Chương 49: Chapter 47 – Employment Out of Spite

"Alright, you know what? Sure. Let me go tell Adair." She turned and jogged back toward the line of adventurers waiting by the board. Chelsea watched her lean in toward a taller male version of herself. Adair immediately frowned. Even from across the room, she could tell they were arguing. Adair pointed toward Chelsea's table. Ivy shrugged. Adair pointed again, more aggressively this time. Ivy rolled her eyes, said something Chelsea couldn't hear, then turned and walked back over with a satisfied grin.

"Ready to go," she announced.

"Perfect. Got to wait for Adriane. She's with the guildmaster." The moment Ivy sat down, the family felt like a pack of wolves noticing something unfamiliar wander too close to their den.

"How do you know Little Sister Chelsea?" Dewey asked.

"Oh, hi. Uh, we took the assessment together."

"OK," Bea said slowly, "and why the fuck are you in Adriane's seat?" Ivy immediately started standing.

"Oh, am I?"

"No. You're not. We don't have assigned seats," Chelsea said quickly.

"Bea, stop it." Bea leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed while smiling.

"Just playing." Edgar said nothing. He simply stared at Ivy through the blank white mask. Chelsea pointed accusingly at him.

"You too. Quit it. You're being a creeper."

"I am merely observing," Edgar replied calmly.

"Like a creeper!"

"You're Adair's little sister, right?" Fiona asked from beside Dewey.

"Unfortunately, yes," Ivy replied.

"You're Fiona, right?" The larger woman looked mildly surprised.

"You know who I am?"

"Well, yeah. You're kind of famous around here." Her eyes shifted between her and Dewey, who were practically pressed shoulder to shoulder.

"So, are you two together?"

"Ask our innkeeper," Bea muttered.

"Her and the rest of the block we're staying on could answer that question for you." Fiona immediately buried her face in one hand while Dewey turned bright red beneath his beard.

"You're one to talk," Chelsea shot back.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you," Bea replied lazily. Then, without warning, "By the way, Chelsea, are you still a virgin?" Chelsea nearly inhaled her own tongue. Her face went burning hot instantly.

"That... isn't... any of your business."

"You're a demon and a virgin?" Ivy asked, sounding genuinely fascinated instead of mocking.

"My brother owes me five silver. He thought you were a succubus."

"Can we not?" Chelsea groaned, dropping her forehead onto her folded arms.

"Please. I'm begging all of you."

"It's OK, Little Sister," Dewey said reassuringly.

"It's a good thing."

"How is it a good thing?" Bea asked immediately.

"She's the only girl here who can't get pregnant. She should be fucking every guy who comes under her attract skill." Chelsea slowly lifted her head. The embarrassment vanished for a second, replaced by confusion. That thought had genuinely never crossed her mind before. Her stomach dropped a little. No children. She would never be able to have kids. Like ever. She stared blankly at the tabletop for a moment before lowering her head back down onto her arms.

Maybe she could do whatever it took to make a new demon at some point.

"You have attract and aren't a succubus?" Ivy asked, still sounding more academically fascinated than judgmental.

"Does that mean you can make men fall in love with you whenever you want?" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Chelsea's muffled voice came through her sleeves.

"Nope. Just means random men with low Charisma have a chance of falling for me." She lazily pointed toward the clerk desks without lifting her head.

"Case and point. Henry over there." Ivy followed the gesture.

"Little Henry?"

"Yup."

"Oh gods," she muttered, suddenly understanding several things at once.

"So if you wanted," Ivy continued carefully, "you could lose your virginity pretty easily?" Chelsea raised her head again, scrunching up her face in disgust at Ivy.

"I eat people," she reminded her.

"There's a very real chance I take a bite out of somebody if I'm not emotionally attached to them." Instead of reacting with horror, Ivy snapped her fingers excitedly.

"Definitely not a succubus."

"I already said I wasn't," Chelsea replied flatly.

"Succubi don't usually lead with accidental cannibalism concerns," Edgar noted helpfully.

"Thank you, Edgar," Chelsea sighed.

"Wonderful contribution."

"You're welcome."

"Also, it's not cannibalism. I'm not human." Chelsea huffed.

"Keep telling yourself that, dick biter," Bea replied with a smirk.

"Oh hey," Chelsea said suddenly, latching onto the topic change with obvious desperation.

"Ivy, do you have The Eyes?"

"I wish," she scoffed.

