Hikaru Nakamura sat down as he read  the mission report still in awe. To be honest he was baffled at the ignorance and negligence of people. He sat down sipping on his coffee as he continued to evaluate the situation. It seemed like an odd scenario indeed.  He was going to have to clean up after other's messes which was not always fun for him. Hikaru looked over toward the window curious as to where this rat that had chemicals on it would be. He figured he was best off going out and pursuing it rather than just relaxing in his room alone. Hikaru stood up and slid in his chair as he took the mission paper and would begin to walk toward the door, He unlocked the door walking out and making sure the door was shut behind him before walking toward one of the side exits. He exited from the side. Hikaru decided it would be best to not where any Rune Knight attire. In times like these he often figured the best path was the one with the least attention. Hikaru began to walk down the street, he wore a beige trench coat as well as a white shirt. He wore black pants and brown dress shoes. He continued to walk straight down the path.

For intel he would have to start asking people. Maybe he would start off with Civilians. He was curious as to whether he woudl cause panic or alarm people or just freak them out. However not everyday did you have a wild rat on the loose with the potential of being able to harm people. Hikaru walked toward a local bar where he had been to a few times while there. He figured that he was enough of a regular to get the bartenders approval to ask around for questions. Hikaru approached the bar taking a few drinks. He would survey for intel.  As he grabbed his drink he walked toward a group of men who seemed to be joking. He figure dhe would ask them the question, and worse case scenario they would think he was either weird or crazy.

"Goodafternoon."

Hikaru said to the gentlemen who sat before him. They all turned their attention and seemed to cut their conversation short. They didn't know Hikaru so a reaction like that was expected. They all responded afternoon. Hikaru simply sat without asking and began to speak to the men cutting straight to the point and topic at hand.

"I have a question for you each. Has any of you seen.."

Hikaru was still awkward about asking such a weird question. It just wasn't a common thing or type of animal to see, however Hikaru figured he was going to have to say it without sugar coating it so he sighed and finally let the words out.

"Rat"

They all began to laugh and spoke amongst themselves even to the point of making fun of the absurd comment. They would mock it and actually they looked at the bartender and spoke.

"I want some of what this guy had."

Hikaru was angered by this and stood up while slapping the beer out of the man's hand while he walked out. Well that lead hadn't worked well soo Hikaru decided it was best to approach another area in Crocus. Maybe he would have to find someone else to give him intel. Hikaru knew Barta's inn was always a hot spot for people who were new to town It actually didn't sound great at first, but the people who did visit tended to be the ones who would be everywhere in town. They were tourist so it was no wonder they would naturally want to see every square inch of Crocus. Hikaru began to walk down the side walks of Crocus. Every now and then he would ask a stranger if they saw a rat, but most of them either shook they're head taking him seriously, or the others would do the exact opposite and laugh at him. Hikaru figured this would be an extremely fun mission if he continued to get mocked.

From a distance he began to see Barta's Inn, it looked just as good as the last time he was there, just a few days ago to cook for Barta himself. He figured his growing relationship with the owner of the bar by doing several missions with him would allow Hikaru to question people in his bar. The two had gotten a good friendship because Hikaru respected Barta, he was one of the people in the world where he gave you faith in people. He was an honest man making an honest living, and that made Hikaru enjoy his presence. As he approached the Inn he opened the door waving his hand at Barta. Barta looked at Hikaru and waved at him approaching him.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you here. I mean you're always welcomed but the only time I ever see you is when you're doing a mission."

Hikaru laughed cause the man was sport on, Hikaru only interact with him when he was on a mission, and in this case it was no different. Hikaru looked at Barta and spoke to him calmly trying to explain the situation to him. He would start by asking if Barta knew who Luciel was.

"Do you know Luciel?"

Barta nodded and told Hikaru that the women was quite renowned in the town only cause she was the apprentice of a former popular mage. Hikaru nodded and decided now was the time to tell him about how a rat was on the loose. After telling Barta, barta sighed and spoke to Hikaru thanking him for warning him. barta said he would be vigilant for the sake of the people who were coming to visit the inn.  Hikaru then proceeded to tell Barta the real reason he was here, which wasn't because of warning him.

"I'm not here to warn you though. I need your help."

