Amaris had spent the previous weeks in Era Town without getting into trouble. She knew that the country was going through political issues at the moment, mostly regarding the church, the magic council and the rune knights – but none of that was any of her concern and she chose to ignore it as much as she could. Amaris disliked conflict, especially when it came to things she wanted to have nothing to do with. Most of Fiore’s troubles were related to magic users and such she wasn’t affected. Amaris had nothing to do with magic after all and even though she could easily defend herself against it, her training was of physical nature.

Perhaps she didn’t look the part, but Amaris was quite muscular and strong. Today was going to be another day of training her skills, if she hadn’t changed her mind a few minutes ago. Amaris thought about finding a new job for the day, some sort of mercenary work. It was something she’d done before, that had proven to be worth her time due to the large sums of money she earned. Era Town was filled with people with problems and more often than not they offered plenty of coin against a little help to solve their issues.

So far, Amaris wasn’t exactly used working for humans in such a manner, especially not for the magic council. She had taken a job from some dragon-like creature named Daragast the previous week and although the job itself was difficult, it had proven to be worth her time more than anything else. Amaris knew that there was a request board, plastered with different flyers, somewhere in the middle of the town. It was usually by mages searching for work, but also “normal” people and mercenaries like her would find something there.

Amaris decided that that would be her duty for the day instead and so she left the place she had rented to be her home while she was in Era and went for a little walk. The board she was looking to visit was located just across town and it was a good twenty-five minute walk from her location; time that passed by quickly, because the weather was nice and a lot of people were out. Much to her surprise, there was also a street market down the street she was heading towards to and so Amaris decided to stop and take a look at the different booths to see if they sold anything of interest.

There were lots of pretty items, and so she decided to return later to take her time and look for something. For now, the werewolf lady headed towards the request board. It was the weekend, so there weren’t as many people around as per usual, which was just fine with her. She approached the large wooden board and took her time picking out something she thought she could work with. Amaris wasn’t in a guild or anything, so she didn’t particularly care about the nature of the quest – she could do just about anything if the pay was correct.

Her gaze eventually fell on a flyer that was signed by a man named Keito. He claimed to have work and that he wanted to meet with a mercenary as soon as possible. The flyer also stated a location, which was at a tavern in one of the shadier areas of Era Town. Amaris knew where that place was going to be, and since he didn’t state a time or a date she assumed he would simply always be around. Amaris picked up the flyer and headed towards the direction of said tavern.

The tavern was located in a small, dark side street just a few corners away from the main street. It was also underground, but Amaris didn’t think she had much to worry about. She could defend herself just fine after all. She entered the tavern and spotted a few dark figures sitting around - no one here was paying her much attention, which was a good sign from what she could tell. Amaris approached the bar counter and took a seat. “I’m looking for a person named Keito,” she said while waving the flyer around. The barkeeper didn’t respond.

He merely slid a drink across the table, from which Amaris took a sip, and disappeared into the back. A few moments passed before a man took a seat next to her. He was dressed entirely in black and his eyes looked tired. He smelled like alcohol, but Amaris wasn’t one to judge. Instead, she waited for him to speak and after she showed him the flyer, he did. In a quiet voice he began to explain who he was and what his goals were. “Consider me somewhat of a middleman. I collect quests from the people around me and I recieve favours in return.” He explained that the job he needed her to do was a request from a man who had recently returned to Era after many years of being gone.

He was somewhat of an elderly person already, who had been travelling the world for many years. He didn’t have much family left with the exception of an older brother, who had been placed in a rest home in order to live out his remaining days. Even though the two brothers hadn’t seen in other in many decades, he still cared about him and wished to visit him, but his older brother wouldn’t recognize him anymore.

This came as a surprise to the younger brother, since the two of them had kept in touch over letters until he had been placed in said rest home. When he visited, he also noticed that there were other elderly people, none of which seemed to have any relatives. They also appeared to be quite forgetful and out of their minds, as if they didn’t know what exactly was going on with them anymore. Amaris found this to be strange. She knew that old people were put into retirement homes in order to live out their days under the care of others, but for them to become entirely useless was new to her.

They were simply old, not disabled or anything after all. Keito continued to explain that the younger brother was having a suspicion: there was obviously something wrong with the retirement home and they were most likely taking advantage of the elderly in some way and because he had already been kicked out, he needed someone else to investigate in his stead. He was also too old for sneaky work like that, which is why he was hiring someone else to do it. It all made perfect sense to Amaris. Much to her surprise, however, the younger brother was quite vindictive and demanded the head of the person behind all of this. Truthfully, abusing elderly people like that was a crime and they probably deserved to die, so she didn’t have any problems with that.

