Sage was standing in front of the public quest boards and boy there were a lot of quests available for the day. But there was one flyer which caught his attention, it was different from the rest of the flyers for it was written on a more expensive paper. He wondered who the client was and so he looked for any names written on the fancy paper and there were Lady Merlin's name. He gasped for a moment as he was amazed that someone as powerful as Lady Merlin would request a wizard to do something. He then took the flyer out of the board and read its content. It says that whoever's willing to take the job must meet with Lady Merlin first. Sage looked up towards the castle that Lady Merlin lives in and a smile etched on his face. He was very sure about this quest and will take it head on.

He walked towards the castle with a lot of spirit and he was curios on what quest will he be facing. When he arrived at the gates the guard looked at him and without saying a word Sage took out the flyer and showed it to the guards. It took a while for the guards to recognize what it was but after a few seconds their faces lighted up and said to Sage to follow him. The guard opened the gates and so in they go the two of them. The castle was a work of masterpiece, there's no lying to it, although from a far it looked beautiful, from close front it looked astounding.

The guard took Sage into the castle and after a few alleyways they stood in front of a grand door and Sage's instinct told him that it must be Lady Merlin's room. The guard without hesitation knocked on the door and said that someone accepted the request. The door opened on its own and there she was, Lady Merlin sitting down on what seemed to be her grand chair. 'Come,' she said and Sage looked at the guard, the guard eyed him to go to the Lady and Sage understood. He switched his gaze back to Lady Merlin and walked towards her.

She flicked her finger and the flyer that was in Sage's pocket flew towards her hand and it vanished soon afterwards. She then said to Sage that she was expecting for something to arrive soon and that it was very important. He focused on every detail of what Lady Merlin would say next as he was feeling a little bit of pressure as he was standing in front of the most powerful wizard in probably the history. She then said that the caravan that was supposed to transport the item wasn't known for their delicacy of handling items, especially fragile items that is. She then continued by saying that the item will arrive in about a few hours and that he want someone to be present in the transporting the item and that she wanted him to be that man.

T WC: 512/3000

She elaborated further on what Sage specifically has to do, she told him that he must make sure that the caravan should take good care of the item and not to lose it or break it anyway possible and that they have to avoid from any such incident from happening as the item were too valuable to her. She then mentioned again that the caravan will be arriving in a few hours so Sage must wait at the gates to report himself. Afterwards Sage agreed to Lady Merlin and said that he would do his best to deliver her the item. He then left with the guard showing him the way out. He left the castle and went towards a local restaurant while he wait for the caravan to arrive at the gates of Crocus and like the Lady said it, they will arrive in a few hours, which means that he has time to fill his tummy before he report to duty. After doing so, he head straight towards the gates of Crocus, waiting for the arrival of the caravan. While doing so, he had a little talk with the guard on duty there and he was shocked knowing that Sage was in Rune Knights.

After a few conversations with the outgoing guard, the caravan arrived. At last, Sage thought. He put the caravan at halt and they sourly said to him what he wanted from them. Sage then said that Lady Merlin sent him to watch over the delivery. The two workers released a whine and both of them said ugh. Sage didn't particularly liked the way they treated their job, and he thought that the workers should take their job more seriously as they were paid for doing their job. But this time he was just going to let them go as probably they were just tired. Sage rode on to the caravan but at the front, the place where he could communicate and see the road with ease. The worker whipped the rope and the horses started to move. They rode their way on to the city of Crocus and one of the workers said to the other how easy it would've been if they could take any street they wanted and that the job would be done in a matter of seconds. Then they both laughed at the idea. Not to be cynical, but what Sage heard was quite painful and the two of the workers should be given a slap right on the face. The other worker than said that how Lady Merlin, their client was wasting her money to hire a mage to watch over them. This is where Sage couldn't take it anymore. He said to them that it is very important to deliver the items with care and its about the quality of the service, not how fast the item arrives. He also said that Lady Merlin did that only because she haven't got any good reviews on the service of the two of them.

