ALL NOVEL Book 3. Chapter 4 “Katia.”
Book 3. Chapter 4
“Katia.”
Four pairs of ice daggers and four duplicate swords earned Kalysto her first million dollars.
Satoshi handed Kalysto a charger. The saintess immediately charged her cell phone and as soon as she was able to turn it on, she checked the message she received from her bank confirming the bank deposit. The young entrepreneur left the room, happy with his new purchase to meet with his bodyguards and figure out a way to take advantage of his new acquisition.
“Wow, I guess now it’s your turn to buy me lunch!” Sakura mumbled excitedly about her friend’s luck while they both watched the message from the bank and she kept caressing Tsuki, who was happy to receive so much attention.
“I will do better than that. Would you like to receive a system?” Kalysto questioned in a low voice, this time taking out one of the swords that had ten points of penetration stats, along with ten points of strength. “Duplication!” She whispered, and then handed the duplicate sword to her friend.
“Are you serious? Are you giving me a gift?” The black-haired girl got excited.
“I always mean what I say," the saintess replied with a frown, not understanding what her friend was referring to as she struggled to remember if she had ever lied to her.
“I know that! I mean, this is the first time you’ve ever given me a gift!” She commented with a huge grin from ear to ear.
“But I gave you a present on your birthday last year," Kalysto protested.
“My birthday doesn’t count!” She hastened to correct the black-haired girl, causing Kalysto to roll her eyes.
And then she says I’m the complicated one! Complained the saintess to herself.
“Well, that’s not important right now!” Then she approached her and lowered her voice. “I have a business idea to propose to you,” she said, giving a glance towards the exit door of Satoshi’s apartment. “How about auctioning weapons?”
“But you are the one who has them and who has the power to duplicate them, not me,” Sakura objected.
“Yes, but you have your family’s contacts and it would be much easier for you to get people to give us legal advice or to take care of all the paperwork. Besides, you know I don’t like having to be in contact with people for too long.”
“I know! I’m still surprised you worked so long as a waitress!”
“It was either that or starve to death, so the choice was easy” at least it was most of the time since the security there was very good and there were rarely any customers who tried to touch her. And her main problem lay with the hands of blond men or guys similar to her stepfather. Coming in contact with them somehow kept Persephone on edge and made her lose control over her.
“... So what you really want me to represent you? To be your face in front of the public if things get out of control?” Sakura questioned.
“Something like that, yes.”
“Of course, I’ll be your pretty representative! How much are you offering me as my salary?”
“Taking into account that technically you are still a university teacher .... I think that the best thing would be that we work by commission per sale.”
“The university is closed until further notice, so unless the tower is destroyed and the two dungeons in the center are closed, I highly doubt they will reopen it. And even if they do, I will most likely have already given in to pressure from my family and be back in Japan.“
“The tower, I can close it, but until I know how powerful these dungeons you are talking about are and what kind of monsters are inside, I can’t tell you if it’s possible for me to help with that or not. Besides, it would be good for me to clean them before I return to Elinor. It would be too dangerous for Katia and Natasha to continue living here with that in the city," she commented while frowning. Suddenly realizing that she wouldn’t be able to rest as much as she had wanted in the beginning during her brief vacation, “Besides, I can take advantage of it to level up Tsuki, and get more weapons!”
“Wait a moment! How is it that you can close the tower? And who is Katia? And how can you think of making my precious new nephew fight against those horrible monsters?” She frowned, worried as she hugged Tsuki, as if she could protect him from Kalysto’s madness.
“Can you keep a secret?” Kalysto whispered with complicity.
“You made me sign a magic document that assured that my heart would stop beating if I betray you, or reveal what I’ve seen you do or what you’ve told me to others! And you’re seriously asking me that now?”
“Right!... Then let me tell you a story” so, she spent the next ten minutes telling her a short summary of what had happened from the time she came to Elinor until Edward’s betrayal.
“I knew there was a reason I didn’t like that brat!”
“Did you know he’s in love with you?”
“I don’t give a shit!” The black-haired girl got angry. “How dare he betray you and give you to that crazy psychopath? I’ll give him what he deserves when I see him!” Kalysto smiled at her reaction, unwillingly remembering that her mother never believed her every time she had tried to tell her about her drunken stepfather’s attempts to abuse her, and instead scolded her for always making him angry. Worst of all, the next day, when he was sober, he always acted as if nothing had happened.
Kalysto’s eyes began to mist over with unshed tears and she hugged Sakura, not wanting her to see them.
“Thank you," she murmured in a broken voice. “Thank you for being my friend and taking care of me.”
“Kalysto, are you aware that any normal person would get angry if someone hurt a friend or a loved one?” worried the black-haired woman, who always pretended not to remember what they talked about when they were drunk or the few times Kalysto had opened up to her, although she had an excellent memory.
“...”
