New World with Four Husbands-Chapter 192: Quizen’s quest [2]

"I play the guitar that was given by the owner." Quizen answered, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh." Coco blinked and nodded her head in understanding, "Does the village have any store that sells instruments? Or anything that can be used for your job?"

The mediator stopped walking and made Coco halt in her tracks as well, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why did you stop walking?" Coco asked.

"What are you planning? Why would you want to go to a store like that if you can’t play any kind of instrument?" Quizen questioned her instead of answering her question, his tone sounding a little hard and offended.

Coco stared at him, her thoughts racing.

Is he serious? I don’t mind him acting like this, but it gets tiring at some point. Coco mused mentally and stayed quiet for a moment.

Coco inhaled sharply through her nose, forcing a smile on her face as she nodded her head.

"I get it." Coco said and started walking again, leaving Quizen no choice, but to start walking and trail behind her like a lost puppy following a trusted human home.

"I don’t play instruments, but someone I know does." Coco answered his questions, forcing a smile on her face.

Quizen’s puzzled face twisted into an annoyed one— no, he looked like he was sulking rather than irritated and looked like he was kicked down.

"That’s why, as someone who knows how to play amazingly well and sing beautifully. I wanted to know if there’s a store that sells instruments because you are an artist, are you not?" Coco hummed out, subtly praising the mediator’s skills to raise his confidence.

The quest was titled as ’a chance for the artist’ and she didn’t have to think hard to know that Quizen wanted to be one.

The quest detail didn’t tell her what his backstory was or what happened to him wanting to be one except for the part that he was married off to Coco Hughes— the ultimate trash of a wife of all time.

Coco was abusive and broke which also meant that Quizen can’t buy any instrument to call his own.

All the money they may have earned for the week would either go straight to pay off Coco’s debt or to the food they will have for the whole week.

Alhai and Quizen lost their spark to read books and play an instrument because of it.

Zaque and Heiren had to stop themselves from buying anything they wanted to cook or bake, and could only go for the cheapest ones because the money the four of them made wasn’t enough to cover up their expenses.

They were drowned in debt in a village that was known for producing hunters and had monster meat as their main meal.

How could they possibly compete with any of the villagers when they haven’t touched a weapon their whole life?

Not to mention, Coco Hughes was a daughter of a Baroness so it was not hard to come up to the conclusion of her not picking up a weapon her whole life as well because all she has to do is pay a licensed hunter to protect her life.

Coco sighed. "What I’m saying is, I need someone talented like you to guide me through the picking because I have no idea what to get. That is, only if you don’t mind."

Quizen frowned, his hand balling into a tight fist by his side. "Trying to flatter me so you could buy someone you fancy the instrument they like, huh? That’s so low of you, Mrs. Hughes."

"Hey, watch it." Coco was quick to sense the emphasis on his words and called him out, "Don’t forget that you’re Mr. Hughes, so don’t call me by our family name. Only strangers can call me that, okay? You’re not a complete stranger so you better not try it again."

Quizen wasn’t expecting a rebuttal like that.

The mediator felt flustered at how flattering the woman’s words sounded, his face heating up under the meaning of her words. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, causing his face to turn a deep shade of red as he looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment, but her words still echoed in his head, his heart racing at the underlying claim.

He tried to come up with a response, but his tongue felt thick in his mouth, his mind blank with nervousness.

What’s wrong with me today? I can’t seem to think properly because of what she did and said. It’s getting concerning. Quizen thought to himself, his heart racing once again as he recalled what Coco said.

"You’re free tomorrow morning, right?" Coco asked, her face brightening up slightly when she saw the house in the distance.

".. I am." Quizen managed to answer the question, swallowing thickly to force the lump down on his throat.

"Great, let’s go out." Coco did not miss a beat as she uttered those words out, "I’ll treat you to breakfast, then we’ll go shopping for the instrument— would that be okay?"

Quizen couldn’t answer immediately because his mind went blank the moment she asked him out.

"You don’t have to answer right away." Coco said as she approached the front door, "I’m just going to say hi to Zaque and then I’ll take my leave."

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The sound of her knuckles connecting to the wooden door snapped Quizen out of his daze, his eyes clouded with something unreadable as he stared at the back of Coco’s head.

"Coming!" Came a muffled masculine voice from the other side of the door.

The door creaked open and a familiar red haired mediator peeked his head out to see who was knocking at an ungodly hour.

"Coco." Zaque’s face brightened up when he saw the woman, "What brings you—"

He stopped speaking when he saw Quizen standing behind a smiling Coco with a dazed look on his face.

Now, Zaque may not be a mathematician, but something is not adding up.