Nahrenne
Pure and Innocent Maiden~
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2019
- Messages
- 1,081
- Points
- 153
Memo Title: Hejlikka
Memo Category: NPC
Content:
- wears glasses the constantly slide down her nose, thus causing her to push them up out of habit
- a female elf who works as a supervisor of office workers, receptionists and customer services workers in the guild
- currently relegated to the night shift in the guild
- has a younger brother called Julrik who is higher up in the office than her
- has parents who moved to another world a few years ago using one of the portal gates
- owns a house near the tavern, but further from the guild
- is very strict when it comes to work, always maintaining a diligent and professional work ethic
- has masochistic tendencies that even she hasn't realised
- dislikes most men due to seeing how her brother has acted in the past
- acts kinder and is more tolerant towards females
- seems to have a one-sided crush on the new-born vampire, Liana
Reference:
Memo Category: NPC
Content:
- wears glasses the constantly slide down her nose, thus causing her to push them up out of habit
- a female elf who works as a supervisor of office workers, receptionists and customer services workers in the guild
- currently relegated to the night shift in the guild
- has a younger brother called Julrik who is higher up in the office than her
- has parents who moved to another world a few years ago using one of the portal gates
- owns a house near the tavern, but further from the guild
- is very strict when it comes to work, always maintaining a diligent and professional work ethic
- has masochistic tendencies that even she hasn't realised
- dislikes most men due to seeing how her brother has acted in the past
- acts kinder and is more tolerant towards females
- seems to have a one-sided crush on the new-born vampire, Liana
Reference:
Quest Report - verified
Reaching the barracks, Harrison took one look at her and shouted: "NO! I'M NOT LETTING YOU WORK HERE AGAIN!" Seeing the surprised look on Liana's face, her gold eyes beginning to quiver, he softened his voice as he glanced around awkwardly, "I heard about how upset you were when Samson took over the morning shift...I'm giving you a break from doing that kind of thing so you don't damage your mental health." He gently patted her head before continuing, "Go do a job that doesn't let you see blood and gore tonight. Hey, I heard that the guild is understaffed in the customer service department, why not head there?" He gave as reassuring a smile as he could - although it ended up looking like a grimace due to him not being used to smiling like that.
"If you say so...I just thought I'd be able to console them and ease their passing into the next life if I was there..."
"No, I'm not letting you down there for a while. They're still getting rid of the bodies and sorting out the cells. Go." With that, he turned around and left her, heading to the prison to help deal with things there.
Pouting, Liana left the barracks and headed to the guild to see about this customer service job Harrison had mentioned.
Arriving at the guild, she mentioned to a receptionist about the job who then sent her with a signed note to the customer service department where a familiar looking female elf was reprimanding someone with a fresh black eye.
"--matter if he started it! We have guards here to help deal with such people! I'm docking your pay due to your poor interpersonal skills. Get out of my sight! Go work in the back and sort through the files!" She pointed an arm out towards the door leading into the filing department and pushed her glasses up.
"Yes ma'am!" The man with a black eye ran away in fear, not wanting to embarrass himself further and gain more of his superior's ire.
Turning around, Hejlikka saw Liana with a note in her hand, and a congenial smile on her face, and looked away awkwardly with a slight blush on her face.
"You're Miss Hejlikka, right? I took on the customer service quest and was told to come here for it. Here's the signed note." Liana smiled gently at the female elf as her gold eyes shone with warmth and kindness.
Taking the note from her, Hejlikka felt a bit disconcerted by the 180 degree change in attitude and personality but still retained her professionalism, "Ah, yes. Liana, right? Everything seems to be in order. It's good you arrived when you did since we've just had to remove an employee from the front lines." She led Liana towards an empty booth while detailing the kind of work she would need to do, expressly emphasising the part about not upsetting customers and being fair in evaluations of complaints.
"I see. I'll be sure to remember, Miss Hejlikka. Thank you for your explanation, it's much appreciated." She gave a small, delicate bow and smiled before sitting at the booth with her hands neatly folded on her lap.
"Yes...well...be sure to have successfully resolved at least 5 complaints! I'll be back in a few hours to see how you're doing."
"Okay! I'll be sure to try my best!" She smiled more enthusiastically, showing eagerness to do well on the job.
Satisfied with Liana's attitude - but still feeling a little off about it - the female elf went off to do other duties.
Sitting at the booth, waiting for someone to come, Liana observed what the other customer service people were doing in a bid to learn how to better deal with possible difficult people. Eventually, a burly man - with a very dark tan - strode in with a face full of anger. Sweeping his gaze over the booths, he saw that Liana's was free and so walked determinedly towards her. Seeing the man, she smiled gently.
"Hello, sir, is there a problem you wish to complain about?"
"Of course!" He replied in a gruff tone.
"I see, I'm sorry to hear that. What seems to be the problem?" She presented a saddened expression, which slightly tugged at the man's heartstrings.
"Ah...well I was on the Escort Duty quest - helping some merchants deliver their goods - only when I came back the receptionist refused to give me the reward claiming I had failed!" He slammed his fist on the desk, drawing attention from other customers and workers.
Liana seemed unfazed as she showed surprise on her face before gently stroking the man's hand, "Is your hand okay? Let me rub it better."
"Ah...thanks..." He blushed before shaking his head and putting on a firm expression again, "Never mind about that! Why was my quest deemed a failure?"
"Hmm, could you give me your name, level and rank so I can check the files, please?" Liana smiled gently again while signalling for someone to bring over the most recent evaluated reports.
