5

The address on the flier wasn’t hard to find, it was a tavern called The Ferrous Flagon in a fairly well-traveled part of the city, a fact which eased Sami’s suspicions about the legitimacy of the advertisement somewhat.

It seemed they weren’t the only ones here to check it out either, as there was a fairly sizable number of people milling about as well. Armor, cloaks, swords, staves, they wore all the kinds of equipment one would expect from the flier’s target audience. For once, Sami’s usual flowing cape and rapier at the waist didn’t look out of place.

Sami and Claudia entered the building, and joined a small group of people who were listening to a green-haired woman with large spectacles explain her motivations behind this venture:

“...For a long time, I’ve felt like I wanted to do something to help out all the mercenaries and freelance swordsmen and mages who struggled to find jobs. People like my wife, who used to have to rely on the generosity of her strangers met by chance to even have enough to eat every day, it’s a very unstable line of work that could be made more stable.”

“Sounds grand and all, but where’s the funding coming from? Are you gonna take a cut from our pay if we get hired through you?” asked a man with slicked-back hair and a bow strapped to his back, with a note of skepticism in his voice.

“The Ferrous Flagon has allowed us to operate here, so long as we’re able to bring in customers for them, but… other than that, we will be working entirely non-profit, save for donations. I understand if you find us hard to trust, but we only want to make your lives easier,” said the woman at the counter, with a hand over her heart as if to show the sincerity of her vow.

The man scratched his chin and said nothing. It was hard to tell if he was convinced, but he didn’t voice any further objections.

“How long have you been open for, and how well would you say this venture is working out, if you could say?” Claudia suddenly spoke, stepping out from behind Sami.

Sami didn’t expect her maid to be so interested in this, let alone enough to speak up and ask questions.

“We’ve been here for a few weeks now. We’re more or less at a point where the word has been getting out, and several clients have been filing their requests with us already. We may not always have a job for everyone, but we hope to see this change as we grow,” the woman replied.

Although, she seemed a little downcast by the idea of admitting that they still weren’t as stable of an employer as she had hoped to be.

“I’d like to take a job, then!” Sami burst out impulsively; she was done with waiting, and ready to get moving.

“Ah, yes, right over here… By the way, you may call me Gina, or Mrs. Rosen if you would prefer,” the woman said, directing Sami to a neatly arranged board of job listings beside the counter.

* * *

“So this job we took… it says we’ll be working with two others. They should be showing up by now, right?” said Sami to Claudia at the other side of the table, carefully studying a piece of paper that listed the details of their job.

It was now a full two weeks after their initial introduction to this mercenary hiring service, and the two of them had returned to The Ferrous Flagon at the assigned time. There were a few less people here today, but still enough that those who ran the tavern must be enjoying the extra business.

“Perhaps they are both sleeping in until noon today,” quipped Claudia as she delicately chewed on one of the appetizers from the plate they had ordered to keep them occupied.

Sami only rolled her eyes in response to that obvious dig at her own sleeping habits. However, during these past couple weeks at least, she had in fact been getting up at decent hours—if only because all the waiting was making her restless. She wished she could have chosen a job they could start with right away, even if it was one that sounded less interesting than the one they decided on.

She didn’t have to wait much longer, however. Just as their plate was nearly empty, a girl with a rather flamboyant outfit approached their table.

She wore a one-piece dress with a somewhat short skirt and long sleeves, high boots that came up to her knees, a short cape, and the floppy, pointed hat with a wide brim traditionally favored by many magicians. However, unlike a traditional magician, she didn’t carry a wand, rod, or staff of any sort.

All pieces of this flashy ensemble were colored some shade of purple, blue, or red, and while none of them particularly clashed it was still something to behold.

Following just behind her was a slightly shorter woman with a cap, long robe, and wavy hair that faded from yellow, not quite blonde, to pink.

“I would recognize the blue hair and penchant for capes of a member of the Locke family any day. Tell me, is it genetic? Well, regardless, what luck that we get to work with royalty!” the mage gushed with a wink, as she casually pulled out a chair and plopped herself down next to Sami.

“No, I mean… well, I suppose it is true that my brother and father often wear similar capes, but...” Sami responded to this strange yet charismatic woman’s joke, somewhat flustered by the attention.

The mage laughed as if Sami had just told a joke of her own. The other, more reserved woman quietly sat down next to Claudia.