"My dad does. Our family acts like he was blessed by the gods themselves for getting it. We're lucky just having one person with it." She looked around the table curiously.

"Do you all have someone?"

"Me and Chelsea do," Bea answered before taking another bite of stew.

"Though hers is a really low skill level."

"And you have a small chest," Chelsea fired back instantly.

"And your spear work is atrocious," Bea added with a shrug.

"Speaking of spears," Chelsea said brightly, immediately recovering, "check this one out." She reached into her bag and pulled out the broken stick. Ivy gave her a confused look right up until the moment the weapon expanded in her hand with a smooth metallic snap, reforming into its full spear shape. Bea froze. Her mouth slowly fell open. Chelsea completely missed the expression at first. She was too busy admiring the weapon herself.

"I know, right?" she said proudly, running her fingers down the shaft.

"Adriane gave it to me for doing so well during the assessment. Though she did have to modify it a bit for me." She released it above the table. The spear instantly collapsed back into the battered foot-long stick and bounced once against the wood before rolling toward Bea. Bea made a tiny wounded squeaking sound.

"That was supposed to be mine," she said. Chelsea blinked.

"But didn't you give up spears?" she asked honestly.

"Why would she give a spear to someone who doesn't use spears anymore?" The table collectively winced. Even Fiona sucked in a breath.

"Little Sister," Dewey said carefully, "that was too far. Even for Bea." Chelsea looked around the table. Everyone except Edgar was staring at her like she had just kicked a puppy. Her stomach dropped immediately.

"Oh. Wait." She reached toward Bea.

"No, Bea, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant you switched weapons and I thought maybe she wanted someone actively using spears and I wasn't trying to say you weren't good enough or that she didn't care and—" Bea's expression abruptly split into a wide, unhinged grin.

"Do you really think I give a shit about that spear anymore?" she cackled. Chelsea stopped mid-apology.

"The look on your stupid face right now," Bea continued, wheezing with laughter.

"Gods, I wish you could see yourself." Chelsea slowly turned to everyone else. The mood around the table had already shifted into weary acceptance. Ah. Bea was just being Bea again. Everyone understood that except Ivy, who looked deeply unsettled by the emotional whiplash she had just witnessed.

"I thought she was genuinely heartbroken," she admitted carefully.

"She probably was for about six seconds," Edgar replied.

"Chelsea!" The guildmaster's voice rang down from the stairs. Chelsea sighed dramatically and slumped backward in her chair.

"What now?" she muttered under her breath. Ivy immediately looked alarmed. The way the guildmaster stood at the top of the stairs with her arms crossed made it look less like someone requesting a conversation and more like someone preparing an execution. Chelsea made her way over to the stairs.

"Yes, ma'am?" she asked. The guildmaster pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Did you piss off Easton again?"

"Again?" Chelsea repeated.

"You're really going to let that bastard hold the guild hostage?" A few nearby conversations immediately quieted. The guildmaster lowered her voice.

"Miss Wixx, please."

"No, seriously," Chelsea continued, not lowering her voice, her irritation bubbling over as Adriane stepped down the stairs behind the guildmaster. Chelsea threw both hands up in frustration.

"He's charging people to read scraps of paper, gets mad someone helps for free, and now what? He's threatening to quit?" The guildmaster's silence was answer enough. Chelsea stared at her for a long second. Then she groaned dramatically and dragged both hands down her face.

"You know what? Fuck it." She pointed toward the desks.

"I'll take the stupid job. But we're doing it my way. Not this garbage-ass system you have." Before the guildmaster could stop her, Chelsea marched straight toward the middle of the hall.

"Listen up!" she yelled. The guildhall quieted almost instantly. Even adventurers halfway through drinks turned toward her.

"Starting tomorrow, I will be reading job postings for free," Chelsea announced loudly.

"You come up, ask me what kind of job you want, and I'll find something that fits. Be here by nine hundred in the morning." Chelsea kept going.

"Once I'm done with the last person, I'm done for the day. Do not come bothering me or my family outside of that. Any other time, go to this piece of shit." She pointed directly at Easton. Several adventurers choked trying not to laugh. Easton himself looked moments away from dying.

"Tell every adventurer you know," Chelsea continued.

"Nine… hundred… in the morning." Then, with all the dignity of someone who absolutely had not just publicly declared war on the guild's reading economy, she turned and walked calmly back toward her table.

"You're going to give us first crack at them though, right?" Bea asked immediately. Chelsea leveled her with a flat stare.

"Be here by nine hundred tomorrow and find out."