1.22 – Jobs

Aggressive male grabs her arm, threatens implied sex abuse. Hardly deserves a cw tbh but

Sasha was nowhere to be seen by time Maple got over her embarrassment enough to leave her room. It was nearly noon already, so she decided to head out. She was searching for any help wanted signs, and would maybe approach a business without a sign if it seemed like it'd be a decent place to work.

She had her ID with her, and her stomach was aching with anxiety. The events at the guardhouse when she got here only validated all of her anxiety. Avoiding it would be best. She should just go back to the inn. Stay a NEET. She wanted to. She couldn't just mooch off Emma and everyone though.

The argument continued in her head until she came to the first neatly painted 'Apprentice Wanted' sign in a window. Each letter almost looked like it was printed by a machine, they were so perfect. Same with the name of the place, Ulven's Enchantments.

She went in before she could talk herself out of it. A Half-Elf man was hunched over a worktable. He had a young face with unblemished skin, but a meticulous gaze and demeanor that made him look at least middle-aged. He barked an order at her without looking up.

"Wait there."

Maple froze where she stood and watched from afar. He had a large magnifying glass attached to the desk via a movable arm. He was looking through it while delicately tracing lines onto a small object.

Curious, she crept closer and observed. His workbench was full of labeled trays of small gems, tubes of pastes or paints, and other objects she couldn't guess at.

It was just a small piece of wood shaped like a river rock that he was working on. The colored lines he traced with some kind of gritty paint were about the width of a needle. Different colors sometimes overlapped, while two lines of the same color never did.

It reminded her of—well, a lot of trades might have a similar setup—but it reminded her of her electrical engineering classes. Almost like he was making the traces on a PCB, and the components were the various shaped gems embedded into the piece of wood.

"They never listen."

He spoke without looking up, and Maple took a guilty few steps back. The line he was working on was just about finished.

"Sorry. What is that?"

"Sure you are. Preservation rune. Well? What can I do for you? I'll tell you upfront, my backlog is three weeks long right now. I do commissions, not mass production. If you're looking for a trinket, go somewhere else."

Like the thing Charlotte had at her home for storing large amounts of food, then. Maple cleared her throat.

"The sign said you were looking for an apprentice?"

"Bah. This isn't work for a girl."

"Hey—"

"Boy neither, for that matter. I need someone reliable. Not some brat."

Maple's scowl relented and then came back. Ageism wasn't much better than sexism. She was distracted though. She pointed to a tiny bit of paint barely smudging two lines of the same color together.

"I'm not a child. Um, is that part a mistake though? They shouldn't be touching, right?"

"What do you know about—Oh. Good eye, I guess."

He used a tiny metal scraper to fix the mistake. It took a minute to carefully scrape it away without messing up whatever was underneath.

"Alright, fine. You are 'only human'. Much older and you'd die before you reach Level 20. You got your work permit on you, girl? Any relevant classes or experience?"

"My name's Maple. And yeah, but..."

He snatched it from her hand and stared at it incredulously before nearly tossing it back to her.

"Is this a joke? I don't need some harlot fraternizing with every customer who walks in. They linger enough as it is."

"I didn't want those classes though! I can become an [Enchanter] with enough time, right? What difference does it make? This seems interesting, and I can learn."

The man, Ulven presumably since this was his shop, had looked as if the conversation was already done but he turned to her and genuinely considered it. His meticulous gaze turned compassionate.

"It's unfortunate you had those classes forced upon you. Even so, if you consolidated whatever [Enchanter] class you'd get with either of them? That wouldn't be good for me. I need an apprentice I can rely on. My backlog is only growing, an apprentice is an investment with a large upfront cost. They waste materials when they mess up, and anything they do finish ends up being sold at a loss until they're *at least* Level 10. Sorry, Maple was it, but I can't afford that risk. Best of luck to you."

Maple sighed and left after that. It wasn't that unreasonable, but he was still kind of a jerk. She could have been a fine enchanter despite those classes. Probably. Maybe she'd only be able to make sex toys, or something else ridiculous. She kicked the next stone she passed in anger.

The next place she tried didn't go much better, albeit for different reasons.

The Greasy Ape bar was run by the first Human she'd met in this world. She had surely passed others and just didn't notice, but this was the first one she talked to. She was hopeful.

"The job opening? Sure, sure. Us Humans have to stick together, right?"

The burly man led her into a back room and had her sit. The desk was littered with papers and a safe was bolted to the floor behind it.

"I'm Denny. How'd a pretty little thing like you end up in this city of monsters?"

The man had a grimier vibe than even the name of the place implied. Maple brushed past the details of how she got there. When she handed him her work permit, he just smiled and handed it back.

"What kinda Skills do ya got there?"

"Um, not any that I'd want to use. I just want to get a different class like—"

"Why not? Use em if you got 'em, right? They call us oppressors, but these monsters have a fetish for us Humans. I bet you could make me a lot of money. Yourself too, of course."

Maple shuddered, and glanced at the door. Denny was eyeing her up and down. He looked at her as if she were meat, not a person. The job was only supposed to be as a waitress.