Keito then gave Amaris the address of the retirement home, as well a floor plan so she knew how the entire building looked like from the inside, and where the older brother’s room was. “Once you have completed the mission, a reward of 100,000 Jewels will be waiting for you. Simply return to the tavern and ask to see me again.”

Keito stood up and left, while Amaris stayed, took a sip from her drink and began to study the map. It seemed to be a pretty normal retirement home from what she could tell, but she already had her suspicions. There wasn’t much to take from elderly people without relatives, except for one thing: money. If they didn’t have any children or siblings who could possibly inherit that money, it would stay with them until they passed away and she could see how someone would be interested in trying to take advantage of that. It wasn’t like an elderly person could defend themselves anyways.

Amaris figured that something similar was going on her, and so she created a plan. Amaris’ profession was almost perfect for this – she was a jewelry designer, which meant that she created beautiful, handmade pieces of jewelry by herself. She usually prefered to make necklaces, rings and earrings and often used expensive materials such as gemstones and gold as well as silver. Her jewelry was selling well, but she always had some pieces left lying around at her house. Amaris figured it would be a good idea to visit that retirement home pretending to be a saleswoman who wants to sell her items to the elderly. If this was about money, surely it wouldn’t be a problem.

The person stealing from the old people would simply take the jewelry she had sold to them and use it for themselves. They could sell it to a third person or keep it – no matter what they chose to do with it in the end, it should grant Amaris access to the retirement home. Once she had her plan figured out, Amaris left the tavern and returned home, where she would change into a friendlier attire and pick out pieces of jewelry to “sell”.

Amaris arrived at the dubious retirement home with a bag filled with pretty and glittery (and most importantly: expensive!) jewelry. She noted that there was a ridiculous amount of security at the doors, which was definitely a sign for something shady going on – but she decided to play along and approached the doors to speak to the secretary. “Greetings, ma’am. My name is Liliana Bellefleur and I was hoping that your residents may be interested in some of the work I have created,” she said sweetly and opened the bag to show off the jewelry. Much to her delight, she was granted access and allowed to enter the retirement home.

Amaris was heading down the hallway, when she came across one of the doctors who worked here. He introduced herself to her immediately. “Welcome to our retirement home, Miss Bellefleur. My name is Dr. Perta, and I am responsible for taking care of our residents.” Amaris simply smiled and opened her bag to show him her goods. “I was hoping to bring some joy to them by showing them the jewelry I have made,” she said with a sweet voice. “It’s all handmade and I only use the finest materials – take a look.” She could see a twinkle in his eyes that told her that he was most definitely interested in the jewelry, or rather: the money he could sell it for.

“It’s beautiful, please go ahead and visit the residents in floor 1 for now. I will be checking in with the residents in floor 2 in the meanwhile so they will be prepared for your visit.” Amaris nodded and walked around the corner. She could smell a strange stench on him, something that reminded her of strong chemicals. It was the same scent that lingered within the rooms of the residents as well.

When Amaris entered one of the rooms, she noticed that something was wrong with the residents. They didn’t seem tired or simply old – it seemed as though they had been drugged. Perhaps that was what would explain their weird chemical scent, which could also be found in their water. Amaris sniffed around a bit before deciding to head up to the second floor and sneak up to where the Doctor was – he was the medical personnel here, which means he was most likely to be responsible for everything. Amaris found him inside the room of another resident on the second floor.

But instead of announcing herself, she made sure to be as quiet as possible while listening to what he was saying as well as watching what he was doing. “...and then you are going to use your savings to buy the golden diamond necklace from the lady, alright? And afterwards you are going to give it to me..” Amaris eyes widened in surprise, even though they shouldn’t have. His motive was rather typical: he drugged the elderly people and made them sign over their belongings to him. The reason he didn’t allow for any relatives to enter was just that. He didn’t want anyone discovering what he was doing.

When he was making moves to leave, Amaris quickly disappeared behind the corner and opened the door to what appeared to be a broom closet. Not the most perfect place for murder, but she had everything she needed in here. Amaris placed her bag onto the ground and waited for the doctor to leave the resident’s room. She quickly pulled him into the broom closet the moment he walked by, and without saying a word she snapped his neck. He died instantly, with only the sound of his neck breaking revealing what had happened. Amaris closed the door and pulled a large knife out of her bag, which she would use to chop his head off and place it into a plastic bag, hiding it in her bag.

The client had requested the head of the doctor after all. Once it was done, she hid the remaining body and swiftly left the retirement home. No one had noticed anything so they didn’t ask any questions at all. With the head of the corrupt doctor in her bag, Amaris returned to the tavern where Keito was already waiting for her. “It’s done,” she said and dropped the prove onto the table. “I suggest your client waits a few days until everything has been sorted out, then he can go and retrieve his brother.” Keito merely nodded, not asking any further questions. He paid her the 100,000 Jewels in cash and Amaris left shortly after.