Told your wife

"I don't think it's my skills. Remember how low they are?"

"Right. You said that they had a low level. Well if it isn't them, then it should be your bloodline. But I haven't really seen a reason for the System to rate it so high. Is there anything else?"

Ivan facepalmed. "Fu... I forgot. There is still Vlada." Because he hadn't used her lately, he had forgotten about her. No, not forgotten, he had just excluded her from his strength. To him, it had always seemed like something external.

"Vlada?"

"My slave. She is an Evolved Vampiric Bat."

"Oh right. You are after all a member of the Slaver Alliance, so you should have a slave."

"Yeah. I kinda didn't count her in, since I see her strength as something more external and thought my level was only my strength. But it seems like this isn't the case."

"Of course not. One's slaves are an important part of one's strength. There are even some that focus all their energy on training their slaves or pets as they are called as well. Those Pet Masters are highly regarded since they are much more capable of fighting against large groups."

"Mmm, I can see that. It just feels wrong somehow.", Ivan responded.

"That's because you instinctively think of your own strength only. It's not a bad thing. It just shows that you are more accustomed to being alone and to have to rely on yourself. Something that isn't surprising, considering that after your reset you didn't have any family to rely on.

But now you have one and you should try to change that habit. Not only your slaves but also your servants, friends, and family are a part of your strength."

What she said sounds logical, but Ivan knew that it wasn't that easy to change.

Celine then continued, "Just try it. While fighting, don't just rely on yourself, but also try to rely on your slave. Or even go so far as to let your slave do the fighting alone. In the beginning, this will be hard, but it can later elevate your comprehensive strength to a whole new level."

"Mmm, I will try it."

"Great. Then later let's go to the training dungeon together."

"Huh?", the abrupt proposal surprised Ivan.

"Is it that surprising? Now that I'm your servant it is necessary for us to fight together. Only this way can we level up the Warrior Path. Besides, it will be a good opportunity for you to learn."

He had to agree with her. He didn't know how strong she was currently, but he knew that she had been very strong before. As such he should be able to learn a lot from her.

"Great.", he agreed to her proposal.

"Then that's settled. But first, we will have to go shopping."

"Shopping?", he once again asked. He really couldn't follow her train of thought.

"Of course. Not only do I need some new clothes. After all the old ones won't fit anymore. But I will also need some equipment. And then we need some massage oils and such for leveling up the Relief Path.

By the way, do you have anything I could manage for you?"

She knew that he didn't really have anything to his name, which would make leveling up the Management Path much harder since she would have started at zero.

To her surprise, he answered, "I do. At least I have something planned." He then continued with his explanation, "You know that I can refine pills right?"

When she nodded, he continued, "So after I got the 'Pill Refiner' title, I met someone who could be my assistant and then planned to open a pill store." He then continued by telling her about meeting Arina and what he had planned.

"That's a good idea.", she praised him. "But I'm surprised you already got that title."

Seeing his questioning look, she explained, "The title shows that you are quite skilled. Most pill refiners need to practice for tens of years before they can reach that level."

"I got a good teacher.", he responded, and he meant it. Without Miss. Klein's teachings, he wouldn't have been able to reach his current level this fast.

"I'm sure that is only part of the reason. Your talent should be quite good as well.

Anyway back to the shop. I think it is a good idea and should work out well. There always is a huge demand for all levels of pills. And since your refining level is high enough, you should be able to earn quite a bit. So how about you just focus on the refining part and leave the rest to me?"

Since Ivan had no experience with managing a shop, he was only too happy to let her do it. "Sure. I'd be happy if you could do that."

"Great. Then give me the number of that girl."

He did exactly that and after saving it, Celine looked at him with a sly smile.

"By the way, I told your wife about what happened yesterday."

When he heard that sentence he felt flustered. Although it wasn't like he did anything wrong, it still felt weird. He hadn't even stabilized his relationship with Lara when something like this happened with Celine. Now he was worried about her reaction.

"Um, what did she say?", he hesitantly asked.

Seeing his worried face, Celine laughed, making Ivan relax. If the reaction had been bad, then from his understanding of Celine's personality, there was no way that she would laugh.

Seeing that he calmed down, Celine knew that he had guessed that the reaction couldn't have been that bad. So she too calmed down and said, "She was surprised. But she also said that she was glad that something happened between us."

"?", he was confused. That absolutely wasn't the reaction he had expected.

"I too was confused at first, but she explained it.", Celine continued, "She explained, that it is the job of the first wife to take care of the husband's need. But she won't be able to do it anytime soon, because of what happened in the past."

"But I don't think I have any needs like this.", Ivan refuted.

"That's only what you think. It is scientifically proven, that men have their needs, except in some rare cases. By the way, the same is the case for women. It is just not as strong. And not giving in to them can be detrimental to their combat ability as well as concentration. And at your age, the effect it is even stronger."

"Then what are the others doing? I know of many others who have neither girlfriends nor wives.

"I didn't say it is necessary. But it can help increase concentration. Anyway, that isn't really the main point, which is that it is common for a man to have multiple women, so there isn't anything unusual about us having sex. And Lara is very open in this aspect. Not only did she tell me that it was alright, she even encouraged us to do it more often."

"I'd still have expected a larger reaction. Isn't there any jealousy between woman?"

"Of course there is. It is just that the marriage contracts suppress it. Like they enforce a certain behavior towards the woman as well. Besides for her, I think that us two having sex is a kind of relief for her as well as it reduces an unseen pressure she has been feeling."

Ivan listened to her explanation, but he still couldn't quite understand the thought process. Luckily he didn't have to. He could just accept it without thinking more about it. In fact, he was happy to leave the decisions concerning the household to Lara. This way he could focus on enjoying the time with his family and friends, as well as training to be stronger, without having to divert time.

"Well, if you say so."

"Yes I say so.", she affirmed. "So if you are ok then let's go shopping."

"Sure. But what about Lucia and Jane?", he asked. When he hadn't seen the two of them, he guessed that the two of them were somewhere else playing together, as they usually did.

"I already told them that we would go out when you get up. So they went out together to play."

"That's good. Thank you and Lucia for taking care of Jane.", he thanked her.

She hurriedly waved away his thanks. "You don't have to thank us. Both of us like her and enjoy spending time with her. She is just like a sister to Lucia and I too see her as something like a daughter."

Ivan still smiled thankfully. He knew that before Celine and Lucia had come to this house, Jane oftentimes had only the housekeeper as company. Although most of the time she had been with Lara, she had to play with herself since Lara had been working. Now with Lucia and Celine, there always was someone around she could play with.