Kerii walked out of Fernando Milano's boutique. With more money in her pocket, she felt better about herself. She could do this. She could easily earn money without the use of magic. All she needed to do was learn to fight better and she was all set. Heck, maybe she could even grab hold of a boy and arrow and fight that way. She was pretty decent at handling one. She was definitely better than most people. As an elf, she had been trained in the art of archery and swordsmanship since she was rather young. A sword would definitely be better in close combat than a bow, but she felt a lot more comfortable with a bow than she did a sword. That was something she would need to definitely save up for though. She supposed she could buy a cheap one for now, but she honestly didn't want to. She wanted to save up for something truly magnificent that would help her out both when traveling and within the guild. She wanted something that could protect her from Carnil. She wanted something powerful... but then wouldn't that go against her code? She wanted to be a healer. What would happen if she learned more about swords, and bows and arrows? Would that deter her from her path of becoming a healer? But she needed to know how to protect herself, didn't she? There were just so many decisions. There were so many paths she could take. She could completely give up on learning archery and sword play and become a doctor, but then she may have to leave the guild. She could be something like a part-time doctor, she supposed, but then she wouldn't have as much freedom as she used to have as a mage of Lamia Scale.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Kerii decided that she would make that decision another day. For now, she just needed to focus on getting more requests in Baska done. She would have to actually gather up some more money if she wanted to spend it all, and at the moment, she needed a good sum of that money to pay her rent and buy food and such. Living life as a wandering ex-mage wasn't cheap, but it was very rewarding and that, in Kerii's opinion, was more than enough to make up for her frugal lifestyle. She often wondered what other guilds were like in regards to spending money. Blue Pegasus was reputed to be rather elegant, so she imagined that they had quite a bit of money. Fairy Tail was probably in the same boat as many Lamia Scale mages were, but as she was not part of the guild, nor knew anyone from the guild, she couldn't speak on their behalf. It was only an estimate. Most likely, she was off by a bit in either direction. Actually, everyone's situation was pretty different. Not everyone did as many quests as everyone else and everyone came from different families and had different histories.

WC: 504/2000

Kerii came from a middle-class family. She went to an ordinary, public school. Her father was a diplomat. Although he still was not completely fond of humans, that was where his skill set suited him the most. Her mother used to be a healer, but became a stay at home mom. Besides the fact that she was raised under an elven roof with elven traditions and was the only elf in her class, she lived a pretty normal life until she came to Lamia Scale. When she went, she left with only a little bit of money in her pockets, just enough for her to make it to a guild and start earning money that way. She didn't start off with absolutely nothing and she was sure that she wasn't the hardest worker in the guild, but she was still able to live in a lifestyle that suited her. She was even able to take a break for a few months when she lost her mother and she was okay. Sure, it took her a little while to get back on her feet, but she was fine now. She just did five whole requests and she had a feeling that she would be getting even more done.

As the elf went back to her room at the inn, she scoured the streets in search for an ice cream parlor. Much to her surprise, she saw one that was open. She entered the shop and heard the light chime of a bell ring above her. The cashier's eyes grew wide and her piece of bubblegum burst across her face. She turned away for a moment to clear her face of the gum. They must not get many visitors in winter. After all, who wants an ice cream cone in this weather? Kerii surely didn't, but Syl did. She ordered a one scoop of ice cream in a paper bowl and paid some jewels for it. She left the ice cream parlor and went away to give it to Syl. Although she knew that it had zero chance of melting in Baska's winter weather, she still hurried back. She didn't want to be in the cold any longer.

After giving the ice cream to Sylvie, who very much enjoyed it, Kerii curled up in her blankets and fell asleep. When she awoke the next day, she got ready for the day like any other. Before going outside, she ate a small breakfast with food she already had in her room and bundled up. She was going to go and take another request today. She was finally feeling like her old self. Only, this time, she was doing a bunch of requests in a row by herself, not with someone else. As she came across the request board, there was, once again, one request that stood out from the rest. The flyer was written on pink paper, the exact same pink shade as the other request and the exact shade as the envelope.

WC: 504+500=1004/2000

The request was put out by none other than the flamboyant fashion designer, Fernando Milano. If he needed to go and find some help, he could have just sent for her like he did the last time. Maybe... he didn't want her help? No, why wouldn't he? She provided him with five amazing models that all wanted so badly to model Fernando Milano's line of autumn clothes, which he wouldn't even have gotten around to finishing so quickly if it weren't for her getting the rare fabrics he needed along with the pair of golden scissors. As to why he didn't send for her like last time, maybe he wanted to try and give another mage a shot at helping him. Kerii noticed that he was offering a higher payment than a few of his other quests. Well, she needed the money, so she saw no point in not taking the request. If it was meant for someone else, then oh well. That hypothetical other person was too slow. Kerii got to the request first. She tore it off the board, claiming it for her own. She stuffed it into her pocket and briskly walked towards Fernando Milano's boutique.

