"If my hunch is correct, my sword is probably somewhere in the Crocus Gardens. After all, that is where I remember having it last."

It was not, at all, a useful hint, but it was the only hint that Houren had to go by. His client for today was a man called Armin, an individual's who father was a dozen times more famous than him; even Houren had heard stories of Armin's father's exploits, but had not known that the great man of legend had a son, and even more, he did know that the son was so unlike the father. Having said that though, although Armin's achievements could not even come close to rivaling his father's, the boy had a big heart, one that, with the correct nurture, was capable of filling the older Bartholomew's shoes. After all, it was not unusual for a son to want to follow in his father's footsteps, especially if the father was a great Rune Knight, renowned as unparalleled even among great heroes.

Houren thought about Armin's hint as he entered the Crocus Gardens, his eyes scanning the immediate environment for any hint of the sword. According to the man himself, the sword was a rapier, not a large sword by any means, but one of such fine quality and handiwork that it could not be mistaken for any other sword in the country, or at least that is what Armin had told him when he took up the request. For a second, Houren was under the impression that Armin was using his father's old sword, but he soon realized that this could not be true. The Great Sir Bartholomew, Armin's father, was a renowned great sword user, it wasn't something that someone could easily misplace in the Crocus Gardens, nor was anyone in the world dense enough to describe it as a 'rapier', which, in Houren's eyes, was nothing but a big needle. This is opposed to a great sword, which was capable of cleaving a man clean in half if used right, whereas a rapier was a weapon preferred by the swift and not the strong. Rapiers were dangerous too, Houren had to admit, if you were fast enough, you could easily poke a dozen holes in a big guy before he even had the chance to cleave you down with his great sword.

Armin did not seem to inherit his father's size, so perhaps it was best for him to stick to that rapier?

In any case, this was not the time for him to get distracted. He actually ended sticking his hands into some flowerbeds in hopes that the sword had somehow ended up inside. Of course, that venture yielded up absolutely no results; it was naive of him to think that the sword was in some flowerbeds, unless, of course, someone had actually stolen Armin's sword and then planted it somewhere it could not possibly have ended up in by chance. If that was the case, though, then the sword wasn't necessarily in the Crocus Gardens. In fact, it could have been anywhere in all of Fiore, and Houren would be none the wiser, limiting his search to the Gardens as though he were some sort of fool. Having said that though, assuming the sword was not actually in Crocus Gardens, or even in the capital itself, then the job was probably an impossible one. Houren had not failed a job yet though, nor was he intending to, especially not one where he did not even need to fight.

He thought back on it for a bit; if the sword really was as Armin had described it, then surely there wasn't a lack of people in Crocus who would want to steal it? It was stated to be one of a kind, as though it were the most well made sword in the country. A sharp sword meant nothing if the wielder was worthless though, Houren knew that better than anybody, but if a petty thief got his hands on it, he could easily pawn it away for a serious buck. Houren decided that he would sweep the pawn shops if his search of the Crocus Gardens turned out to be fruitless. That was when he saw it, a dog that wasn't leashed strolling around in the distance with something in his mouth. Houren took a couple of steps forward, and quickly noticed what it was; a sword. Going from the elaborate design and handiwork, it was probably Armin's sword too. A grin appeared on Houren's face as he squared up to the dog, who turned his tail towards the mage and began to run away, likely because it was aware of his intentions to take the sword away.

The Fairy Tail mage began to chase the dog, surprised at how fast the dog was despite its size and breed. However, it was a dog and not some sort of cheetah, a smaller breed at that so it wasn't long before Houren had managed to close the distance between him and the beast. When he was close enough, the mage genuinely lunged at the dog, careful to take the full brunt of the damage on the dog's behalf and also made sure that the rapier did not accidentally poke someone. The dog refused to let go of the sword even after it had been tackled, but now knew better after that scare. It walked towards Houren's feet, dropped the blade at this feet and scampered away, whining all the while. Houren felt somewhat sorry for the poor mutt, but a job was a job.

Houren grabbed the sword and headed towards Armin's house, an extravagant western style mansion not far from the Crocus Gardens. Strangely enough, it was Armin himself who answered the door and he was visibly delighted when he saw that Houren was carrying his rapier, who presented it to him in turn. Grinning from ear to ear, Armin exchanged the payment for the job for the rapier, a trade which Houren quickly accepted.

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