Getting Ready to Go Out
After hearing my request, Selena thoroughly sucked out every last drop of semen left in my urethra, then carefully wiped my cock with a towel dampened by magically conjured water, grumbling playfully as she worked.
"Can't you make this a little smaller, Master?"
I felt a slight urge to point out that she was the one without a conscience—continuously stimulating it while hoping it would shrink—but as a magnificent master capable of indulging his slave's playful complaints after she'd obediently followed every demand, I swallowed the words and simply enjoyed the soft pleasure rising from my cock.
Even as she shot me a pretty sidelong glance and pouted her lips, Selena never stopped moving her hands. A moment later she set aside the towel stained with lewd residue and reported,
"All done, Master."
Having finished speaking, Selena looked up at me with expectant eyes sparkling, as if hoping for something.
"Good work."
Seeing that expression, I found myself stroking her small head as I spoke. I was freshly surprised at how comfortably I was treating Selena—who, until the moment I'd been told I was a death-row inmate before my reincarnation, had seemed so haughty and cold that I'd been completely intimidated, given that I'd barely had any contact with women at all.
That's really amazing. Did I have social-butterfly DNA inside me all along without knowing it?
While I was having these silly thoughts, Selena finished wiping her body with another towel and put on the cheap underwear and robe she'd bought yesterday.
Those breasts that had been wrapping around and stroking my cock just moments ago, that slender waist that looked like I could hold it with both hands, that absurdly springy ass, those long, sleek legs—watching that fantastically elastic body disappear beneath the robe, I made a firm resolution.
I need to save up money fast and buy her clothes with high defense first. The defense is so low that nothing shows at all.
Unaware of what I was thinking, Selena poked her face out from the crude long robe and pulled a kitchen knife from the backpack.
The blade glinted ominously as it caught the sunlight pouring through the slightly parted curtains.
Even knowing that Selena, already bound to me, would never turn that kitchen knife on me, my heart clenched. I stopped halfway getting off the bed and opened my mouth.
"Se-Selena? Why the kitchen knife all of a sudden…?"
When I asked, Selena ran her eyes over the sharp blade, then lightly stroked her lower abdomen as she spoke.
"I want to cut this part out. Master went to the trouble of branding me with such a pretty mark—it'd be a waste to keep it covered."
Finishing her words, Selena grabbed the lower-belly portion of the robe with one hand and, without hesitation, swung the kitchen knife.
The robe was cut away limply, and the lewd brand engraved on her lower abdomen revealed itself through the crooked hole.
Having carved a large hole in a robe that hadn't even been bought a full day ago, Selena lightly stroked her sex as she muttered,
"Mm. Perfect. The edges aren't neat, but this should do."
Watching Selena nod with a soft smile, I once again resolved to buy her high-defense clothing as soon as I had the money, then got down from the bed and put on my clothes.
Having dressed in an instant, I was tidying my slightly mussed hair with my hands in front of the mirror when Selena, already finished preparing to leave and holding the backpack, approached and carefully said,
"M-Master. May I do it for you?"
Seeing Selena looking almost as embarrassed as when she'd been sucking my cock, I smiled slightly and answered with a small nod.
Her expression brightening at that, Selena picked up the comb from the vanity and began combing my hair.
Having thought nothing of granting permission—recalling the combing I'd received when getting haircuts at salons—I nearly let out a moan at the strange stimulation of the comb gently scraping my scalp as it ran through my hair.
"Hnn…mm."
Barely holding back the moan and preserving my dignity as a master, I carefully kept any sound from escaping my lips as I enjoyed the soft movements on my scalp.
Mmm… this is… pretty nice…
Holding back the corners of my mouth that wanted to twitch at the peculiar stimulation of combing that moved in ways I couldn't predict—so different from when I combed my own hair—I recalled how incredibly quickly Selena had finished getting ready.
I thought women took hours to get ready to go out…
As I pondered why Selena's preparations had finished so quickly, contrary to the information I'd seen across various communities, something that made women even more beautiful crossed my mind.
Right. Cosmetics. Selena doesn't have any cosmetics. Since I'd never bought any, I didn't even think of it yesterday. I should buy her some cheap ones at least, right? These days even elementary schoolers wear makeup…
"I'll buy you cosmetics before we go to Tran."
Having decided to spend the money Selena earned on Selena anyway, I spoke. Selena, who had been combing with a smile, tilted her head and said,
"Cosmetics? All of a sudden?"