Upon entering the boutique, she could see that Fernando Milano was clearly distressed. The models were walking on the catwalk, wearing Fernando Milano's clothes and practicing their various poses. As each one came out, Fernando Milano cursed under his breath. "Merde..." he murmured. Another one came out. "Oh mon dieu..." Kerii didn't know what either of those things meant, but from the tone of his voice, Kerii could conclude that neither of them were pleasant words. "Mr. Milano?" Kerii asked. The fashion designer turned around, facing away from the models, and saw Kerii. A small wave of relief seemed to wash over his face, but it wasn't a large enough one to wipe away his stressed out look. "Is everything okay?" she asked. He shook his head. "No, everything is definitely not okay. Why else would I put out a request?" Kerii looked from him to the models. "Is it the models? I thought you-" "No, no. It's not the models. Uh... just, come over here." He paused to speak to the models. "Everyone, take a quick break! We'll resume in 5 minutes!"

He pulled Kerii off to the side and crossed his arms. "What's going on?" she asked, hoping she didn't screw something up on her last request. "I don't know what's going on. Everything was perfect. The models were happy. My autumn collection was absolutely flawless. Everyone seemed overjoyed to work with me, but today... Today things just seemed to get out of hand. My perfect clothes now have imperfections. Certain makeups and shoes that compliment my outfits beautifully have gone missing. Pieces of accessories keep breaking as if they were made by an amateur. All of this can't be coincidental, not before my big show. I suspect that someone, or some people are sabotaging my fashion show. Someone doesn't want things to go right for me."

WC: 1004+508=1512/2000

"So, I'm guessing you want me to find out who's sabotaging your fashion show?" "Yes, and put a stop to it. I'd start by asking the models. They have a few more minutes before they're supposed to get back to rehearsal. I don't, in any way, expect you to find out what's happening before then. Mid-rehearsal seems to be when certain things start breaking or going missing, so I would pay extra attention to that time frame. In the meantime, you can start spying on them or whoever else may be sabotaging my show. I don't think you'll see anything yet, but hey, it's worth a shot." "Okay, will do, Mr. Milano."

With that said, Kerii went over to the backstage, which was right behind the catwalk. The models seemed to be almost as frustrated as Fernando Milano. She kept out of sight and began eavesdropping on the models. Just as Fernando Milano expected, she didn't uncover anything. All she heard was the models complaining about how their accessories were broken or how they couldn't find the right makeup palate. They were just rambling on and on about the issues. A few of them asked the rhetorical question of who could have done such a thing. Obviously, nobody knew the answer to that... or did they? It was entirely within the realm of possibility that one, or multiple, of the models could be the person (or persons) sabotaging the rehearsals, but she would have to further investigate to figure out if that was the case or not. Once the rehearsal started back up again, she got her answer. When the one red haired girl went out on the catwalk, the rest began to look around nervously. Once one person thought nobody was looking, she stashed a bottle of foundation and some eye shadow in her purse. Kerii looked to another person who snapped part of a necklace in such a way that the charm wouldn't fall off right away, but would do so once someone moved around enough. Kerii rolled her eyes. These models were such divas. This is why she didn't like to dabble in these things. Movies, shows, fashion and all those things were too dramatic for her. She didn't doubt that these sort of things happened all the time. If Fernando Milano wanted to hold another fashion show, he would have to keep this in mind.

As it turned out, every single model Kerii had picked out for Fernando Milano contributed to the misfortune that was happening in the rehearsal. That is, everyone but the red haired girl she saw. She didn't know the girl's name, but didn't need to. She was the only red head in the entire show. After the rehearsal had concluded and Kerii had confirmed that the red haired girl in no way sabotaged the show, Kerii reported back to Fernando Milano. He shook his head, more disappointed in how the models behaved than the selection of them. He promptly fired all of them except for the red haired girl. The rest of the models protested, but Fernando Milano wouldn't take it. If Kerii were him, she wouldn't either. They were clearly unprofessional and thus, inept. Fernando Milano gave Kerii her reward and thanked her for her assistance. Now, all he needed to do was get more models.

WC: 1512+555=2067/2000