Bart looked at Hikaru with curious eyes and eventually asked with what. Hikaru explained how he needed to find the rat to stop it and therefore he wanted to question the customers or the travelers if they had seen or heard of such a thing. Barta seemed to be fine with it, and told Hikaru just dont alarm then or freak them out about the rat. He said he hadn't heard anything but still told Hikaru to do what he must.

Hikaru looked around as he decided he would begin by asking the people who were eating about the rat. Hikaru approached them slowly and talk to them calmly about it in fear of alarming them. He didn't want to do anything bad for business so he would speak to them in a respectful manner. All of the people seemed to be kind and each one told him they didn't see anything, but then thats when it happened. 2 people came in gasping for air. It got everyones attention. Hikaru watched as people were asking the people are they okay, and they started talking about a rat. Almost immediately HIkaru got up and would push through the crowd to ask the people who had just entered the inn more about what they were talking about. He assumed many of the people were just amazed. Hikaru would nudge through the crowd bumping people and saying excuse me. He finally reached the couple. Hikaru looked at them and decided to tell them precisely who he was and what he was after.

"Hello, I am Hikaru Nakamura, lieutenant in the Rune Knights. I am looking for the thing you just came here to describe. My mission is to take it down, so any information you have regarding it, as well as it's whereabouts would be deeply appreciated if possible."

Hikaru watched as the man told him all the information. Cleary the man wasn't a mage, but he explained the story to Hikaru about how him and his wife were exploring and they had found a old abandoned house that didn't look like anyone lived in it. They said they saw the rat from a distance and immediately fled not wanting to engage with such a creature. Hikaru nodded and told them about how he appreciated their corporation. Hikaru put on his usual clothing and began to walk toward where they told him to walk. Apparently it was on the west outskirt. Hikaru approached with caution just in case the rat decided it wanted to make a run for town. He would walk slowly observing the ground and the surrounding area to see if the rat left any trails or traces. As he continued to walk, he saw mud with big foot prints. The foot prints looked as if it could be the rats so Hikaru moved closer and ran toward it. He was curious as to how big this rat would be. This was the first time he had gotten such an odd request, and he was just looking to be done with it. Hikaru had been there for hours only looking for the same thing. Now this was the only lead he had so he hoped that the rat would be there. He was planning on ambushing it figuring it would still be in the abandoned house so that would most likely work out well.  Upon reaching the abandoned house, Hikaru figured the best way to do the ambush would be alerting it. He looked around. He needed to Lure it, maybe it liked the sound of humans. Hikaru was told the rat had been aggressive toward them. Hikaru began to shout.

"Hey Ugly, I know you're in there."

Hikaru screamed to the rat. He waited for a brief moment before hearing a few food steps yet still no movement. Hikaru picked up a rock from the floor and pegged it at the window of the abandoned house. The rock flied beautifully before it made a large shattering sound in hope of getting the rat's attention. Hikaru took another rock  and threw it at another window. Finally the rat woudl rush out of the door sprinting full speed at Hikaru. Hikaru hadn't thought this far ahead. He jumped to the side while also speaking.

"Start"

Hikaru said as he moved to the right side. The rat ran passed him but stopped looking extremely angry at the man. Well Hikaru had gotten his attention so now it was time to do work. Hikaru began to use lightning, having it around his fist. He ran straight for the rat. The rat was surprisingly fast, it kept up with Hikaru but Hikaru would duck as the rat tried to cut him, and Hikaru would take his right fist and with all his might punch the rat in the temple knocking it our unconscious. The aura that he had when he punched it was an aura many lieutenants had, and it dealt B-rank damage as wella s the lightning that had engulfed Hikaru's fist making it perfect to take out an enemy. Hikaru looked at the rat on the floor and grabbed it by its tail before  he began to drag the thing. He looked for somewhere good to bury it.

Hikaru looked in the abandoned house and found a nice shovel. He took that and took the rat in the forest and began to make a deep hole. Finally he took the rat and threw it in there and covered it with dirt. The entire process didn't take long and at max took Hikaru maybe 40 minutes. After Hikaru buried the rat he would bring the shovel back to the abandoned house and made his way to go tell luciel that he had taken out the rat. Upon hearing this she was overjoyed and rewarded Hikaru. Hikaru smiled and shook hands, it was a lot of work but this was definitely worth the bigger pay off.

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