When she was out of earshot from Guard Captain Devon, Kerii let out a sigh. It was already night. Just like she didn't expect Videns not to show, she didn't expect her last quest to take so long. She found a good number of candidates to be recruited into the guard with time to spare, but she didn't expect Captain Devon to arrive at the gate they had to meet at, at night. She expected him to be done with his work sooner rather than later. It didn't matter anymore though. What was done was done. Although it became done in a way that Kerii really didn't want it to happen, it was still over.

Kerii went back to her room at the inn and sat down on her bed. She pondered for a few minutes. She had already spent a lot of time in Magnolia. She was getting more than a bit tired of that town. Magnolia was a very nice place to be at, but Kerii still wanted to see more of Fiore. She was already close to some southern towns, so Kerii thought it would be best to choose between either Marigold or Hargeon. If she wasn't mistaken, Hargeon was closer to Magnolia than Marigold was, so Kerii could easily go to Hargeon first and then once she was done with Hargeon, she could move onto Marigold. Besides, Hargeon was supposedly a very beautiful town. She could already imagine the sparkling waters and the warm, golden beaches. It was decided then. She would be going to Hargeon after she was finished with questing in Magnolia, which, come to think of it, would actually be really soon. Kerii had done a surplus of quests, both with Videns and alone. Most of them were menial tasks, but a few of them weren't and proved to be worth the work when Kerii was paid more money than normal. Kerii planned on taking another one of those quests.

Kerii got changed out of her tank top and shorts and changed back into her pajamas. She brushed her hair and teeth again before going back to bed. When she was done with that, she got under her covers and began to read the book on her night stand. She got through two chapters of it the previous night. She got through another three before her eyes grew too tired to concentrate on the tiny print. Kerii closed her book and set it on the night stand next to her. She laid her head on the pillow and fell asleep. When she woke up, she brushed her hair and teeth again and got dressed in a new outfit, which consisted of a dark off shoulder shirt with a light colored camisole underneath it. She wore jean shorts and put on a pair of sneakers. She grabbed a granola bar and munched on it as she left the inn. On her way out, she made herself a quick cup of coffee and began to drink it.

WC: 502/2000

After Kerii had drunk about half of her cup of coffee and eaten all of her granola bar, she felt fully awake. When her coffee cup was empty, Kerii threw that and the wrapper into a nearby trashcan before finally arriving at the request board. She looked at the board, wondering which quest she would decide on taking. There board wasn't as full as it was the first day she came to Magnolia, but that was only to be expected considering Kerii had taken so many since she arrived at Magnolia. She didn't know if it was possible to do too many quests, but if it was, Kerii definitely did.

Kerii decided on taking a request put out by a client who Kerii was familiar with: Bella Missandra. She owned the bath house in Magnolia. Kerii had done a request for her before, but only one. It wasn't like her with Khalash, who Kerii had done multiple quests for. She had only done a single request for Bella, and it wasn't much admittedly. All Kerii did was pass out fliers to people around Magnolia to advertise her bathhouse. Kerii didn't know if it worked or not, but she supposed she would find out once she went to see Bella again. Or maybe not, but Bella seemed like the kind of person who would show her gratitude or excitement towards someone who successfully helped. Kerii just got those sort of vibes from her.

Kerii took the request off the board. At first, she just skimmed over it. It offered a high reward and was for the bathhouse and someone needed to be dealt with. That's all she gathered from briefly looking over it. However, when she read more of the request, Kerii realized that this person who needed to be dealt with was actually very... perverted. In the quest, it explained that there was a man peeping into the girls' bathhouse. Kerii shook her head in disgust. The nerve of some people. Usually, people go to the bathhouse because they want some rest and relaxation. The last thing those girls needed was a pervert looking at them while they were naked. Kerii was now very sure she wanted to take this request. Not just to help out a former client of hers again, but to teach that guy a lesson. He wouldn't forgive herself if she let that guy get away with peeping at girls in the bathhouse. Maybe that was one of the reasons Bella wasn't getting a lot of customers. It would make sense, but wouldn't Bella try to stop that guy from spying on the girls taking baths if that was the cause? Maybe she didn't notice or nobody reported it, but that seemed highly unlikely so maybe the problem just arose after Kerii advertised? Kerii's heart sank when she realized that it could have been her fault. What if all the advertising attracted more girls which provided the pervert with more people to spy on?

