"There seems to have been a major time skip," Erza observed.
"Why would you think that?" Lucy questioned.
"Look, Lu. It's spring again. It was autumn before."
"Oh wow. I didn't even notice."
"What kind of job requires you to dress up as a maid?" Sting grumbled.
"The townspeople asked us to investigate the Everlue Mansion, and the client said that he only allows his maids into the mansion. I'm to pose as a--"
"Absolutely fucking not."
"Sting--"
"What happened to always needing your cloak?"
"I can cast a tracking nullification spell that I recently learned. It will help cover my location and make me unrecognizable to others."
"It says he likes blondes. You have white hair. Not to even mention that a maid outfit is absolutely out of the question."
"Sting, this is for a job. Besides," Emi gestured to her outfit before twirling around, "I think I look cute."
"I have to agree, you do look super cute," Mira commented.
"I think so too!" Natsu agreed.
"Natsu!" Lucy scolded.
Sting let out a low growl, "That's the main issue here, Em."
"Oh, we must be in mating season again."
"It would make sense with the season change."
"Oh come on, Sting. It's not that bad."
"Lady Emiko looks really pretty, Sting. She'll be sure to trick the guy!"
"There's one more thing..."
Sting glared at her before asking, "What could possibly be more?"
"I would have to go in there alone."
"No."
"He's definitely not going to let you in, especially if you glare at him like that."
"That's not happening."
"Yeah this is definitely mating season," Rogue assured.
Sting mumbled something under his breath.
"Listen here, you're the one that insisted on joining me when I told you I could do this myself. Don't get in my way of completing this. We need the money."
Emi and Sting both crossed their arms as they started at each other.
"I'm not letting you walk into some old pervert's mansion in a short maid outfit just to see a possible issue."
Emi sighed before walking over to Sting and giving him a soft hug. She shifted her head so her chin rested on his chest as she looked up to him.
"I think I can handle myself."
"I'm not worried about that. I just don't want some random rich creep looking at you."
Emi leaned up and whispered something in Sting's ear. His face flushed a deep red before he looked away. Emi turned around and walked up to the gate before buzzing in.
"You two need to hide somewhere on the property. We'll need Lector to fly us out of there. Do you think you can handle carrying both of us, Lector?"
"That won't be a problem at all, Lady Emiko. It's no sweat."
----------------------------
"Hello sir, my name is Kenai and I'm here for the maid position that just opened up."
"I asked for a blonde."
"I can always dye my hair, sir. If that's what you would wish."
"Oh ho ho. Come right in, little lady. I like your attitude."
Emi had followed Everlue into the main seating area of the first floor. They had begun the interview process when he got up to sit next to her.
"You may not be a blonde, but there is no doubt that you are gorgeous."
"Um, thank you sir. Are there certain days that you would want me to work?" Emi asked as she changed the topic of conversation.
"I would love for you to work every day. I wouldn't want to miss you too much."
"I see. I think I would be able to do that."
"Do you have any romantic relationships? It would be a shame if I needed to compete with anyone."
Lucy shivered, "Wow this guy is so much creepier to you. I'm so glad we got to destroy his place when we got the chance."
"I would be able to focus on the job completely," Emi smoothly said as she avoided the question. "Say, are there other maids here?"
Everlue took her hand and led her upstairs. They passed a rather large maid with pink hair in pigtails.
"This is my dear Virgo. She's my best maid."
Emi stared at Virgo for a few seconds before she smiled at her knowingly.
"You're a maid,Virgo? It's very nice to meet you."
Everlue continued with his tour and led her to the library. Emi's eyes lit up once she saw the abundance of books lining the shelves.
"You can read as many books as you like if you live here."
"Is that in the job description? I didn't see anything about that."
"Well, no, but I would be more than happy to allow you to join all of us. You would have your own room, right next to mine of course. I will even buy you another maid outfit."
Emi clicked her tongue before asking about the town. She wanted to hear how he viewed the townspeople. She quickly found that he looked down on them and that he was planning on trying to control every aspect of the town until he found a book.
"What book would that be? Why is it so important?"
"The book is called 'Daybreak' and it is of utmost importance that I get my hands on it."
"Would I be able to assist you if I get the job?"
Everlue turned to Emi with a flirtatious look in his eyes before responding, "Dear, if you get the job, you will be able to help me in any way you want. All I ask is that you perform your duties."
"I see. If you don't mind, I would like you to meet someone. He will be the one to decide if I should be allowed to take this job from you."
"Oh? And who is this?"
"My...brother, Koda."
"Gross."
Emi had led Everlue out to the gate where Sting and Lector were hiding. Once Sting caught Everlue with his hands around Emi's waist, he stood right up and started to stomp over to them with a fire in his eyes.
Emi sensed that Sting was beyond pissed and turned towards Everlue and loudly announced, "This is my brother, Koda."
Sting stopped before glaring at her. Emi rolled her eyes and made eye contact with him before shifting her gaze upward, hinting that he should be ready to escape.
"Say, brother, I think that I should take this job. There's a huge library and the young master has promised that I could stay here with my own room. He even said he'd buy me another maid outfit."
Sting was seething with anger as his dragon instincts kicked in. He took one more look at Everlue's hands and saw that they were slowly moving towards Emi's butt. He went to lunge at the man, but Emi beat him to it. As soon as she felt his hand, she used her hand and swung it back to deliver a powerful punch to the stomach. Everlue doubled over in pain. Emi signalled for Lector to drop in and scoop them up. Sting didn't seem satisfied with the level of Everlue's pain, so he began to make his way over to him, ready to seriously hurt him. Before he could get too far, Emi grabbed the back of Sting's shirt and pulled him back.
"Don't start something that our guild will have to pay for."
The three of them flew out of the property and made their way through the town. Emi had explained the situation to the person that made the request, telling them about the book that Everlue was threatening to steal. The man thanked them and sent them on their way.
"You're not doing something like that ever again."
"No harm was done."
"He had his hands all over--"
Emi rolled her eyes before grabbing his hand and reassuring him that she was fine and that she could handle his advances.
"Besides, I knew that you would literally kill the guy if anything happened to me."
The three walked in silence for a few minutes before Emi spoke up.
"I got to meet a celestial spirit. She was Virgo the Maiden. Isn't that cool?"
"You knew she was a celestial spirit? That's super cool."
----------------------------------
"Emi! There you are. How did your last job go? I heard the client was a wicked perv."
Emi looked over to see Kira with her hair pulled back with a white and gold bow. Emi smiled at the girl, rolling her eyes.
"Kira, I think we should both be pretty sure Mr. Territorial exaggerated what actually happened. The client was just being flirtatious."
Kira looked towards Emi with a sly look before whispering, "Well it is mating season."
Emi's face turned as red as fire. Kira gave Emi a huge smirk before laughing at her friend's flustered reaction. She grabbed Emi's hand and dragged her back to her apartment.
"Spill it, Shorty. How bad was he?"
"I mean, he almost ripped the guy apart before I pulled him away. I do have to admit though, the guy was a creep."
"Man, dragon slayers are so complicated. How do you deal with him?"
Emi laughed before brushing off her comment, saying that it wasn't that bad.