Chapter 10: The walkthrough bar finally moved!

“You can actually talk…”

“And you… lied to me twice…?”

Luvia’s fingers twirled in her hair, her expression carrying a trace of resentment.

She remembered that among Frosna’s traits there was a blue one called 【Negotiation Expert】.

At the time she had wondered why a little mute would possess such a trait.

So this little rascal had been dishonest…

Even so, Luvia couldn’t summon any real anger in her heart.

Perhaps the scene earlier had simply hit her too hard…

Luvia turned her head to look at Frosna, who was still kneeling on the ground.

Her ears drooped, she kept wiping her tears, sobbing and unable to speak, looking as if she was afraid of being bullied by her.

Gradually, a different kind of emotion rose in Luvia’s heart.

Sympathy, understanding, reluctance…

She really wanted to comfort this poor, suffering beast-eared girl~~

Wait, was something off here?

Luvia stroked her chin.

Was “villainess Luvia” supposed to act like this?

She always felt that upon seeing Frosna in such a pitiful state, her heart should be overflowing with the urge to commit violence…

For example, pulling out a whip, using her most cherished older sister as a threat, and thoroughly enjoying the girl’s pleas for mercy.

But Luvia didn’t.

Instead, her heart was frighteningly calm.

“What exactly is…”

She could only think of one possibility—

【Negotiation Expert: When this unit performs negotiation or bargaining tasks, success rate increases significantly.】

Luvia’s eyes brightened slightly. What an unexpected pleasant surprise…

She hadn’t expected the blue trait she had previously overlooked to have such a powerful effect.

With just one sentence, it could make the tyrannical villainess Luvia feel goodwill.

Thinking of this, Frosna’s weight in Luvia’s heart increased by several points…

The girl’s crying had not yet stopped,

so Luvia squatted down and gently patted her shoulder in comfort.

“Knowing how to read the situation and hide your talent… very good.”

“But deceiving me again and again, this matter cannot be let off so easily.”

Luvia’s gaze was deep and quiet as she simply waited for the other party’s emotions to calm down.

“…”

Gradually, only the chirping of cicadas and the faint sound of their breathing remained around them.

“…How do you plan to deal with me?”

Perhaps because she had just cried, Frosna’s voice still carried a thick nasal tone.

“I am someone who values benefits.”

Luvia said in a flat tone, “You still have value, so in my eyes, you are a tool.”

Hearing this, Frosna’s eyes flickered slightly, but before she could speak,

Luvia suddenly changed her tone: “But if one day I discover that you cannot match the value I have in mind…”

She reached out and stroked Frosna’s cheek. The girl’s faint trembling seemed to transmit through her fingertips.

“Then you can only be a toy.”

“…”

Frosna’s nose twitched slightly, as if she was sniffing to determine how much of Luvia’s words were lies…

Afterward, her expression became somewhat relieved.

“You are an enlightened master…” Frosna forced a small smile.

Under the moonlight, her ice-blue pupils looked exceptionally ethereal. “Meeting you is a blessing for both me and my sister.”

【Beep~】

【The girl’s heart is pounding because of you. “Frosna” is very much looking forward to what will happen next!】

【1. Turn hostile and threaten her using her most beloved older sister, enjoying her service. (Panic state; Work efficiency)】

【2. Strictly punish her laziness and order her to work until dawn. (Work efficiency)】

【3. Do nothing and let the affection quietly deepen. (Conquest progress)】

Luvia swept her eyes over the small text before her, her gaze finally landing on option 3…

This is…?

Luvia’s eyes lit up.

Finally, the conquest progress had appeared!

She suddenly felt a bit emotional.

The villainess Luvia’s woman luck was truly too poor. Only now had the conquest progress bar moved even a little.

She remembered the male protagonist in the original work could make anyone’s heart flutter with just a glance…

“…”

Listening to the cicadas beside her ear, Frosna seemed to have finally let go of the knot in her heart and leaned her head against Luvia’s shoulder.

【Conquest progress reached 20%, draws +1】

Seeing the line of small text flash before her, the corner of Luvia’s mouth curved up slightly…

…

In “Bondage,” every beautiful girl bound to the player would have an independent conquest bar.

And to encourage players to conquer more beautiful girls, the game would gift card draw opportunities when the conquest progress reached 10%, 50%, and 100% respectively—

allowing the player to draw skills from the conquest target for their own use.

Thinking of this, Luvia’s mind stirred.

Draw for me!

Immediately afterward, a large screen appeared in her vision and began playing a gorgeous card draw animation:

Meteors falling from the sky streaked across the heads of Luvia and Frosna.

Then, the two on the ground smiled at each other. A faint glow surrounded them, merging with the meteors in the sky to form a breathtaking scene…

【Congratulations on obtaining: Predator’s Majesty (D-)】

【When this unit regards someone as prey, there is a chance to inflict a panic state.】

Predator?

Luvia looked at the seemingly soft and delicate Frosna beside her, finding it hard to understand why she would have such a skill.

Mm… it wasn’t completely useless.

Luvia thought to herself.

As the future big boss, yet possessing such a fragile appearance, she naturally needed such an imposing skill to command respect!

“Have you rested enough? It’s time to assign you some work…”

Pushing away the fluffy head beside her, Luvia said with a straight face,

“My work? Helping you find treasures?”

Luvia did not reply. She simply extended her right hand and made a grasping motion in the air.

In the next second, accompanied by faint spatial fluctuations, an ancient-looking scroll fell into her hand.

【Elementary Healing Potion Recipe】

This was the reward she had obtained when completing Frosia’s conquest quest.

She unfolded the scroll in front of Frosna and showed her the magical materials required for the recipe.

“This is your job— gather these few herbs nearby. The more, the better.”

“I believe that with your talent, collecting these low-tier magical materials should be effortless, right?”

This was exactly why Luvia had brought Frosna to this suburban area— to have her harvest wild herbs.

Luvia naturally had her own considerations…

Although magical materials growing in the wild were precious, harvesting them was extremely difficult.

Because the vast majority of magical materials possessed self-awareness. Low-tier materials were equivalent to weak monsters and would deliberately avoid humans. High-tier magical materials were even dangerously aggressive…

And with the development of magitech, most low-tier materials could now be artificially cultivated.

However, the cost of artificial cultivation was extremely high… At present, it could only be made slightly cheaper than wild materials.

But for Frosna, who possessed the treasure-hunting trait, the situation was completely different!

Under her nose, those cunning magical materials had nowhere to hide.

She could grab handfuls of them, as if picking them up for free.

Just as Luvia was weighing the pros and cons,

Frosna’s expression seemed a little off.

She held the healing potion recipe, a look of doubt rising in her eyes…

“Master… isn’t this recipe a bit wrong?”

To train her sense of smell, Frosna had read many books on herbs.

As for elementary healing potions, they were practically everywhere. She didn’t even need Luvia to give her the recipe; she could recite several herb combinations with her eyes closed.

But the one recorded on this scroll… was different from any healing potion recipe she knew.

“Roadside foxtail grass? Can this even be used for alchemy?”

“And what does orange peel mean…”

Frosna was somewhat stunned, because on the recipe, only three of the listed herbs could be considered magical materials.

A normal healing potion required more than ten kinds of mana-containing herbs to concoct!

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Faced with her questioning, Luvia showed no unusual expression.

“Just complete your own job. Do not overstep and interfere with other matters.”

“This is the basic professional conduct of an employee…”