As if the slow-paced stupid feud between the Martello and Tessio gangs weren’t enough to piss Michelle off, now she had to do extra work to keep paying rent for her stay. She did not come to Oak expecting to stay this long, and so, she brought only a small amount of Jewels with her. When she woke that morning and the poor old man at the reception apologetically asked if she could settle the due as soon as possible, she felt terrible. From what she gathered, she and one other person were the hotel’s only customers, and she did not want the hosting family to starve because she couldn’t pay what was rightfully theirs. Michelle apologized and promised to return with the remaining Jewels by noon.

The Martello gang practically treated her like a slave; they barely paid her and expected her to do every task quickly, and flawlessly. Nevertheless, she did not complain. She wasn’t doing their jobs because she wanted the money. This time around, however, she looked for the fastest quest with the highest reward. There was one particularly fishy deal put up on the town’s bulletin board. It offered a ridiculous amount of money for just gathering a bunch of junk. Usually, Michelle was smart enough to see through such pranks. But in her desperation to earn a lot quickly so that she can pay the rent and get back to her original mission, she fell for the obvious trap. She plucked the request from the board and began hunting for the things listed in the flier.

The first item on the list was ‘old plant’, with no apparent description of the plant. This, again, should have raised a red flag in the assassin’s brain, but she was lost so deep in her goal of making quick money, she avoided seeing the obvious. She headed to the nearest apothecary and scanned the shelves. “Do you have any old plant? Something that you don’t usually use for making medicines,” he asked the old lady who ran the apothecary. Saying it out loud, even Michelle realized how stupid the request sounds; yet, she persevered. However, the apothecary lady wasn’t weirded out. Instead, she lit up like a bulb and said, “I have just the thing.” Guess she hears even more ridiculous things than this.

The old lady disappeared into the back room and came back soon with a small potted plant in her hand. “I got this little thing here when I was twelve. I have tried every experiment possible with its leaves, roots… whatnot. Yet… I haven’t found a single use for it. This is probably the most useless old plant I have ever seen. Last night was my last experiment with it and that was a failure too. Was gonna throw it away today… Guess, it’s destiny you came asking for something like this. Maybe you will find a use for it,” the old lady said, giving Michelle the plant. Michelle thanked the lady and offered to pay something for the plant, but she refused to take anything.

513/1000

The next two things were easier to acquire than the old plant. The list read burnt wood and large chunk of metal. I know one place where I can find both. Holding the potted plant in her hand, Michelle walked to the blacksmith station. The blacksmith was ecstatic to receive a customer and began displaying his works without even listening to what Michelle was trying to say. “You are gonna love this one…” he began for the tenth time, moving towards a huge axe. “NO!” Michelle finally yelled, unable to take the man’s yammering. “I’m just here to pick up some burnt wood and any large useless piece of metal,” she said, lowering her voice this time after the blacksmith decided to stop and listen to her.

Michelle expected the man to fume in anger and throw her out. But instead, he sulked, sat near the anvil and began sobbing. Not knowing how to react to that, Michelle let the silent go beyond the awkward limit. Finally, she knelt next to him and spoke softly. “Er… Did I say something offensive?” she asked. “No…” the man replied amidst his sobs, “It’s not you. It’s just that… Nobody wants my wares. I promised my wife that I will buy some milk for our son on my way home for lunch. But… There hasn’t been a single customer since morning and I don’t have the money to buy the milk.” Michelle sighed, trying hard to digest the sudden explosion of emotion in front of her. She knew what she had to do to get things back to normal. “Listen… You give me the two things that I asked for and I will give you the Jewels required for buying milk, Okay?” she said. The sobbing man cheered up almost instantly and nodded vigorously. “Thank you so much! I do have burnt wood and useless metal, right here,” he said, getting up and racing towards the furnace. From the side, he pulled some charred wood and a huge piece of misshapen metal. “I tried a new alloy last night, hoping I’ll make a breakthrough. But it was way too malleable for weapon or armour,” he said, handing her the burnt wood and misshapen metal. Thankfully, the metal wasn’t too heavy; otherwise, it would have been impossible for Michelle to carry all three things. She handed some Jewels to the extremely grateful blacksmith for some milk, as promised, and set her course towards the address given in the flier to deliver the things.

After about thirty minutes of walking, Michelle finally reached Serena’s hideout and knocked on the door. The door opened automatically and there didn’t seem to be anyone on the other side. Michelle announced her arrival loudly, and yet there was no response. Seeing no other choice, she let herself in and scanned the dim-lit shack. At first, she didn’t notice it, but upon closer look, she saw the black cat sitting atop the couch. When she took another step towards the cat, it suddenly transformed into a black-haired young woman. Michelle was taken aback; she dropped everything she was holding and fell on her back. Serena couldn’t control her laughter and her annoying ringing laugh was getting on Michelle’s nerves. “Okay! You got me with the cat act. But, it’s not that funny,” Michelle said, bitterly. “It’s not that, kid. Ahahaha…” she continued laughing for another ten seconds before finishing her sentence, “I’m laughing because you actually gathered everything in the shit-list I put up as a joke.” And that’s when it finally struck Michelle… So… It was all a JOKE?! WHAT A WASTE OF TIME?! she screamed in her head, but didn’t say a word out loud. After all, it was her fault for falling for such an obvious trap. She felt like the potted plant she had brought; useless. She picked up the plant and decided to get out of there, leaving the witch to laugh by herself. She had wasted enough time. But before she could get to the door, Serena followed and threw a bag of Jewels at her. “For all your troubles,” she said mockingly, before beginning to laugh hysterically again. As much as it hurt her pride to take that money, she knew she couldn’t refuse it. After all, it was more than what those goons at the Martello mansion paid her. And so, she pocketed the bag and left without a word.

1251/1000
-Exit-