WC: 504
T WC: 1016/3000

The two of the workers were quiet, didn't say anything after what Sage said. They probably either was making sense of what Sage said and they felt bad of what they said just then or that they didn't want to hear what Sage said and they don't want to make a fuss about it and so they stayed quite. After awhile, they reached near the city, and one of the workers decided to travel through the main streets. This shocked Sage as the main streets were too populated and are famous for pickpockets. Being a responsible adult, he said to the workers to not take the main streets and explained why to them. The workers then asked him what road they should take then. Sage was prepared for this question and so he replied with ease, he showed them a road that will lead to the outskirts, which were much less populated than the main streets. The worker whined and stated to Sage that it would take twice as long if they'd followed that road. Sage looked at them in the eye with menace, a gaze which shows them that he was angry at them for being such lazy asses. They looked forward without any words and changed their course towards the outer road.

The rest of the journey was quite silent, it would've been awkward to crack a joke after what happened. Sage crossed his arms and his focus increased by triple folds as he was afraid if robbers were to jump out of nowhere. But it would be safer if a robbery would happen at the outskirts as there would be plenty of room for Sage to cast his spells and wouldn't have to be afraid of innocents getting hurt, plus a robbery happening at the main streets would be a lot easier as there would be too many people and he won't be able to notice it until he realizes the package was missing. Before they could reach the outskirts though, there were several construction workers looking at them and one of them decided to jump out of the majority and walked towards them. Sage didn't hesitated and said yes? as if seeing if there's anything he could help him with. The construction worker said that the condition of the road ahead wasn't ready to be used yet. Sage understood and so do the caravan workers, they backed off.

This time Sage said that they should take the alleyways instead. The workers followed without saying anything like a good boy, but Sage could tell that they weren't happy of something for some reason. They entered the alleyway and head towards the castle where Lady Merlin is waiting for her item. Throughout the journey in the alleyway, Sage realized that there were many turns that the workers had to take and by looking at the workers turning at each junction, Sage could tell that it was not easy to turn a caravan, especially in such closed area like the alleyway.

WC: 502
T WC: 1518/3000

Nevertheless, they continued their journey to deliver the item. For awhile, Sage mind went into the skies wondering what item could it be inside the caravan with even Lady Merlin asking for a wizard like him to look after it and make sure that it is good in shape. A shouting then brought him back into reality. He heard it again, the shouting of a manly man asking someone to stop. He realized that it must be one of the rune knights and he didn't want any trouble with them although he is one of them.

He ordered the worker to take a turn, away from the source of the voice. They continued forward and again he heard it, a voice asking someone to be stopped, he wondered what was going on with the rune knights, but wasting no more time he ordered the worker to turn away from the source of the voice yet again and Sage could feel that the worker weren't happy about that.

Sage felt like apologizing to them for being such a nuisance and so bossy ordering them around. But he thought about it twice and saw a flaw in it, that he shouldn't be saying sorry to them as that was what he was there for, to make sure the item was delivered securely without any troubles. The caravan still made a few more turns as they were not in a kind of a road meant for vehicles but were meant for pedestrians and bikes to go around and like before, Sage felt very guilty for putting the worker in such position as he could see very clearly how hard it was to turn the caravan.

As they continued further, he heard it again, the voice of a rune knight ordering someone to stop and asked them to not continue the journey. This made Sage worry even more and so for the third time, he asked the worker to change direction and make a turn in the alleyway. The worker however didn't like it but followed his orders anyway. Sage was fascinated by the worker's attitude towards his command, maybe what he said just now really got him and made him realize how important the job he had was. But as soon as Sage thought about it the workers did something to change his mind.

One of the workers impolitely said to Sage that if he were to give out orders like a spoiled brat again, he would leave the delivery and not give a damn about it anymore. After hearing this, Sage could feel that he had lost his patience, he felt very guilty though, but knowing himself he knew he would feel guilty for this unlucky man, but he couldn't do anything because it was why he was there, to make sire the item was delivered with delicacy as requested by his client, Lady Merlin. Sage spoke up and said that he must do it because it was his job assigned by Lady Merlin.

