Leo made his way towards Thomas's house, ignoring the multiple stares coming in his direction, knowing full well they were directed at the eleven girls following behind him while internally hypnotising himself
' I'm not the bad guy, I'm going to give them a better life, their families are the bad guys, they're the ones who sold them ' Leo had lost track on how many times he had repeated this sentence on his way here
Walking forward, he knocked on Thomas's door and stepped back, not joining in the conversation of the girls behind him
" you're here kid, I just finished up " Thomas opened the door not to long after and was speaking only to freeze as he took in the group of girls behind Leo, his expression rapidly becoming strange before being tinged with disgust as he called Leo over
" look kid, it's not my business what you do in your free time but the legal age for marriage is 14 " said Thomas as glanced at the girls before he continued " and besides the tall one, I doubt many of them are close to that age "
Leo's expression constantly darkened as he listened to his words before he finally interrupted the old man
" is it finished? " asked Leo through gritted teeth, not intending to give an explanation
' all for the sake of my UP points ' thought Leo
" it's finished " said Thomas as he opened the door showing the completed wheelbarrow to Leo, who walked inside the walked around it
" not bad at all " said Leo, not hiding his appreciation
" not my best work but I did my best with the time I had " said Thomas calmly but the smile on his face showed his inner feelings
Grabbing the handles, Leo lifted them and stared the wheelbarrow through the door, surprising the girls
Rebecca and Lisa coming over and looking at it curiously, the other girls looking at Leo hesitantly before coming over as well, the only one who didn't was Diana who came over and stood behind Leo and stood silently
Taking the fish given to him by Leo, Thomas glanced at Leo complicatedly
" how will you do it? "
" do what? " asked Leo, looking at him in confusion
" they're 12 of you, which means 1200kg of fish every week. Even in the more powerful villages, it will take an entire team with several nets to catch that number. So how will you do it? "
Hearing his question, Leo just glanced at him silently before he turned to leave, waving as he did as he called the girls to leave
" see you around old man "
Watching his receding figured, Thomas had a thoughtful expression on his face before he shook his head
" your strength isn't enough to protect them, I hope you don't regret it "
***
Inside the a large luxurious home, two men could be seen sitting around a table having dinner in silence
The older of the 2, put down his knife and fork and wiped his mouth elegantly with a napkin before throwing it on the table, letting out a loud burp, completely erasing the previous elegant image
Seeing this seen, the younger make felt his mouth twitching as the disgusting burp filled his nose
' you can only imitate them, you'll never be a noble ' thought the man scornfully
" how is it going? " asked the older man as he focused his attention on the man across from him
" Mayor Timble, it's going exactly as you said, that disgusting stray was going to attack me. They would have never thought that their behaviour was completely seen through " said the man flatteringly, completely different from his inner thoughts
Hearing his words, Timble didn't say anything as he fell into silence, but the pride in his gaze showed his inner feelings clearly
" continue to raise the amount you steal, I need him to react. Anything else? " he asked
" I'm not sure if this is important or not but... " said the man hesitantly
" , what is it, spit it out " said Timble impatiently
" it seems he likes young girls....he spent 300kg of fish to buy 10 of them " said the man with a strange expression as he looked at the mayor before him who also fell into silence
Timble waved his hand, letting the man leave as he himself got up and left. Making his way out of village 9, under the escort of his guards towards the baron's manor
Thirty minutes later, after tidying himself, he was invited into the manor and came before Baron Abraham. This time who was seen writing several reports completely different from his previous appearance
" what do you have to report " asked Abraham as he put down what was in his hand and raised his head looking at Timble calmly
Timble repeated everything that he was told to the Baron, who listened without changing his expression even after hearing about the girls
" young girls huh " said Abraham as he tapped his finger as he thought before he picked up a paper and scanned over it
" continue to monitor this little fallen noble. If your words are correct, he'll need to hand in 1200kg of fish. If he does, invite him to join my personal guard, the price is he has to hand over how he catches so many fish " said Abraham after a while
" if he fails to hand them in, I no longer want to hear about him as he isn't worth my time " said Abraham as he waved his hand, letting Timble leave before turning his attention back to the papers on his desk
Before Timble left, Abrahams voice came from behind
" don't kill him, beat him half to death if you have to but his life is mine "
***
Another week came and went rapidly, Leo noted that he was in this world for less than 2 weeks, if he was on earth that'd equate to almost 20 days. He still wasn't accustomed to the 36 hours days
None the less, his group or his family as they've come to be have made several changes
One would be there sleeping arrangements. He once wondered how people fit 6 people into a 200sq house,now he had to fit 12
So he had to go back to Thomas and let him make a king size bunk bed. 7 feet wide, 6 feet long, 5 feet tall. All and all, a bed now took up 42 Square feet of space. It wasn't easy, but at least it was.....livable
Though the top bunk was mostly used for storage as for whatever reason, the other girls joined Rebecca, Lisa and Diana in wanting to sleep with him, so 12 people on one bed. Wasn't pretty, wasn't comfortable but it is what it is
Pulling himself out of the pile. Leo left the house quietly, intending to go check the traps and collect the fish. When the girls woke up, they'd join him with the wheelbarrow and they'd take the fish back to the village
Waking through the village, the looks people gave him had changed, most were still disdain and contempt but they were a few that had gratitude. All of of which he ignored as he left
Why would they be grateful? Simple, his traps had a effect he didn't understand until 6 days ago when he found more and more people gravitating closer to where his traps were hidden
His traps, some how boosted the survival rate and growth of fish. Unlike most cases where the fish will eventually run out, it seems that this wasn't possible with his traps. To the point where they were now more fish than he could catch and people gradually found this, which means, catching fish is much easier
A few minutes later, he reached his first trap, and walked into the river and slowly pulled it out until it reached the shore
Slowly dumping the fish out, he then squatted down and turned his gaze to the trap
***
[ Low Level Magic trap ] 1890/2000 durability [ EPIC ]
100% chance of catching fish
100% attractiveness to fish below 5kg
100% attractiveness to fish above 10kg
100% attractiveness to fish below 50kg
20% attractiveness to low level warcraft fish
Keeps itself submerged.
