“Just take the day off.” Mona said while leaning against a door frame. “I’ve heard that this isn’t the first time that you collapsed. You didn’t realize you’ve been stabbed and just left the wound there until I dragged you away. You still don’t have clothes other than the robes I gave you and the armor. You even forgot to eat yesterday. How do you just forget to eat?”
Mona the nun was scolding Ren for failing to take care of herself.
“Sorry.” Ren said.
“This isn’t normal. You have to take better care of yourself.” Mona rubbed at her temples as she spoke. “Just take the day off. Mackamer sent me here with a monetary bonus for all the work you did yesterday. Use it to buy some clothes and get some good food.”
“But I can still adventure!” Ren said flatly and quite frankly, like she learned nothing from the fainting and the scolding.
“And do what? You hit everyone on the list. Do you plan on interrogating them too?” Mona said. “There’s no way for you to contribute to the investigation as of now.”
Ren just stares blankly at Mona.
“If you can’t think of anything, then just take the day off with me.” Mona said. “And be careful. I saw 2 guys trying to break into your room last night.”
She starts to head off and Ren is made to follow her. Within her head, a book starts talking.
“Wait, what was that last part?”
Before all this, Mona was an elf from the hidden village of Elfhiem. It was a small village that used ancient elven techniques to hide itself from threats. Because of her family’s opinion on the encroaching humans expanding their territory, she and her family were cast out. They didn’t even voice their opinion. Their minds were read and for the crime of having this opinion, they were cast out. In the end, Mona’s mother and father were taken captive by a shadowy figure. This figure was as fast as an arrow, used powerful magics and was only vaguely humanoid by appearance. The only boon she had received was on that same day, a magic hair pin spoke to her dreams. It offered her the power of a great assassin. In a matter of months, Mona had earned the title of Thorn of Leostriders. In the end, she found that she could stomach the dreams any longer. She brought it to the Blue Pine town temple and the preacher there took it and sealed it. The eerie dreams stopped after that and Mona was taken in by the temple.
Today she was a nun. The night prior to her lecturing Ren, Mona Hazel was having a rough time with her day job. For all her mastery of assassination techniques, adept skills in precision tools and generally just being an incredible assassin, she could not handle this mundane work.
“You did it again?” a friend of hers shook her head as she stared at a toppled stack of tapestries.
“I’m sorry.” Mona said to her.
The temple had to switch out flags and hanging tapestries today. Mona had to help with that, however, she was having a lot of issues with it. She and the other staff at the temple were storing old tapestries on a shelf for the majority of the day. It just so happens that Mona got anywhere close to the shelf and the whole thing came tumbling down. Now flags and tapestries littered the floor to this storage room. The monks and nuns had lost a decent amount of work from Mona being in proximity to the shelf.
“What’s the damage?” a monk said.
“I’m not a carpenter, but from what I can see some wood got torn and split.” another monk said. “The nail here is a bit bent. I think we’re going to need to replace the wood board here.”
“It seems salvageable.” a nun looked over his shoulder. “We just need to take out the nails, replace the board there and it should last a while longer.”
“Right then.” a monk stands up with a grunt. “It’s getting late. For now, let’s just stack it in the corner here. In the morning, we can get a carpenter to cut a board this size, get a new nail and the hammer we have in the back.”
“Sounds like a plan.” a nun said.
“I’ll help.” Mona said.
“No!” most of the monks and nuns in the room shout.
Mona was left out again. This happens often enough. She was a level 62 Phantom Assassin, but she made for a poor nun. There was nothing to be done at the temple. The question now was if she would wallow in self pity or see if she can’t be useful. She is the kind of woman who likes to be useful. She was asked to aid in an investigation into a crime wave and that’s just what she plans on doing as opposed to doing nothing. She heads to the guard house and finds the place packed. It is packed in one of the worst ways possible. Every cell is filled to the point that it almost seems like clothes about to burst out of a bag of luggage. Even in a place more in her element, Mona was perplexed by this. Mona stops a town guard and asks.
“What happened here?”
“You know that wizard girl you found?” the guard said.
“Yeah.”
“She did something magic and ran around town grabbing these guys.”
He points to Ren who is sleeping in a chair leaned against a wall.
“As wizards often do.” Mona said as she nodded her head.
