Beware of pretty ladies, please! part 5

I woke up in the middle of the night with something weighing heavy on my chest. It got to the point that it got difficult to breathe so I tried to remove it but I was in an awkward position and it was difficult.

Somehow I managed to free one hand from the blankets and reached for whatever was on top of me. It was a soft substance and, in my attempt to grab it, I ended up squeezing it tightly.

"Eeeek!"

Mia let out a yelp.

"What are you doing in here Mia?"

"There's only one bed in this place and you took it. Where was I supposed to sleep?"

"I don0t know, the floor maybe?"

"How can you be so cruel to a lady! let me go, please, it hurts"

My first instinct was to let her go, but I decided to squeeze even harder.

"Lady? what lady? don't forget you tried to steal from me and took control over my friends, you're only alive because you're my pet now. I won't tolerate you climbing up to my bed at night"

"Nggg please, it hurts, stop."

"Good, this is to you remind you of your position. I don't trust you getting close to me, especially when I'm alone. You won't die for sleeping in the floor, now get out of my room if you don't want any more of this"

"Y-yes"

"Yes what?"

"Yes master"

She replied meekly and I could hear her get out of the room. She may be acting all nice now, but I still remember the face she made when she had me cornered. If I let my guard down with her I'll be dead or worse, I may become one of her puppets. Too bad I still need her around or I would have dealt with her already.

I had trouble sleeping the rest of the night, not only in fear that she might come back, but I was restless and couldn't tell why.

Waking up, or more like getting up because I felt as if I didn't sleep a minute after Mia left, I realized how hungry I was. Fortunately we bought enough supplies yesterday, even though Hiraku took the most part to Ironwoods, I still have enough to last a month. So I went downstairs to the kitchen and only then do I realize there's no cookware at all.

"MIA!"

I call for her shouting in anger.

"Y-yes m-m-master"

"Stop stuttering, I'm not buying the nice shy girl act anymore. Where's the cookware?"

"What do you mean? I'm a succubus, I only had the kitchen to keep appearances. I don't need to cook and when my business went bankrupt I ended up selling everything to buy health potions"

"How am I supposed to prepare breakfast then..."

"Master please forgive me. If you want I can go to the market and get you what you need"

"Like I'll trust you with my money. I only have five gold coins left and I need to save up as much as I can to make potions for selling. Take me to the blacksmith"

"Why the blacksmith? there are many stores with everything you need to cook"

"It's cheaper, also I need to have some stuff made. Why am I even explaining this to you! you should just do as I say"

"Yes master, please don't get angry"

I don't know what's this unsettling feeling I've been getting, but every time I look at her I feel uneasy.

I started to pour some holy water on my blade, since it's the only way to appease the curse and my safety depends on keeping it at bay, but when Mia saw me doing it her eyes got teary and she started shaking. It's true that I don't trust her and I really want to get rid of her, but that doesn't mean I would kill her.

I thought of just making some potions for her and then kick her out. I don't like killing things, especially sentient creatures. I somehow became numb to fish, but whenever I saw Anne hunt it gave me the chills. Maybe that's the reason I wanted to keep the amarok, after all he seemed to be intelligent and, despite his appearance, he's just a pup.

Maybe that's it! The feeling I've been getting is because I've been mistreating Mia. If she behaves well I'll start treating her in a more polite manner.

The blacksmith turned out to be just around the corner and it didn't take us more than fifteen minutes to acquire everything I needed. A cooking pot, a huge cauldron, cutlery, a good knife for cutting vegetables, another for meat, just about everything I needed.

I hurried back almost leaving Mia behind, because she was carrying everything, and started preparing my breakfast. I made a fish soup and an omelette, nothing fancy really, just what I felt like cooking. I love having soup for breakfast, actually, I just love soup for every meal.

I sat on the table to eat and Mia took a seat in front of me. It was a little awkward because she doesn't need to eat food, but since I don't like eating alone I considered it a nice gesture.

"By the way Mia, how many potions do you need to drink daily?"

"I don't know, one a day is just enough to keep me alive. I would say I'm ok now because I drank many of your high quality potions, but since I spent so much mana controlling your friends yesterday I'm starting to feel a bit hungry already"

"My potions are not high quality, it's just that the ones you make are crap"

"How can you tell when you haven't seen any of them? My alchemy skill is amazing you know!"

"Oh really, I'll see it for myself then. What kind of potions are cheap to make and easy to sell?"

"In a city like this any kind of potion you make is going to sell eventually. You just need to respect the price table and everything will be alright"

"What's the price table?"

My question is followed by an awkward silence.

"I mean, who sets the prices and how does it work... it's not like I don't know what a price table is, ok?"

"Oh, yes master, I wouldn't dare to offend you master. Since it's a big city there are plenty of opportunities for any kind of merchant. But the price must be regulated because of people who try to play with the market and they take that issue very seriously in here. In order to keep people from doing shady businesses the merchant association keeps an eye on the market prices"

"Is there a way to join the merchant's association?"

"It's not impossible, but I would advice against it. Those people play dirty, it's better to have a small operation because if you're noticed by a greedy merchant your business may go bankrupt like mine did"

"So that's what happened to you, I thought you just drank your merchandise like a glutton"

My words seemed to embarrass her.

"Please master, don't say those things. It's kind of a racial slander you know?"

"I didn't mean to offend you... this time, but explain me so I understand the reasoning behind it being an insult"

"Well, you see... my race feeds on the life essence of people who get aroused by us"

I nod prompting her to continue.

"So... we feed on their... uhm... the thing is, well, the most efficient way for us to feed is consuming bodily fluids"

"So, calling a succubus a glutton is like calling her a whore?"

Mia hides her face behind her hands and she's blushing so much it's as if steam came out of her.

"I see now, so that's the reason you don't like feeding on men. Have you ever done it before?"

"Don't ask me such questions please"

She seems reluctant to answer, but any piece of information I can get may be useful to better understand her. I need to know if there is something I can do to build some trust in between us, at least until Hiraku comes back.

I take one of the six potions I had left and put it on the table.

"If you answer my questions and behave properly, I'll give you this"

Her eyes started glimmering in hopes of getting her hands on the potion I just showed her and suddenly she was open to any question I wanted to ask.

"No, I've never done that. When my race hits puberty we undergo a series of changes. Our skin gets smoother, our breast start growing, also..."

"Hey, I know what puberty is!"

"It's not that. When we are infant we eat regular food, but after puberty we start needing... uhm... something else"

"I see. When you feed off of someone, does that person suffer? is it harmful for them?"

"Not really, we are different to vampires. Vampires drink blood, without blood a person dies. We, instead, feed of substances that are not necessary. There are very few cases in which a succubus kills their food"

"and by that you mean, takes a human life..."

"Yes. We only kill to protect our secret and by mistake"

"by... mistake?"

"Accidents happen, you know"