Repels low level warcraft that aren't fish
Hides itself from people who aren't the host nor his subordinates. Bronze Knight Level 5 and below
* HIDDEN EFFECTS *
Releases spores which boost the nutrition of aquatic plants
Increases fertility of surrounding fish by 75%
Increases growth rate of fish by 75%
[ 0/150kg ]
***
This is one of the traps Lisa had thought the others to make. Because the base attributes were higher, the upgrade stats were also much higher. Including the hidden effects
They were currently 5 of these traps in different locations which means 750kg of fish every day
The durability is dropping much faster than before because was dragging them instead of lifting them but he had no choice
With his testing, he found that 1 point of strength equals 100kg of strength. He currently has a strength attribute of least 2.6, which means 260kg but that's total body strength
Not the strength of his arms or the strength of his legs. He found that once his physique was the same as his strength, he could use 80% of his strength no problem. Meaning to use 100% of his strength requires his physique to be stronger
So instead of injuring himself, he would rather drag the traps, they were cheap and he could replace them easily
Several voices came from the side snapping him out of his thoughts. Glancing to the side the found Rebecca and the others coming towards him with 2 wheelbarrows
Standing, we walked towards them with a smile, greeting each of them before standing to the side letting them put the fish into the wheelbarrow
Shaking his head at the smiles adorning their faces as they chatted and worked, his gaze turning somewhat complicated as he watched them
' want to feel needed huh ' thought Leo as he remembered Anna, the youngest of the girls in the group telling him that
***
An hour later, they went to the 5 traps and loaded up both wheelbarrows. They were upgraded as well, they had a hold capacity of 400kg a piece, and the ability to travel through rough terrain while staying balanced. With great load distribution
Leo walked at the front of the group, Rebecca and Diana by his side, while the other girls walked behind him talking about random things
He frowned as he looked at the gate finding that all 5 guards were there including the mayor but they weren't what caught his attention. It was the man on the horse in front of them
He had on much more sophisticated armor than the guards behind him, even from a distance, Leo could see the clear arrogance adorning his face
Not intending to stick his nose into something that had nothing to do with him, he led the girls to the side, intending to bypass them only to be stopped
" Leo was it? " asked the mayor as he walked from behind the guards standing next to the man on the horse
" yes sir, how can I help " said Leo with a smile, while internally frowning, feeling something was wrong
" you've managed to gain out lords grace and he's decided to give you an opportunity " said the Mayor while glancing at the girls behind him, then at the wheelbarrows with fish
" an opportunity? " asked Leo his bad feeling growing worse
" yes, he allows you to join his main guard " said the Mayor as he gestured to the man on the horse " of course, this requires some sincerity, such as the means of which you achieved such a wonderful catch "
" it's my honor to give this technology to our Lord " said Leo with a smile, fishing traps were nothing, his UP were what made them get this far. So giving it away was no lost to him
" as for joining the guard, I'll have to politely decline, as you can see, I have my younger sisters to take care of " said Leo apologeticly
Only for his bad feeling to grow even worse as he felt the strange gazes on the guards and mayor in front of him as they glanced at the man on the horse
Who snorted and got off his horse, and started walking towards him. Before he could react Leo suddenly felt suffocated as his feet left the ground
Grabbing the hand around his throat, he looked at the man choking him in anger. Struggling as he tried to take his arm off hp
" do you think you have a choice? " asked the man raising him higher off the ground