Chapter 043: After A Hard Day's Work.

"A total of five sliver coins. How was your first job?"

Julia placed the money on a tray and slid it to Shelly.

"I mean… it took some time finding the places but your map really helped." Shelly replied.

"It did! Thank you so much." Julia cheered.

Off to the side, Maou stood staring at the ground with deflated expressions. Taka's words really struck something.

"Haaaa…. Doing a single job is hardly enough for a meal. We might have to eat bread for dinner tonight Maou." Shelly said, expecting him to complain.

"Okay." Maou replied.

"I know it sucks–. Huh?!" Her eyes darted to Maou, shocked by his response. She tested him again. "I doubt we even have enough for bread either. We'll have to starve tonight."

"That's okay." Maou answered.

Shelly immediately, crouched and began patting down Maou for injures, checking for a fever, examining his mouth, staring into his nostrils and scanning his eyes.

"What are you doing? Stop that." Maou pushed away Shelly's hands.

"Are you sick? Is your tummy okay? Did you hurt yourself somewhere? Is your tail still on you?" Shelly worried, spinning Maou around and checking his backside.

"Stop, I'm fine! Why are you acting weird?" Maou asked.

"Me? No, you're acting weird. I just said we'd starve tonight and your response was "That's okay"." Shelly pointed out. "Since when were you ever okay with starving?!"

"I'm just… not in the mood." Maou replied.

"Haaaaa… fine." Shelly sighed, standing to her feet. "We'll do one more job and call it quits for today, sounds good?"

"Okay." Maou answered.

Shelly walked over to the job board, then picked Maou up.

"Pick any job you want us to do." Shelly said. "The more money, the more we eat."

Maou listlessly grabbed one of the papers. Putting him on the ground, he handed her the paper.

"Alright, lets see what we have here." Shelly began reading the paper. "Clean the butcher's animal house for twenty sliver."

Shelly silently regretted letting Maou choose, her face disgusted at the job description.

"Is it bad?" Maou asked.

"No no, this one is perfect. The pay is high." Shelly reassured.

And just like that, with much regret, Shelly accepted the job and eventually arrived at the butcher's place. His wife greeted them as she was the one to put up the job request. She did so since no one else would do it for such a meagre amount, especially after noticing the level of work to be done.

The wife explained that her husband had been overworking himself to complete meat orders and damaged his lower back from the heavy lifting and bending. He was bedridden for over a week and couldn't take care of his animals but his wife was able to feed them but she couldn't handle the smell of them for too.

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this?" The wife asked, concerned for Shelly. "I've already had four people quit on me since last week and it's been getting worse in there."

"No worries ma'am. I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle." Shelly assured.

"Oh thank you so much! May Kalos' blessings fall on you." The wife thanked.

She escorted them to the small barn and as the doors opened, a gut wrenching smell of animal dung and piss flew into Shelly's nose, nearly causing her to vomit.

"Oh God, I can taste it. Why can I taste it?"

Shelly clamped her nose shut while gagging. Maou just stood next to the wife holding his nose. The wife handed them nose clamps to assist with the odour but they were close to useless. Shelly walked inside the barn, examining how bad the situation was but something terrible happened next.

"Squash!"

Shelly stepped in shit… the wet kind.

"Ah f*cking damnit! My favourite shoes!" Shelly complained.

She deeply considered to forfeit the work, despite the consequence of the cancellation fee but her desire for money pushed her forward but not without puking twice and slipping into a puddle of pig piss, slashing Maou who was shovelling cow dung.

By the time Shelly returned to the guild with a completion signature, she was only half the person she left with and sunset was nearly gone.

"Gob vell zun u too. (Job well done you two)" Julia spoke with pinched nostrils. "Ere's yur reward. (Here's your reward)"

Shelly silently collected the twenty silver, the light in her eyes already gone.

"U tew zhould bisit dee bathouse vefor goin home."

The two walked towards the exit while everyone present scorned them with looks of disgust and pinched nostrils. Walking through the city, everyone else dispersed as they passed through. Shelly could only hang her head low and stare at the ground to avoid seeing the attention she was drawing towards her.

"Shelly! Maou!" A familiar voice called out to them.

"Anna?" Maou said as she approached them waving.

She instantly pinched her nose coming closer to them.

"Nya!!! You two smell like shit. What happened?" Anna asked, slowly distancing herself.

"Work." Shelly answered.

"Hurk! you two need to freshen up." Anna stated with a slight gag. "There's a bathhouse nearby. I'll guide you there… from a distance."

And just like that, the three journeyed to a large building with many people entering and leaving more refreshed than before. The cost for women and children were 5 silver and men was 7 silver. Shelly paid an extra 14 silver for new clothes as hers and Maou's were corrupted with the stench of animal waste.

Shelly stared at her last bit of earnings with an aching heart while fighting back tears of hurt.

"After everything I went through today… I only have one silver left. I can't even afford to eat dinner tonight." Shelly vented.

"Don't worry about it. Dinner's on me." Anna assured.

"Really?!" Shelly quickly turned to her.

"Of course Nyaa!!" Anna replied. "I don't mind helping a friend out."

Shelly's eyes became watery as she lunged herself at Anna, rubbing her cheeks against hers.

"Thank you so much Anna!!!" Shelly sobbed, clinging to her.

"Nyaa!!! Stop, you smell horrible." Anna struggled to get free.

