If Kerii said that she was happy to be working for Dex Miller once more, she would be lying. The elf didn't truly dislike him. That would just be insensitive as his behavior was generally explained to be caused by his accident, but that didn't detract from the fact that he was not necessarily an 'easy' client. Kerii had done a request for him before where she had to pretend to be a spy with him. Of course, Dex thought he was an actual spy. Nobody said the elf had to play along, but she thought that it would waste less time and please her client while she was at it. It was pointless to argue with a man whose mind was not in his right place. There was one time where Dex seemed to be right about something, and that was with the spirit. Come to think of it, she had not heard much from Dacol Lubex or the spirit, but perhaps nothing was going on. Regardless, Dex had only stumbled upon a real situation because he was poking his nose where it didn't belong, and it was purely by accident. His fantasy at the time was meant to take him elsewhere. This situation on the request was a bit unique though. Dex Miller wholeheartedly knew that what he was doing was not part of his usual antics. He knew that there was not a mystery to be solved. He knew that there was no criminal to apprehend. Instead of fulfilling his dreams as a detective, he was trying to get smart and improve his credibility within Orchidia by faking a crime. Reading this, Kerii shook her head. She didn't like faking something. It was pretty much on the same level as cheating, but Dex Miller was offering a large sum of money for assisting him. Not only that, but she was sure that nobody would be fooled by his fake crime. She didn't imagine many people would believe him, even if it was the most authentic faux crime scene anyone had ever set up. It took a lot to deter people's minds. It would be highly unlikely that one singular event would cause such a drastic change... but obviously Dex Miller did not think of this; however, that was the only reason Kerii felt comfortable with taking this request.

The elf clutched the letter someone delivered to her and started heading towards the location specified on the request. She could not believe that she was working for this man again, but there was little choice in the matter. He had specifically requested for her help, hence the letter, likely due to how she had helped him throughout his other situations before. He trusted her and was willing to pay a large sum of jewels for her help. Kerii was not fond of the whole idea of the request, and she was not happy with working for the guy, but she would feel too bad if she didn't do the request.

WC: 502/3000

Kerii arrived at the meeting location to see Dex Miller, trying to look as inconspicuous as ever, but ultimately failing. Still, the Wood Elf played along with his plan and acted as if this was a serious matter. "You wanted my help?" she innocently asked. Dex nodded with a devilish grin on his face. "Yes. I need you to fake a crime scene." Though it was not necessary to reaffirm that statement, Kerii nodded her head in understanding, not even bothering to mention his redundancy. "Though why did you request my help?" inquired the elf. Did he know that she was a mage? Perhaps he just assumed that was so. She couldn't remember if she told him she was a member of Lamia Scale or not, but if she did, that would give him merit for correctly assuming she had magical abilities.

"I'd prefer the aid of a mage for part of my plan. It's not necessary, but it would definitely make things run a little more smoothly. I remember you helped me out with that spirit. I don't know how you were able to withstand the blow from that spirit, so I assumed magic was involved... unless that's not the case," said Dex, soon realizing that there were other explanations for him being knocked out cold and Kerii only feeling drained. "I'm a mage," she confirmed. A look of relief washed over the dark-haired man. "Great! I'll tell you what I need with magic later, but for now I need you to gather a few unique items for me. Do you think you can do that?" The elf nodded her head. She could likely gather anything Dex Miller needed. "Yes, though it may depend on what exactly you need." Dex Miller grinned and began listing off what she needed to gather.

"First off is a bag of animal blood. Cornstarch and colored water will just not suffice. It'll look just like human blood. It's brilliant! Don't worry though. You don't have to harm any animals. I already contacted a butcher and requested that he preserved some blood for me. It's in a bag. Just mention my name and the butcher will give it to you, no questions asked." Kerii didn't know about the butcher, but she certainly had a few questions. "Are you trying to make this look like a murder scene?" She had assumed that he would be trying to fake a simple break-in, but if he was truly going after a far more serious crime, things could get out of hand very quickly.

"Yes. Or well, a fight at the very least. Obviously this can't go very far without a body, but we'll make due. Just go and retrieve the blood and return to me once you're finished." Kerii agreed to this and left Dex to be alone after he gave her a slip of paper with the butcher shop's name and address on it. She started making her way towards the place, but as she did so, she just shook her head. There were so many things that could go wrong with this quest.