"Without cosmetics, you can't put on makeup. Well, for now you'll have to make do with cheap ones. But don't worry. Later I'll buy you expensive, high-quality ones."
When I nodded with the expression of a king bestowing a reward, Selena tilted her head a little further and said,
"Well… I mean… I haven't put on anything proper since being imprisoned, so I'd be grateful if you bought me some… but with the money we have, we couldn't even buy cheap cosmetics, could we? And besides, there's no way a tiny neighborhood like this would have a cosmetics shop."
Hearing Selena describe the village where we'd spent a day with a word that seemed like it shouldn't come from such a beautiful face, this time I tilted my head.
"Huh? We still have quite a bit of money left, don't we? And no matter how small a city is, they say there's always an Olive Young—there's no cosmetics shop?"
Remembering the price of the cosmetics set my younger sister from the orphanage had whined for me to buy her, I couldn't understand Selena's words.
That whole set was less than thirty thousand won, I think. Of course it was cheap stuff.
As I was digging through my memories again to check if they were wrong, Selena sighed and said,
"Olive Young? I don't know what that is, but there's no one in a backwater like this who'd buy cosmetics. A single palm-sized pot of cosmetics is traded in gold units."
"Ah? Gold? That gold where a hundred silver equals one gold?"
Blinking at the absurd price, I watched as Selena shook her head and added,
"That's the price for just one, of course. To cover the basics—eyebrows, eyes, lips, skin—and to have multiple colors, a few gold coins wouldn't even come close."
At least ten-odd gold… Yesterday we earned seventy-four silver from hunting, so even hunting ten times wouldn't be enough…? Ah? Wait, that's actually pretty quick? Hunting took a while, but it wasn't all day… If we can buy them by repeating that a few times, wouldn't even people in a small village like this be able to buy cosmetics? Sure, it's a bit expensive, but…
A question arose as I listened to Selena's explanation, and I asked,
"We earned seventy-four silver in that short time yesterday, didn't we? Couldn't the villagers earn enough for cosmetics if they just worked hard for a few days like that?"
When I asked seriously, Selena looked at me with eyes that said she was looking at something extremely pathetic and let out a deep sigh.
"Haah… Master. First of all, I… it's a bit embarrassing to say myself, but I'm one of the Empire's foremost mages. Do you think hunting done by someone like me is the same as hunting done by the residents of a small village like this?"
Well, of course not.
"On top of that. Most of the money we earned selling the animals we hunted will circulate back within this village.
"First, the butcher who bought the game from us will later sell the meat to this inn where we slept. Of course, the inn will pay with the money we paid them.
"The general store where we bought the backpack and sleeping bag will use the money they got from us to buy meat from the butcher or come to the inn for a meal. Or they might spend it somewhere else we haven't been.
"Of course, those places that earned money that way will use the butcher or the inn, and buy something broken from the general store.
"Now. This will keep repeating. So then—will the total amount of money in the village change? Or won't it?"
Listening to the confusing flow of money, I answered,
"It did change. We still have money left."
At that, Selena looked at me with a proud expression.
Heh heh. Feel the dignity of your master… wait, that's not it.
Realizing that Selena's eyes were not those of someone looking at a dignified master, I said with a sulky expression,
"Anyway. So. What are you trying to say?"
Seeing my expression, Selena giggled softly and continued her explanation.
"As you said, Master, our income here exceeded our expenses—conversely, from the village's perspective, expenses exceeded income. But do you think everyone who occasionally stops by this village has as much income as we did?
"Probably not. Some might have more income, some more expenses. That difference is what maintains the total amount of money circulating in the village.
"Of course, it tends to gradually increase overall, but even that increased money inevitably goes to the tax collector who will come, or gets reset by unexpected incidents that occasionally arise—for example, a disease that can't be cured by the medicine made by Charles we met yesterday? In the end, they can't save up money to buy luxury goods like cosmetics.
"Only something truly special. Hmm… like suddenly discovering a gold mine? Or someone who left because they hated this backwater returning after achieving tremendous success."
Having gotten a lecture on the capital flow of a small village just from saying I'd buy her cosmetics once, I lightly shook my confused head and said,
"So what you're saying is… buy them when we get to a big city?"
"That's right. If Master wants to do any proper spending, we need to go to a city where commerce is developed."