"Bigsley Hardsen! Level 4! Unranked! Ah, but I swear I'll be Level 5 and ranked soon! This blasted quest would have helped me fulfil the requirements for that, tch!"
"I see, I see. Let me just check for you, Mr Hardsen."
A man came over and placed a large stack of evaluated reports yet to be filed on her desk and went off to return to the receptionist section. Going through the files, Liana eventually found the report in question and read through it diligently.
"Let's see..."
Bigsley started fidgeting as he waited for the beautiful and gentle woman to finish reading his report, rubbing his swelling hand that had hit the desk earlier. After a few minutes, Liana put down the report and smiled wryly, looking a little embarrassed before casting her gold eyes on the customer.
"I'm sorry. As much as I would like to help you get a reward, it seems you failed to mention in your report the name of the merchants you were escorting, as well as the goods they were delivering. It pains me to say this, but you also didn't ensure they wrote a note confirming that you succeeded in the task."
"..." Bigsley breathed in heavily, a burning rage simmering inside and ready to explode.
"However, I can see that this is easily rectifiable, although it may take you some time."
"Tell me!" The man slammed his hands on the desk to the point he was leaning close to Liana, as he was staring into her eyes.
Gently smiling at the man, Liana replied: "All you'll need to do is take back the report, return to those merchants, record their names and the goods they'd delivered, as well as get a signed note from them detailing and confirming your work. Then you'll simply have to come back and re-submit your report."
Bigsley looked at her sternly before standing straight again, lamenting a bit that the woman didn't rub his hands better after he'd slammed them down on her desk. "But the report was deemed a failure, won't you get in trouble for allowing me tor re-submit it?"
"This report has not been filed away yet, so I have deemed it as if you never having submitted the report. I hope that is all right with you?"
"Ah...sure. It's just a few hours of walking back and forth and getting their confirmation, not like anyone died."
"That's good, then." She smiled brightly at the acknowledgement of the solution provided. "Then, I wish you a pleasantly safe journey, as well as success the next time you submit your report."
"...Yes...of course..." Bigsley took the report with him and left, blushing all the way out of the building. Seeing the man leave, Liana called for someone to take the stack of reports away since other booths might need them.
After half an hour, a female elf came over with a sour look on her face. She saw Liana was available and headed in her direction. Noticing the elf approaching, Liana smiled at her as she greeted, "Hello, this is the customer service department, is there a problem you need help with?"
"Yes." The elf replied curtly.
"I see, and what seems to be the problem?"
"The receptionist marked my quest as partially successful and I found her reasoning unsatisfactory."
"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that. What part did you find unsatisfactory, if I may ask?" Liana showed a concerned look, evoking a sense of gratitude from the elf.
"She said she struggled to read my writing, thus deducted some of the reward because she needed to put on some glasses which she claimed made her look unfashionable and so wouldn't get a handsome adventurer to look her way if he came in while she was wearing them."
Liana opened her mouth in surprise at the reason for the quest being evaluated as partially successful.
"I am incredibly sorry to hear about that. Could you give me the name of the receptionist, as well as your own name, level, rank and the quest you undertook, please?"
"Of course. The receptionist was called Imelda Carson - a half-elf. My own name is Freja Haljssen, my Level is 6 and my rank is E. The quest I did was to be a personal bodyguard to city official and his family for a week. I shall refrain from naming them since the report already states it and I do not wish for prying ears to learn of their current predicament."
"I see. Thank you for being forthcoming with your answers. Let me have a look and see if there was anything else wrong with the report before I inform my superior about the receptionist. Ah, please take a seat while you wait."
"Sure."
The elf woman sat down as the man in charge of delivering quest reports came over again with a stack of reports waiting to be filed. Finding the correct report, Liana read through it before asking for someone to call Hejlikka over. Looking at Freja, Liana called her to come back.
"I've read through your report. Although the handwriting is not as elegant as some peoples' are, it's still legible. I see no problems with it and your employer also seemed to be happy with your services. It seems they've even sent for your services again. As for the receptionist, I need to ask my superior about that..."
With that, Hejlikka arrived with an impatient look on her face.
"Why did you call for me? I'm busy. Haven't you seen the large stack of...Freja, why are you here?" She noticed who the customer was and frowned in uncertainty.
Freja gave a nod of acknowledgement to Hejlikka before responding, "I'm complaining about how my report was evaluated."
The superior showed surprise on her face as she turned to Liana for an explanation, to which she complied: "It seems that receptionist Imelda Carson has unfairly evaluated Miss Haljissen's report, not giving her the full reward she deserves on account of the writing style forcing her to wear glasses and looking less attractive towards the male customer base. I called for you because I wasn't sure how to handle the receptionist or this case."
"That hussy! I'm so sorry about this, Freja. I'll go get the reward you weren't given and then will thoroughly punish that girl for her unprofessional behaviour!" Hejlikka then stormed off, came back after 30 seconds to place a bag of coins, to then storm off once again towards the receptionist section.
"Well, it seems that we have clarified the problem. Please allow me to add the missing experience onto your guild card, Miss Haljssen."
"Of course." She replied with a light smile on her face, making her seem a lot more beautiful than earlier.
"Then, if you have any further problems, don't hesitate to come here and our department will do our best to help resolve them." Liana gently smiled at the female elf, which made the customer smile even more.
"Thank you." She then left with a satisfied expression.
Hejlikka came back a few minutes later with an energetic look, like she'd let a load off her chest from venting/shouting, etc...
