"Is it here?" Leone carefully observed his surroundings, doing his best to identify one of the vassal candidates Daedalus had detected through its scan.
"Yes," Daedalus replied, also looking around. "I've existed for a very long time, and I have to admit—your choice of vassal is the most unique among my uncountable previous owners."
Before Leone could even reply, a blur moved at the corner of his eye.
The young man shifted his gaze in that direction. On a tree branch stood a little red squirrel, munching the fruit in its hands.
"Is that him?" Leone asked Daedalus.
"Yes," Daedalus replied. "That's him."
Daedalus then opened its pages to show Leone the squirrel's Status Page.
The grimoire frankly found it surprising. How could this squirrel be a vassal candidate? At that thought, it started to wonder about the qualifications.
———
[Unnamed Red Squirrel]
Race: Squirrel
Grade: Common
Strength: 2
Agility: 30
Dexterity: 19
Vitality: 6
Intelligence: 10
Description: A common red squirrel that can be found in the forests of the borderlands.
Signature Ability: Fleeing Instinct - [Level 5]
— When fleeing, increase agility by 200%
— Gains a burst of speed that increases movement speed by 200% for ten seconds.
———
"Hey… is it just me, or does this squirrel have higher stat points than me?"
To confirm the young man's suspicion, the grimoire showed Leone's Status Page on the other page to make a stat by stat comparison.
"It is quite surprising, but this squirrel has ten more stat points than your combined stats, Master," Daedalus chuckled. "Oh dear! To think you're weaker than a squirrel. This is truly an eye opener!"
Leone didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He knew he wasn't really a strong person. But being weaker than a squirrel truly made him feel lacking as a human being.
It was then that a giggle reached his ears, but he ignored it. He didn't even need to turn around to know it was Yuni. Which other lady would trail them, then laugh upon hearing he was weaker than a squirrel!?
"Anyway, having a vassal stronger than me is a good thing," Leone said calmly.
"You're just weak, Master," Daedalus commented. "We should really start your training arc after we're done with the Recruitment Mission. Anyway, what strategy do you plan to use on this squirrel? Right now, its favorability rating of you is zero percent."
Leone only smirked and took out its secret weapon.
The young man held a loaf of bread, which was a part of the food supplies given to him before he was exiled from the kingdom.
"Come here, Mr. Squirrel," Leone said. "I'm not a suspicious person. I'm here to give you food!"
"… He's acting very suspicious, right?" Daedalus moved to where Yuni was and asked her the question.
"That he is," Yuni replied.
Leone ignored the two members of the peanut gallery talking smack of him behind his back.
"This bread tastes better than the fruit that you are eating," Leone placed the bread on the ground before slowly backing away. "I want to be your friend, so I'm giving you this gift."
The squirrel watched the suspicious individual walk away before glancing on the loaf of bread on the ground.
It could sense the bread was edible. But all living creatures feared the unknown, so the squirrel hesitated to try out a food it was seeing for the first time.
But living creatures were also inherently curious. The moment Leone had moved over a dozen meters from the bread, the squirrel felt safer and decided to investigate.
It climbed down the tree and approached the bread cautiously. It then gave it a few sniffs before glancing in Leone's direction.
After it was convinced that the young man posed no threat, the squirrel tore off a piece of bread and took a bite.
The squirrel froze after tasting the bread for nearly two seconds before its jaw moved like it was a gatling gun at rapid fire.
It easily finished the piece of bread in its hand before tearing away another piece. After eating a few more times, it decided to take the bread back home, piece by piece.
Leone watched as his strategy worked. With a satisfied smile, he gestured for the grimoire to come to him, so he could check his favorability rating with the squirrel.
[Favorability: 40%]
Seeing it jump from zero to forty percent confirmed the effectiveness of Leone's plan.
So he used his next secret weapon.
And what was that?
It was none other than a second loaf of bread!
"Mr. Squirrel, please take this loaf of bread as my parting gift," Leone said. "I'll come back tomorrow and give you more. You can share this with your friends."
The young man placed the bread on the ground before walking away without looking back.
The grimoire followed behind the young man, a bit doubtful of his strategy.
"Are we really leaving?" Daedalus asked. "Shouldn't we increase his favorability before this day is over?"
Leone chuckled before asking Daedalus a question. "If you give someone free food that tastes good, will that person be happy?"
"I don't really eat food, but I do think anyone will be happy to receive free, delicious food," Daedalus replied.
"Will you still be happy if someone gives you free, delicious food when you're already full?" Leone asked.
"Um… no?"
"That's right. No matter how delicious the food is, you can't keep eating when you're already full or you'll get sick. If that squirrel doesn't have friends, he will have enough food for days.
"But if he has friends, then the food will be gone by tomorrow. Either way, the next time he sees me, his favorability rating should have gone up. Since it's still early, let's go to our next vassal candidate."
Leone passed over the tree where Yuni was hiding, not even bothering to glance in her direction.
In the end, Yuni decided to stop hiding. Leone already knew she was there anyway.
She just trailed a few steps behind the young man, curious about what kind of creature he would see next.