A Thankless Job

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360
Reading
2 min
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5y

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Amongst the lowest paid and valued of all the jobs adventurers and mercenaries find themselves doing, you can be sure to find pest control for real estate agents. While magic has had tremendous benefits to society, that only applies to the things that society has managed to tame and wrestle to the ground. One such thing that has yet to be tamed are the monsters and larger than life vermin that have taken up residence across the city, many of which that have been created by previously do-gooder mages turned psychopathic archvillains.

     Mercy Francis was the newest hire of the real estate firm, H K Billingers. Contracted from her guild, the lesser-known band of neighbourhood helpers, The Rainbow Knights, for the meagre pay of five silver pieces per job. Mercy was trained to fight by the army but found the idea of fighting other people terrifying at best. So, following a disgraced discharge she’d quite like to forget, she thought it best to put her newfound skills to good use as an adventurer.

     This was her first trial.

     A rickety old house on the edge of Filmore Street, large enough to fit eight families and a heck of a lot of nasty creatures. She clutched her sword tightly, so tightly in fact that her hand was cramping up. The stairs to the entrance were creaky and threatened to break with each carefully placed step. She rasped on the door knocker, her knees shaking and mouth chattering with fear and anticipation.

     “Is anyone there? I’m Mercy from H K Billingers, here to deal with a pest complaint.” She felt relieved that each word managed to find its way out of her mouth, her multiple rehearsals on the way over thankfully paying off.

     The door creaked open, and the dark hallway welcomed her in. She looked into the entrance, and felt a cold chill run up her spine when the realisation that nobody was there finally hit.

     A harsh, terse voice crawled out of the house and caressed her ears, “Come in, Mercy.”


Today's prompt: first trial

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