"I'll need some time to get any concrete information about her, but from what he knew, she is an adept spear user. With her age being merely in her late twenties, her current accomplishments are nothing to scoff at. As for the man, his delirious state had to do with something that he'd previously ingested. She seems to have a small business dealing in certain outlawed substances," He said, "I will investigate her further and see if a meeting can be arranged."
"And what of that so-called organization that he kept referring to?" Leo asked with a scoff. He was half sure that she'd created the illusion of a larger organization to deter some people from acting against her. She's probably showing a weaker level of strength outwardly while being much stronger inwardly.
"The whole thing seems shrouded in mystery. No one who has encountered that organization has survived. I presume that the whole thing is a one-man show and this woman is the one acting behind the scenes." Richard gave Leo his opinion, "As an adept herself, taking out a few people to create the sense of mystery doesn't seem too out of the realm of possibility. Once we can arrange a meeting, everything will naturally come to light."
"I appreciate your help." Leo nodded, "We're going to go get some lunch before we continue exploring the city, do you want to join us?" Leo offered. He'd had his fill of troublesome encounters after messing with two people and he wanted some rest for now.
"It's fine, Young Master." Richard shook his head, "I'm going to look for this Lady Demeter while keeping an eye on you." He politely refused. Unlike Leo, his skin wasn't thick enough to shrug off the stares.
"Suit yourself," Leo shrugged, "Have fun." He said before moving out of the alley with Ingrid as Richard disappeared, "You hear that, Ingrid, she's close in age to you." Leo said casually.
"A-are you going to free me eventually, master?" Ingrid asked with a hint of sadness in her casual seeming tone, "Once you get bored of me…"
"See, that was my initial plan, actually." Leo told Ingrid frankly as he continued walking, "But I have a feeling that someone such as yourself would actually be of use to me for a very long time. So no, discarding you is not really something I'm planning to do. Plus, branding that crest on you took quite a bit of my blood, so I'm going to be milking you for all your worth. Maybe more literally than you think…" He laughed while trailing off.
Ingrid couldn't help but hug herself as she continued walking behind Leo. She hid her chest as if protecting her breasts from some kind of predator.
"You think your hands will stop me?" Leo gave her a side glance that made her whimper.
"S-sorry, master…" She quickly brought her hands down to her sides and fixed her dress as best as she could, not wanting to expose herself any further.
'Could I use Lust Magic to make her lactate without actually getting her pregnant…' Leo had a stray thought and decided to think about it some other time. Something like that would need him to use the full capabilities of Lust Magic. And that would need mana. He won't be able to do anything too complex without having access to mana.
'The opportunity will present itself eventually,' Leo said to himself and continued walking with Ingrid.
"Um," Leo was distracted from his musings by Ingrid, "Master…" She waited for him to allow her to speak.
"Yes?" He asked, "You may speak."
She gulped, "I hope you'll satisfy this slave's curiosity," She said cautiously, "I wanted to know why Ser Richard is being so helpful when his job was merely to escort you…" She asked.
Leo frowned confusedly, "He's a part of my father's personal forces. Of course, he'll help me out as long as my request is not too unreasonable. I'm not ordering him around. Why did you think that?"
"I apologize…" Ingrid said, "I thought that he would only be escorting us to and from our destination."
Leo shrugged and didn't pay much thought to Ingrid's weird, out-of-the-blue question.
Soon, Leo got something to eat and ordered more than necessary. After finishing, he allowed Ingrid to eat his leftovers instead of ordering a separate meal for her.
It had a two-fold effect. One, it made her understand that her priority was Leo and she came after him. Two, it embarrassed her to have to eat after he was done and not even get a clean set of utensils.
Although Leo had to wait for her to finish, he knew that it was a useful habit that he needed her to develop for her. Mainly to keep her aware of her place.
After that, they moved further and continued exploring the city. As the day passed, they turned back and retraced their steps to get back to the jewelry store.
They reached the jewelry store by the time the sun had completely set and the streets were illuminated by the moonlight and lamps that gave out an orange light originating from burning wood.
