Really Not Like A Day Off

Just one more day, finding work from other people. Kade was still in the Magic Council area, and they had another job. Except this job would take place elsewhere. Shirotsume Town. They had someone who needed to check in. That was fine. Kade headed to that area for them. He knew they were in quite a state. They were torn into two factions, and he wasn’t even going to comment on one of those factions. He had no allies in the council, and he felt no guild for his anger against them. They were a group of people who under duress had put out a murder decree. No, even with how things were now, he was not their friend. Fortunately for everyone else, Kade did not need to be a friend to work with people. He would not work with an enemy, because he could never trust them, but he would keep the Magic Council in his radar. Besides, the man who needed to check in was a stranger to Kade, so he would do this for him. Kade took work the day he got there, helping a woman with her animal shelter, but early this morning he spotted the man, Gregory, and approached him about the work.

208/1000

Apparently the prediction of Gregory needing someone to escort him was correct. He looked at Kade suspiciously. “Who are you with?” he asked immediately. Kade arched an eyebrow. He wanted to joke. Say something about him being with the local deli, he didn’t know. This man was just so serious. Kade cleared his throat.

“I am with Lamia Scale.” He pulled his sleeve up to show the guild tattoo. “I was asked by the Council to help you today.”

“They are in quite a state. Is that why they outsourced?”

“Yes,” Kade said. It was mostly him going around playing Robin Hood, for pay. He wanted to help out his guild, and help out others. This man didn’t seem like the usual damsel in distress. It probably helped that he wasn’t a damsel, but regardless. He was an older man, though not too old to be working. He was dressed for travel, but also business. He did not look twitchy or paranoid, but he looked particularly serious. That seemed to define his nature.

“Fair enough. I have been on business and I need protection to get home. I have an important business, and there are those who would like to get my information away from me. Can you protect me?”

“Absolutely,” Kade told him. His tone adopted a serious inflection. He wanted this man to realize he was serious, and to realize he was absolutely going to handle things.

447/1000

“Good to hear.”

That seemed to be the end of their social visit. Not that it could have been considered a social visit by any stretch of the imagination, but it got even less social. Gregory began explaining his business. He seemed to expect that Kade would not quite “get” what he did for a living. Either that or he didn’t trust Kade with the proper information. He simply explained himself to have an important job, and that he had been attacked before, so he made sure to have protection when coming home with important documents. His home was quite safe, so there was nothing to worry about once he got there, but until then, Kade had best be on his guard. He apparently lived in Oak Town, so that was where the pair of them would be heading. Kade asked if Gregory wanted to grab something to eat on the way and he was looked at like a strange foreigner.

“… it would be good to get some food in town, and have it with us while we travel… so we won’t have to stop and draw attention to ourselves?” he said slowly. He added the last part just to convince Gregory. Luckily it worked.

653/1000

“Alright, fine, I suppose that makes sense.”

Kade went around town with Gregory. The man seemed annoyed if Kade let him out of his sight, so he didn’t. Gregory was not someone Kade absolutely needed to stare at constantly. He didn’t have anyone he really wanted to stare at, but he could think of a prettier sight than this man. He should really visit her once all of this was over.

They picked up a bag of various food items to last them through the day. They headed out of town to a sort of station. Gregory paid their passage on a caravan, and they rode together. Kade would have napped, but he felt that would be considered a breach of contract. Did all people treat the Magic Council this way? Sure, he wasn’t actually part of their organization, by any stretch of the imagination, but… well he was bored.

“Do you have a family at home?” Kade asked, forcing some small talk, because they had spent the last several hours not speaking.

“I have a wife. A son who is out of the house.”

“Mmm, well that is good. I hope you all are happy,” Kade said. He mostly cut off the talk because he didn’t think Gregory saw the point. His child was probably Kade’s age though. Just from a guess on how old Gregory was. Maybe the son was older.

886/1000

They did talk a small bit more, and eventually got off the caravan. Now it was just a walk back to Oak Town. It was nearing dark, but Kade felt comfortable that he had spent enough time outside. Mostly he had been in the dark, but the last part of their walk had woken him up again. It was a good thing too, because soon three men with covered faces appeared.

Normally a man would be concerned, or emotional. Gregory simply told Kade, “If I get hurt, you’re not getting paid.”

“… Is that actually-…” he didn’t finish his comment. Was that actually supposed to be a motivation. No, he was not going to be rude. He simply stood in front of Gregory, looking around at the opposition. “Would you like to cause problems? Or can we keep this civil?”

Civil was not an option. One of the men quickly sent a magical wire at Gregory. Kade reached out and caught it. It cut his hand, but he wasn’t concerned. He could heal later. He slapped his hands together, sending a piercing light at the three men. He knocked one of them down, but the man managed to stand back up on his feet. Oh, so they didn’t look interested in a close range fight. That made Kade the human shield between them and Gregory.

1121/1000

“I don’t have time for this,” Kade told them. His eyes turned white, the area around him beginning to glow. He sprinted at them. He took a wire to the chest, and one to the hand. His cheek was bleeding, but he could handle the pain. He cast his light shards at the two men on either side, knocking them down before he laid into the center man. A punch to his face, a block, but a knee to the chest. Simple combat.

The two men recovered in time to grab Kade’s arms with their wires. He was about to think of a plan when one of the men shot something at Gregory. Nope, he jerked the wire’s on that arm close, pulling the man with him. It knocked his aim and he missed Gregory. When he was close enough Kade hit him with a trip kick, sending him flying back. One more. He sent another wire at Kade, but Kade managed to block it with his blinding block. The man was disoriented, letting Kade get free and beat him into submission with a few blows. He returned to Gregory, quickly ushering him home.

“That was quite competent,” Gregory said as they neared Oak Town.

“Um… thank you,” Kade said. His head hurt, his arms and face were slightly bleeding, and he was competent. He supposed if he came away unharmed it would be more than “competent. He got Gregory to his house and waited outside while Gregory got him some money. Yes, outside, he wasn’t quite good enough to go inside. Still, with his money in hand he left almost whistling. He had done his job, and this money would help his guild. He couldn’t ask for more.

1410/1000