Chapter 54

My journey through the city this morning was interesting. The effect of having a high Charisma was pretty noticeable to me. It was actually insidiously subtle. My posture slightly shifted, I was quicker to smile at the people I walked by, my gait was more graceful yet confident. This led to many people turning towards me in my wake, a few did double takes, others stared.

You might think that this kind of attention would bother me when I'm not used to it but the effect of Charisma ran deeper than that. It kept me calm, collected, hyper aware of the people in my surroundings. Once Bella had told me that Merchants and Nobles usually had some but after feeling the effects of it, they would probably be stupid not to have at least some points in Charisma.

What was reassuring about it too was that it didn't make me more charismatic, it was more like I could better predict how people would see me. It was more like I had more control over the situation rather than just making me act like someone else. That isn't to say it doesn't have an automatic effect on my actions. The knowledge of how much my walk affects people's perception of me is going to make me automatically adopt a more confident looking walk. It's not that it changes how I act, it's more like I now know how to act to achieve the result I want and I'll do that automatically unless I'm intentionally thinking about it.

The effect I was having on people around me wasn't lost on Bella either. She had been staring at me essentially nonstop since we left our room. I didn't pick up on it in the baths but in retrospect it was pretty obvious. Her eyes had been glued on me just enough that she didn't crash into things.

I looked over and on reflex I smiled at her, making her blush hard and look away. "L-Lilith, what are you doing? What did you do?"

Ah. So she had detected it. I was rather curious if people who knew me would notice a dramatic change. Magic was still rather mysterious to me and I didn't know if, I don't know, it would just make people not notice too.

I decided to talk to her through [Soultouched Connection]

-- "I got a new skill from our threesome last night that gave me a ton of free Charisma. I was wondering if people would be able to tell the difference or not." --

-- "I can tell alright," -- she replied without hesitation. -- "If I didn't know better, there would be no way you would be able to convince me you weren't a noble now. Is... are you going to stay this way?" --

I looked over at her and she blushed again. -- "I don't know. Right now my goal is to get the twins back. I think that at the moment, using this ability is my best bet to do that. The ability does let me turn it off though. Do you think I should?" --

She gulped in response and sharply looked away again. I think that question may have come off as much more seductive than I expected it to.

We continued walking and she didn't look back at me when she answered. -- "I don't know. You're very... intense like this... But it's not a bad thing. ...it does make my underwear a little tight though." --

I laughed and her ears turned bright red. She turned to stare at the ground as we walked. -- "I didn't mean for you to hear that..." --

Without thinking I reached over and squeezed her shoulder gently before I realized it. It stuck out because it was a bit unlike me and immediately it registered as something that my high Charisma had thought I should do to build attraction. I did it automatically because ultimately that was something I wanted but it kind of gave me whiplash. Even if the high Charisma didn't make me feel different inside it would still probably lead to others perceiving me differently than I feel inside.

-- "Don't worry. I'll turn it off when I don't think I need it." --

Bella snuck a peek at me but looked at the ground again. -- "Good ...but maybe it would be okay sometimes... in private too..." --

I smiled and interlocked my fingers with hers. Charisma told me to do this too but I didn't feel bad about it because it was something I'm pretty sure I would do anyway.

Not long after we had set out we once again stood outside of the Slavers Guild. The clean and tidy looking building stood out from all of the ones surrounding it, hiding away all of the dirt and grime of their business behind clean walls. Most of the people entering had pitifully low karma and because of that it wasn't hard to pick out which people were there to be slaves rather than buy them. This place made me sick.

I took a deep breath, let go of Bella's hand and stepped through the doors. It was only moments before I spotted Jacob, the man who had helped us before, from across the room. His positive karma stood out from across the room compared to everyone around him and a quick touch to Bella through [Soultouched Connection] confirmed that he stood out for her too. He had been chatting with someone else but the moment his eyes passed over me he immediately excused himself from that conversation and came to met us.

"Ah, perfect. I had heard you came back to town and you caught me before I sent someone out to track you down." His eyes trailed over me, sent a quick glance to Bella and settled back on me. "Your presence is very different from the last time we met."

"I am aware." I let myself relax just a little bit. Traditionally speaking this would normally not be ideal when trying to shine but I knew that relaxing a bit would dispel some of his confusion. Naturally, it worked.

