Chapter 3

|3rd POV|

Nikea sighs a little while rubbing her stomach. She is a martial artist that explores the world and enjoys what she can experience. Sadly, martial artists and adventurers did not bring enough money, and with her appetite, her money ran out quickly. She is broke.

She had just used her last money to rent a room in this city, but it was not enough to buy her food.

She snaps from her thoughts when someone sits in front of her. She looks up and sees a young man with black hair sitting before her.

"Are you Nikea?"

"Yup! My name is Nikea! The best martial artist! Who are you?"

"My name is Gerrald, and can I ask you a couple of questions?"

"If you want to ask me questions, you must pay for my meal."

Nikea says that with a playful tone. She was joking about it and did not expect him to do it. However, her expectation is broken by Gerrald, who nods and says,

"Sure. Order anything you want."

"Wait. What? Are you serious?"

"Yup. Go ahead."

She hesitated for a second before deciding to order a large amount of food. She can see that Gerrald is serious about his word and not tricking her. She knows that she is not the smartest person in the world, but she knows when someone tries to trick her.

"Thank you! You don't know how much it will help me."

"Not a problem. Anyway, I want to ask if you are accepting a job?"

"Depends on the job."

"Bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?"

Nikea looks at Gerrald from top to bottom before saying.

"Are you sure? By the look of it, you can defend yourself."

"I know. However, there is nothing wrong with having a bodyguard. Especially when most of the soldiers in Stormfist are patrolling for the Sacred Games."

"Right! I heard about those games! It is a fighting tournament, right? I think I should join the tournament."

"Ah, I will not recommend you join it."

"Why?! Is it because of me being a woman? Women have the same rights as men in this country."

"I know. I'm not telling you because of your gender, no. I'm telling you because the tournament winner needs to marry the princess."

"What?!"

Nikea looks at Gerrald in shock. She is about to tell him that he is lying, but the way the other people in the inn nod their heads, she knows that Gerrald is telling the truth.

"Darn it! Urgh. There goes the free money."

"And why not accept my job offer? I need someone to guard me. I want to Stormfist and watch the Sacred Games."

"Hmmm, how much do you pay me?"

"Well, it depends. How much is your service?"

Nikea thinks for a few seconds and says.

"Three hundred thousand Potches a week."

"Deal. I will hire you for two weeks."

Nikea looks at her new employer in shock because the number she says is rather big. Three hundred thousand can hire a group of mercenaries for a week.

"Errr, are you sure?"

"Yeah. However, I need some kind of insurance if you decide to run away or kill me."

Gerrald takes out the company stamp and says.

"This is a magical stamp. It will notify me of your location. Don't worry. I will remove it once I no longer need your service."

Nikea looks at Gerrald for a few seconds before nodding her head.

"Very well. Stamp me!"

Gerrald smiles internally and quickly stamps Nikea with the company stamp. After he stamps her on her hand, he can feel his phone vibrate, indicating the process starts now.

After that, Gerrald nods, takes out three pieces of paper, and gives them to Nikea.

"Here is your payment."

"Wait! You give them all upfront?!"

"Yes. As I said, that stamp is insurance. If you decide to run away when it is not a life-and-death scenario, I will track you, and if I die, my family will do it for me. You can say that you will die with me if I die."

Nikea swallows her saliva at that word, but she shakes her head because she does not have any intention to kill or run away from what she promised. She is not that type of woman.

"Fair enough."

"Anyway, you did not need to spend your money on food because I will be the one cooking."

"You can cook?!"

"I'm a merchant from a family of chefs. I know how to cook."

Nikea nods happily at the prospect of her new boss. Her new job gets greater by the minute! It gets even better when the food arrives.

She did not know that she basically became a slave to Gerrald in three days.

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I smile a little while looking at the company phone. I can see the countdown on Nikea's capture. Once I capture her, I will get six points which is not much but can be used for emergency shopping.

However, I want to ask my manager a couple of questions. I go to the contact section and quickly find my manager's number. I call it and wait for the other side to pick it up. After waiting for a minute, I could hear someone from the other side.

"Hello there, newbie! What's up?"

"Errr… Is this manager Da'ar?"

"Yup! But you can call me Ar, kiddo! What's up?"

"Right, can I ask you a couple of questions, Ar?"

"Sure. Go ahead. I'm your manager, after all."

"What happens when I capture a target that I did not want to come with me to the other world after I finish with this one?"

"Ah, that question. Easy enough. You just leave them be. You can see their profile on your company phone and the [Permanent Companion] section when you capture them. You can uncheck it if you want to leave them in this world."

I see. That is easy enough.

"I see that you have already started to capture Nikea, huh? She is one of the underrated waifu in the company. Not many people know her, but many want to buy her when they see her. She is easygoing, morally gray, easy to please, and does not need too much to care of. Anyway, your second question?"

"Right. Will the stamp be noticed? Or can I use it to stamp even the strongest being?"

"Nope. A tier 9 or above will notice it. However, they will think of it as natural when it reaches the second day's process. That is why I recommend you stamp the higher-tier waifu when you get them addicted to your lure or when they are unconscious for a long time."

"I see. That is good to hear."

"You don't need to worry about them in your area because there is none. The highest one is tier 5, borderline tier 6."

"I see."

"Is that all?"

"Yup. Thank you for your time."

"Don't mention it, kiddo. Go and capture them all."

After he says that, he hangs up.

With this new information, I smile and prepare a plan for my next capture target, and I already know who will be my main target. The main character and his group. They will be my main target.