Shelly handed 2 silver coins and 30 copper coins to the waitress. "By the way, I'm Shelly. What's your name?"
"My name is Hazelwood, but please, just call me Hazel." The waitress replied collecting 2 silver and 30 copper coins.
"Hazel, huh? That's a colorful name." Shelly complimented.
"And your hair's hazel too! Did you know?" Maou added pointing at her hair.
"Haha! Oh really, I never noticed." Hazel giggled.
"Uhm, about the job. Any good news?" Shelly asked.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, but unfortunately we aren't hiring right now." Hazel answered.
"That's unfortunate but thank you for asking." Shelly turned to leave.
"Ahh, but you could try… the… bakery. Yes, the bakery!" Hazel exclaimed. "I think they're hiring. It's just three lanes left of here."
"The bakery! That's a great idea." Shelly excitedly grabbed Hazel's shoulders without thinking. "Thank you so much!"
"Ah…. I'm glad I could help." Hazel was startled by Shelly's excitement.
"Maou, come on. I have a good feeling about this." Shelly pulled Maou alongside her.
Hazel counted the coins she received then noticed something wrong.
"Wait! You paid too much." Hazel called out as the two rushed past the door.
"That's your tip! Keep it!" Shelly yelled.
"But twenty copper is… too much." Hazel's voice slowly eased as the two were already long gone.
Shelly jogged hurriedly to the bakery, her face glowing with hope and Maou right beside her.
"Hey, are you okay? You're acting... strange." Maou stared at Shelly worriedly.
"Strange? How?" Shelly looked back at him confused.
"I mean… you're smiling and giggling… a lot." Maou noticed. "It's kinda creepy."
"Haha! I'm not being creepy, I'm just super happy!" Shelly stopped jogging and so did Maou. "You wanna know why?"
"Sure, I wanna know." Maou answered.
"The clue, it's my last name." Shelly became increasingly excited, stooping to Maou's height.
"Baker?" Maou's head tilted down, fingers to his chin in a thinking pose.
"Yes, Baker! What does a baker do? Come on, you can figure it out." Shelly inched closer to Maou, her eyes twinkling and arms excitedly clenched.
"Hmmm… a baker does…". Maou's eyes shot back at Shelly, confident. "A baker bakes–!"
Shelly abruptly hoisted Maou off the ground and lifted him above her, greatly smiling.
"Yes, Maou! A baker bakes! And I'm a baker whose last name is Baker." Shelly looked at Maou's indifferent expression and slowly put him down. "Why aren't you excited?"
"I don't get it." Maou replied.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Mysterious child with memory loss." Shelly facepalmed. "That means I have a skill that doesn't involve being a thief. If all goes well I can get a honest job and never worry about money ever again."
"So job gives money, and money buys food. So more money means… more food." Maou's face slowly became bright with excitement. "Shelly! More money more food! I don't have to– We don't have to strave anymore."
"Yes, yes! Exactly! You get it now." Shelly exclaimed. "All I need to do is get hired–"
Thirty minutes later at the bakery.
"Lady! For the hundredth time! We! Aren't! Hiring!" A grumpy middle aged man dressed in a white apron with a forearm length toque on his head, frustratedly pinched between his eyes. "Please, just leave already. My answer still won't change."
"But please, I'm begging you! I need this job, it's the only good trade I have." Shelly begged on her knees with tears lining her eyelids. "I can show you my skills right now. Please hire me, I'm begging you."
"I said NO! Now get lost before my customers see this." The baker angrily pointed to the door while staring at the two, his nose oily with bumps. "And take this snotty nosed kid off me! He's messing up my clothes."
"Please Mr. Bumpy Nose *hic* you have to *hic* hire Shelly or *hic* or I'm gonna die!" Maou fought back tears clenching onto the man's leg with snot staining his pants. "I don't wanna starve to death!"
"Does it look like I care?! Because I don't!" The baker tried shaking Maou off his leg but he wouldn't budge. "And don't call me that name! It's a rare skin condition."
People opening the door to the bakery were met with the desperate and uncomfortable sight of a young woman and a little boy crying and pleading desperately for a job. They all slowly walked out the shop and carried on as if nothing happened. The baker quickly noticed the people's reaction and became desperate to get rid of the two, for the sake of his business.
"Damnit! If I give you some bread will you shut up for a minute?!" The baker shouted.
Maou quickly stopped sobbing and looked up at the man with glowing eyes. "Really? You'll give us food?"
"Yes! Now get off me."
"Okay!" Maou quickly released his leg.
The man clicked his teeth then walked to a counter. Shelly glared at Maou who almost drooled at the smell of bread.
"Maou! What do you think you're doing?" Shelly yelled in a muffled voice. "This isn't apart of the plan."
"I'm getting bread." Maou pointed at the man.
"Okay and? What about our plan? We were doing so well." Shelly replied.
"But I'm hungry and he offered food…. Free food." Maou rebutted.
"Hmmm…. Fair point." Shelly said, reluctantly agreeing. "but getting the job was more important. We were this close to breaking him."
"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist it." Maou hung his head a little low.
The baker came back and handed the two some circular hand sized bread. Maou instantly started eating away at his bread while Shelly suspiciously stared at hers until the baker reassured her that he wouldn't poison them.
"So why can't you hire me sir?" Shelly asked. "I can prove my skills if you want. My father was the best baker in our village."
"Haaaa! You don't have to prove anything. Being that stubborn, I can bet you're a hard worker." The baker sat on a stool before continuing to speak. "It's not that I won't hire you, it's because I can't pay you. There's a shortage of wheat and even worse we're in the middle of an off-season, so wheat is way too expensive now."
