NOVEL WEB Chapter 1162: Baron and Cousins
Meanwhile, Bianca's single cousins led by Baron—a.k.a Alterra's Golden Goose—were hanging out and drinking together.
All of the establishments were all opened and mostly full, with basically the entire population patronizing their services. Knowing how long the event would last, they hired a lot of part-timers with small shifts to give everyone a chance a few hours to enjoy the event.
This ensured smooth and efficient service despite the surge of customers, while also allowing a lot of people to spend money on the territory at the same time.
Of course, even if there was no contribution point reward, every store would still have participated in the 50% discount promos for the night.
Not only because of peer pressure, but also because they wanted to do a bigger part in such a milestone for the territory!
Anyway, one of the better-performing shops was the pubs which had a long turnover rate and a lot of orders from a single group of people.
At this time, the cousins were in one of the bars that had a counter facing the streets—as if it was built for people watching.
They had been bar hopping, taking a few shots for each store's specialty. This was their final bar, and also the time they saw the most couples lounging about.
Whoever had the idea to sit here—where they could see the crowd clearly while they drowned in alcohol—they could only slap his head.
"I wonder when my happiness will come…" Baron mumbled, and it so happened that another couple—was that Foxii and Thor?!—passed by them.
Sniff
The dude beside him shook his head, remembering the scene they saw not long after settling here. "Even Bianca has a love life now…" he said, tone interested. "I missed a lot of things the past months, it seemed!"
This was Jesse, the fire archer cousin. He had just been assigned back after months of absence. Limestone Valley wasn't bad, but Alterra was still different. Anyway, he was determined to get plastered today.
"They're still in that courting stage," Baron added. "Bianca's naturally guarded. We know what the majority of the men are like in this world."
Bianca was no longer young, and she wasn't the type to just 'follow the butterflies'. Before settling down, a lot of thought would be considered.
Even among good men, there were many who would find it difficult to accept if their women were doing the men's jobs. They might not dislike the woman, but they wouldn't be comfortable with it.
There was such a case with Shannon. She was one of the rescues in Fargo Village back then, and had been quite guarded with men. Somehow though, she fell in love with the Mauin aborigine, Ento. 1
They were really good to each other. After a few months of dating, they even entered the stage of discussing their families.
Ento had been living in Alterra for a while and he hadn't shown indications of misogyny or anything like that. He truly didn't mind women in the workforce. He would even support his fellow Mauin villagers through school with his relatively high contribution points.
However, when it came to his own (potential) wife, he felt uncomfortable.
This showed in his reactions and the subtle ways he tried to control Shannon's decisions. He would ask things like did she really wanted to work, what if they had children, and so on.
This naturally caused a strain that they tried to work through. However, how easy was it to completely change one's worldview? It was a bigger topic if one's personal life, and immediate future, were already involved.
Shannon had always wanted to be part of the administration, and this meant they had a larger requirement to train than other employees next to Guards.
He started making comments like he'd prefer if she stayed at home and took care of the children.
To be fair, this was not an invalid request—it was the ideal scenario for macho men who just wanted their wives and children safe and sound, so they could focus to do all the providing for the household.
However, it wasn't what Shannon wanted. Eventually, it broke them apart.
They were not the first, nor the last, couple to encounter this, so a lot of care had to be taken whenever a cross-marriage was in sight.
"Well, at least we know Bianca will still be single for a while," Baron said, as if finding comfort in having family in the same situation as he was. "We still have to investigate whether that bastard is a good seed, anyway."
"Being a good person doesn't mean he'll be a good husband too!" he said, trying to sound wise though his way of speaking was already slurred. "We'll just have to support her in the meantime—"
It was around this moment that they saw their female cousin again, returning early from their plaza trip. And this time, she was holding hands with her suitor.
"..."
Sigh
"Well, anyway, when will my love life appear?" Baron asked after a moment, turning to his cousins at his side. "Have you been sabotaging me again?"
At this, Angelo shook his head. "Nah, we're not doing that anymore. We figured, you're getting old—you should know better," he said. "However, we recommend investing in many other things just in case you end up with a gold digger—"
"STOP CURSING ME!"
Their noise caught a few people's attention, including Bianca's. "You're getting plastered already?"
"Psh, don't patronize me!" Baron sniffled, face red, very much drunk. "People with a love life can't talk to me!"
Bianca shook her head. "You'll find her eventually," was all she could say. "We have long lives anyway, and it's not like being too 'high level to procreate' will be a problem for you."
Baron looked at her in disbelief. "I'm stuck at Level 9 because I choose to!"
The cousins shrugged.
Meanwhile, Eloi looked at Baron, pondering. Bianca mentioned a lot about this man's love life. To be honest, he thought that Terran women were too choosy. In an aborigine village or town, a man with Baron's capability would be a top husband material.
Not to mention, he was Terran—and he had seen how most of them treated their women.
"My little sister is of age… she might be interested in finding a husband," he said, making everyone turn to him.
Baron gaped at him in shock. He knew this bastard was not bad!
Both Shannon and Ento had been mentioned before. Shannon was that girl in Fargo who watched/inspired by Cassie and Jona's fight with the enemies. Ento was a swordsman working with Mauru. Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire