After that debacle, we decide to return and take Maria to the inn. When we get inside, I can see her adoptive parents start to ask many questions about how she is doing. After assuring them that Maria is doing fine and I already heal her, they start to calm down.
"What about the kidnapper?"
Maria's mother asks with a worried expression. Well, I cannot blame her. They can kidnap her once again if they are still on the loose.
"You didn't need to worry. Georg over here already took them to the guard, and are now in jail."
The mother releases a sigh of relief when Sialeeds says that.
"That is good. Thank you. Thank you so much for rescuing her. If there is something we can do to repay you, please ask us."
The prince gives a bright smile and says.
"Don't worry. We–"
Before Freyjadour can finish his word, his stomach starts to rumble. I can see Sialeeds giggling, Georg smirking, and Lyon putting her hands on her mouth. I shake my head and decide to say something before the inn owner can say more.
"Can I borrow your kitchen?"
"Eh? You don't need to do that! Let me be the one cooking the food! This is the least thing I can do after what you have done to our family."
"Nah, don't worry about it. My companion and I were about to celebrate the birth of my new niece. Let me be the one who cooks the food. You just need to take care of Maria."
After a minute of talking, the woman let me use the kitchen, where I took out all the ingredients we bought earlier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|3rd POV|
"Can he really cook? He looks like a rich merchant."
Sialeeds asks Nikea, who sits next to her. In her mind, Gerrald is from a rich merchant family, so he never cooks food for himself.
"Oh! Not only can the boss cook, but the food he makes is delicious! Even the simple fried rice can be divine under his hand!"
Norma and Ernst nod their heads in agreement. They have tasted Gerrald's food, and just like Nikea, they now cannot enjoy regular food like before. Even when Gerrald did not use the full power of the [Faerie Feast], the food was good enough to put the other food to shame.
Seeing that Norma, Ernst, and Nikea like that, Sialeeds gets even more curious about the food Gerrald cooks.
"I see. Then I cannot wait to taste his food."
"You will like it! I promise."
Sialeeds nod her head at Nikea and look at Norma and Ernst.
"Anyway, who is this man? And where is the Leopard?"
Norma and Ernst look at each other for a few seconds before Norma says.
"Ernst is the leopard, your highness."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Ernst is cursed because of a rune we found in the ruin. Gerrald is the one helping him get rid of the curse slowly. At the moment, he can stay in his human form for four hours a day. It will take a long time for him to recover. Gerrald says that he can turn into his human form indefinitely as long as he drinks his potions."
Sialeeds and the others look at Ernst in shock and pity.
"I see. Is he a doctor or a healer? I thought that he was a merchant."
"Oh, he is."
Sialeeds looks at Nikea, who says that.
"He is a merchant, but his family is a family of magic users, a rather famous one at that."
"Oh, I see. Because of that, he learns many kinds of magic and curses, huh?"
"Yup!"
Sialeeds gets even more interested in Gerrald because she and the others already see him sparring with Nikea, and they are impressed by his fighting style and his ability to improve on the fly.
After half an hour of waiting, Gerrald returned from the kitchen with a tray of food in his hands. He put them on the table, and some started to drool at the sight and smell of the food in front of them.
"I'm sorry for the simple dish. I did not have enough time to make a more delicious one."
"This is simple!?"
Sialeeds says in surprise while looking at Gerrald as if he is joking. Seeing that he is not, Sialeeds cannot imagine what kind of food he can make and have the taste in the past to cook something like this.
'This food is even grander than some of the food in the palace!'
Sialeeds shout in her mind.
"Anyway, please enjoy!"
After he says that, they start to take the food and eat it. Gerrald smiles a little at the noise the people make after they eat his food. He nods and also starts to eat. However, before Gerrald can eat the food, he remembers something.
He remembers that Maria is the reason why Belcoot loses the fight!
'Shit,' Gerrald curses inside his head. 'What should I do?'
After thinking for a few seconds, he decided to let fate decide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I take out my phone and go to the help section. I have a couple of questions about the stamp that I want to ask. I type for a few seconds and send.
After a few seconds, someone calls me. I pick it up and say.
"Hello?"
"Good day to you, Agent Gerrald. You want to ask something about the stamp?"
"Yes. I want to ask about how it affects the capture target. Will all the effects make the target fall in love with me? Or can I change it?"
"Ah! That question. You don't need to worry. As long as you did not use the full effect of your lure, and you did not have the urge to make them your slave, or lover, you will be good. They will only be loyal to you. Incredibly so."
"What do you mean by that? How loyal can they be?"
"They will jump at any danger to ensure you are alive."
"Ah, that kind of loyalty, huh?"
"Yup. Anything else?"
"No. That is all. Thank you."
"It is not a problem. It is my job, after all. Anyway, have a good day, and happy hunting."
After the call ended, I opened the catalog and checked how many points I would get after I captured Maria, and to my surprise, it was only one point. This is a shame because I only need one more point to buy the [Template Stacking].
I already know which character I will take. I will take another character from Suikoden World; I will take Jeane as the next template. The reason? I want to attach a rune to myself, and when I get the Sun Rune, I don't want the other to do it—too much risk.
Jeane is a great sorcerer, one of the strongest in the game. Not only that, she is also a Rune Mistress, someone who can attach a rune to both weapon and person. She is the perfect person while I'm in this place.
With Chrodechild covering my close combat, Jeane will cover my long-range combat and also magical attack. It is perfect.
Now… I only need the last point. Who should I capture?
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