"Is it the same for other bakeries?" Shelly asked, finishing her bread.
"Yeah. I even had to let go my only two workers. They were stubborn kids like you two, but you'd have to be extra lucky to get hired at a bakery now." He held the toque in his hands with a somber look, reminiscing about the two kids. "I'll have to sell this place if things don't get better soon. They'd never forgive me if I did though."
"I can tell you have great memories here, so I'd hate for you to have to sell it too." Shelly stood to her feet, dusting her clothes."Well, sorry for wasting so much of your time. You have work to do and we have a job to find."
"Of course. I wish you the best of luck." He snapped out his somber state. "When wheat is back in Summer and cheaper, I'll gladly hire you two."
"Thanks. I really hope you stay in business and the bread was delicious." Shelly replied, stopping at the door with Maou behind her. "By the way, I'm Shelly and he's Maou."
"Well Shelly and Maou, it was nice meeting you two and just call me Hugh." The baker replied.
The two left the bakery, leaving Hugh to himself. He got off the stool, putting the toque back on his head. On the counter close to where Shelly stood, he noticed something. Curious, he went to take a closer look and noticed 5 silver coins stacked atop each other.
"It was free bread you idiot." He was pleasantly surprised and smiled to himself. "You really are annoying and stubborn."
Shelly whistled as she and Maou strolled along the streets staring at the shops that looked like it would hire.
"Hey Shelly, why'd you give him money? The bread was free." Maou wondered.
"Uhm… I'm not sure." She smiled. "But it just felt like the right thing to do."
There next target was a small locksmith's shop that had a sign saying. "Workers needed" which immediately caught Shelly's attention. Wasting no time, they entered the shop filled with wood and metal shavings across the floor, tin plate, sheet iron, brass, steel, pewter, copper, lead, and wood lined across the wall behind a tall skinny man with a nicely groomed moustache struggling with a lock.
Despite repeatedly calling to the guy, Shelly got no response. He was too engrossed in his work, clicking his teeth and mumbling cuss words in frustration. It wasn't until Shelly knocked on the table he worked on that he noticed the two.
"What do you want?" He glared at Shelly.
"Sorry to interrupt you but you had a sign outside that said you were looking for workers." Shelly explained softly.
"Tsk! Come back tomorrow." He went back to struggling with the lock.
"Tomorrow? Why wait till then when we can do it now." Shelly pleaded. "Please sir, I need a job."
"And so does everyone else. You're not special." He continued working on opening the lock.
"I won't waste your time. I can even start working today if you want." Shelly added.
He stop and looked at the desperate Shelly and the puppy eyed Maou who stood on his tip toes to be seen over the counter. He sighed as he put his tools down and took off his glasses.
"Do you have any locksmith skills?" He asked, folding his arms.
"No."
"Any experience with locksmithing like from your Father?"
"No, he was a baker. Haha" Shelly nervously laughed.
"So you're useless then." He took up his tools, put on his glasses and continued with the lock. "Go work at a bakery and stop wasting my time."
"I already tried that." Shelly quickly answered. "I could start by cleaning the place while I learn."
He took interest in her proposal and looked back at her.
"That's not a bad idea." He put down his tools. "Fine, I'll accept."
"Yes, thank you so much." Shelly became happy.
"But! You'll have to work two weeks without pay while you learn." He stated, folding his arms.
"Two weeks without pay?!" Shelly was taken back.
"You should consider yourself lucky." He replied. "Usually you'd have to pay to become someone's apprentice."
Shelly was visibly displeased by his condition.
"Can you decrease it to five days?" Shelly asked.
Just then he slid something to Shelly.
"Open this lock and I'll hire you with pay starting today." A smirk came onto his face. "You have three minutes."
Shelly took up the lock and examined it for a few seconds. It was a wide and weighty padlock. Determined, she took up two tools, a tension wrench and a hook pick. She stuck the tension wrench in the keyhole and applied a bit of pressure. Next, stuck the hook pick above the wrench and felt for the pins inside. Shelly counted five pins and a button at the end of the lock. To open the lock, she felt for the pin which was least springy.
"Click!" The second pin opened. Then the third, first and fourth.
During this time, the locksmith's smirk quickly faded and his face was serious. As Shelly pressed the fifth pin all the other pins locked again.
"Huh?! What just happened?"
"Well, looks like you failed. How about you give up already?" The locksmith taunted but without any cheekiness
"No. I'm sure I can do this." Shelly put the pick inside again.
Just like before, she opened the pins in the same order until she reached the fifth pin. Shelly paused for a while to think, then a smile came to her face.
"Click!" The lock flew open.
Shelly dropped the lock to the table. "Yes, I did it!"
The locksmith took up the lock and examined it, twisting and turning it in his hands with his glasses. His face looked displeased.
"The fifth pin is a trap. It resets the other." Shelly answered excitedly. "So I'm hired right?"
"That should've been impossible for someone with zero locksmithing skills." He put his glasses aside and peered at Shelly like she was filth. "I'm sorry, but I don't hire thieves."
Shelly's excitement fell flat and she became pissed, gritting her teeth and forming a fist behind the counter.
"That's not fair!" Maou shouted, peeping over the counter. "You promised you'd–!"
"I know what I said!" He cut Maou off. "But I don't trust thieves. Never again."
"But you cant–."
"I can do whatever I want! Now get out my shop."
Maou became angry, his eyebrows furrowing and teeth gritting.
"Maou let's go." Shelly turned around. "Let's not waste his time."
"But Shelly–."
"Maou… let's leave."
Shelly pushed the door open and Maou ran to catch up to her. Before Maou left, he looked back at the moustache man and stuck out his tongue at him, mockingly.