The three walked to the women's changing area. After removing their clothes, they entered the bathhouse and journeyed into a less crowded area.

"Nya! Baba? Is that you?" Anna approached her.

"Ah! Anna how are? Oh, you brought Shelly and Maou with you too." Baba waved to them while soaping her puffy black hair.

From a distance she looked like cotton candy on a brown stick. Sadly, she immediately got soap in her eyes afterwards. Soon after, Shelly spotted Vanessa enter and she called to her.

"Good day to you all." She politely bowed. "Please call me Vanessa."

"Nya! You're freaking huge!" Anna exclaimed.

"Anna no!" Shelly said. "She's sensitive about her—!"

Vanessa fell to her knees and palms.

"You're right. I'm a giant freak of nature." The light disappeared from Vanessa's eyes. "Maybe I should cut off my legs then I'll be normal."

Anna quickly apologized but it took some time for Vanessa to regain her composure. As time passed, they soaked into one of the large warm water baths as they got to know each other better, especially Shelly since she was the most uncommon.

"That's so heartbreaking!" Baba exclaimed, sobbing profusely.

"You're a great big sister." Vanessa said, holding back tears.

"Nya…. I thought my childhood was tough." Anna replied while comforting the crying Baba.

"Dead parents, dead friends, missing brother and you're an orphan." Sierra recounted. "Pretty rough start if you ask me."

"Wait, isn't Maou your younger brother too?" Vanessa asked.

"No he's not actually." Shelly replied. "He just popped up outta nowhere one day."

"Popped up? What do you mean?" Vanessa asked further.

"Well, I remember getting stabbed through the chest." Shelly looked at the ceiling. "Would've sworn I bled out and died. But then I woke up to this naked boy next to me and my wounds were healed. Now it's just this big scar on my back and chest."

By this time everyone was glued to Shelly's story with mixed emotions and a series of questions.

"You got stabbed through the chest! And survived!" Baba exclaimed.

"Maou healed you?!" Sierra asked surprised. "Wait! Does he have healing magic?!"

"I don't know. Never really asked." Shelly shrugged.

"So where's his parents? Or relatives? Or friends?" Vanessa questioned more.

"I don't know. He has some memory loss sickness." Shelly answered.

"Memory loss?" Vanessa noted. "How bad is it?"

"He doesn't remember anything before meeting me." Shelly answered.

"That's terrible!" Vanessa said worriedly.

"Wow! You two are just full of surprises." Sierra commented.

"It's like the God of bad luck just sneezed on you." Baba commented.

Everyone giggled at Baba's remark until Shelly suddenly jumped up with frightened expressions.

"Hey has anyone seen Maou?!" She worriedly asked.

"Now that you mention it… I haven't heard him either." Sierra added, standing up to look around.

Just then, Anna spotted bubbles floating to the top of the water. Suspicious, she reached down, grabbing what felt like a child's body.

"Nya! I found him!" Anna pulled Maou to the surface.

"He's blue!" Shelly panicked.

Luckily, Sierra knew C.P.R. and saved Maou who was drowning from starvation. Leaving the bathouse together, they headed for tonight's dinner at Joker's Tavern. A table of five while Baba tried her best to serve them without incidents. Maou seemed to return to his usual self while cutting down eight bowls of rice and stewed pork with roasted vegetables and apple juice.

Feeling guilty for off setting Maou's monstrous diet on Anna, Shelly promised to repay her back in full but Anna refused the very thought. Vanessa who was new to he scene was astounded at Maou's "serving size".

"Does he eat like this all the time?" She asked.

"Only when I can afford it." Shelly giggled.

"So what is he to you?" Vanessa questioned.

"Well… I haven't really thought about it much." Shelly paused to think. "I guess you could say he's my annoying little adopted brother. Hahaha!"

She ran her fingers through Maou's hair as he slept on her lap with a full stomach.

"Nyaaaaa! You two look so cute together." Anna complimented.

"I know right! I want a child like Maou too." Sierra added.

"Hahaha!" Shelly chuckled. "Thank you, we appreciate it."

Just then, Maou woke up.

"I wanna go home." He mumbled, climbing onto Shelly's lap.

"Well ladies, I'm heading out first." Shelly carefully stood up. "Anna, thank you for everything again."

"I'll walk you home then." Sierra stood up.

She called to Baba and left her payment on the table along with a nice tip. Vanessa also got ready to leave but not without Anna offering to walk her home. She politely declined, not wanting to bother her but Anna was adamant and Vanessa caved. Saying their goodbyes, they went their separate ways.

"So how was it? Your first day as an "Adventurer"." Sierra said. "Did you climb mountains? Or travel to different cities? Or perhaps… slayed an ancient dragon?"

"I wish!" Shelly sighed. "All I did was delivery and clean up shit. I can still smell it inside my skull."

"Sounds like you had a rough first day again." Sierra giggled.

"First days just aren't my thing i realized." Shelly laughed.

"And how was it for Maou?" Sierra asked.

"Well, I'm not sure honestly." Shelly readjusted Maou on her shoulder. "While I was busy delivering some stuff, we got separated and by the time we met up again, he was all sad and… not Maou."

"Really? What happened?" Sierra questioned.

"I don't know. He still hasn't told me what bothered him." Shelly rubbed Maou's back as she spoke. "I just hope it isn't anything serious."

"He probably got bullied by some street children or something." Sierra speculated. "But he sure did eat like Maou though."

They chuckled softly.