"Good work, Liana. You did right to call me over. If you need me for other cases, I'll help." She then left to deal with some other stuff.
A while later, a little girl came in crying and immediately ran over to Liana's free booth.
"Waaaaaah! Why can't I get a reward? Waaaaah!"
Seeing the girl crying non-stop, Liana got out of her seat and quickly went up to her, knelt down and hugged her while gently rubbing her head. "There, there. Sh-sh-sh. Why don't we sit over there and you can tell me about what happened?" She said in a soothing, placating tone.
The girl sniffed a few times before snuggling into Liana's chest and explaining what happened:
"I went on my first quest *sniff* and gathered lots and lots of pretty flowers for it *sniff. Only the mean old man said I failed my queeeeeeeest! Waaaaaah!"
"Oh? What was the quest that you did?"
"*sniff* It was called Healing Herbs *sniff*. Mummy told me that pretty flowers were full of goodness and would make anyone who saw them feel better *sniff*, so I picked up lots and lots! But the man said that none of them were healing herrrrrrrrrbs! Waaaaaaah!"
"I see, you poor thing. Such a mean man for telling you that. Do you have some of the flowers still with you? How about you let me have a look instead?" Liana smiled gently at the girl, her gold eyes making the girl feel warmth from them thus calming her down. The girl then gave her one of each flower before falling asleep from all of the crying she'd done.
Calling for the report - using the name on the girl's guild card - so she could go through it, Liana carefully inspected the flowers and recognised them all as ones her temple used to sometimes use when making healing poultices. Re-evaluating the report as a success, she then procured the rewards and gently woke the girl up.
"I've had a look at them and they all do indeed have healing effects. Your mummy was right and that old man was wrong. Here's your reward for completing your first quest." She smiled brightly at the girl as she handed the reward over.
"Ah! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
The girl jumped up from the chair and hugged Liana's waist in happiness and joy, before waving at her and running out with a smile on her face. Liana returned to her seat at the booth and had the reports cleared away once more.
An hour later a man with fox ears and tail came in and nonchalantly strolled over to Liana's booth.
"Good evening, sir! Is there a problem?" Liana opened with a gentle smile.
The man's tail swished and his fox ears twitched as he gently smiled back and said, "My quest was deemed a failure, even though I fulfilled all of the objectives set. I would like my full reward and re-evaluation of my report, please."
"Oh?" Liana looked surprised before asking, "For what reason did the receptionist give for deeming it a failure?"
"It was a silly reason that you don't need to know. However, my report really does fulfil the quest objectives so..." He smiled wryly, "...please give me my reward?"
"Well, can you please give me your name, level, rank and the title of the quest please? I need to verify the report and evaluation given by the receptionist."
The fox-man gritted his teeth briefly before smiling even more gently, "Of course~ My name is Felix Wiska, I am Level 2, Unranked and did the Charity Work quest."
"I see. Then, please, have a seat while I check the situation."
"...Of course..."
After a few minutes, Liana was given the report, along with a note attached with bold capital letters on it, 'FAKE REPORT! EXTORTION OF MONEY, FOOD AND GOODS! ON CITY GUARD WATCH-LIST'. Still smiling gently, Liana hid the note under the desk and carefully looked through the evaluation and report. She then called Felix over and smiled apologetically.
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do, Mr Wiska. You see, it seems that what you wrote in this report isn't what actually happened, and so...with regrets, I cannot give you any rewards."
Felix's face sank into a cold and murderous look as he uttered in a dark and low tone, "What?"
A fireball appeared above his tail but was quickly doused out by some guards who had water buckets on standby for fire emergencies. Seeing that the fox-man was acting in a threatening manner towards the staff, the guards took him away in manacles towards the barracks to be judged.
"..." Liana looked at a co-worker beside her and asked, "Did I do something wrong?" A worried look on her face.
"No. He just wanted to exploit the system but realised he'd been found out. You'd have been in more trouble if you'd actually given him the reward."
"I see."
After another 2 hours, 7 more people came in to complain about things: 2 trying to cheat the system, 4 with valid claims, and 1 with an invalid claim. Apart from the ones trying to con, the rest of the customers left with satisfaction. Hejlikka arrived again and noted the work Liana had done.
"You've done well for your first time on this job. Especially since it was a night shift you took. Most people end up falling asleep or not paying enough attention for this shift. So, thank you for your hard work."
Liana smiled back at the female elf and stretched. "It's fine, Miss Hejlikka. I prefer working night shifts anyway, so it's no problem for me. How about you? Don't you usually work during the day?"
The female elf smiled wryly, "My boss changed my work schedule to night shifts because I complained about him being unprofessional and flirting with the receptionists...Me and my big mouth, huh?"
Liana giggled in amusement before smiling apologetically, "I'm sorry about that. It must be tough, having such a boss."
Hejlikka shrugged before blushing a little bit, "...He's my little brother..."
Liana opened her mouth in surprise before closing it and smiling wryly, "You've been working hard."
The female elf smiled at that, before saying, "Dawn will be arriving soon. I think you've done enough work for this evening. You can go back now."
"Okay. How about you? When does your shift end?" Liana asked as she got up from her chair and smoothed down her dress.
"It ends when the morning shift supervisor comes, which she did a few minutes ago." She said while staring at the dress covering Liana's thighs before looking at the young woman's face again.
"I see. Then, should we leave together?" She smiled warmly and innocently.
Gulping a little, Hejlikka nodded slowly before heading off to get her cloak. While waiting, Liana wrote up her report of her quest and handed it in to the receptionist for evaluation.
