Shades of the New World

"I still don't understand half the words you two say to each other. I mean, I understand the words individually, but not so much when they're used together," Rhea sighed from the side.

"It's alright. It's nothing important, anyway."

"It is important," Rith complained, "Now I feel like you're going to slack on training during your job under Nasst."

"Come on man, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll do fine," Evin joked. Rhea chuckled slightly at it, but Rith didn't seem very amused, turning even more grumpy than she already was. 

"Sigh, how long are you going to be gone for, anyway?" Rhea asked afterwards.

"I'm not sure. I'm hoping I won't have to do much during the job, as it is my first mission, but my superior's expression seems to say otherwise," Evin said, remembering Nasst's rather serious tone of voice as he told Evin about his new task.

"Just come back soon, I'll be waiting for you… Always," Rhea said wistfully.

"I'll be sure to fly back to your side the moment I finish my job, my dear Rhea," Evin replied in a whisper, staring at Rhea's eyes intently.

"When did you two managed to get married?" Rith asked in a disturbed tone.

"We haven't, but it's something that transcends mortal concepts like marriage and love."

"It's something much more profound and meaningful… But sadly, you wouldn't be able to get it," Evin and Rhea replied in unison, before falling into a fit of giggles.

Evin finally managed to get some revenge on Rith, by teaming up with Rhea. Although he wasn't sure how he was going to get back at Kyune, Evin was sure he'd be able to think of something.

"But seriously, come back soon. I don't think my head can handle managing this endless line of men coming over to woo me," Rhea said, with a sigh, "Do you know how hard it was for the past month or so when you were gone? And for whatever reason, they all start by snitching on you! Do they think I'm dating you or something? And why does it never end? Ah, I wanna go home…"

Evin felt that Rhea was acting a bit over the top, but in all honesty, she truly was an exceptionally gorgeous woman, with the wit and charm to go along with it. Evin wouldn't find it difficult to believe if half the people around had a hidden crush on her.

"Is it that bad? Why don't you do that thing, uh, wear a silver bracelet on our wrist to tell people you're married?" Evin asked, before continuing with a half-joke, "If you want, I can probably even have a marriage certificate forged for you. You can put it in a case and hang it from the wall so everyone can see it."

"You know, maybe I should. I actually thought about that. I really did," Rhea said, an indescribable sigh slipping out her mouth, "But I felt that it was too sad, you know? It's not like I don't want to find someone special."

"But due to a certain someone, your standards got a bit too high," Evin said smugly.

"Piss off. I wanna find someone nice, but it's obvious these guys just want a go at my body."

"Rhea, I'd probably want a go at your body too if I was old enough. It's natural," Evin said, "Just give one of them a try. Preferably one that doesn't start the conversation by badmouthing me. Who knows? Maybe you'll enjoy the relationship more than you expect."

Rhea just sighed, looking at Evin like she was saying: 'I just wanna vent, stop being helpful'. Evin obviously noticed this, but he wasn't going to care. He was going to be even more helpful. Since she was getting harassed at her job, why not get rid of the job entirely?

"By the way, why did you end up working under Ofi in the first place? So far from your hometown as well."

Rhea looked back at Evin, with a sad-smug smile.

"Money, of course. I mean, why else would I even bother working? The Cosmics were hiring for a young, pretty, and smart shopkeeper for an almost ridiculously high price of 90 silver coins a month regardless of sales," Rhea narrated, "I thought, 'Hey, I'm kinda smart, beautiful and young! Maybe I'll give it a try!'. Not only that, I could also make connections with the Cosmics so it was a win-win no matter what."

"I remember Abe telling me about how almost 400 women came to apply for the job," Rith added from the side."

"How did they even pick you from between all those girls?" Evin asked, shocked by the revelations.

"Well, first of all, the not so pretty ones were all disqualified, which left about 300," Rhea began, "Then they had us take a test of logic and mathematics, which brought the number down to 30. After that, they made us pretend to be shopkeepers and service workers, which lead to 18 girls got disqualified for being too rude. And finally, they started teaching the 12 of us how to make and serve coffee."