WC: 502+518=1020/3000

The elf arrived at the butchery. When she did, she walked up to the counter and spoke to the man behind it. "Hello, miss. What can I do for you?" Kerii fished out the slip of paper Dex gave her and showed it to the man. "Dex Miller sent me. I understand you have something for him, correct?" The man rolled his eyes and nodded his head. "I do. Hold on, let me go get it." The man wasn't gone too long before he returned with a large bag. Obviously, it was dark, so you couldn't see its contents, but both the butcher and Kerii knew exactly what it was. "I don't know what he wants with this, and frankly, I don't want to know." The elf took the bag from the butcher and wrinkled her nose at the smell of it. "Do I owe you anything?" she asked, realizing that Dex didn't specify anything. "No, you're all good." The elf gave him a half smile and gave her thanks before leaving the butchery.

It was difficult to balance a large bag full of fluid. A few times she was afraid that she was going to drop it, which would have been disastrous if it did indeed happen, but luckily it did not. Kerii made it back to Dex Miller with the bag of animal blood safe and sound. He was delighted that she was able to acquire it, but her work was not done. There was still another item for her to get. "So we have the blood. That's great! But now we need some weapons. After all, what's a murder without a tool of sorts?" That made sense, but Kerii was not entirely sure where he was going with this. "Well surely if you purchased a weapon they can trace it back to you... or me, if you send me to do this work." To this, Dex began to scratch the back of his neck. "Well you see, I'm not exactly 'purchasing' anything, and neither are you. It's more of, well... borrowing." The vague language caused the Lamia to raise an eyebrow. "Borrowing?" repeated the mage. "Okay, well it's more of temporary stealing." A stern look fell upon Kerii's face, to which Dex started becoming flustered. "I- it's not exactly stealing. We'll return the weapons. I- I swear! Besides, I really only need the beat up ones! Not any that are brand new. That would just be too suspicious. I have to make it look like they were worn down from a serious fight. Look, there's this one forge with tons of weapons they plan on melting down for scrap metal anyways. You can borrow the weapons from there and I'll personally clean them off and return them once we're done, okay?" Kerii still didn't like where this was going, but she eventually conceded. "Fine," she began. "Which forge?" There were really only a few in Orchidia, so once Dex told her the name of it, she knew exactly where the was going.

WC: 1020+505=1525/3000

As Kerii walked towards the forge, she began fidgeting nervously with a strand of her hair. She didn't like where this request was taking her, and she was quite frankly worried that she was going to get in trouble. Stealing was still stealing. She wasn't planning on getting caught, but that was still an unfortunate possibility. Kerii did not want to get caught and bring shame upon the Lamia Scale guild. Normally, a light mage would never do such a thing. Plus, with the demonic incursion, there were more Rune Knights around than before. It was honestly a terrible time for Dex Miller to sneakily set up a fake crime scene, but maybe he thought that it was the best. The more Rune Knights there were, the more attention his little stunt would get. If he got caught though, it would just bring him even greater embarrassment. Clearly, Dex did not weigh in these factors, or if he did, the pros somehow outweighed the cons in his mind.

The Wood Elf came upon the forge and she looked at the sign on the door. Due to damages from a recent storm, the shop was temporarily closed. She jiggled the door knob to find that it was locked. The mage anxiously clenched her fists as she looked for another way in. Much to her surprise, she serendipitously found a window that someone had forgotten to lock. She gently opened it up and climbed through, praying that nobody was inside to help the shop rebuild. Luckily, there wasn't. She poked around until she eventually came across a room. A box labeled 'scrap' was filled with an assortment of beat-up weapons -- just the kind Dex Miller wanted. She grabbed the box and exited the forge the way she came.

Kerii started making her way back to Dex. She tried her best to look as if she knew what she was doing, and tried to act as if the weapons in her hands were her own. She could feel her hands shaking though. Her heart rate picked up and her breathing quickened. There was just so, so much that could go wrong. The mage started mentally panicking about what would happen if she got caught before she made it back to Dex Miller. Obviously, she would tell the truth, but what good would that do to her? She would still likely get in trouble to stealing, and then she would just be throwing Dex under the bus by admitting that she was an accomplice to him. People got thrown in jail for stealing, especially when it was something as dangerous as a box full of weapons. Even if they weren't exactly the sharpest, the assortment of blades were still highly dangerous, and the very last thing that Orchidia needed at the moment was more danger.

As the elf walked, she came closer and closer to the meeting point. For a moment, she thought that she had made it. This request could actually work in her favor. Well, almost.