“By the way,” the less reserved one continued, “the name’s Hera, and this tag-along is Mari. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, she’s part of our group as well. We met and talked on the way in, it seems she’s here from out of town just for this job. Guess that means it really is a good one, huh?”

Mari politely nodded and offered her greetings to the others at the table, as Sami and Claudia did the same. They chatted for a short while, but not for too long, because a certain impatient Lady was more than ready to get up from her chair by now.

* * *

The request, provided by an anonymous patron and with a fairly hefty reward listed (not that Sami would have noticed, as a woman of noble, and wealthy, birth), was simple in its description, but much less simple in its requirements: “Bring back a blood sample from a Hydro, living in Crysta Lake.”

Despite being called as such, Crysta Lake was almost more like a small sea, and it was located a ways north of the Locke estate. It got its name not from its sparkling, crystalline surface but for the city that lay on its northern shores, which was home to some of the most powerful wizards in the country.

Sami was familiar with the body of water, having visited it many times with her family, and she was also familiar with the creatures called Hydro.

Water-dwelling serpents with a head the size of a small cow, venomous fangs, and numerous whiplike tails that only grew back instantly if severed.

They lurked near the edge of the water and snapped up creatures that passed nearby, devouring them whole. As if all this weren’t enough, they were also quite intelligent and could even cast several simple—but destructive—ice elemental spells.

Sami had only seen them in-person a few times as they were fought off by the bodyguards that had to be brought along for those family outings, but those few times were memorable experiences indeed. The thought of fighting one herself set her heart racing, there was no way this would be boring.

* * *

“So, we’ve got three of these magically imbued glass vials; from my own personal collection, naturally,” Hera explained to the others as they made the journey to Crysta Lake, “Hydro blood is really corrosive when it’s out of the body, so non-magical glass won’t do. We can run away to get more of these if these break, but they’re not cheap. Luckily, we only need to fill one of ‘em, we should hopefully be able to gather some blood in the scuffle.”

She showed the others a small pouch she had brought, which indeed contained three oblong glass vials. On closer inspection, they seemed to be coated on the inside with a shimmering, ethereal substance. Definitely magically imbued.

“By the way, I should mention, my specialty is Speculomancy,” Hera added—she was quite chatty, even among near-strangers, “That’s basically just a fun and fancy way to say that I can manipulate glass with my magic. I might not be able to make something quite as fancy as those vials yet, but I can at least use it in a fight.”

To show this off, she held out a hand, and what looked like blobs of glowing sand coalesced above her palm and quickly changed into perfectly diamond-shaped shards of glass.

The razor-sharp fragments floated and danced in a spiral formation, refracting light as they did so. Sami thought they looked very pretty, but she also hoped that the things were as useful in a fight as they were nice to look at.

“On that note… miss maid, not to be rude, but I noticed that you don’t have a weapon and don’t seem to be magically inclined. I had assumed you would be seeing your Lady off as soon as we left, but…?” Mari suddenly spoke up as well.

Claudia waved a hand dismissively, “No need to worry about me. I go where my Lady goes, but I will see to it that I don’t become a liability.”

Mari shrugged. She seemed to be the type who calmly took things in stride.

“How loyal! I ought to hire a maid myself some day, maybe when I’m rich and famous from this quest.” Hera teased as she set the shards still in her hand into a tighter spiral, then dispelled them.

“As for my own specialties… Naturally, I’ll recover your wounds and deal with the venom from the creature’s fangs, as well as provide some… extra backup, as required,” as she said this, Mari lifted the weapon she had been carrying over her shoulder to show it off.

It had the head of the flanged mace, attached to a long pole like a staff and with a magical focus inside the “business” end.

Put on the spot as the others turned to look at her next, Sami started to feel a bit insecure about how little she had to offer. Regardless, she cleared her throat and said, sheepishly, “I have some confidence in my skill with a rapier…”

Claudia shook her head, “No need to sell yourself short, mistress... Lady Sami’s swordplay is virtually peerless in Spira. I haven’t seen her lose in a duel for a number of years now.”

Sami blushed at the compliment, it was rare for Claudia to back her up rather than teasingly giving her a hard time for her laziness or impatience.

The impromptu second wave of introductions out of the way, the party continued onwards to the lake, discussing plans and strategy as they went.