X
Breakfast (Closed)
Leaving the guild with Hejlikka, they both looked to the sky as they could see the sunrise peeking over the rooftops of nearby buildings.
"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" The female elf asked while pushing up her glasses and sneaking a glance at Liana with a light blush on her cheeks.
"Mm, I prefer the sunset, personally." Liana replied while thinking about what a sunrise meant for her: lethargy, fatigue, weak body.
"Oh, of course! The sunset is also very nice to look at!" She looked a little flustered before pushing up her glasses once more. "By the way, where do you live?"
Turning to her companion, Liana smiled and said, "The tavern. I rented a room there a few days ago and have been using it since. How about you?"
"Ah, I live a few streets away from the tavern. I used to live with my parents and brother but my parents have since gone through a portal gate to explore a different world and my brother wanted his own place so he could bring girls back. Tch! Such a stupid idiot!"
Liana giggled at Hejlikka's harsh words towards her flirt of a brother. Getting closer to the tavern - which was nearer than Hejlikka's house - the female elf paused before asking: "Is it okay if we have breakfast together? I didn't get much chance to eat anything last night and the tavern does good food." She blushed a little as she turned her head slightly away, looking shy.
"Sure! Although, I'm not that hungry so I'll eat later." Liana smiled gently before heading into the tavern.
Hearing her saying she wasn't that hungry yet, a thought flashed through her mind as she pulled on Liana's arm to stop her before saying, "Ah, actually, since you're not hungry yet, why not come to my place? I've still got some food stored and I can cook most stuff! Also," she fidgeted a bit before pushing her glasses up again, "if it's okay with you, I could let you rent one of the rooms in my house at a cheaper rate than the tavern!" She blushed hard after saying that.
Liana looked at her with surprise, before gently smiling and patting Hejlikka's hand as if to coax her into letting go of her arm. "Thank you for the offer but I doubt it would be worth much for you to get rent less than 10G, no?"
Letting go of her arm, the female elf smiled wryly as she realised how silly her offer was, before countering, "I think my place would be safer than the tavern. Who knows how many people go upstairs in there everyday? What if one of those stinky men see a pretty girl like you and decide to sneak into your room? It would be safer for you to be in a securely locked house, like my place."
Liana felt a little bewildered, as she had only met this female elf twice - with both meetings brief. She wondered why such a strict woman at work was suddenly acting meek and shy, yet clearly wanting her to go and live at her place. Wanting to know, she asked, "Why are you so eager for me to live with you? We barely know each other." She tilted her head in confusion as she tried to figure it out.
"..." Desperately trying to think of an excuse, she blurted out, "Because I don't like being alone in that house! It's big and empty. I thought you might make a good housemate since you seem like the kind of person who doesn't cause trouble, and you've shown diligence in your work...I also like you." She didn't utter the last sentence, but her heart was thumping hard as she thought it.
Smelling a sweeter smell coming off her companion, Liana's gold eyes reddened a little bit as she subconsciously licked her lips while looking at Hejlikka. Smiling in amusement, she responded, "Then how about this. Since you're so eager for me to live with you at least let me see the place and judge if I feel comfortable with being there first. Hmm?"
"Okay!" Smiling from pointy ear to pointy ear, Hejlikka led the way to her house with a spring in her step.
Upon reaching the residence, Liana opened her mouth in surprise at how large it was compared with the houses nearby. As the female elf was unlocking the door, the new-born vampire began examining the surroundings and seeing whether the area was peaceful or not. Once the door was opened, Hejlikka beckoned Liana in and apologised for the mess. Observing the inside of the house, there was no mess to be found as everything was clearly dusted very carefully and diligently on a regular basis - with no signs of rubbish or things lying around haphazardly.
Entering the kitchen area, Hejlikka asked, "Do you want a tour of the house now, or after we've eaten?"
Looking around the room, Liana smiled and said, "Whichever you feel more comfortable doing."
"Th-then I'll show you around first! This way!" The female elf pushed up her glasses as she went through a door to the side of the kitchen in haste. Liana followed behind and listened to her companion's explaining about each room. "This is what we call the living area; it's a place to sit down and relax, have conversation, do some recreational hobbies like writing, drawing, sewing, knitting, etc..."
Liana looked around and smiled, "It looks very relaxing."
Hejlikka blushed a little at that, before going through the door and heading into another room, "This was my brother's room. I know it looks empty but that means you would have plenty of space if you chose to live in here. I've already aired out the room so you don't have to worry about his stinky smell still being here!"
Liana giggled at that, before taking in the room and admiring how much larger it was than her tavern room. She walked around and opened the window shutters to look outside. It showed the street connected to the front of the building, giving a good view of anyone who might come to the house. Closing the shutters, she turned to look at her tour guide and smiled. Blushing again, Hejlikka guided her through the living room to another door that opened out to a set of stairs.
"The rest of the rooms are upstairs."
"I see."
Reaching the top, the female elf walked down a corridor and opened the second room, ignoring the first one. "Ah, the first room is my bedroom. This one was my parents'." She unlocked and opened the door, then motioned for Liana to enter. Following her guidance, she entered the room and was surprised at how much larger it was compared with the other rooms in the house. "There used to be three rooms up here, but my parents didn't see a use for the middle room and so knocked down the wall and made this room larger. Really! My parents are so over the top! It's too large! Think of the heating! Think of the..." Liana didn't hear the rest of Hejlikka's tirade due to laughing a lot. The female elf blushed in embarrassment before leaving the room.
