Chương 67: Roots, Part Six
After Felix and Rin ran into each other, Rin dropped off her bag in her room and the two of them quickly decided to head out to a small coffee shop to catch up. Rin left Xhez behind, with her mother, who offered to let the sprite know a little about Dren while she went with Felix, just so the two of them could have some alone time together.
The place they went to was located just a couple of streets away from Rin's home, and right now, the two were sitting in a cozy spot by the front door, with Felix putting his elbows on the table and his hands under his chin as he asked:
"What's it been like?"
"It's... It's been something. Definitely something," Rin replied as their coffee arrived, and she quickly took a sip.
"Oh, come on," Felix said, "you're out there fighting monsters, eating hot adventurer pussy, and making plats, right? It has to be a little more than 'something'."
"No," Rin shook her head with a chuckle. "There hasn't been much pussy in my diet, unfortunately."
"Really?" Felix leaned back, crossing his arms. "What, are they that ugly or something?"
"I don't know what comes to your mind when you think, 'adventurer', but we're a bit too busy to just be having orgies all day."
"Then, enlighten me," Felix said, smiling kindly at her. "What have you been doing? I haven't talked to you in almost two months, I'm dying to know what you've done over here!"
And, that was how Rin got into it. She detailed what she'd gone through, as she had with her mother and Jay. At this point, talking about the kobolds and the psychos who had tried to kill her was something she'd gotten desensitized to. She could still remember the torn-up bodies of the family she'd found in that cave if she put her mind to it, but it was like her mind had locked those images in a vault of sorts.
After that, she explained Xhez to him, and Felix had reacted as well as her boss and her mother had, which gave Rin some hope that maybe humanity was more open to accepting the existence of water sprites than she thought. Not that she was going to scream about Xhez from the rooftops now, or whatever, but still. She felt a little more optimistic.
Finally, she got around to everything that had happened recently, and this was where her conversation with Felix deviated from that of her boss and her mother. Because, with him, she knew she could actually be honest about these ideas she'd gotten.
She just needed to explain herself the right way.
"So..." Rin started. "Uh, on Monday, I... I had an idea."
"Yeah?" Felix asked, tilting his hand crossing his legs. "Lay it on me."
"Okay, I just... I just want you to know I'm sharing this with you right now, so you can tell me what you think. You know, be honest," Rin told him. "Just be clear with me, alright?"
"Rin, when you told me you wanted to be an adventurer, what was the first thing I told you? I literally said that I thought you went crazy," he chuckled. "Yes, I am going to be honest. You have my word on that."
"Alright, just checking."
Then, Rin paused, and she swallowed down some of the nerves that had been building up inside of her, before stating:
"I need money. Don't get me wrong, I have enough savings to get by for a little while, and one of my teachers has been helping me out too, but, although the Academy gives you a bunch of stuff for free, I'm still going to need to buy stuff as I go up the ranks. And, the equipment that I have is going to wear out over time, especially if stuff like what happened to me before happens again, which there's always a chance that it will. So..." This was, of course, the hard part.
But, Felix cut her off.
"You need to borrow some?"
"N-No, let me finish," Rin replied. "I decided I'm going to work again."
"Oh. Well, shit, cool, what sorta job did you find?" Felix asked.
"Um... No," Rin laughed awkwardly. "I mean, I decided to 'work' again." She said, placing more emphasis on that word. Then, as Felix's smile slowly went away, replaced by a more contemplative look, she figured he understood.
"... You're serious?" He asked.
"Yeah," Rin nodded. "But, in a different way."
"Hm. Okay," he leaned a little closer. "Explain."
"Alright, so, this is what I've got in mind."
With that having been thrown out there, Rin began to talk about her reasoning a little. She went over a few, but very important, points. First, the people at Libera were undeniably more wealthy than those at Dren. This meant she stood to gain a lot more, especially since, if she did this, she'd be working on her own, as opposed to being part of a company, which would mean she gets to keep all of the money instead of working for a salary. Second, she knew there were likely many willing customers, as what she'd learned about Libera, from Elisa, from Sye, and just generally, alluded to the fact that there was a large number of women there who were, to put it simply, rather pent up. Finally, as she found out when she visited that bar, the guards were somewhat willing to let that sort of thing slide, as long as she didn't mess with anyone too important. And, of course, she also mentioned that she didn't plan on taking on any male customers if she went through with this, which would help in keeping her from developing the same self-pity she had before.