“It’s okay. I’m sure your friend the little blonde chihuahua would be even more upset than I am," she murmured as she hugged her back.
“Chihuahua?”
“Yes! Even though she’s so cute, Alice always looks at me like she wants to bite me every time she sees us together. She’s just like one of those dogs. All small, but pretending to be intimidating!” She commented with a mocking smile as Kalysto cut the hug and wiped off her tears discreetly. “So, who is Katia?”
“Oh," Kalysto immediately explained everything that had happened to the little girl before taking her out of the inventory, “Katia, we’re back on Earth!”
The little girl blinked silently, still frightened by what had happened inside the castle, while she watched her silently noticing Sakura and Tsuki behind the saintess.
“Are we at home?” She whispered, and her voice trembled as she did so.
“Well, technically we are at my friend Sakura’s older brother’s apartment. Here I introduce you, this is Sakura!”
“Hi!” the teacher greeted, keeping her distance from the little girl.
“Eh... he...hello.” Katia answered shyly, hiding behind Kalysto.
“It’s okay, she’s reliable," but seeing that she continued to use her as a human shield, she changed the subject. “Why don’t you sit at the table with us and have something to eat? I’m sure you must be hungry," she commented as she poured her a glass of juice, which Katia drank greedily.
“Tell me she wasn’t starved!” whispered Sakura after Kalysto settled the little girl in the chair that Satoshi had abandoned and Katia began to devour the food on her plate as if she hadn’t eaten in years.
“She was sold as a slave and treated as such for weeks! What do you think?” She answered in her ear after sitting down next to her friend and set to finishing her late breakfast. “Katia, by the time you finish eating, my cell phone will probably have some charge, so we can call your dad. Are you okay with that?” The girl’s eyes watered at the news.
“Can...can I really see my dad?” She asked in fear of being denied the chance to see him.
“Of course you can! But first eat something and then we call him, okay?” Negotiated Kalysto, but before Katia could renegotiate, Sakura intervened.
“Maybe you both should take a bath first. Her father might get scared if he sees her dressed like that," she interrupted, pointing to the dirty and torn clothes that sweet Katia was wearing.
“You’re right. Maybe I should buy her a sweatshirt or something to wear in the meantime.”
“I’ll ask one of my brother’s bodyguards to go buy her something.”
“Won’t your brother ask us where she came from?” Kalysto worried.
“Kalysto, you pulled a bunch of swords out of nowhere a few minutes ago! At this point, I don’t think anything you do will surprise him!” She replied before walking out of the dining room.
“...It’s... are we safe here?” Katia asked suddenly and in a low voice, approaching her silently while she sent glances full of distrust towards where Sakura had gone.
“If we are not, I will put you back in my inventory. No one will hurt you there and I will take care of the rest," she assured her. “Do you know your father’s phone number?” The young woman immediately nodded and gave it to her, but after three tries, no one answered. “Maybe he is at work and can’t answer right now. Do you know the number of the company he works for?”
“My dad is a fireman," she said and lowered her head. “But he doesn’t like us to call him at work. He said I can only do that in case of emergencies..." she added, her voice losing strength with every word she said.
“And you don’t think this could be considered an emergency?” she pressed, but Kalysto could see the confusion in her eyes. “Let’s do something. Why don’t we leave a voicemail on his cell phone and then you can come with me to level up two friends and my pet?” Katia’s gaze immediately turned to Tsuki. “This is Tsuki. He is a sacred beast that I met in the world we were in. Would you like to pet him?” Immediately the longing was erased from the look of the little one and in its place shone the fear. Kalysto’s heart shrank with sadness at her reaction. “Come here Tsuki, present yourself to the little one!”
“Master?” asked the little one in her head.
“Lick her hand," Kalysto asked, and the puppy did so. “See, it’s completely safe to touch it. And in case someone comes near you, he can throw thin rays from his little body, and help me protect you. Isn’t that right, Tsuki?” The puppy barked in agreement, and Katia smiled.
“He tickles me!” She mumbled with laughter when Tsuki licked her hand.
“Did you hear that, Tsuki? She likes it when you lick her, so go ahead!” The puppy wasted no time and jumped excitedly towards the frightened girl and started to lick her face, making her laugh and relieving the sadness and sorrow the saintess felt when she looked at her. “Are you feeling better?” Katia nodded her head and Kalysto took the opportunity to leave a voice message on the girl’s father’s cell phone. “Hello. My name is Kalysto, and I was kidnapped along with your daughter the day the first portal appeared. We managed to escape recently and Katia is safe, but we have not been able to contact you. Please call me at this number as soon as you can” she immediately passed the cell phone to the girl who began to talk quickly and to cry while leaving the message until the call was cut off, and then they called again leaving another message when Katia was calmer.
Twenty minutes later, Sakura found the girl fast asleep in Kalysto’s arms.