"You don't really need to see my room, but you can if you want?"
Liana shook her head while smiling, "No need. Your room is your private space. I wouldn't wish to intrude on it."
"You wouldn't be intruding!" The female elf thought inside. "Well, if you say so..." She shrugged as she pushed up her glasses again as she headed down the stairs. Once they got back into the kitchen Hejlikka pushed her glasses up for the nth time and concluded, "With that, you've seen the whole house! What do you think?" She gazed meekly at her companion, a little nervous about her thoughts.
"Mm, it's definitely a nice house." The female's face lit up in happiness, "However, I need some time to think about it. I mean, how much would the rent be? What would the rules be for chores and such?"
"Ah...well I'd just go with the rate the tavern does for rent - if that's okay? As for chores, I tend to like cleaning so as long as you don't make too much of a mess, I don't mind."
"That seems a bit unfair, don't you think? After all, this is your house. At least let me help clean the ground floor and the kitchen after you've used it. It's the least I could do...if I choose to accept your offer."
"...If you insist...Then, how about some breakfast now?"
"I'm still not that hungry, but don't hold back on my account." Liana smiled gently before sitting down on a chair in the kitchen.
Feeling famished after a whole night on her feet with no food, Hejlikka rolled up her sleeves and started taking out some ingredients from her larder. After a few minutes, she'd come up with what she was going to eat and began chopping hastily and nervously as she felt Liana's eyes watching her every move. The new-born in question was enjoying the pleasant aroma constantly wafting over from the busy elf. Licking her lips subconsciously, her eyes started turning a dull red as she imagined what she might taste like.
Unaware of what her companion was thinking, Hejlikka had her own thoughts about Liana - blushing as she thought about her vivid red lips and haughty attitude when they first met. Not paying attention to what she was doing as her mind drifted, her hand slipped and she sliced open her hand with the knife she was using. "AH!"
Smelling before seeing, Liana immediately got up and grabbed Hejlikka's hand before haughtily saying with glowing red eyes, "Such a silly and stupid girl, cutting yourself when doing the simplest of tasks~ Let me help clean this up for you~" She then brought the female elf's bleeding hand to her mouth and started licking it slowly while observing her prey's reactions.
Hearing Liana's harsh words, her body shivered in excitement before she witnessed the sight of Liana erotically (in her mind) licking her wound while looking at her. Feeling hot all over as she felt Liana's soft tongue going over her hand, she felt weak in the knees as she imagined that tongue somewhere else - her mind began to drift into a different direction not thinking about her current situation, nor the weirdness of Liana's eyes changing colour, her personality shifting, or her licking up her blood fervently.
Seeing that her prey wasn't resisting, Liana smirked as she brought her lips to the deepest part of the wound and began sucking up the sweet red nectar pulsating out of the hand. "Mmnh~" Feeling euphoric from the taste, Liana's fangs subconsciously grew and pierced the flesh deeply, making the wound bleed more profusely and openly.
"Ah..." Hejlikka barely reacted as she felt an ecstasy running through her body that she'd never felt before. The pain from being sucked hard from her wound, plus the sharp pain that followed from something she wasn't sure of, a strange pleasure came out from it that made her lick her lips and swallow in a bid to wet her dry throat. "Mmnh, it feels good~" Losing strength in her knees, the female elf began to collapse but was swiftly caught by Liana's free arm which had wrapped around her waist.
Regaining her senses from this action, Liana's eyes shifted back to gold and as she quickly removed her mouth from Hejlikka's hand in shock and surprise. Pulling out the nearest chair, she placed the female elf on it before looking around for a rag. Finding one, she tore it into a long strip and carefully, yet tightly, wrapped the rag around her companion's hand before tying it. Desperately trying to hold back the want she had to feed on more of her companion's blood, she examined her and asked, "Are you okay? That wound is pretty deep. You might need to go to the temple to have it healed."
Coming out of her euphoric daze at the question, Hejlikka looked at her hand and the rag that was quickly getting blood-soaked and she shook her head with a wry smile. "No need. I know a little bit of healing magic that my mother taught me a few decades ago." She then placed her hand over the wound and slowly began casting some magic to heal it.
"Want me to cook for you, since you lost a lot of blood?" Liana showed a concerned face, which made Hejlikka's heart flutter a little.
"Ah...please..." She blushed as she remembered the reason why she accidentally cut herself in the first place and lowered her head in shame.
Liana quickly cooked a simple dish, with some of the ingredients that were picked earlier by Hejlikka, and served it to the weak elf. Not wanting to attack her possible housemate out of blood lust, she excused herself from sitting with her for breakfast and left to return to the tavern.
Once she got back to her room, she locked her door, took off her dress, cleaned it, placed it on the bed post to dry, then went to bed. Thinking about whether it would be a good idea or not to take Hejlikka up on her offer, she fell asleep once noon arrived.
[OC: Liana with Hejlikka|Setting: Scribel City - Hejlikka's house, Tavern|Word Count: 2237]
Quest Report - verified
Waking up as soon as the sun had set, Liana got dressed and washed her face - noting how her skin looked particularly more healthy-looking than it had a few days ago. She pondered over the 'meals' she'd had recently and attributed her body brimming full of vitality to that - licking her lips subconsciously as she recalled the exceptionally sweet flavour of the female elf she'd sipped a little on that morning. Coming back to her senses, she lightly ran her fingers through her hair to make it look neat again before leaving her room and locking the door.
