[Mr. Gerard!] Kotori thought upon hearing the man’s greeting.

“Hello… You’re Mr. Gerard I presume” she said maintaining a polite tone. The rest of the people near her seemed to be on guard as well. It seemed like Mr. Gerard was an unpleasant man to them.

“It’s my pleasure,” Mr. Gerard said bending over into a bow. It was a funny scene on account of his fat and looked more like a rolling bowling ball.

Kotori stifled a laugh.

She caught a whiff of a sweet scent.

[This is familiar?]

The scent that came off Mr. Gerard was something that Kotori was sure she had smelled before but couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

“Thanks for the invite” Kotori said tentatively

“You’re very welcome,” Mr. Gerard said

[What does this man want from me?] Kotori thought.

“Was there any reason for this invitation, I’m sure you had reason asking a girl like me to a party” Kotori asked him

“Oh, you wish to talk business so early?” Mr. Gerard said chuckling.

“My dear, weren’t you taught that was impolite, I did buy you that dress and paid for your manner training

Kotori curtsied

“it’s a beautiful dress,” she said

The polite expression on Mr. Gerard's face turned lecherous went she bent down and part of her exposed chest was shown to him.

He was staring at Kotori’s chest. Kotori wasn’t very old and there wasn’t much “chest armor” to speak of.

[He’s after my body?] Kotori thought,

If he was just after her body it didn’t make sense that Mr. Gerard was going to go through all the trouble of trying to put a slave collar on Kotori and teaching her manners.

“Of course, it complements you well, your looks are as bountiful as the goods you sell” Mr. Gerard said praising Kotori.

[He’s after the wheat!] She thought

Fawks had told Kotori that he was keeping the deal secret since other merchants would naturally try to jump on Kotori.

Kotori herself was fine with the arrangement since she trusted Fawks and didn’t want to let other merchants know about her goods. Especially those who were associated with the kingdom.

The less the kingdom knew about her magic wheat the better.

She didn’t think Fawks betray her so if Mr. Gerard knew about the wheat then he probably had many spies around.

“Oh? What kinds of goods are you talking about” Kotori said, feigning innocence. This had become a battle of information and Kotori now needed to know Mr. Gerards methods.

“The magic flour of course!”

[Flour?] Kotori thought,

[He doesn’t know about the wheat? Wait, didn’t I give a bag of flour to that boy!]

The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to slide into place. The boy was the one who gave her the invitation after all.

Mr. Gerard must’ve found out about the flour from him.

Kotori cursed her slip-up. She thought it was fine giving the flour since her karma increased after the action, but it seemed like it was coming back to bite her. At least Mr. Gerard only knew that she sold magic  flour and not the fact that she also grew the wheat that it was made from herself.

“I see…” Kotori said

“that flour had already been bought by a different merchant.” She added trying to get Mr. Gerard to give up. It was unlikely but maybe she was simply a passing business opportunity in his mind.

“You must tell me your supplier; I would love to make a deal with them as well” Mr. Gerard said smiling.

“Ah, it’s a trade secret unfortunately” Kotori said

“What a shame” Mr. Gerard said pretend to act disappointed.

“I’m sure we could “trade” for the secret”

Kotori spotted Mr. Gerard palming a ring in his hand. She secretly used [Gourmet] and realized that the ring had slave magic.

[He’s was planning on forcing it out of me!] She thought.

“I’m sorry my supplier is very secretive about their methods,” Kotori said rejecting Mr. Gerards offer once again.

Kotori felt Mr. Gerard activate the magic inside the ring

“Not even a hint?” He said a sadistic smile on his face.

“Nope!” Kotori said nearly shouting

Mr. Gerard seemed dumbfounded. He tried to activate the ring again

Kotori felt very smug internally

[I took the slave magic out, bozo!]

Mr. Gerard's face seemed flustered.

“That woman!” He muttered under his breath

“Oh, Is something wrong Mr. Gerard” Kotori asked innocently

“You found out!” He spat out.

He had lost the polite demeanor from before and he now looked like a child who had his toy taken away. He was still restraining himself since they were currently in the middle of a party.

“Found out what?” Kotori said tilting her head in confusion, pretend to be oblivious.

“Hmm!” Mr. Gerard said before stomping off.

Kitsura

I've been feeling uninspired lately and I'm not sure why. Think staying at home all day makes it hard to want to do anything.