Ikazuchi had just returned from his morning training when he caught sight of a familiar woman standing in front of the guild. “She’s here again…” Ikazuchi couldn’t help but mumble as he felt some frustration. Nearby, he could see some of the guild members who were clearly amused by his appearance. ‘These fuckers…’ He didn’t doubt that they knew why she was here, even suspecting that they encouraged her to wait for his arrival. He glared at the group, but they didn’t even flinch in response. He couldn’t help but show an angry smile, fully intending to make the four regret this moment.

As he shifted his attention away from his guildmates, Ikazuchi couldn’t help but sigh as he attempted to calm himself. His displeasure was completely hidden as he approached the woman who was clearly anxious and hopeful after seeing him. “H-Hello…” Her greeting was filled with hesitation as she gripped her clothing. She knew that Ikazuchi wasn’t fond of the request, but he had been one of the only people they could consistently rely on to take care of the issue.

“What is it?” Ikazuchi got straight to the point in response. She wasn’t someone that he considered a friend, and he didn’t feel any desire to exchange pleasantries with her. She hadn’t expected him to be so blunt, so the woman froze in response. It was a treatment that the woman wasn’t used to in her day to day life. She was rather pretty, and seemed to be similar in age to Ikazuchi. Normally, she would be treated quite well due to these facts considering how polite she tended to be.

“It’s another request…” She seemed to be slightly shocked due to the treatment as she felt that they had become more familiar previously. “And?” Ikazuchi urged her on while ignoring her feelings. He couldn’t think fondly of the person who was likely to ask him to explore the god forsaken sewers once more. “...the rats are back.” These words from the woman only confirmed his concerns. ‘Where the fuck do they keep coming from?’

“Will the rewards be the same as last time?” Ikazuchi didn’t care to be more direct now that he had already completed the request alone before. Even with Xerxes, he didn’t face much difficulty so he knew what to expect. “Y-Yes?” She was surprised as Ikazuchi previously discussed the details of the job with her. She expected him to do that again, but he seemed uninterested compared to last time. “I will be there later then.” He simply went into the guildhall without another word leaving the woman stunned again.

Her attention was focused on Ikazuchi’s back as he made his way in, unsure what had changed. “Did something happen?” The guildmates that were watching from nearby were laughing at the woman’s confusion as they knew how terrible the request actually was. Ikazuchi had even ranted about it previously, so they were more surprised by the fact that he accepted the request at all. The woman didn’t know this though, so she could only return to her employer and inform him of the accepted request while confused. Something Ikazuchi wasn’t aware of was the fact that this wasn’t an exclusive request this time.

Word Count: 540

Ikazuchi went to his room and prepared himself more thoroughly than he had for this request previously. He always made a point to waterproof his gear as much as possible, but he actively applied a coating that sealed and protected it this time. It was less comfortable for himself, but he had already decided to use it for this purpose in the future. He had suffered enough while cleaning his gear previously, to the extent that he specifically developed his own special coating for it. He had hoped that another request wouldn’t come, but he was also thankful that his preparations would be used today. He didn’t forget to grab the bag of powder that he made while in the Worth Woodsea that would help deodorize himself, and the area that he was in if he scattered it.

He caught sight of the guildmates who had found enjoyment in his suffering earlier as he made his way out of the guild. ‘They’re still here?’ He turned and made a beeline for them after seeing them. His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he stood in front of them. “You guys seemed to be enjoying yourself earlier… Why is that?” His tone seemed friendly, but the few of them he spoke to felt a chill as they heard him speak.

“What do you mean?” “We were just talking among ourselves?” “Is there something wrong with that?” The men spoke back to back, all of them having come to the silent agreement not to admit to anything. If they didn’t then maybe, just maybe, Ikazuchi may have ignored them. That was what they hoped, but Ikazuchi intended to crush whatever hope they had today. “Is that so?” He reached out his left hand casually and patted the shoulder of each man forcefully causing them to wince one after the other. “You’ll have to tell me all about it when I get back, how about it guys?” His guildmates tensed up as they heard his works, certain that they wouldn’t be let off easy once he did return.

Their interaction stopped there as Ikazuchi simply departed for the familiar location that he had been to multiple times now. He hated the fact that he needed jewels more than he wanted to avoid this job. At the very least, he occupied his mind by thinking about what he could do with the jewels he would earn. ‘I saw a pretty good sword in the market earlier…’ The sword that he had seen seemed to function similar to Xerxes spear that he repaired recently. Based on the information he gained, it originated from Iceberg. His thoughts about the sword and considering if he should purchase it, managed to distract him until he arrived at the building of his employer.

Word Count: 460
Total Word Count: 1,000

Ikazuchi saw the owner of the building and his assistant waiting anxiously outside when he arrived. ‘I will hear them out this time.’ He had been frustrated earlier, so he didn’t bother to get the details from the woman. He didn’t doubt that someway, somehow, it would be rats in that sewer. He just didn’t know what actually happened or why this property was plagued by them. “I heard your rat problem came back?”

“That’s right, and they’ve ruined the entire building…” The man seemed regretful as he looked at the building with a freshly renovated exterior. “...If this keeps up, I will just have to sell it.” The man seemed regretful while the woman was visibly worried. Ikazuchi didn’t really pity the man though, he had repeatedly been given lacking information regarding this property. At the very least, he didn’t think the man wanted anything more than to save jewels. “And the rats? What can you tell me about them?”