Heading down the stairs towards the tavern bar area, she handed the rent money for that day before deciding to leave the area before she was overcome by the multitude of delicious smells of 'food' mixed in with sweat, urine, disgusting cooked food and alcohol. Exiting the tavern, Liana thought about what she should do for the night and smiled when she remembered how fun working in the customer service department was. She also recalled how Hejlikka had been relegated to the night shift and smiled wryly at the thought of possibly meeting the eccentric elf.
Reaching a decision, she made her way to the guild and told the staff she wished to help work in the Customer Service Department again. Getting a signed note from the receptionist, Liana headed to the CSD section and looked for the supervisor to inform them of her task. After a few minutes of looking, she eventually found a male elf coming out of the back office rooms with an arm wrapped around a woman's waist - whispering something in her ear with a smile on his familiar face. Seeing the woman blushing before nodding in affirmation to whatever the male elf had said, he released her from his arm and tapped her rear cheek before noticing Liana and smiling gently.
Walking up to her, he saw the note in her hand and smiled even more deeply before saying, "And who might your beautiful self be, my sweet~?" His eyes greedily looked up and down her body.
Smiling gently back, Liana responded, "I'm Liana. I came to do the customer service task." She held out the signed note to the male elf, "The task is still available, right?" She showed a look of worry as her gold eyes gazed at the man in front of her.
"Liana, huh? Such a pretty name for such a pretty thing. I'm Julrik, the man in charge of most of the people here, at your service my sweet~" He grabbed her hand and bowed, expertly kissing the back of it before releasing his grip.
"AH! Julrik! Get your hands off her! Stop flirting and get working!!!"
Hejlikka stormed towards them and made sure to stand in-between Liana and Julrik. Seeing the two together, Liana raised her brows as she noticed the resemblance between the two of them, although Hejlikka appeared to seem quite a few years older than him.
"Your brother, Miss Hejlikka?" She tilted her head as she noticed more and more resemblances between the two.
Hearing the question, Hejlikka smiled wryly before answering, "Yes...this is Julrik, my younger brother, and also our boss..."
Julrik smiled delightedly at that, "So you've heard of me, my sweet Liana~? I'm so happy~ Why don't we get to know each other more intimately over-- KUH!" He suddenly bent over as he rubbed his freshly jabbed ribs with a grimace.
"Pay him no mind. He's not even supposed to be working right now." Hejlikka guided Liana to an empty booth in the CSD before continuing, "Since you've already done this job before, I'll let you get straight to work. Also, I hope you'll be willing to leave together again..." A light blush crept onto her cheeks but was masked by the shadows made by the torches and candles in the room to notice.
"Sure!" Liana smiled gently back at the female elf.
Pushing her glasses up, Hejlikka happily smiled before her face turned grim and stern as she went up to her brother and dragged him away by his pointy ear, complaining about how unprofessional he was in the workplace and couldn't understand how he ended up getting promoted faster than her.
Getting a customer a few minutes after sitting down, Liana got into full swing with doing customer service work. Saying that, after the first customer not many other people came to the department for a long time. Since that was the case, she listened in on the conversations her colleagues were having while being idle from lack of customers. One pair talked about how boring the night shift was due to it usually being really slow since most people were already sleeping or had gone drinking. Another pair - two men - discussed how cute some of the receptionists were, with them even starting to rate them on sexiness or cuteness: Nene was given a 78/100 due to how cute her fox ears looked and how diligent she was in trying to help people; another receptionist called Konaha was rated 63/100 on account of how efficiently she evaluated reports but had a no nonsense style to her comments; some Imelda Carson - the half elf mentioned while working last night - was also mentioned, with her receiving an amazing 91/100 due to her having a large chest, provocative clothing and coquettish behaviour whenever they interacted with her; they even gave Hejlikka a rating...23/100...mostly because she was too strict and harsh with them but also because they found her an annoying busybody with no charming qualities except her nice looks. Those men made sure to whisper that last rating while casting fearful glances at the door in case the female elf came through.
As she was listening, she soon heard another group even move closer to one another and talked about how worrying the war in Gelderholm was. One of them mentioned how their cousin went to help but had gotten bitten by a snake and was in critical condition. Another person in the group talked about a strong adventurer called Felicia who was making great gains there - helping the locals fight against the hydra's subordinates and helping them gain a firmer foothold in the area.
After a while, several customers came and were dealt with by Liana without incident. It seemed that she was picked out due to her not talking with the other colleagues - instead sitting quietly at her booth with a gentle smile on her face. Once the end of the shift approached, Liana managed to deal with 13 customers: 3 were invalid complaints, 9 were valid ones to which she compensated them with appropriate measures, and 1 was a scammer trying to cheat the system with stolen goods from another adventurer - that one was dealt with by the guards due to the customer pulling out a dagger and jumping onto Liana's desk in anger from being discovered, which shocked a lot of the other workers who had been busy chatting away.
As the last customer left, Hejlikka came in and noticed the other workers slacking. She shouted at them for not doing what they were paid to do - threatening to reduce their salary for a poor work mentality - before she reached Liana and briefly smiled. "You've worked hard. Sorry that you had to pick up the slack from these incompetent fools." She glared at the two men who'd been sat rating the female workers all night, causing them to straighten their backs and turn stiff out of fear. She then turned to look at Liana and softened her gaze, "Dawn will be in a few minutes, your shift is over now."
"Okay." Liana smiled gently as she stretched out her sore muscles from sitting for so long with not much to do for the past several hours. Getting up from her seat, she went to the receptionist desk, wrote up her report and handed it in for evaluation.