"I don't want to do that. Sorry, I don't think this is the job for me after all."

Maple stood up and Denny wrapped his hand around her wrist before she even turned. His fingers dug in painfully. Her heart skipped a beat and her stomach dropped as a surge of adrenaline was released.

"Let go of me!"

"Think you're too good for it? Any coin at all would be more than you're worth. I should—"

"Boss there's another person asking about the job, uh..."

Maple stared at the Dragonkin woman who entered. Asking for help was on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't know if she would. She was at least as large as Denny was, but that didn't mean she could take him without injury.

He let go and spat.

"Whatever. Go on, then. Useless whore."

She practically ran out of the room, ducking her head in thanks to the Dragonkin.

Hopefully the rest of the staff weren't being abused, and it was just her classes that gave him whatever sick idea he had. He was a racist piece of shit either way. Maybe Bailey could do something? She would mention it next time she saw him, at the least.

The grimy feeling stuck with her the rest of the day, and the other places she tried also went poorly. None as bad as almost being raped, or whatever he had been about to do, but they either weren't hiring at all, didn't want to hire someone with the classes she had, or wanted to hire her because of the classes she had.

It was gross. It was disappointing. It was...classist?

"Gimme something strong."

"Oh, you're back. What's up?"

Maple slouched against the bar. It didn't take a very high level [Bartender] to read her mood. Sasha set a glass of something reddish brown in front of her. A large gulp made Maple's face scrunch up and she almost spit it out. She forced it down and made a loud 'aaahh' as she tried to stop the burning.

A glass of water appeared next to it and Maple took two big gulps. It didn't just burn from the alcohol content—it was spicy.

"Too strong? That's Salamander Whisky for ya. I could mix it with something if you want."

"It's fine. Thanks."

Maple took tiny sips of it after that, waiting for the heat to dissipate before taking the next. The slight pain was nice.

"I couldn't find a job."

Sasha nodded reasonably. Most people weren't as instantly employable as a Soap Slime.

"It wasn't just that. They were awful. I met a Human too."

Sasha winced as she recounted the events with the bar owner. Maple had to pause occasionally for Sasha to refill drinks and serve other guests, but she listened to it all.

"Well, that's not right. I'm glad nothing else happened though. Which bar did you say that was?"

"The Greasy Ape. Gross name and a gross person."

"Hm. Can't say I know of it. I'll remember not to recommend it, though. You could report it to the City Watch, but they probably won't do much besides recording it since nothing else happened. Might help if he abuses anyone else in the future."

Maple finished the drink and let the last of the warmth soothe her. She wondered when Emma would get back. Hopefully her day was going better.

"I'll see what Bailey thinks about it next time I see him. Where's Rachel go all day, by the way? Unless I should just ask her myself..."

"Nah. She'll talk your ear off about it if you ask. She rents a workshop somewhere and plays around with chemicals all day. Sells some, too."

Made sense, Maple supposed. She was the only one still unemployed, then. She sighed and thought about getting another drink.

"Oh, speaking of Rachel—I have bad news. She was pretty upset about last night and made me promise not to do the dream thing again if she's going to be in the room with you. I told her it was just a fluke, but eh, better not risk it. She's touchy."

"Aw man. Now what am I supposed to do? If I don't...these stupid Skills. Do you think an [Alchemist] might have something that's like the opposite of an aphrodisiac?"

Sasha rubbed her chin in thought.

"I've never heard of anything like that, but it'd be worth checking. Also, I could let you two use my room while I'm not sleeping, if you needed to. Heh, I'm sure Em would leave it cleaner than it was anyway."

"That'd be kind of weird. I think we might need to, though. Thanks..."

If Emma didn't get back too late, that would work. Needing an active sex life was so annoying. Maple felt kind of like a Succubus herself. Only she'd just make a fool of herself, rather than basically starve to death. And she needed it everyday, while a Succubus could go much longer.

Being a Succubus would just be all around better, actually.

"Mhm. I don't mind at all. And I've said it before but there's no rush for you to find a job, you know? Your sexual energy alone makes it worth having you here, so it's not like I'm itching to kick you out. As soon as I have a vacancy—or once Rachel leaves, whichever comes first—I was planning on offering you a room long term. Not for free, I still need to pay the bills, but whatever's affordable."

"Oh, that'd be good. I was kind of dreading finding another place to stay. Um, what do you get out of it though? This 'sexual energy'."

"It's a Succubus's power and life-force. Back home, it was also used as a kind of currency. It's not mana, but you can think of it as similar. Nothing is drained from you, if you were worried. That's all urban legends from a bunch of prudish Hu—uh, people. It's basically a waste product that most life emits."

It wasn't as if she knew how mana worked here exactly, but she nodded. Interesting. Sasha stopped herself, but it sounded like the Humans here were responsible for giving Succubi a bad name too. Or she was lying and it did drain one's life-force—but the other species would surely know about that.

"Since you are still looking though, you might want to try the dairy farm on the far side of town. They don't tend to discriminate. They are run by SuQ Corp. And I have plenty of things to say about them, but there are worse options."

Sasha massaged the wing on her hip.

"It's worth a shot, I guess."