"Will you let me go if I py along in this b game of yours?"

  God knows where Ciri had gotten her ce to spout such provocative words to the demon before her.

  However, Ciri's character was like that, and she would never bow to anyone.

  In any case, her life was already in Joshua's hands, and the worst that could happen to her was death... Ugh, that seemed really bad.

  The problem was, Ciri had actually tried to get along with Joshua in a respectful manner. Like those ches who may have looked all prim and proper oside but schemed to sedueone all day long behind closed doors, Ciri could muster about a tenth of their characteristics. She had po do so in exge for her life, but she soon found that she could not do it at all.

  The reason was that she could not detey threatening or oppressive aura from Joshua... Also absent was his pt for humans or the casual disdain a master had for his servants.

  That resulted in Ciri running her mouth when she spoke to Joshua, exposirue nature.

  "Yes, I will let you go ohe shoot is pleted."

  Joshua uood the cept of sticks and carrots, of course. If he gave Ciri a tiny hope, then she would work hard for it.

  "A me correct you a little. What we are doi is called filming a movie. It is not a game."

  "A demon saving vilgers sounds very much like something one does to pass time."

  That was actually Ciri mumbling to herself, but she deliberately did not trol her to seemed that she wanted Joshua to hear it.

  Ciri had seen enough of such bored aristocrats. She thought that all of these pompous fools should be tossed into the wilderness for a lesson in survival and experience what it was like to feed on tree barks as well as fruits. That would make them uand how precious time was.

  Wait... as she thought of that, Ciri suddenly remembered that she had en for almost a day.

  The hunger within her belly made her give up uing with Joshua as she started to rummage through a small satchel underh her robes.

  Ciri found nothing to eat aside from a bunch of useless drawings and pencils in it.

  No, there was still half of a dried bark at the bottom of the satchel!

  Ciri's excitement was ha, the Witcher's excitement when he found a good Gwent pyer. She pulled out the tree bark, and just before she could bite into it, she noticed that Joshua was looking at her funny.

  "What's wrong? Never seen the bark of a cocoa tree? This tree is a delica the human world... Yes... I mean it."

  Ciri simply could not go on as she reached that part. The fact that others could now see she was so poor she had no moo eat made her feel ashamed.

  "What I wao ask was did you draw this?"

  Joshua was holding a piece of paper that had fallen out of Ciri's satchel when she was rummaging through it.

  It was a sketch of a ndscape, with a stream, a grove, a simple grill, and a small bohe bd white tones perfectly captured the se of a campfire uhe night sky.

  "Where did you get that! Ah, no, give it back!"

  Ciri suddenly realized that it had fallen out of her own satchel, and she immediately stepped forward to try and grab the drawing away from Joshua.

  Unfortunately, being a mage, her growling hunger debuff doomed her ces of getting the drawing back from Joshua.

  Not only did she not mao grab it, but in her agitation, she rushed forward too quickly. She lost her band was about to fall ft on her face.

  Joshua had taken into at what little chest the girl had and the probability of it disappearing altogether with the fall. So, he still politely held his hand out and grabbed Ciri by the waist to break her fall.

  It was only a loose touch, but Ciri shuddered all over and immediately took a few steps back.

  That was the first time a man had touched such a sensitive part of her body! But before she could even ponder upoter, she noticed that the dried tree bark she was holding earlier was now on the ground!

  She quickly rao Joshua's side to pick up the bark and patted it a few times.

  There should not be any problems! Ciri had heard a great archmage say that "food dropped on the ground is still fit for ption if picked up within three seds".

  "Say..."

  Joshua squatted down and looked at Ciri. He had begun to sympathize with the pe.

  How poor was she to be chewing on dried tree barks?

  "If you're the one who drew this, I might sider giving you some meat to eat," Joshua said as he pced the sketch before her.

  It could have been just her, but the moment Joshua said he would give her some meat to eat, Ciri's eyes suddenly lit up, and her initial reluce totally disappeared.

  "That's right. I drew it."

  Based on Ciri's expression, Joshua realized that he should not have promised her freedom earlier and should have iold her that she would have meat every day if she followed him.

  "You sketch?"

  In the beginning, Joshua had inteo release her after the filming a her return to her home.

  However, the drawing in his hand proved that Ciri would be valuable to keep around.

  "Sketch? What is that? I just drew it using the magic circle's charcoal pencil. I caught a few fishes iream there, and I drew it... just because I had some inspiration."

  Ciri thought about it carefully before she expined.

  For a wandering mage apprentice who was not that rich, the demands for spellcasting supplies were enough to drive her into poverty.

  That kind of life allowed Ciri to hone various skills like using Lightning Bolts to catch fish and use Smog to smoke out bunnies.

  The only other specialty she had was her ability to draw a little.

  "You learned all of this yourself?"

  "If I did not learn them. Who would have taught me? Those painting materials used by the court painters could feed me for twenty-five years. For them to teach me, I think even with fifty years worth of food money I would still not be able to pay them."

  "Very well. Perhaps I could formally employ you then, Ciri."

  Joshua never expected the mage to be su excellent artist.

  Sketg was easy to learn but difficult to master, and Ciri's drawing was undoubtedly within the realm of exquisite.

  Sketg was the basis of art. Perhaps geniuses may have been able to skip this stage, but Joshua himself spent ten years learning how to sketd five to paint.

  sidering that Joshua po develop games iure, he would not ignore any artistic talent that came his way.

  "Employ me?" Ugh... did you not say that you would release me after the filming?" Ciri asked as she bit into the tree bark.

  She did not seem to believe in Joshua's promises to her, including the part about "giving her meat to eat".

  The so-called employment shtick had to be akin to svery!

  "Whether you want to accept it or not is up to you. But I think the price I am may be up your alley."

  "rice"

  "I guarantee you food for the rest of your life."

  In order to expand his cultural invasion business iure, he would definitely need a rge number of talents at his disposal. While Joshua had not formuted the specifics of the employment, that sentence alone was enough to impress Ciri.

  Weebkun