Lilith: Origin of Succubi

Chapter 54

Chapter 54<~> 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..." --

"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.