WC: 1525+504=2039/3000

"Halt!" said a voice coming from behind the elf. Kerii's cheeks flushed pink and the tips of her ears turned red with guilt. Cautiously, she turned around to see a small group of Rune Knights looking at the mage. "I don't suppose those are all your weapons, are they?" Kerii sighed and shook her head, a crestfallen look clearly displayed on her face. "No... I stole these," she admitted. The Rune Knights all looked at one another in confusion and then back to the elf. "Did you just admit to actually stealing these?" one asked in disbelief. "Yes, but I promise I can explain, if you just give me a chance." The Knights once again exchanged glances before all agreeing to hear the elf out.

"Since you're stationed in Orchidia, I assume you've heard about Dex Miller by now, correct?" They all sadly nodded their heads. "I assume this has to do with him then?" asked another Rune Knight. "Yes. You see, he wanted me to get all of these things for a fake crime scene he wanted to set up to improve his credibility. I know I shouldn't have stolen these to help, but he asked me to and said that he would personally clean them up and return them back to the forge on his own. Nobody really owns these weapons either. They're eventually going to be melted down." After she admitted everything, she bit her lip. She just about ruined Dex Miller's plan. A few moments of silence passed before one of the Knights spoke up. "Did he hire you to do this?" The elf silently nodded in reply. The Rune Knight shook his head and a look of contemplation appeared on his face. "You can continue with your work," he said, "but the Magic Council will oversee this and any future 'investigations' as well. We can't have these things getting out of hand." After hearing this, Kerii breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I guess we should go stage this crime then," said the Lamia with a shrug. She clearly couldn't return to Dex with the Magic Council overseeing this job now. He would just have to witness the end product of it all if she wanted to please him and receive the reward. Still, the elf wished that this was not how the quest would turn out to be. She would have much preferred it if the Rune Knights didn't intervene and let her do her job. That way, the fake crime would seem more realistic, and there would be less of a chance for Dex to realize that there was something going on. If there was any consolation though, at least Kerii had zero risk of getting in trouble. They knew that she was just doing this because she was hired to do it, and nobody was getting hurt. Sure, what she did might have been a little illegal, stealing the weapons and all, but they were going to be returned to the blacksmith once she was done.

WC: 2039+505=2544/3000

Kerii continued to walk through Orchidia with the bag of blood and the weapons in hand. The group of Rune Knights were not far behind. She got odd stares as she walked by, but since the literal members of the Magic Council weren't doing anything about a mage walking around with suspicious items, the citizens of Orchidia didn't seem to give the elf another thought. The problem with this situation was finding a place to stage the crime. This town was very populated, so there were few spots to set up this 'crime scene' without anyone noticing. The Lamia supposed that she could do it in the poorer parts of town. Not that many people lived there; most tended to live closer towards the centre, the place where buildings were newer and all merchants sold their goods. In fact, nearly all the residents of Orchidia lived in the centre. The outskirts were filled with abandoned buildings. The only time she saw one in use was for a hideout. Staging a crime there would be plausible, and she could do it without any witnesses. The only thing was, she'd have to draw a crowd somehow. After all, there would be no point in a faux murder without anyone to be fooled by it.

Upon reaching the desired location, Kerii got to work. She coated the weapons in animal blood and scattered them about, not so much that it seemed overdone, but enough to make it seem like there was definitely a struggle. Additionally, she splattered some animal blood along the ground and the sides of some of the buildings. In her opinion, it looked good enough to trick the common person, but it would in no way do the same for forensics experts. She didn't know exactly how they did their job, but she knew they could analyze blood patterns. The Rune Knights wouldn't let it get to that though.

Once she was done setting everything up, she told the Knights to scatter, so as not to make things too suspicious. She screamed and cast a spell that made vines shoot out of her hands to draw attention. After doing that, she quickly fled the scene and went in pursuit of Dex Miller. By the time she retrieved him, a crowd was gathered around the crime scene. The Rune Knights she ran into earlier were there as well. Dex was elated to think that her work was so good that it attracted the attention of the Magic Council and eagerly handed the elf her reward. "Thank you so much for this," said the man with a giddy smile across is face. Kerii pocketed the jewels and watched as Dex shuffled through the crowd to make it to the centre of the crime scene. She just shook her head as she turned and left to go back to the guild hall. Dex was certainly a character. One event like this certainly wouldn't change the whole town's opinion of him, but it would at least make him happy, and that's really all that mattered when it came to jobs like these.

WC: 2544+518=3062/3000