Chapter 15

Eyeing the man opposite her closely, Rosa had to ask herself whether he was a moron or not.

Her day had started off just fine, she'd made herself a nice breakfast, gave the courier a string of kunai, crafted another set of 400, then settled in for an hour of relaxing with a book before heading to the warehouse to set some tasks for her acolytes. Not even two pages into her reading, and her front door was knocked upon, which was one of the guards informing her that she had a visitor who was rather adamant about meeting her to discuss business.

Said visitor was now sat in her living room, and she didn't need any kind of improved intelligence to know that by business, he meant that someone wanted to muscle in on her private trade deal. She had no other business to discuss after all, so even a child could work out why someone would be visiting her on business. That didn't mean she didn't show proper courtesy though, which was fulfilled by a cup of tea on a saucer which was now being held by said visitor. She was actually rather curious to see if he'd drink it, or whether he'd tactfully avoid it out of fear of being poisoned. She naturally hadn't poisoned it, but he didn't know that. "So, to business. What exactly do you, or whoever sent you, want?"

Rosa didn't bother beating around the bush with their discussion, she'd rather they get their positions on the table from the start, that would make things easier. "My employer wishes to discuss a partnership regarding your esteemed self, regarding the production of armament and other paraphernalia. They feel that a lucrative business opportunity has presented itself, and if you would be willing to do so, they would appreciate meeting with you to discuss cooperation on this." Rosa hummed, taking a sip of her tea and watching the man shift in place on the chair.

"Any details other than that? I have a rather lucrative deal with the blacksmith Mori, the details of which I won't discuss out of a need for confidentiality, but suffice to say I can make a tangible profit from this deal, and see no need to change it. As such, I would like to see whether meeting this mysterious employer of yours is even worth my time. Let us take an individual kunai, as an example. What price is your employer willing to pay per individual unit? Are they willing to handle the price of raw materials, or any other effects they would add that would make a partnership with them more agreeable to my current deal?" Rosa spoke calmly but firmly, seeing no need to waste time on making her words more business-friendly.

The simple fact was that her current deal made her a fuckton of profit, and she had zero desire to ruin it. "Ahh, I cannot state any specifics, my employer said they would prefer to discuss specific numbers with you in person. As for any other details, they explicitly told me to inform you if you asked that they would be willing to handle the acquisition and supply of raw materials to wherever you desired." Humming again, Rosa eyed the man for a few moments.

Meeting a businessman to discuss a partnership...the chances were very high they would try to strong-arm her into some kind of deal, or they might desire to just acquire her manufacturing method for themselves. Whatever the case was, she definitely needed to stop by the warehouse to acquire Vesna at a minimum, he would definitely offset any desire to try more forceful methods. "When and where? I'd presume a private room at a restaurant, that would be a pleasant environment for this kind of preliminary meeting, wouldn't you say so?" Rosa leaned forwards slightly, making the man even more uncomfortable even as he bobbed his head in agreement.

Satisfied that her message had been received clearly, she led the man to the gate and told him to return once his employer had decided on the details of their meeting. If he or she wanted to meet somewhere other than a restaurant, Rosa would simply snub them. If their employer couldn't accept meeting at a neutral-ish spot like a restaurant, they were showing her no respect and were likely just fixated entirely on trying to gain power over her.

For instance, if they wanted her to meet at a building of their choice, and she accepted, they would hold that little bit of extra influence and power over her since she obeyed what they wanted. But what she had done was not the same, as she had only defined the type of venue, not the actual restaurant. The mysterious employer could choose whatever restaurant they wanted, and thus, they were showing each other 'face', to put it in a business-like term. They were acquiescing to her request, and she in turn was granting them freedom to choose whatever restaurant they wanted.

Business was weird, full of little stuff like that, but her Charisma and Intelligence both helped a little to figure out the little nuances behind that kind of behavior at least. Setting her shoulders, Rosa herself headed out, telling the guard at the gate to make a note if the man came back and to tell her if he did as well as what he said, if anything. Venturing across to her warehouse, Rosa poked her head in, amused at what she saw.

Vesna was standing and watching as Asahi and Aoki did pushups, apparently he was taking his new role as the vice-leader very seriously. He wasn't doing it to train their strength, or at least, that was only a bi-product. He was doing it to cement in their heads that he was their superior...or maybe he was just flexing his power over them. Whatever the case was, once she was inside and noticed by the two boys doing pushups, they stopped and got up, looking towards her. Vesna took only a half-moment to follow where they were looking and spot her, making her shiver at the look in his eyes.

Still, she shoved down the revolted side of her and walked over to them, smiling at each before focusing on Vesna. "I need you with me today, I need to meet someone and you are perfect for being my bodyguard." She gently rapped her knuckles against his chest, smirking as he straightened just a little more. "Now then, let me just..." Rosa opened her acolyte menu and glanced at Vesna's stats. All were F+3, and each upgrade to E-3 would cost, normally, 840. With her unlock, each was 84, rounded to 90, so upgrading all 7 stats to E-3 would only cost her 630 points.

