Chapter 56: Professional Duties

“Mom! They’re actually starting a riot!”

“What can we do? All the ale delivered this morning is sold out—fifteen full barrels—and the afternoon shipment hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Can’t you tell Dad to hurry up with the delivery?”

“Losing a bit of business is nothing. With that much alcohol involved, accidents happen easily. Your father’s safety is more important.”

Auntie Xue had a massive headache.

The sheer volume of people was completely outside her expectations.

If things got any worse, she would have to ask Sephine to step in and resolve it.

Most of these people had been drawn in by her, anyway, so she would be the most effective person to face them.

“Sephine! Come here for a second!”

Sephine was still sitting by the window.

When she had nothing else to do, she would blow kisses or flash a smile at the people outside.

As the number of customers inside grew, she felt like she was actually participating, feeling much less like a mere decorative vase.

“Boss, what’s wrong?”

“There’s some trouble outside. Probably because… well, you’re too popular. We have too many customers and too little ale. We have to close the doors for a while.”

Sephine’s mouth hung open slightly.

She hadn’t expected to attract so many customers.

It seemed the poses she had practiced were actually useful.

She felt quite proud of herself.

However, the current predicament was very real.

Sephine cracked the door open a tiny bit to peek outside.

The customers were blocking the entrance, refusing to leave.

“Give us an explanation! If you didn’t have enough ale, you should have said so earlier! Why keep us hanging? Our time is valuable!”

Sephine shut the door.

The customers were getting emotional.

If she went out now without being prepared, she would surely be torn to pieces.

The boss was also to blame; she had likely been blinded by the potential profit and hadn’t thought to control the crowd.

“I’m counting on you. If you can resolve this successfully, I’ll give you an extra bonus today.”

The revenue Sephine brought in far exceeded her salary.

Giving her a little extra wouldn’t weigh on Auntie Xue’s conscience.

Moreover, this woman was the wife of the current Demon King; something must have happened for her to be so desperate as to seek a job in a tiny tavern like this.

“Alright, I’ll try.”

Sephine took a deep breath, recalling how she used to boost the morale of the Resistance Army.

She opened the door and stood before the crowd.

“Everyone, quiet down!” Sephine shouted.

Her voice momentarily suppressed the scene.

Although some people were still chattering, it became quiet enough for Sephine’s voice to be heard clearly.

“Who are you?”

“Mommy!”

“Who is that? She’s so beautiful, though.”

“Give us justice!”

The voices of the customers continued to rise and fall.

However, Sephine remained calm.

She had seen far more chaotic scenes than this.

Handling this situation was well within her professional expertise.

She ignored the strange comments coming from a few people trying to stir the pot in the confusion.

“I have a few words to say on the matter.”

“Ahem.”

Sephine coughed twice.

Her hand instinctively reached out to grab a glass of water from a non-existent table to take a sip.

Finding nothing, she awkwardly pulled her hand back.

At that moment, Catherine was also huddled in the crowd, having come to join the excitement.

“Regarding the ale, we have indeed run out. There is nothing we can do about that. If you truly wish to drink, please return this evening. As for the time you’ve wasted, our tavern will compensate everyone. However, that won’t be right now because, as I said, the ale is gone.”

“Brewing takes time, and transportation is difficult. The boss failed to account for such an enthusiastic turnout; she underestimated all of you. I would like to apologize on her behalf. I’m sorry!”

Sephine began to talk in circles, trying to keep them steady for the time being.

The customers listened intently… or rather, they watched intently.

They barely processed a word she actually said.

Many people, satisfied after getting a good look at her, began to leave.

Sephine continued her relentless, monotonous chanting, and some of the remaining customers even began to yawn.

Catherine, still in the crowd, felt as though she were back in a long-winded meeting.

However, having confirmed that the mysterious clerk was indeed Sephine, she had achieved her goal…

“Wait, no, she had come here to drink.”

Since the ale was gone, there was nothing to be done.

She understood Sephine’s charm better than anyone.

In the end, she could only head to the café next door.

The service there was decent, even if the coffee was mediocre.

Ten minutes later, Sephine was still talking.

However, almost all the customers had dispersed.

The few who remained were only there to see how much longer she could keep going.

“Eh? Where did everyone go?”

Sephine finally stopped, only to find that the crowd had long since vanished.

Opening the door, she saw the boss and her daughter sprawled across a table, seemingly fast asleep.

“Boss? Boss?”

“Ah!”

Auntie Xue jerked awake, wiping some drool from the corner of her mouth.

Dazed, she saw only Sephine standing before her; the noisy crowd was gone.

It couldn’t be helped.

Sephine’s voice combined with the ambient noise had been far too hypnotic.

She and her daughter were already exhausted, and they had accidentally nodded off.

“Do we have a lunch break? Can I go now?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. You go ahead and get some rest. Just be back before 3:00 PM.”

Even a lunch break—this job really was quite nice, though Sephine’s backside was starting to ache from all the sitting.

She wondered if sitting for so long would eventually cause back problems…

“Wait, it seemed her back had been ruined a long time ago.”

Actually, her body felt much healthier after she had changed into this form.

Especially after giving birth, Sephine felt that her complexion and overall health were much better.

While other women were usually drained after childbirth, she seemed to have regained her vitality.

It was quite mysterious.

However, the children required Magic Power to thrive; that was the real killer.

As someone with an exceptionally small amount of Magic Power, she was being pushed to her limit.

“Then I’ll see you this afternoon. Goodbye!”

Sephine bid the boss farewell. Work was going smoothly and wasn’t too tiring.

The boss was actually a very kind person.

There was just one small hiccup:

That person’s face was stuck in Sephine’s mind, refusing to leave.

For some reason, it gave her a very strange feeling.

Zipping up her jacket, Sephine began walking toward her home.

—

A short while earlier, Aglis was watching the two children, unsure of what to do with them.

She eventually led them to the backyard, where there was more space.

Karin kept trying to play with the kitchen knife, and Aglis could barely hold her back.

The child had too much energy; she had to find a way to wear her out.

“Do you really want to play with a blade that badly?”

“Fun!”

“How about I find you something even more fun? Look at this!”

Aglis unfastened her sword from her waist, scabbard and all.

The blade was locked tight within the scabbard and could not be easily drawn.

Furthermore, this was no ordinary sword; only someone with true faith could unsheathe it.

“Wow!”

With a light touch from Karin, the scabbard slid off and hit the ground.

‘How is this possible?! Is she naturally endowed with Divine Power?’

Without the empowerment of the Power of Faith, that scabbard was impossible to remove.

‘Could this child have been born already faithful to some god?’

“Karin! Be careful!” Fala said, feeling very uneasy about her younger sister.

Karin was far too mischievous, unlike herself.

Or so Fala thought from her perch on the roof.