“Wizards do this kind of thing?”
“Regularly, yes.”
“Alright. I’m not going to question it.” the guard says. “Anyway she passed out over there.”
“Again?”
“What do you mean again? Wait, do wizards regularly faint?”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“No, I only heard that it’s regular for her from a family that found her by the roadside.”
“Wow. I guess she’s an adventurer through and through.”
“That or she’s troublesome beyond belief.” Mona begins to approach Ren. “I’ll take her to her room at the inn.”
“You do that. We’ll be here. She really piled a lot of work for us to sort through.” the guard walks off as he speaks.
Mona picks up Ren and gives her a piggyback ride back to the inn. Unfortunately, it would seem that she picked up a tail. Running across the rooftops, there appears to be a person following them. As much as Mona wanted to look up the status of their tail, that would be a bit too obvious. To look at someone’s status, a person needs to turn to face them. There was no side eyeing someone if you wanted to check their status. If Mona wanted to turn to face them, she would need to turn around and look upward towards the roof. If she did something like that, their tail would notice it and vanish before anything else. Thankfully, Mona can hear them perfectly fine. Their movements are fast and their footsteps are muffled by either a skill or their equipment. However, they’re moving too fast. So fast in fact that when they dash across the roofs or jump from one roof to another, their bodies cut through the air and make a sound. Listening to these sounds, Mona figured that there were two of them.
Mona wonders if they’re amateurs who think they’re easily fooling one of the highest leveled people in town or if they were from out of town and weren’t aware of who she was. In either case, they were put in charge of at least following them. Then the question was if it was Mona or Ren that they wanted. In either of those cases, the one who would profit the most from harm coming to them would be the Blood Hoof gang. If they did have a single target, then Mona could find out who in just a moment. Mona dropped Ren off at the inn and began leaving. The tails did not follow Mona as she walked down the street. This brings Mona to the conclusion that Ren is their target.
Mona easily gets a running start and runs up a wall and up to the roof. The moment she did, she spotted both of them crouching low and facing the inn. Namely, they were looking at the wall of the inn that the window to Ren’s room was facing. Now that Mona could see them, she looked up their status.
Frain Huckleberry
Level 22 Rogue
Strength: 32
Magic: 35
Agility: 55
Vitality: 43
Titles: None
Skills:
Knifework Level 14
Sneaking Level 10
Dark Step Level 1
Killer Eyes level 1
Status: Normal
Dudley Nickhil
Level 17 Rogue
Strength: 40
Magic: 38
Agility: 52
Vitality: 38
Titles: None
Skills:
Knifework Level 7
Sneaking Level 9
Marksmanship Level 2
Status: Normal
An easy enough fight. Mona thinks to grab the higher leveled rogue first. She pulls a dagger out from her sleeve and quietly approaches the higher leveled rogue. She puts her foot on the back of his knee, grabs his hair, pulls his head up and presses the dagger against his throat.
“Ah! Shit!” the rogue yelps.
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” the other one shouts.
“Evening gentlemen.” Mona said in a low voice. “So why exactly were you following us?”
“Damn it! Dudley, take the shot.” the man in my grasp says.
“I promise you, any dagger you throw isn’t fast enough to save your friend.” Mona said.
“Dudley! I am putting my life in your hands. Take the shot!”
“Wait! Wait! Wait!” the other rogue said. “Let’s talk about this. Alright. Just calm down. I’ll talk. We were supposed to kidnap the girl and bring her over to a warehouse on the south side. A guy would meet us there. The place is locked. We have a key.”
He reaches into a pouch on his belt. He moves slowly at first. In a sudden flash of movement, he pulls out a flintlock pistol and fires it.
“Come on! Hit!” the rogue shouted.
Faster than the assassin could react, an iron ball tears into her arm.
Status: Injured
Right Arm Gunshot Severity 3
With the intense pain radiating from her arm, she drops the dagger. In response, the higher leveled rogue kicks her off him and dashes away.
“Mission failed! We’ll get ‘em next time.”
As Mona tries to reorientate herself after the gunshot, both rogues throw down a smoke bomb. She loses track of both of them. They were gone and Mona had no target. They operated as rogues should, and now Mona had no way of retaliating.
“Damn it.”