Glancing at her points balance, Rosa upgraded him to E-3. And then she upgraded him to E-2...and E-1, then kept going until all his stats were at E+3. In total, it cost 5,880 points, and...she still had 1,160 left. If she wanted to upgrade one stat to D-3, that would cost 320 points, so with 1,160, she could upgrade 3 of his stats to D-3. All 7 stats in total would only cost 2,240 points, so if she could perform even just one D-2 or above ritual, which would be easy, she could upgrade him to D-3 stats.

And she decided, then and there, that it was definitely worth it. She felt...scared not upgrading her own power, since with just the upgrades she'd already done, Vesna could easily overpower her. She had a deep desire to improve her own power, but...it was so much more cost-efficient to upgrade her acolytes instead, and that really frustrated her. But there was little she could do about it, and so long as she always made sure Vesna was loyal to her, he could protect her.

Closing the menu, Rosa watched as Vesna underwent far more subtle changes. Whereas before he grew like crazy, now his body simply became more defined. His face was more handsome than before, in a way that failed to be described. His arm muscles were still large, but they were smoother and more clear-cut at the same time, as paradoxical as that was. Looking at him closely, Rosa ignored the shock that she could feel from their bond, admiring the physical changes that took place before her. He practically exuded power, like he could punch a wall and the wall would start crying, and that was rather intoxicating.

Still, she had a plan, and that plan meant going even further. A quick glance at his loyalty showed he was still 100% loyal to her, and so she told Asahi and Aoki to stay in the warehouse, then led Vesna out. Since she was in a bit of a hurry, she went around to any shops she could find, scrounging up any detritus she figured Hestia would appreciate, having gotten a good handle on what sort of things the goddess appreciated based on the value of each ritual. Anything consumable she appreciated greatly, whereas items that lasted a long time were less-so, presumably because whilst consumable items were used up and needed replenishing, she had already sent items of a similar sort, and Hestia had no need for them.

After an hour, Rosa had a pile of random stuff stored in her ritual pocket, and so, with almost a conversational incantation and a wash of satisfaction and happiness, she sacrificed the pile to Hestia, then checked the report.

Ritual Completed - B+2

Environment - B+3

Items - B+1

Sacrifice - A-3

Incantation - C+1

Other Effects - A-1

A B+2 ritual...that was pretty damn good actually.

Her Other Effects had improved quite drastically, and so had the value of the sacrifice, presumably because it was tailored specifically for what Hestia wanted. The incantation wasn't great, but that was just fine, since B+2 rituals were worth a whole 9,600 points in one go. With that many points, she could...no, she wasn't going to go further. D-3 stats, that was what Vesna was getting, and the rest were going to be kept. Rosa fully acknowledged that spending points on him instead of herself was outright better, but she fucking despised not being powerful, so if she had to be inefficient in order to satisfy her personal desire for power, she was going to damn-well do it. Heading back to the warehouse with a fairly confused Vesna, who had witnessed her vanish into thin air for a short period, she wasted no time in upgrading him to D-3.

When she exited her menu, Rosa watched closely as his form underwent another...'evolution' was the only right term for it. He grew another few inches, his face subtly shifted, becoming even more appealing to the eye. His clothes...became another unfortunate sacrifice on the road to power, having already been strained a little by his previous change, and now pushed beyond their limit.

Having guessed that might happen, Rosa withdrew a set of larger clothes and gave them to him, appreciating his form as he put them on. His entire body was already well-built previously, but copping an eyeful of his entire body from toes to hair, no part of him was found wanting. If upgrading from F+3 to E-3 was an internal tune-up, reinforcing muscles and making less outward changes, E+3 to D-3 turned that up to eleven on the inside and the outside. He was already a damn-fine specimen at F+3, and now at D-3, she fully expected that he would be drawing a hell of a lot of attention.

Dragging her eyes away from him, Rosa opened her menu. She still had 8,520 points, and she had...a fairly uncomfortable idea. If she wanted Vesna to stay loyal to her, she needed Charisma. He could handle all the physical stuff, and so...if she upgraded her Charisma primarily, she could wield him as a weapon, whilst she remained the primary point of the organization. With 8,520 points, she could take her Charisma up in one single go from E-2 to E+3, with 1,920 points left over. Looking at the stat as if it owed her money, Rosa bit the bullet and upgraded her Charisma, expending over 6,000 points in one go on a single stat.

Before closing her menu, Rosa switched over to the acolyte menu, trying to decide if upgrading Vesna's stats a little more was worth it. D-3 in everything was really good, but...she could nudge it a bit further. 1,920 was enough for 5 D-2 upgrades after all, and so, after a moment, she upgraded his Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Perception and Endurance to D-2, leaving herself with 220 points.

Exiting the menu one final time after checking to see if anything had changed in her Stat Control Menu, Vesna only changed subtly. She could see and more importantly feel that he detected the subtle change, and as he looked at her, she gave him a smile, one he returned beamingly. Taking one step towards him, Vesna tensed up as she placed her hand against his abdomen, feeling his defined abdominal muscles through his shirt, the condensed power within each ridge, each line and crest. It was...enticing to think that he was so powerful, and that he would obey her commands unflinchingly, making her bite her lip as she resisted the desire to give him some commands.

