Lia followed suit, using herself as bait to fish, and took down another large prey.
She was feeling quite pleased, but when she turned around, she was startled to find the Hero standing behind her.
However, after the initial panic, Lia quickly calmed down.
She wasn’t very nervous, and instead showed a half-genuine, half-pretend look of surprise, running over to the Hero’s leg to “act spoiled,” imitating a kitten rubbing against its owner’s pants.
Looking back, she felt she hadn’t revealed any flaws just now.
Although she didn’t know why the Hero had followed invisibly, secretly tailing her…
But from another perspective, didn’t pet bloggers in her previous life love to hide in the shadows and secretly photograph their pets’ private moments?
It was just the usual voyeurism of a pet owner.
“So this is how you took down the giant serpent. Truly an unbelievable tactic. As expected of my pet—just as smart as me.”
Jon picked up Lia, intending to stroke her little head as before.
But halfway through, his fingers froze, hesitant to touch.
‘Pupu’ had grown larger, and now looked even more like a real girl.
Her pale pink face was rosy and jade-like, her beautiful features gathering all the best traits of the women in his memory.
The gentle allure of the widow next door, Miss Yuna’s pure brightness, Miss Margaret’s noble coolness, even Miss Elita’s lively charm… Every detail tugged at his heart.
A strange and bizarre thought suddenly surfaced in Jon’s mind.
Would his ‘Pupu’ just keep growing bigger?
If she eventually became as large as a real person, but still remained a Pupu at heart, should he continue treating ‘Lily’ as a pet, or as a real person…?
The Hero, lacking super-intelligence, pondered for a long time, then gave up.
Forget it.
Take it one step at a time.
Who could know what the future holds?
Maybe this is Lily’s limit—after all, first-stage Pupu are known, but second-stage Pupu are truly unheard of.
—
The rock-scaled serpent Lia hunted slightly eased the food problem at the Disaster Victim Camp.
But five or six rock-scaled serpents, in the face of three thousand people, could only provide each person with a few bites of snake meat and hot soup.
After confirming Lia’s hunting was safe, Jon resumed the arduous journey of helping the disaster victims find a way to survive.
He sold some magic crystals, then some Magic Equipment, gaining about a thousand Gold Kuron in cash.
By market value, this was enough to buy a month’s worth of food for three thousand people and five or six hundred sets of dry clothes.
He hadn’t expected those magic crystals and Magic Equipment to be so valuable…
Jon felt a bit more at ease, his brow relaxing for once, and his confidence in surviving the crisis grew.
But relying solely on his own money was unsustainable.
Once he returned to the imperial capital, out of reach, it would be easy for trouble to arise here.
The most important thing was still to find a livelihood for the disaster victims in autumn and winter, stabilizing their lives.
He thought that with his Hero status, it would be easy to help the disaster victims find jobs.
But unexpectedly…
“Why not? I clearly saw you’re hiring.”
Jon frowned.
The City Construction Bureau officer looked helpless as well.
“Hero, I understand your desire to help the disaster victims, but this just isn’t possible. Not hiring outsiders is our City Construction Bureau’s standard policy.”
“They’re not outsiders. They’re citizens of Rossi City.”
“Rural folks and outsiders are about the same,” the officer patiently explained.
“Hero, think about it—they haven’t settled in the city, and if they see something tempting and act on greed, stealing before disappearing, we wouldn’t be able to track them down!”
“This…”
Jon was speechless.
Even in his own village, a model community of the Tulip Domain, theft couldn’t be completely eradicated.
He understood the stakes.
“And more importantly—”
The officer continued,
“This money was meant for locals. If it’s given to outsiders, and locals find there’s nothing left for them, wouldn’t our city lord be cursed?”
“If the city lord is unhappy, our Director is unhappy; if our Director is unhappy, my performance and bonus are unhappy; if my performance and bonus are unhappy, then my whole family will have to drink northwest wind. Hero, do you understand?”
“I understand.”
Jon slumped.
Unable to find official work, he had to turn to private employers.
But as soon as these big merchants and landlords heard he was the Hero, connecting outside disaster victims, they either grew nervous and avoided him, or became overly enthusiastic, insisting on introducing their daughters as lovers…
Any real business would be put off for another day.