Even if she was an assassin, she wasn’t that great at tracking people. She had no way to pursue them. She was a level 62 Phantom Assassin and she let two men a fraction of her level get the best of her. This wasn’t some duty as a nun that she failed at. This was something that she was fairly confident in. To be an assassin superior to rogues.
“Fucking hell!”
Blood began to drip off of the roof she was standing on. Now she would need to return to the temple injured and as a loser.
“Mona! What happened to you?” a nun said.
Mona had returned bleeding and clutching her arm.
“Don’t worry about it.” Mona said with a tired sigh. “I just need some of the medical supplies we keep in the back.”
“Stop! Let me help you.” the other nun said.
“I don’t need your help. I can take care of this myself.” Mona barked back.
“It’s okay. Just stay here. I’ll get it.” she said.
“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” Mona yelled this time.
Everyone in the temple’s grand hall heard that. If they were preoccupied with work of some kind, they were now focused on Mona. Who was still bleeding from the arm.
“Woah! What happened to her?”
“Mona?”
“She’s bleeding! Someone get some supplies!”
One by one, the others at the temple rush up to Mona.
“Just-just leave me alone. I can take care of this much myself.” Mona shot back.
“Mona! Calm down. We’re here to help.” a nun said.
“I can take care of this myself.” she easily pushed the others to the side but was stopped by a nun who had a different approach.
“Mona! Wait!” a nun shouted as she ran up to hug Mona. “I’m sorry.”
The room falls silent as the nun who was a head shorter than Mona. She was crying as she embraced Mona.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. You’ve had an awful day. But please, don’t take it out on them or yourself. I promise you, we’re here to help.”
“I’m not!” a monk said.
The nun takes off and throws a slipper at that monk in particular.
“Read the room, Parnidot!” the nun turns to face Mona again. “It’s okay! You’ve done your very best for so long. You work hard to try and fit in with us. I know that for all your power, you’re still trying so hard. Even then, you fail and nothing works out. Even if you’re a handful, we still don’t want to see you hurt. This isn’t something you need to do yourself. I don’t want you to be hurt. Let us help.”
The room falls silent. But Mona gives an exhausted sigh before it gets too awkward.
“Alright. I’m sorry too. I lost my cool for a moment there.”
Mona is seated on a pew while others worry their heads off at the gunshot that she suffered. Thankfully, a lot of the monks and nuns here have worked to heal the wounded. The bullet was still in her arm, but it was safely taken out and bandaged. The same nun speaks to her as her treatment comes to a close.
“Get some sleep. No matter what kind of day you’ve had. The sooner you rest your head on a pillow, the sooner you can call the day over. Most of all, you can proudly say that you’ve survived today and you’ll get to see a new dawn.”
“Yes, yes. You’re good at cheesy and sappy lines.” Mona chuckled. “But thanks.”
Mona lays her head down for the night. Once upon a time, her dreams were haunted by a voice that offered her power. But now, she rests much more easily than when the voice made her those offers.
“Thanks. And I’m sorry.” Mona said to one of her few friends at the temple.
“I think we’ve said enough thank yous and sorrys.” the nun chuckles. “And if I can ask, what brought this on? I only know you had a rough day, and can’t say the same about your evening.”
“It’s a bit embarrassing, but I got beat by some guys.” Mona said. “Rogues putting a girl in town here in danger.”
“I see.” the nun faces away as she hears those words.
“I just didn’t expect them to have a pistol and smoke bomb.” Mona said.
“So, they beat you because of their equipment.” the nun said. “You know, we still have your gear from your assassin days. You don’t need to restrict yourself to a single dagger. Your magical dagger and sneaking suit are still here. I can’t say the same about the various poisons though. I was told that at some point each poison would have an expiration date.”
“I’d rather not.” Mona turns away as she speaks. “I don’t want power that isn’t my own anymore.”
“If you say so.” the nun says as she prepares to blow out a candle. “Good night, Mona.”
“Good night.”
When dawn next breaks, Mona left to check on Ren. Her bandages were changed and were barely visible under her nun habit. Ren on the other hand, was about to cause a ruckus as usual. Despite working herself to exhaustion just the night before, she was ready to throw herself into work. At the very least, Mona had a chance to make sure she took care of herself today. No one wanted her to work with her injured arm.