Felix listened intently, nodding along until Rin finished.
"... And, yeah," Rin said, letting out a deep exhale. "That's about it."
Felix scratched the back of his head.
"Okay," he said, "now, let me tell you every reason why that is a terrible idea," he said, lifting a finger, and RIn braced herself.
"Number one," Felix started, "prostitution is very much legal in Dren, and very illegal in Libera, from what I know. Like you said, the guards might be willing to look the other way, but that could always stop from one day to another. Second," he added, lifting another finger, "you don't know anyone in Libera. Part of why no one really fucks with us over here, I mean, figuratively speaking," he chuckled, "is because of Jay. People know that if they lay a hand on us, Jay will take their fucking heads off. That's not the case over there. For me," Felix said, sighing, "those are the immediate red flags I see here. Are you still interested in doing that?"
Rin heard, and she looked down at the table in front of her.
"Yeah," Rin nodded firmly. "I think that, as long as I do this in a smart way, pick the right people, pick the right places, the right times, I can stay out of trouble. Plus, I-I wouldn't be doing this every day, you know? It would just be an every-other-weekend sort of thing. So, yeah."
"..." Felix remained silent for a second. "Then, in that case, shit, go for it," he shrugged. Rin blinked.
"Really?" Rin asked, raising a brow at him.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, is it stupid? Yeah, I think so," Felix stated. "But, I also know you can be strangely clever sometimes. I mean, in the span of a few days, with the help of a few handouts, you got enough money to get into the Academy when you had nothing, you know? And, if you've made it this far without quitting as an adventurer, well, I don't think just any dumb hoe with good tits could do that sort of shit, right?" He laughed. "So, you've definitely got something behind that big forehead of yours."
"Okay, ouch. Uncalled for."
"I'm saying," Felix quickly added, "that, if you think this is a good idea, I trust you to make it work. But, Rin, please be careful," he said, suddenly. "I mean, we've been worried sick for you over here, and hearing this isn't gonna make that any better."
"D-Don't tell anyone though," Rin quickly said.
"I know, I know, my perfect little lips are sealed on this," he replied, putting his hands up. "Now... If all this serious talk is out of the way," he said, as his smile returned, "how about, later tonight, we get drunk and find you a hottie to practice with. That sounds good?"
Rin scoffed.
"You really just shrugged off everything I just said?"
"I told you," Felix added. "I trust your judgment. You can be dumb, stubborn, and reckless sometimes, but I like to think that your whole gimmick at this point is, 'hi, I'm Rin. I do really stupid things, but in smart ways sometimes.' And, honestly, I think that's cool, so yeah, give it a shot."
"You could just tell me I'm cool without all the 'dumb' and 'stupid' parts."
"Yeah, but then that head of yours would get swell up and get bigger than it already is, and that wouldn't look good to your future clients, now would it?"
---
{Xhez}
At the end of the day, it was decided that Rin and Xhez would share the adventurer's old room tonight and tomorrow until Sunday came and the two would go back to Libera.
Currently, it was midnight, and Xhez was still up, as her energy hadn't left her. Sprites, after all, were used to being up for months on end and then sleeping for months on end. She'd made an effort to sleep like a human, and the natural exhaustion she had from using her spells helped with that, but tonight, Xhez knew she'd get no sleep at all.
Rin was resting peacefully to Xhez's left, at her bed, after having come back covered in a strange scent and with faintly blushing cheeks, while Xhez was sitting at the bottom of an open jar filled with strangely bitter water, curled up.
[Maybe a walk would be nice,] she thought.
Then, spontaneously, she shot out of her jar and got back to her regular size as she usually did, letting water splash onto the ground in front of her. Stretching, Xhez smiled a little.
[... Now what?]
Without Rin to guide her, Xhez didn't know what she could do.
[Well,] she thought, walking over to the bed and sitting by its edge. [If I was in the forest, I would simply go on a walk.]
"..." Xhez paused. "Well, why not?"
And so, she was about to walk out the door, when she remembered.
[Oh, right, my disguise!]
Quickly, she changed her body's colors with that illusion spell of hers and then put on some of Rin's clothes, before heading out the room.
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