In the end, it was the city lord who explained the situation to him.
“Hero, if you show up in person, then hiring these disaster victims means working for you—the Hero. For your reputation, they can’t exploit them.”
“But if they can’t exploit, there’s no profit. In unprofitable business, people are either scared to do it, or seek other benefits, like forging family ties with you, Hero.”
“So if you really want to make this happen… Don’t think too much. Eat and sleep as you need. If you’re well-fed and rested, everyone will be at ease.”
Jon gave a wry smile.
“Then am I even a Hero, or just a duck?”
“Hey, that’s an interesting point.”
“So tell me—Demon King Liya, to balance powers in the demon world, opened his harem wide, treating everyone clearly, and spoiled that Female Terror Demon daily, unable to even sleep with his favorite Succubus. Was he being a Demon King, or the Duck King?”
Demon King or Duck King?
This philosophical question was clearly beyond Jon at the moment.
In the end, he couldn’t make up his mind to ‘sacrifice for righteousness,’ so his dealings with the big merchants went nowhere.
Yet, misfortune never comes alone.
The agents he sent out in the morning to buy food and dry clothes ran into trouble by evening.
“Hero, bad news, very bad news, someone’s raising the price of food and clothes…”
“Raising prices? It’s fine, keep buying, spending more is okay as long as quality and quantity are guaranteed.”
Raising prices due to demand was a standard business tactic.
Jon had expected this and didn’t worry at first.
But the agent stammered, “Hero, they’re… raising it thirteen times.”
“How much??? Thirteen times???”
Jon was stunned.
He hurriedly asked,
“Didn’t you tell the grain merchants this was food for the disaster victims outside?”
“I did. I even said it was for you, Hero, but by noon it was fine. Come evening, their attitude completely changed. They said it doesn’t matter, even if the Imperial Envoy came, the price is the same.”
Such a tough stance couldn’t be the grain merchants’ own.
Jon had a vague sense that someone in the city was targeting him.
But, but, who in the city dared target him?
Miss Yuna definitely wouldn’t do such a thing.
The Rossi city lord was his ally—no way…
Miss Margaret?
But she’s an Imperial Princess.
The empire is her family’s property.
She couldn’t possibly ignore her own people’s lives!
Then who could it be? Who else?
Jon was anxious and puzzled.
—
Meanwhile.
In the requisitioned city lord’s mansion, Margaret, clad in full armor, was sparring with an imperial guard master.
She’d just won seven matches in a row when the maid she sent out at noon returned to report.
“Princess, your martial skill is unrivaled. If it’s purely a contest of ability, that crude Hero couldn’t possibly match you.”
Summoned, the maid saw Margaret standing over the top imperial guard, flushed and breathing hard, and immediately praised her with admiration.
“Is something so obvious worth mentioning?”
Margaret removed her arm guards, cheeks red as she asked, “How did it go? Are the grain merchants in the city behaving?”
“Your words, Princess, certainly carry more weight than the Hero’s.”
“Heh”
Margaret smiled.
“Good. This time, I must make him kneel and beg me. Disaster relief? Does he really think he’s a Savior? Kalatidia can have only one Savior, and that’s my father!”
“His Majesty is Heaven’s Chosen, father of all. The Hero is merely a blade in your and His Majesty’s hands, yet he dares overstep and act arrogantly. Princess, your actions in reprimanding him are not personal, but a child standing up for her father and correcting a disloyal subject on behalf of His Majesty.”
The maid lowered her head earnestly.
Margaret thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
“That makes sense. I was thinking the same.”
“But…”
The maid hesitated.
“What is it?”
Margaret turned her head.
The maid considered her words, her expression complicated.
“This time, besides us, it seems… there are others raising prices—maybe more than one group…”
“It’s probably the city lord. The grain merchants have always been under his control, and we’ve squeezed that poor fellow for months. Now that a fat sheep has appeared, he’ll want to profit.”
Margaret couldn’t help but smile.
Just thinking about the Hero calling that city lord ‘brother,’ always seeking his opinion, made Margaret want to laugh.
“It seems it isn’t just him.”
The maid answered honestly.