'Eh? So there are women besides Lady Karen and Lady Jenny too?
Master is even more lustful than I imagined…
Then am I in danger?'
Kabe cleared his throat lightly.
"Ahem. This is Ariès. This is Erza and Mira, my girlfriends. You all get to know each other."
Hearing that, Ariès tucked away her thoughts and obediently bowed to the two women.
"Erza, Mira, I'm Ariès of the Aries Zodiac. I'm very happy to meet you both."
"No need to call us anything fancy. Just use our names."
Mirajane waved her hand, not caring about those formalities.
Erza, on the other hand, stood up and circled around Ariès curiously, studying her from head to toe until Ariès started looking completely lost.
"I I did something wrong?"
Erza shook her head. With a perfectly serious expression, she pinched her chin in thought.
"No. I'm just looking to see if you have a tail."
Seeing Erza start spacing out again, Mirajane rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Ariès, meanwhile, panicked even more. She covered her backside in embarrassment and lowered her head, apologizing repeatedly.
"I'm sorry. Even though Ariès is the Aries spirit, I don't have a sheep tail.
I'm really sorry for disappointing you."
"Ah, no, it's fine. You don't need to apologize. I was just curious and asked casually."
Erza finally seemed to realize she had messed up and hurried to comfort the timid spirit girl.
After Ariès was soothed at last, Kabe finally stood up, patted her soft, comfortable little head, then turned to the two women and said,
"So? She's cute, right? I want to keep her and make her part of our new home."
As he spoke, he quickly turned back again, afraid Ariès would misunderstand, and reassured her in a gentler tone.
"Of course, I won't exploit you or make you work for free. I'll pay you a salary every month."
"Eh?" *3
All three girls gasped at the same time.
Mirajane was the first to snap out of it, staring at him like he had lost his mind.
"You're joking, right? Celestial Spirit summoning burns magic power like crazy.
Do you have that much… no, do you even have magic power?"
"You don't need to worry about that. I summoned Ariès with my qi.
If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to maintain her for a long time."
Kabe still remembered what Ariès had said last time.
Back when he first summoned her on the train, that tiny little bit of qi had been enough for her to live in the Human World for a full week.
So this time he simply stopped holding back. If he continuously supplied her with qi from within his body…
Unless he fought so intensely that he burned through all of his stored qi,
keeping her manifested and letting her live in the Human World would not be a problem at all.
Ariès, of course, felt this most clearly.
In the past, no matter which master summoned her, it was basically always for battle.
But she had never truly lived in the Human World properly. If she could get a chance like this, she actually wanted to try it.
As for Kabe talking about a salary, she had never even considered something like that.
"Master, thank you for trusting me. I will work hard and never disappoint you."
Watching Ariès clench her small fists and swear so adorably, the two women could not help but start liking this soft, cute "girl" immediately.
Kabe was even happier. He pulled out his wallet, counted out several ten thousand bills, and handed them to Ariès.
"Take it. Consider it your advance pay. From now on, if you want something, buy it yourself.
Don't get in the habit of asking me for everything."
Before Ariès could refuse, Kabe stuffed all the money into her hands.
Ariès froze in place, never expecting Kabe's earlier talk about wages to be serious.
"Th this… I absolutely can't accept it. I was summoned here under your contract, how can I take your money too?"
She stubbornly shook her head and tried to refuse.
Before Kabe could respond, Mirajane jumped up and grabbed Ariès' hand.
"Alright, enough. If it's given to you, then accept it. If you're going to live in this world, how can you survive without money?
Come on. I'll take you out for a look around, and I'll buy you a couple outfits too."
As she spoke, Mirajane practically forced Ariès' shoulders around and marched her outside.
Erza immediately followed as well.
Right before stepping out the door, she turned back and glanced at Kabe still sitting on the bed, frowning.
"What are you still sitting there for? Move."
"Ah, o okay, I'm coming."
Kabe hurried to follow.
Watching the two women walking side by side in front, enthusiastically asking Ariès question after question, he could not hold back his excitement. He clenched his fist and cheered silently in his heart.
'As expected, I'm still the protagonist. Stuff like the harem catching fire, getting chopped with a knife… it doesn't exist!!!'
Grinning like an idiot, he quickened his pace, squeezed in, wrapped an arm around Erza's slim waist, and joined their conversation.