When Leo reached the door, the same guard from before opened the door for him and bowed to him in greeting as Leo gave him a nod of acknowledgment.
"Is everything ready, Levia?" Leo asked the clerk who was just about to greet him. He wasn't too interested in small talk. He just wanted to get things over with so that he would be able to go to bed early and get some rest before waking up early in the morning.
"Yes, young master," She said, "Please follow me." She pushed open a door section of the counter and allowed Leo and Ingrid to come in behind the counter. At the same time, the guard flipped the sign to signify that their store was closed. She opened a door behind herself and entered the back of the store as Leo and Ingrid followed her.
Walking through, Leo found himself in a workshop. He saw many tools that would typically be used for metalworking, "You should have a separate forge for the metals, no?" He asked. This workshop merely had the tools to apply the final touches to the products.
"Yes." She said, "My father is the one who makes the jewelry and I add in some final touches to it… The forge is beside our house."
"I see." He nodded before looking at the seat that had been prepared for her. It had several leather belts nailed to it — two at each handrest, two on each front leg for her legs and calves, and one around the spine of the chair to restrain the torso.
"You did this today itself, right?" Leo asked with a knowing smile.
"Y-yes, young master." She nodded, "We haven't really had this kind of request before, so I had to get creative. But you don't have to worry, I got those belts for a premium to make sure that they don't cause chafing. I also made sure that they would be stable and wouldn't break easily," She said with a slightly hurried tone.
Leo couldn't suppress a smile from appearing on his face as he looked at her face instead of the chair, making her blush, "Y-young master?" She asked while looking down with embarrassment. Leo had just now noticed that she had changed her hairstyle from the previous professional-looking bun that she was wearing to an open-hair one that showed off her wavy hair. Similarly, the clerk attire that she had been wearing had somehow grown much tighter than what Leo remembered from before. The full-length sky-blue gown hugged her waist much tighter than before, emphasizing her bust and thin waist.
The blush on her face was enough for Leo to understand what she had been thinking and he couldn't help but be amused, 'Well, she is a bit of a cutie… A one-time thing after I come back from the dungeon wouldn't hurt.' He decided, 'It will also drive home that I'm not exclusive with Ingrid. She will get to see the nature of our relationship first-hand.'
"You did a good job," Leo said while approaching her. She was looking down after hearing his words, so she couldn't see him approach her. When she felt his hand resting on her head, she almost jumped, but quickly calmed herself down.
"T-thank you, Young Master." She stuttered out.
"Would you like to demonstrate those restraints before I put them on my slave?" Leo offered with a teasing smile as Levia visibly panicked.
"I-I…" She stuttered out while stepping back, "I can't…" She said with a small voice, afraid to be admonished by Leo for his refusal.
Seeing how submissive she was acting, Leo was almost tempted to take her for himself permanently. But he knew that his interest in her wouldn't last for more than a few days. So he would just settle with a little fling so as not to destroy the girl's life by collecting her and forgetting about her, "I understand," He said amusedly, "You don't have to worry." He said before turning back to Ingrid.
She had been looking at him with a complicated expression on her face. She was understanding enough that she wasn't allowed to interrupt him, but she had complicated feelings in her heart as he saw him flirt so blatantly with this random woman.
Leo was satisfied with her expression, "Sit there." He pointed to the chair and before Ingrid registered his words, she was walking toward the chair.
"M-master…" She panicked, not wanting to be put through some sort of torture that would involve putting needles inside her body. Numbing agents were a normal thing as far as she knew, but seeing those restraints, she understood that Leo wouldn't give her that luxury.
"Trust your master," Leo said, "Even if you have to experience momentary pain for my satisfaction, I'm not going to truly hurt you." His words somewhat calmed Ingrid down as she sat on the heavy wooden chair while fidgeting with her hands that were placed in her lap. She also kept shifting on her butt since the stinging from the previous night's punishment was still there, but it was weaker than the previous night, having healed to a large extent over the day. Her natural healing was strong enough to make the pain much weaker over the course of the day.
Ingrid's current obedience, despite her apprehension and the stinging pain in her butt, was mostly because of the crest. If it was up to her, she would've run as far away from this torture chair as possible.