One year contract

[The next day- Morning]

It was earlier than usual, Alfonso couldn't sleep well yesterday so he took the chance to finish reading the agriculture book, so he was sleepy, he watched his face and when to the hall where he met with Artemis and Demeter.

"Good morning, same as usual Artemis?"

"Yeah, I like the forest, I feel at home, Alfonso I must remain you something, we have to do something about the food, as I am a single there is a limit of food that I can bring, the wolves helps, however, we aren't able to bring that much." Said Artemis.

As the one who hunted the food , she was aware how much they have in the refrigerator, after the massive food giving, they loss almost all the reserve, the next time the people came for food, she wasn't sure if will enough.

"Don't worry, I already thought about it, in fact, I have a new assistant for you" Said Alfonso

"Who?" Asked Artemis

"Well, is the little thief from yesterday, something tells me that she would be a really great help…. Oh, speaking of the king of Rome, there she is" Said Alfonso while looking at the right side.

There, the cats were standing in an awkward situation, besides them, there were 10 wolves guarding them.

.....................….

Yesterday, after Alfonso when back to his room, the wolves take care of them, not in a bad sense of care, they escort them to their rooms and stay there to make sure that they don't escape. Cat one also went to a similar room, however, the one who guard this room was no one other than Cerberus, in fact, he sleep inside the room.

"Mr.Cerberus… right?... I won't try anything funny so could you at least waited outside… your eyes…. Kind of scare the hell out of me." Said Cat One , who was still traumatized of the bluemoon, nobody knew what she had seen there, but , she would rather kill herself than see that thing again.

"Sleep"

With that simple word Cerberus didn't say anything else and stood right there.

Cat one made a small sight and went to sleep obediently.

........................

"My lord, I have brought them here" Said Cerberus while sitting beside Alfonso.

"Chirp~ Chirp~"

Little Blue, who was sitting in its usual spot, was curiously looking at Cat one and the others, like a curious kid.

"Thanks for that Cerberus, Good Morning everyone, we already introduced ourselves yesterday so let me go straight to the point, I didn't want any mice sniffing on my town, but you came here, so you put me in a bad situation" Said Alfonso while looking at them.

"…." The four of them didn't say anything and waited for Alfonso to make his decision.

"I want to make a deal with you" Said Alfonso with a firm tone.

"???? A….. a deal?" Asked the four of them.

"Cat one, how much did the lord of Tulip pay you to come here?" Asked Alfonso.

"100 hundred gold coins.." Said Cat one.

100 hundred gold coins, it was a lot, at least, in towns like tulip, wasteland valley, etc…, 100 gold coins could ensure food on the table for at least a year.

"Mmm… I will pay you 1000 hundred gold coins, the job is simple, for one year, you will stay here and work with the wolves and my head hunter, Artemis" Said Alfonso.

When the cats heard the amount of coins that Alfonso offered, they almost fell, even the composed Cat One, was stunned.

"A….A THOUSAND GOLD COINS!!!???" Shout Cat Two.

"That's right, in this town, we don't really need money, so I will more than willing to give you the money, however, you will have to work for it, so, what do you say? Do we have a deal?" Asked Alfonso.

The four of them cautiously talked with each other for some time, after that, Cat Two spoke.

"Your majesty"

She, and the rest of them, kneel in front of Alfonso.

"We, the cats, swore loyalty to you for one year" Said Cat two, emphasizing the words "One year", however, Alfonso didn't mind.

"I know you will, if you don't….. well.." Alfonso didn't finish his sentence he just smiled and patted Cerberus.

The four of them shivered slightly, they seem to be really afraid of Cerberus.

"Just in time, the four of you go with Artemis to the Jubila Forest, she will explain to you how to hunt, do a good job, believe it or not, Cerberus isn't the scariest person here" Said Alfonso while making a little chuckle.

Artemis just looked at him for some time before turning around to the door.

"Follow me"

She said those words and left.

The cats were stunned for some seconds before they obediently follow her.

"Are you sure about this Alfonso? " Asked Demeter after everyone left.

"You seem a little upset, Demeter"

"…..I don't like them, people who sell their loyalty for money, are no good people" Said Demeter with an indignant face.

Alfonso didn't know what to say, in fact, he didn't find anything wrong with that, in the modern world , humans usually "sell" themselves to get money, it was something so natural that everyone stopped thinking and take it by something granted.

"Well, everyone had their own circumstances, just let them be, what we need the more right now are skilled hands that can make good use of the few resources that we have"

"….." Demeter didn't say anything else.

Alfonso feel a little awkward, he didn't know what to say.

"By the way Little Al~, now that we are alone, I can finally ask you~" Said Demeter returning to her usual candid tone.

"What is it?"

"Can you tell me the continuation of snow white? I really couldn't sleep thinking about it~"

"..." Alfonso was speechless, it seems that Snow white was more popular than the initially thought.

"Pretty please~ ?"

"…..Sure, come on, lets go to the main hall" Said Alfonso with a bitter smile, in the end, he really couldn't say no to Demeter, after all, she wasn't someone who asked much.

Just Like that the day went by, at night, Artemis and co-o came back as usual, however, there was something different in Artemis expression, like she was pondering about something.