"Damn, that's a full-blown beauty contest with some extra steps, isn't it?" Evin said, listening to the process.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. At some point, a crowd had gathered around us and the whole thing took two weeks to finish too. Anyway, at the end of it all, Boss just told us to make one coffee and put some love into it. Maybe I had an edge there and was picked, since I really liked the taste of coffee, compared to the others. Anyhow, I won in the end and got picked for the best job. But the rest were also hired by Boss and sent to different places, I believe."

"That's very impressive, isn't it? To be chosen out of 400 candidates," Evin said.

"Mhm, praise me more."

"Now I want to drink one of your love-filled coffees," Evin said.

"For you, I always fill it with love. Not so much for the other guys, though. They don't deserve it, they just get a shitload of sugar as a replacement," Rhea laughed charmingly, "But do you still want the coffee?"

Evin nodded and Rhea walked up to the counter to prepare one for Evin. 

[Did you seriously prepare all this for me?] Evin asked Rith privately, [Feels like a huge waste of money, considering your frugal personalities.]

[Shush. It's not like we don't know how to have a little fun here and there. And besides, it was great advertisement for the shops and the bank loans as well.]

[Thanks, master.]

Rith smiled almost unnoticeably and went back to her own thing.

[Also, Rith, how are the plans on Nekos coming along?]

[It's going well. From the latest I've heard; we've decided to set it at a price that's 50% of a silver coin at first, with a subunit named Rallods, that's always worth a 1/100th of a Neko. After all, we don't want it to be something only accessible to the higher ends of society. We'll then make it so that you can exchange it for coins or lodestones, depending on its value. We're sure it's value will drop a bit right after its introduction, but with all the benefits that we can give the Nekos, I'm sure its prices will soar to greater heights in no time.]

[But it's still going to be very hard for it to replace the coinage system entirely, right?]

[Yeah…] Rith sighed, [The smarter ones guess that it might take decades, if not centuries. It's going to be very hard for it to shed its name of an alternative currency…]

Evin heard the plans and felt some excitement at the chaotic future. 

[Can you advise Rhea to buy into Nekos while its prices are low? Tell her to sell it later when its price goes up?] 

[Sure, but wouldn't that leave you without your dear friend?]

[I can buy her a communication device so we keep in touch. Maybe I'll have her be a guide for me in Tower City when the Velvet Procession starts. And besides, it's not like she belongs to me or anything.]

[Alright.]

Rhea came back with the coffee, and the three started chatting randomly. But a message came to Evin's communication device, ordering him to wait for Nasst at the mansion.

"Alright, I'm gonna have to leave. I'll see you in a while," Evin said and picked up the sack of coffee he bought from the coffee shop. 

Rhea gave him a hug and so did Rith.

"Well, Rith will stay here with you, so at least you'll have someone to talk to. Maybe she'll keep the men from flirting with you on your job at least. Though… it's a bit concerning since she'll probably end up addicted to coffee even more."

"It's all your fault, anyway. Stop trying to insinuate that I can't control myself or something," Rith retorted. 

"Also, if you can, try to keep an eye on Arza," he told to Rith.

"I'm sure the boy is doing wonders under Deminte's hands, and I'm also pretty sure the woman wouldn't allow me to butt in her work so easily. But I'll leave you a message if Arza comes out of his, what was it called? Isolated cultivation."

"Alright. I'll try to keep in touch, then."

"Also, keep yourself safe. I don't think your mission will be anything easy and lighthearted as you're expecting it to be," Rith reminded.

The three finished their goodbyes and Evin went back to the mansion. Once inside, he gulped one of the Chameleon skins and lied down onto his bed, trying to quickly forget the aftertaste of the thing he just swallowed.

'From here on, I'd have to eat this thing every two days at the least,' Evin thought dreadfully, 'Working sucks.'

But he'd gotten so many things from Nasst, it would be unfair for him to refuse the other's request. 

'Well, at least I got my payment beforehand, so I won't have to worry about getting scammed,' Evin chuckled at the thought and waited for Nasst.