"Mmm, yes well, you seem to be in much better shape since your return to the city. Let us go to a private room to discuss some business."

I nodded and he began to lead the way. I glanced over at Bella, she seemed content to stay behind me and let me do the talking. Probably for the best in this situation. We were led into a different room from last time, this one was much higher class and seemed to be the kind of room you would take a high profile client. I wasn't sure what to make of that, was he trying to butter me up or had my gambit with the noble clothes and the high Charisma worked to change his opinion of me?

We sat down on a pair of comfortable couches that faced each other. Rather than a coffee table which might have been more expected from this layout, there was an open space between us and tables to our side instead.

"Mary, please make some tea for our guests." Jacob said to a human woman wearing an outfit rather similar to a maid's outfit. Instead of the usual steel collar most slaves I've seen have, she instead was wearing a simple choker locked to her neck in its place.

If he was trying to butter me up, showing off his slaves weren't the way to my heart. My Charisma didn't let me break my illusion though. I took the offered tea and respectfully nodded to her. It was meant as a bit of a jab but instead I could tell that Jacob had appreciated the gesture instead. I mentally chided myself, this guy wasn't all bad. He worked in a business I find morally repugnant but ultimately the society he was in didn't view it that way. And considering I was here to reinforce this system by receiving payment for a slave I had sold and turning around and trying to buy two others, my stance made me a bit of a hypocrite. I didn't need to like it though.

I took a sip of my tea. It was bitter. I looked at the tray and added two small spoonfuls of sugar to my tea as I mentally prepared for this exchange. I took another sip, that was better. When I looked up, Jacob was smiling and Bella was staring at me. I didn't really know what I had done that was strange so I just brushed the moment off.

"So, let's begin. How did the auction go?"

His smile was strained and one of his eyes slightly twitched. I could tell from a glance that there was going to be some sort of problem. He pulled a file out from a bag he had brought with him and opened it. As his eyes slid down the sheet his mouth held a smile that his eyes didn't share.

"Your share of Bitch's selling price is 200 gold coins." Bella had a sharp intake of breath next to me and my brow furrowed in confusion, or at least it would have had my high Charisma let it. That was a lot of money wasn't it? I didn't know what the problem was.

His smiled faded as he continued, "Normally this would be good news but there is a bit of a problem with that sum. It is such a high sum that this branch of the Slavers Guild simply doesn't have the gold on hand to pay it."

My expression was neutral but I was smiling in my heart as I took a sip of the tea. "So what do you suggest?"

Jacob turned to the human maid. "Mary bring them in dear."

She nodded before opening the door and allowing a muscular male slave to lead two naked catgirls in on a leash. Morrigan and Torien deferentially stared at the floor as they were led in, not looking up once as they walked. Even my high Charisma couldn't stop a frown from touching my face at their treatment, though only for a moment.

My eyes looked over their bodies, glad to see no marks of punishment marring their skin. Though perhaps something like that could have been healed before they were bought before a prospective buyer. They were both very attractive under all of their normal outerwear, milky white pristine skin and both of their breasts were much larger looking without their armor and robes covering them up. Their limp black tails gave away that they weren't very happy to be in this situation.

"Rather than giving you the full amount that we owe, we could instead give you these two slaves worth 200 gold for a mere 150 gold instead and give you the other 50 gold either in coin or further trade."

Without even needing to look at my system I immediately changed my class to [Novice Merchant]. I hadn't read the description of the class before but I knew what was happening here. This class, combined with my high Charisma, would give me every possible advantage I could get right now. I needed to get the girls out without getting fleeced at the same time.

"I was told that their price was 80 gold." Torien and Morrigan's heads shot up in shock as they heard my voice. Their eyes were wide and their mouths hung open in complete disbelief that I was the one sitting on the couch. Mary pulled out a cane and was about to discipline them for their reactions but my harsh glare caught Jacob's attention immediately.

"Mary, don't."

"Yes Master." Without any question she put the cane back behind her back. Torien looked at Mary, then Jacob and then back to me. She had the least amount of confidence I had ever seen on her. Morrigan's eyes however hadn't left me for a second. In her eyes I saw determination. For what I wasn't sure yet.