WC: 1000/2000

It didn't matter how this guy came to have the idea of spying on girls in the bathhouse. All that mattered was that Kerii needed to put a stop to it, and she especially felt obliged to do so if it was indeed her fault that, that happened. Kerii clenched the request in her hand and went off to find the bathhouse. That inexcusably gross man would not get away with his actions. Not only would she make sure he got in trouble by the law for it, but she would make him regret ever doing such a thing herself. That was a large threat coming from a healer, and it was one that she was sure some healers couldn't fulfill, but not every healer was an elf who had years of combat training on their belt. Even though most of Kerii's training had been with a sword and bow, her father would never let her continue training with a weapon if she didn't know how to use her legs or fists to fight. If she didn't and showed that she didn't learn during a fight, it would reflect negatively on him. And of course it would make Kerii more vulnerable, so the purpose of him training her wasn't just so he could look like a good elven father. It was to protect his only daughter as well.

Kerii walked up to the entrance of the bathhouse and looked from left to right. She didn't see anyone yet, but she would make sure to take a good look around the whole parameter of the bathhouse once she talked with Bella. The Lamia Scale mage walked inside the bathhouse and went up to an employee. "Excuse me, but is Bella available? I'm here about the... um... guy who is, you know." The employee nodded her head with an annoyed look on her face. "Yeah, she's available. I know who you're talking about." She rolled her eyes. "Bella is in her office. Do you know where it is?" "Yes, I do. Thanks!" "You're welcome."

Kerii knocked on Bella Missandra's door. "Come in!" she called. And so she did. Kerii came into Bella's office and a wave of relief washed over Bella's face. "Oh thank God you're here. Wait. You are here to help out with my little situation, aren't you? Oh, please, take a seat." Kerii sat down in a chair in front of Bella's desk and said, "Yeah, I am, but I wouldn't exactly call it a 'little situation.' It seems like a pretty big one to me." "Ugh, I know. The bathhouse was doing great. It was getting more people and then he just had to show up and ruin it all, didn't he. Well, I'm glad you're here to deal with him. He keeps changing where he's been spying so nobody's been able to catch him or get a good look at him. I trust you'll do otherwise?" "Of course." "Excellent! Then you can go ahead and go look for that man."

WC: 1515/2000

Kerii nodded her head and left Bella's office. She proceeded to exit the bathhouse and once she was out, she waited until evening passed and then began her search. There was obviously nobody at the entrance, so Kerii had to look all around the other places at the bathhouse. She started by going around the right side of the bathhouse. She was cautious. Kerii didn't want the pervert to see her and run away in fear of being caught by someone. In all honesty, Kerii wasn't the fastest person, which was surprising considering elves were known to be agile. Actually, Kerii was considerably agile in the forest and probably navigated through the forest better than most people. While most people were probably slowed down by the obstacles the forest provided, it was almost a second nature to Kerii to either easily evade or conquer them, so if the peeper decided to flee into the woods, Kerii could easily chase after him and thus, deal with him.

The peeper was not on the right side of the building, and any place leading to the back of the building (aka where the baths would be) was blocked off with a solid wall so that nobody could see through it. Kerii decided to go around and check out the other side. This time, she didn't see anyone at first, but then found a blue haired man laying down on a hill hiding behind a decoration with binoculars in his hands. He was looking through them and it was clear as day that he was looking at the girls in the bathhouse. What gave his location away though was a horrible comment he made: "Really? I thought there would be more girls out." Kerii's face grew red with anger. Without a second thought, she crept up to the man, barely making a sound. Once she was behind him she said, "It's rude to look at naked girls you know." He turned around and stood up with a start. "Why you..." he began. Almost immediately, the man became hostile. Kerii honestly didn't expect that. She just expected him to be some average guy with an extremely dirty mind, but he actually wanted to fight Kerii just for her catching him.

The guy threw the first punch. It was an easy one to dodge and she did it with ease. To fake him out, Kerii feinted a left handed punch at his abdomen. Normally, people were right handed, so a left handed punch was abnormal and so he was probably even more distracted by that, so he didn't even notice Kerii's right hand swing a punch at his temple, which caused him to pass out. She most likely caused him to have a concussion, but Kerii didn't care. He deserved it. Kerii dragged him over to the front of the bathhouse and Kerii quickly got Bella who notified the authorities and graciously thanked and rewarded Kerii, once again also throwing in a free herbal bath. Kerii accepted remembering how good it felt last time Bella offered her a free herbal bath. Once Kerii was finished with it, she headed home and started making plans for her trip to Hargeon.

WC: 2048/2000