kendrick, doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
“Um, this…” Kendrick was rendered speechless.
Even Elrose next to them felt a bit embarrassed hearing this: “Well, um, actually, I’m not that weak; I shouldn’t be so easily taken advantage of.”
“Oh really?” Lilith raised an eyebrow and asked, “Then tell me, do you have any means of self-defense?”
“Uh…” Elrose pondered for a long time and finally could only vaguely reply, “Ah, anyway, I have ways to protect myself; you don’t need to worry.”
“Isn’t that equivalent to saying nothing?”
Clearly, Elrose’s words did not convince Lilith.
At this time, Luna suddenly spoke up: “Alright then, if you want to go, just go.”
“Sister Luna.” Stella puffed up her cheeks in disappointment, saying, “Didn’t you say we would…”
“That was before.” Luna interrupted Stella immediately, “But since Elrose doesn’t want to stay, what can I do?”
“But, but…” Stella tugged at her small fingers, appearing very wronged.
“Sigh.” Luna sighed and reached out to pat Stella’s head, “Stella, a forced situation rarely ends well; we have to respect Elrose’s choice, right?”
“Mm…” Stella hesitated for a moment, then ultimately relented, “Yes.”
Luna nodded with a smile and then turned to Elrose, smiling slightly, “Little Belle, when do you plan to leave?”
“I’ll leave shortly,” Elrose said.
“Shortly, huh?” Luna lightly nodded, paused for a moment, then continued, “So, when are you settling the expenses?”
“Eh?” Hearing this, Elrose was stunned, “Expenses? What expenses?”
“Of course, it’s for your accommodation and meals over these days.” Luna smiled and said, “You’ve been eating at our place, sleeping at our place, and us three sisters took turns taking care of you every day. You wouldn’t expect to leave without paying, would you?”
“Ah, this…”
Elrose was suddenly dumbfounded.
To be honest, she really didn’t expect Luna to ask for money.
Shouldn’t such spontaneous acts of assistance be about helping others?
Asking for money is not right.
However, on the other hand, having accepted their help, done nothing, and then just planned to leave, isn’t that also wrong?
Luna wasn’t wrong; paying was the best choice.
But the problem was, she had no money.
Elrose fell silent; now that Luna had said this, she truly didn’t know what to do.
Lilith, unable to watch any longer, quickly pulled Luna aside and whispered, “Luna, what are you doing? We didn’t really spend that much effort; is it really necessary?”
Luna shot an annoyed glare at Lilith and said, “You fool, didn’t you forget? We promised Stella we would keep Elrose here.”
Lilith blinked in realization, “Oh wow, after hearing what you said to Stella, I thought you were going back on your word.”
“Hmph, you wouldn’t understand; it’s called retreating to advance.” Luna smiled, “Since soft tactics don’t work, we use hard ones.”
“Wow, Luna, you really are a little genius.”
“Of course.”
Luna returned to Stella and smiled, “So, Little Belle, are you planning to pay in cash or by check?”
“I…” Elrose lowered her head and said softly, “I have no money.”
“No money? That’s fine; just use something valuable as collateral.” Luna glanced at Elrose’s right hand and said, “That bracelet looks nice; it seems quite valuable.”
“Absolutely not!” Elrose and Kendrick spoke in unison.
Everyone was momentarily stunned and looked towards Kendrick.
It was normal for Elrose to refuse; perhaps that bracelet was very important to her, but why did Kendrick react so strongly too?
Seeing this, Kendrick feigned calmness and said, “You little girls who want to help others should never ask for money!”
“This doesn’t concern you, Kendrick; don’t forget, you didn’t lift a finger when we were taking care of Elrose.” Luna scoffed, “You just watched from the sidelines while talking about helping; isn’t that hypocritical?”
“You…” Kendrick’s face darkened.
Damn, this girl’s tongue really was getting sharper.
Sigh, this wasn’t a big deal.
But she actually wanted that bracelet.
Did she even know what she was doing?
This is just madness!
“Alright, how about this? I’ll pay for her initially, and then we can settle it later.” Kendrick pulled out his wallet, very displeased, “So, how much is it?”
“I just discussed with Lilith; all the expenses for these days add up to… let’s say ten gold coins.”
“Ten gold coins!” Kendrick shot up, “Are you planning to rob me?!”
Luna curled her lips, stating it as a matter of course, “The service fee for us three sisters is just that expensive!”
“Exactly.” Lilith quickly agreed.
“Mm, mm.” Stella nodded along, though she didn’t quite understand what was happening, she instinctively sided with her sister.
“This…”
With the sisters united, Kendrick was instantly defeated.
Having settled Kendrick, Luna looked at Elrose again and asked, “So? Little Belle, why don’t you put your bracelet up as collateral?”
“Absolutely not, that is completely out of the question.” Elrose firmly refused.
What a joke, that thing is the core of me (Gideon); it’s very dangerous.
If handled improperly, you fragile humans might not even know how you died.
“Is there really no other option?” Elrose asked.
“Of course there is.” Luna smiled gently, “You could pay in flesh.”
“Eh.”
Pay in flesh…
Isn’t that…
Elrose’s little face turned red in an instant.
“You, you, you can’t…” Elrose said indignantly, “You’re shameless!”
Looking at Elrose’s agitated expression, Luna laughed, “Why do I feel like you misunderstood something?”
Saying this, she took out a Dimensional Pouch from behind her.
A strange light flashed, and an exquisite Maid Outfit appeared in Luna’s hand in an instant.
“Hey, Little Belle, come work at my shop.”
