Ever since she'd learned about her son's plans to buy a slave to practice his techniques in bed, Freya had been more than upset–she was furious and yet knew better than to confront him yet. The monster army headed their way, the rejection from Roxanne, and everything else that was hurled at their faces, was overwhelming enough as it was.
Still, her heart burned with rage and frustration–especially once she was back in the shop and working beside the very slave her son had tried to buy. Being sold by one of her cousins and to be bought by her son, if such a thing had come to fruition, she could only imagine how horrid she and Okio would've felt.
At least in Zephyr's care, she was happy, and that happiness stemmed from genuine care for her master rather than forced intimacy like her son had planned for her. Expressively glad that such a disaster never came to be, she eyed Okio from the corner of her eye. Left alone with the Capra, she couldn't help but wonder how she felt about her son.
"Okio, can I ask you something?" Her curiosity got the better of her, and she began walking towards the reception table. Shooting a glance at the closed shop door, she heaved a sigh and asked. "Too early for us to open, so I guess now is the best time for me to clear the air about this."
"What are you talking about, miss?" Looking up at the mascot, Okio squinted.
Holding her tongue for a moment, Freya leaned to the side and heaved.
"Did my son really try to purchase you from the slaver?" Her question instantly soured the Capra's expression. "I'm sorry if it's a sensitive topic for you, but I need to know."
Staring angrily at Freya for a spell, Okio closed the book in front of her. Setting her pen down as well, she leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed.
"I like you, miss, and that's why I'll tell you this once." Her nose flared up with anger as she huffed a response. "I don't wanna talk about your son. Staying in that cage was bad enough, but to watch him walking away from it after giving me hope…"
Already, she could feel the sting in her heart and the ground under her feet slipping away from her. Emotionally, she was in a free fall.
"I… I don't like your son, and I don't want to talk about him."
"That–I understand." Swallowing her words, Freya saw a glimpse of the hopelessness that Okio must've felt in that cage. To be met with a savior, one promised as the hero, and then for him to abandon you–what hope would you have to be saved by another person ever again? "I'm sorry for asking."
"Let's just forget that we talked about this, alright?" As a free woman, Okio made no effort to hide her disdain for Freya's son, and now that they were no longer talking about him, a smile crept up on her face as she returned to work. "Maybe we can talk about something else instead to take our minds off these things?"
Humming a quiet tune, she looked up at Freya again.
"Like how you've been sneaking a peek at master and me through the gaps in the doors." Smiling a kiddish smile, Okio watched as a streak of red took over Freya's cheeks. Hidden behind that mask, her mouth was left agape, but not a word came out because of the shock. "No need to be so surprised, you literally watched us while standing in the doorframe as well. Hardly a secret–master's need for affection."
"Gosh, that's… awkward, I didn't mean to stare." Blushing away, Freya tried not to think of yesterday.
"It's okay, I'm used to being stared at. That cage practically made me immune to being ogled by others in lecherous ways."
"W-where are these two anyways?" Trying to steer away from the conversation at hand, Freya shook her head. " Don't we have to open the shop for the day?"
Nodding at her, Okio pointed at the door with her pen.
"You can go ahead and open the door. Master told me that they are going to be gone for a while and that I should take requests and you should handle the customers instead of waving through the window today."
"Great… As if being eye candy in this outfit wasn't embarrassing enough," Freya complained, although her expression carried relief at having ended the awkward conversation.
While the two returned to work and the customers began flooding in, Zephyr and Aura were busy working through the paperwork at the guild. Glyea had made an official quest request, and they, being experts in monsters, had to report the hero party's findings. But that was far from all that they would be doing, as the forces required to repel the monsters needed to be extensive.
The mercenaries from the secluded tower, the forces of the greenhorn market, along with the assortment of many clans from the Ascended fangs–a sect of beastmen dedicated to aiding any and all to better their image in civilized societies. None of the forces could be spared; each and every soldier was required, and given the severity of the situation and a deviled tongue, it was bound to be a rather easy task for the fiends.
The only hurdle, however? It wasn't the fiends who would do the talking; Glyea had to be the face of this battle. A scholar from the capital, determined to save the town, was far more palatable than a measly merchant trying to command everything and everyone. Her voice carried more weight in the eyes of the public, and that deception was to be Zephyr's blade.
However, that didn't mean Glyea was prepared for such a tall task–after all, she was but a student of the sages–one who'd already been dropped on her ass by whom she still assumed to be a mere incubus.
'Well fuck me sideways, how am I supposed to do this!?' Needless to say, she was in full-blown panic.