She swore then that she wouldn't abuse his loyalty towards her...well, not more than she had to at least.

Immediately forgetting her own oath, Rosa used Vesna as a glorified coat-hangar as she dragged him clothes shopping.

Their first stop was a tailoring shop to get him fitted with a proper suit, since if he was going to be guarding her, he needed to look the part. When she told him to stand still, as if he was stood beside her and protecting her, the tailor got to work making him look the part. His suit needed to let him actually raise his arms above his head, but without looking as if it was only made for combat. If he was going to be present during any kind of formal dining, he needed to pull off both classy and powerful at the same time. Eventually, the tailor had a design in mind that they felt would work, and so Rosa paid in advance plus a pre-emptive tip to encourage them to work harder, then took Vesna off to buy her own clothes.

With her Perception, her Foraging and her Charisma skill, she picked through at least five-dozen clothes stores and came out with a dozen outfits that would all work in one fashion or another. A fox-fur-necked jacket over a silk shirt and dark skirt with sleek leggings, a more business-casual dark sleek jacket over a white, frilled blouse with a black skirt, or a proper business suit, they were all applicable, and since she had money, Rosa didn't bother trying to pick just one, she bought them all. Vesna was zero help in terms of deciding what looked good or bad, since he lacked the knowledge of what would be good, plus he would tell her anything looked good if she told him to.

In the end, she took him back home with her, with plenty of clothes neatly piled in her inventory, all ready for a business 'meat'ing. The guard outside hadn't seen hide nor hair of the messenger person, though she expected as much. It'd likely be a little while, both to give off a sense of casualness towards this upcoming business opportunity, whilst also keeping her on their time. They would decide when the meeting would happen, so she just had to wait, another subtle little power dynamic that she only realized after she'd upgraded her Charisma.

But the simple fact was that she was the one with the real power, not them. If she refused their chosen time and stated their own, they would go along with it because she was the golden goose in their eyes, they would have to accept what she wanted if they wanted to get in on the business. Of course, that'd only go so far before other methods would be more appealing, but with Vesna by her side, she was far less concerned about that. No ordinary human could compete with him, and she was curious to see if a 'chunin' could compete either. Genin would get flattened by him, she could say that with certainty, but she could also say confidently that a Jonin such as Katsuki would in turn flatten him, she knew that as a fact from how fast and strong Katsuki was, reinforced every time she saw the woman do something to stop her Genin from fucking the garden up.

But a chunin was in the middle, and so she wasn't sure what side they leaned towards. From what she had inferred, Chunin were closer to Genin than Jonin on average, since Jonin were the cream of the crop so to speak, but until a Chunin tried to fight Vesna, she would only have theories, nothing concrete. After depositing her new clothes in her wardrobe, Rosa changed into more comfortable clothes, then spoke. "You'll be sleeping in here with me." She spoke with a hint of amusement, which was enhanced at the surprise that managed to slip out across his face. "I want you in here to protect me, and you can't do that from the other bedroom. So, you can put any clothes you want into this chest of drawers-" She patted the aforementioned furniture, smiling at him. "-and feel free to use the shower or whatever whenever you want. I want you to live here with me, I don't want you to just constantly walk around on your tiptoes, afraid to touch anything and possibly make it dirty."

She spoke directly to his fears, the fears she could literally feel within him. He felt out-of-place in her home, like him just being there made it worse, presumably a holdover from his past, and one she intended to hammer down viciously. She wanted him loyal, and making him live in discomfort was a hell of a bad thing to do. But if she could get him to live in her home as if it were his own as well, it'd serve two purposes. For one, he would feel even more drawn to protect it as his own, which was a win.

And, for two, it meant she could rest assured he would stay with her. She hadn't really considered the fact, but she was regretting levelling his Charisma up, because just as her own Charisma influenced him, she could feel, when she genuinely focused on him, his presence unconsciously made her want to be beside him, and that outright scared her. But at the same time, she could use it. After all, he was, to put it in as simple terms as possible, a perfect man. He was attractive, strong, obedient, and desired to make her happy.

Plus, his upgrade from E+3 to D-3 had definitely not skimped on any part of him, so she was all too eager to share her bed with him. Was it abusing the control she had over him? Yes and no. She wasn't about to tell him to strip off and then have her way with him, but she wasn't going to keep him distant from her when she had him at her mercy either. So instead, she was going to go for the middle-ground, of staying in very close proximity to him, and then just seeing where it went. If it ended up going nowhere, well, she'd be undoubtedly upset about it, but she could live with that.

And if it went the way she wanted, then she would be, to put it simply, over the moon.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Rosa has had her first taste of complete dominance over another person, and she had definitely found it good. As she said though, she's not about to make Vesna strip off so she can fuck him despite the fact that his own Charisma, as well as just his overalls stats, are both making her want his babies, but she's definitely going to try to make him want it as much as she does.

...Yes, I'm a horny bitch, I know, but I can't write basically a fucking adonis and not fantasize about fucking him, alright?!