WC: 502
T WC: 2020/3000

It seemed like the workers had enough that they didn't gave this angry-feel-bad vibes anymore. They released a huff and said to Sage that they couldn't do this anymore, it was a job not suitable for them. It was not hard to agree with that statement though. They jumped off the caravan and took the item that they were supposed to deliver it to Lady Merlin. Sage peeked and he could see a small round object that seemed to glitter, whilst so he jumped off the caravan. The workers walked towards him and gave him the item. It was a small orb. The workers than said goodbye to Sage and drove away. It was quite an ass move, but thinking back, he shouldn't be judging people, maybe they were new or that they were just tired from doing other stuffs.

Sage looked up at the sky and it was still as clear as it was in the morning. It was actually a nice day. He then shook his head trying to shake off all the unnecessary things off of it. He looked at the orb and did some thinking, if Lady Merlin would hire a mage to look out for the orb than that means that it has a high possibility that it would be targeted to be stolen. He decided to hide it in his robes where it couldn't be seen and hence it's probability to be targeted by thieves would decrease.

After making sure that the orb couldn't be seen from his robes he continued along the alleyway into the main street as he was walking and the orb is so close to him, it wouldn't be hard to defend it against thieves plus his hand was over the orb the whole time but he made it looked like he was holding his wrist. Throughout his journey there he was very cautious of his surrounding but of course, his head was only focusing forward as so that he wouldn't be seen as suspicious and would be suspected because he didn't want to make a scene in the public plus the fact that his magic is more of area of effect magic type so it would be bad if he had to fight there. Although secretly he would love to have a fight with somebody right then, as he loves a good duel as it uses not only your magic and physique but also your mind, which is Sage's area of specialty, he wasn't named Sage for nothing. Throughout the journey, he wondered how Lady Merlin would react when she saw him carrying the item and not the workers, he didn't want to see her get mad as that could be very very very bad. He then pictured another scenario, where Lady Merlin is this generous and kind lady that would simply put that thought aside and would thank him instead for delivering the item to her. It might sound a bit narcissistic but it was just a hypothesis of what would happen.

WC: 504
T WC: 2524/3000

Sage continued walking until he could see Lady Merlin's castle, he could see that there was a different guard standing at the front gate of the castle, he then thought that the guard before must have went to launch or maybe home or something, and that another guard had replaced his shift. He smiled at the guard and told him about the request Lady Merlin gave him and that he was also there to deliver the item she had requested, the guard didn't reply with a smile but instead he opened the gate without hesitating who Sage was, maybe because Lady Merlin had told him that there will be a delivery for her soon. Sage entered the castle but this time the guard didn't show him the way. It was weird to witness that event because a situation pops up into Sage's mind and he asked himself what if someone who haven't been there before was there and he or she had to find their own way to Lady Merlin's room? Been walking inside the castle himself he knew where Lady Merlin room was and so he head there alone. Throughout his journey he had more time to observe the inside of the castle because in before the guard was too fast for him to look around.

When Sage had stepped into the front door of what he supposed as Lady Merlin's room, he did what the guard before did. He knocked the door of Lady Merlin's room. Then a voice quite familiar was heard by him, it was Lady Merlin herself. He pushed open the door and walked into the amazing room, now not intimidated by Lady Merlin's presence he just realized how grand and mystical the room was. Lady Merlin was astonished to see that he arrived there alone and asked him where the orb was. Sage didn't answer it verbally but he grabbed the orb that was inside his robe pocket and brought it out so she could see it. She was delighted at first to see the orb but then suddenly her face darkened and she angered, she asked Sage where the workers were, and Sage told her the whole story and the incident he faced through out the journey. She was angry when she heard about the workers abandoning the job just like that. She cooled down soon after and thanked Sage for going through all the hassle to deliver the item to her. She reached the pocket in her robed and grabbed something out of it, it was two large sacks which Sage suspect contained diamonds, his reward for doing the request. He gave one of it to Sage but then grabbed another one and gave it to Sage too. He asked what was the other one for and she answered that the extra money was originally or the workers that should be delivering the orb but because they did a half-assed job the jewels goes to him. He thanked Lady Merlin and left the castle.



WC: 502
T WC: 3026/3000