"You ready?" Liana asked.
"Yes!" Hejlikka replied, happy to finally go home with her companion after working all night.
[OOC: Money before - 400G, Money after - 390G]
X
Painful Memories (Closed)
Leaving the guild with Hejlikka, Liana walked with her down the street towards the tavern, seeing the sunrise like the day before.
"It never ceases to put my mind at ease when I see such a beautiful thing." The female elf said while glancing at her friend, admiring how her skin glowed in the light from the sunrise. Blushing a little as she realised she was beginning to stare, she turned her head quickly to look at the sunrise again, and pushed up her glasses to hide her embarrassment.
"Mm...I still prefer the sunset. Seeing the sunrise doesn't put my mind at ease..." she furrowed her brows a little as she felt her body getting more and more tired as the sun rose over the rooftops gradually.
Walking down the street as they were talking, Hejlikka showed surprise at Liana's words and couldn't help asking, "Why doesn't it put your mind at ease? If it's not too rude to ask, I mean..."
"...My temple back in my world had an early to bed, early to rise policy. We would wake up before dawn and purify ourselves in the God's Lake behind our temple..." She shuddered involuntarily as she recalled her past - a splitting headache forming as if she shouldn't remember her life before being reborn by her master. Ignoring the pain, she continued as best she could - her actions successfully convincing her work colleague about how awful the memory was, "We would wear nothing but our undergarment robes and soak in the cold lake water until the sun rose - be it in the Fire period, or in the Ice period." Her eyes began changing from the usual gold to a dim red as the pain increased.
"Wow, that's...really harsh." Hejlikka shuddered as she imagined what that would be like but then blushed a little as her mind began wondering what Liana would have looked like with wet undergarments clinging to her body - her chest area showing the signs of being cold...She coughed and pushed her glasses up in embarrassment as she put such thoughts aside, having realised she had started staring at her friend's chest.
"...Mm...it was to...help purge wicked thoughts and take in the God's divine essence..." Liana vaguely recalled that she actually enjoyed those moments because she got to be closer to their god - Lord Shé Shén. This moment passed abruptly as the pain intensified to an unbearable level, resulting in her holding her head and getting a nosebleed.
"AH! You're bleeding!" Hejlikka immediately got a handkerchief out and began dabbing at Liana's nose - not noticing her friend's detached and dimly glowing red eyes.
"...It's nothing to be concerned about. It'll pass." Liana pushed the female elf's hand away from her face and continued walking towards the tavern, not waiting for her work colleague to keep pace with her.
Shivering, while blushing, a little from being rebuffed, Hejlikka soon followed and caught up - subtly and carefully folding the bloody handkerchief and placing it in her cloak pocket. Reaching the tavern, Liana began entering without paying attention to her work colleague. Seeing this, Hejlikka didn't get the chance to ask to have breakfast together or about whether she'd thought more on living with her. Knowing that her friend didn't seem to be in the best of moods right now, she decided to hold off on discussing it and parted ways with a wry smile.
[OC: Liana with Hejlikka|Setting: Scribel City|Word Count: 572]
X
Scribble City Guild Headquarters - Midnight (4)
Reaching a desk full of stacks of paper, the female elf pushed up her glasses and smiled at the teenage girl. "This will be your work space. I expect you to be diligent in your task until your shift ends - at dawn." She pointed at the stacks of paper, "These are all quest reports that need filing away into the correct categories. I expect them to be in the correct places! By the way, my name is Hejlikka and I am the supervisor of staff for the night shift. What's your name, little girl? I need to know for administration reasons."
X
Scribble City Guild Headquarters - Midnight (5)
"Hello miss Hejlikka, My name is Letianna Orgalla, Pleased to meet you." I sat down and started checking the different categories and checking where to put each report "Miss I'll start now." I skimmed the quest reports and started placing them into different categories Woah, some of these are telling me it might be a bit dangerous outside the city.
Scribble City Guild Headquarters - Midnight (5)
Hejlikka's eyebrows twitched upon hearing the girl's name, before seeing the her reading through a report without being told what categories they needed to be put in. "Letianna Orgalla...was it? The same Letianna Orgalla who blatantly skipped out on her shift after only working 2 hours? I hope you won't slack on the job this time, otherwise I'll dock your pay!"
The female elf grabbed the report in Letianna's hands and pointed at several empty boxes behind the desk, "The boxes on the left are for reports marked as failed. I expect the levels to be in ascending order going from left to right. The boxes on your right are for reports marked as fully successful - same rules in terms of levels as before. The boxes right behind you are for the partially successful reports. Don't mess up!"
Hejlikka put down the report and left to deal with another troublesome worker she'd seen.
X
Scribble City Guild Headquarters - Midnight (7)
My cheeks blushed a bit from being reminded of that Ah I'm getting too hasty, something about the cart before the horse "I won't mess it up miss!" I can't have my pay docked! Ah It'd be troublesome if that happened I started organizing the quest reports according to what Hejlikka's method and by the time I looked up it seemed that a few hours had already passed by How long have I been organizing quest reports? I was thinking of snacking on a ration but it was better to eat one a day to be frugal.
Scribbel City Guild Headquarters - Before Dawn (7)
Coming in to check on the progress of the teenage girl, Hejlikka saw her holding a ration in her hand. Storming over with another large stack of reports, she slammed them on the table and glared at the slack worker.
"No eating, drinking, or chatting while working! It's unprofessional! Especially when we're so understaffed!"