“Ah, right, the rats. They’re swarming out worse than before, tearing apart all of the updated interior.” The man seemed to be thinking harder about the information he had as he added. “Their behavior is odd though, they don’t seem to be searching for food. What they find, they’ve directly destroyed. Truthfully, it’s been extremely costly for me.” The woman next to the man continued to nod along in agreement as if words weren’t enough to express the situation.

“So, it’s the same as before? Kill them and close up the sewers?” He couldn’t help but feel disappointed that it really was just the same request all over again. “Well, we’ve installed a proper entrance to the sewers. It’s just that we couldn’t close it due to the rats swarming inside.”
Ikazuchi felt relieved to know that his job had become slightly easier. “You just accepted that it’s cheaper to replace a door than a wall, huh?” The man laughed a bit in response to the question, but didn’t confirm or deny his words.

“I’ll go on then.” Ikazuchi had heard everything that he needed by now, so he didn’t intend to wait around. “Ah, there’s more!” The woman called out at this point, drawing Ikazuchi’s attention to her. “You only need to cover one area of the sewer, we actually contacted the other person from your guild and he will take the direction you don’t.” Ikazuchi was pleasantly surprised by this news, but he also felt that Xerxes was pitiful after he heard the news. ‘They got you too, huh?’ He couldn’t help but sympathize with his guildmate as he recalled the injury received when they were out at sea. “That’s good to know.”

Neither attempted to stop him after he turned to enter the building this time. They naturally hoped that he would take care of the issue sooner rather than later. They also didn’t doubt that he would be successful considering his guildmate would be arriving shortly afterwards. The owner was actually more concerned about how he would recover for the damages that this property would cause his wallet before he could get a return.

Word Count: 510
Total Word Count: 1,510

“Holy shit… Isn’t this worse than before?” Ikazuchi couldn’t help but exclaim after he got a good look at the interior. The area that had been freshly renovated during his last visit was seemingly systematically ruined. Ikazuchi wouldn’t believe that this place was recently renovated if he hadn’t seen it in a nearly completed state. ‘Rats did this?’ He couldn’t believe the cause after seeing the damage, so he was already wary that the information was wrong. He didn’t know that he was already being targeted at this very moment, or that he was in for more than he expected.

Ikazuchi carefully searched throughout the building for any signs of the rats, but nothing seemed to stand out other than the damages. ‘It really is weird.’ He felt uncomfortable about the lack of droppings, or other signs of animals. This caused him to draw his swords as he finally made his way to the new entrance to the sewers. After the last two requests here, he couldn’t help but appreciate the addition that ensured his job would be easier. The door leading into the sewers was wide open, but also completely undamaged so he even felt that luck was on his side for a moment.

That moment didn’t last though, large rats swarmed out of the sewer as if they were waiting for him at this moment. ‘Fuck off!’ He swung Spellcutter out of habit and was shocked to see the rats scatter into dust. “Summons?” He furrowed his brows as he continued to swing his swords until the rats stopped coming. ‘The fuck did this guy do to have a summoning mage attack his place?’ Ikazuchi wanted to go outside and ask, but he figured that he might as well complete the job first in that case.

The paths inside the sewers branched off into different areas that Ikazuchi happened to still remember due to his previous experience roaming around them for far too long. He didn’t take long to choose the area to hit left and leave a mark on one of the nearby walls with his sword to show Xerxes that he went in this direction.

His search continued for a while as he continued to catch glimpses of rats watching him from the dark areas, unaware that he could see them just as clearly as they could see him. Eventually, he followed the trail of sentry rats to an area where there were rats swarming defensively. ‘Bingo!’ He didn’t hesitate to charge forward, wielding his to cut through the rats after seeing their behavior. He didn’t doubt that there was a mage on the other side intending to keep him away as the mannerisms gave him away.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, you little rat!” He intentionally spoke in a way to make the mage impatient as he knew that he was approaching an open area where the mage was likely hiding. Ikazuchi didn’t slow down his assault at all as he arrived there shortly after he spoke. “I found the rat!” He smiled menacingly as an army of summons continued to appear one after the other.

Ikazuchi advanced slowly due to the horde of summons giving the mage enough confidence to shout something at him. “You’re not going to make it out of here alive!” Ikazuchi couldn’t help but feel amused as he sped up his attacks to overwhelm the rats more than before. “You’re going to kill me?” The mage was visibly arrogant at this point as he responded. “Not just me, my brother will be here soon!”

Ikazuchi couldn’t help but smile in response to that. The mage was confused by this until a loud sound echoed throughout the sewers. “I don’t think he’ll be making it here.” Ikazuchi was about to enter melee range at this point. “You see, I’m not alone either.” It was at this point that the mage caught sight of the spider tattoo on his forearm due to their close proximity and froze. This slight pause was all that was needed for Ikazuchi to decapitate his opponent.

The various rats that remained faded away after the caster’s death, so all that remained was Ikazuchi and the corpse that he didn’t hesitate to loot. ‘I’ll put this in the same place as last time…’ After that, Ikazuchi directly left without concerning himself with Xerxes. Based on what he heard, his guildmate was doing better than ever. Instead, he decided to go ahead and accept his reward from their employer. “I don’t know what’s going on, but your rat problem was more than that.” With his jewels in hand he started walking away while waving. “Whatever you’ve got going on caused someone to hire a mage to ruin it, so I think you should figure that out before you try to renovate this place again.” His steps were slightly slow until he left that final message, only speeding up after he said all that needed to be said.

Word Count: 830
Total Word Count: 2,340

OOC: Quest Completed