She then carried the filled boxes away to the Filing room before coming back with more empty boxes. Placing them down, she then rubbed the girl's head, "I will acknowledge you've worked hard so far, though. Don't disappoint me by slacking off in the last few hours!" She then stormed off, heading for the Customer Service Department to check how the workers were doing there.
X
Scribbel City Guild Headquarters - Dawn (9)
Walking into the room to tell Letianna that her shift was over, Hejlikka smiled as she saw the girl desperately trying to keep her eyes open while reading through a report - the stacks of reports significantly smaller than before. Gently placing her hand on top of the report, the female elf pushed up her glasses with a gentle smile on her face:
"The sun is rising, your shift is over. You've redeemed yourself, Miss Orgalla. If you ever work here again, I will eagerly anticipate the good work ethic you've shown this evening. Finish up that report and you can go home!"
Going over to pick up a full box of filed reports, Hejlikka patted the girl's head as a reward for managing to stay awake, before heading to the Filing room. "Ahhhh, her hair is so soft~" She thought to herself as she walked away with a silly subconscious smile on her face.
X
Scribbel City Guild Headquarters - Dawn (11)
"A place to sleep near here?" Hejlikka replied as she came back. "Hmm, there's the tavern which always seems to have some rooms available no matter when you go. The rent's cheap, too: only 10G a day with all meals included. If you don't want food with it then it's 5G a day. It's a really good bargain for those who have little to no money."
The female elf started leaving the room to collect her cloak before going home for the day, she then paused in thought before looking at the girl. "I could show you the way, if you want? I pass that way on the way home anyway."
X
Scribbel City Guild Headquarters - Dawn (12)
"All meals included?" My eyes shined, the place before only let me use the room and a wooden bucket, this was an upgrade!
"Un! I'll follow you." The little excitement I had pushed my tired feet forward. Unconsciously I had extended a hand to hejlikka for her to guide me, I was a bit worried about getting separated along the way somehow.
Scribbel City Guild Headquarters - Dawn (13)
Seeing the report still on the desk and not filed into a box, Hejlikka pointed at it before stating in a firm tone, "Finish your work first!"
X
Scribbel City Guild Headquarters - Dawn (15)
Putting her cloak on, Hejlikka held Letianna's hand and led the way to the tavern. "Ahhh, her hands are so soft, too!" She thought to herself as she blushed a little at how cute the teenager was.
After walking for a few minutes, they reached the tavern; the rising sun currently shining on its front.
"This is the place!" She reluctantly let go of the hand she'd been holding, "If you go in and talk to one of the staff, I'm sure they'll help you get a room. Oh, also make sure to show your guild card to them since that's how you can rent the room so cheaply." Hejlikka yawned as the tension from working the night shift loosened, making her fatigue finally catch up with her. "My house is a bit further, so I'll part ways here. Good luck with your future work, Miss Orgalla. The guild is always open for earnest workers to help!"
The female elf then turned away and left, lamenting over not getting to see Liana this time.
X
Quest Report - verified
Waking up as soon as the sun set, Liana got dressed and washed her face. Feeling hungry from not having a 'meal' for 2 days, the new-born vampire licked her lips as she pondered over whether to order a blue steak again, or to risk finding a live source to 'nibble' on. Not wanting to have to deal with Hejlikka for the third night in a row and possibly attack her for her truly delicious blood, Liana thought to look at the quest board and see if there was anything else she could do since she had the feeling Guard Captain Harrison would still be unwilling to let her work in the prison again.
Leaving her room and locking the door, she noticed what appeared to be a male elf kneeling in front of the door next to hers with some metal tools in his hands at the door lock.
"..."
"..."
They both looked at each other for a few seconds before the male elf smiled awkwardly and got up and scratched the back of his head, "Hahaha, I left my key with my girlfriend and it seems she locked the door behind her and fell asleep, so I couldn't get back in. I'd tell the staff, but I don't want to wake her up. Gods knows how wrathful she'd be if I interrupted her beauty sleep, hahaha..."
"...I see." Liana replied in a detached tone, not really caring about what he was saying due to the sweet scent wafting off him. "Are all elves tasty?" She thought to herself as she left the man and headed downstairs, walked through the already noisy tavern and left for the guild quest board.
Reading through the quests, she saw one that seemed interesting, plus it would give her the excuse of finding some 'food' along the way. Taking the quest off the board, she went got the report from the receptionist at the guild, read through it, took the room key and then quickly left before Hejlikka could see her.
It was past dawn when she finally arrived at the guild, where she lethargically wrote her report and handed it in, her gold eyes looking weary once she finished writing. Wanting to go to sleep, as soon as the report was evaluated she hurried back to her tavern room - did her usual routine - then fell into a deep sleep.Not inspecting the room key for the moment, Liana thought to look for some adventurers she'd met while doing her customer service quests. Walking through the city streets, she found some of them and asked them how they were doing before subtly asking if they'd heard of a Level 3 adventurer called Claire since she'd left the guild before getting her reward from the receptionist. None of them seemed to have heard of her, and so she left it at that and said bye to them after asking them how their own quests had been going.
After walking around for a few hours with no results, she decided to inspect the key that Claire was found in possession of. Looking at it carefully, she noticed how it was very similar to her own tavern key. Thinking that she'd found a clue to grasp on, she made her way back to the tavern and looked for the least busy maid.
"You found this key on the side of the road? Let me check who it belongs to." The maid put down the empty drinks tray she'd been carrying, wiped her hands on her apron, and went over to the logbook to check who owned the key. Running her finger down the pages, she eventually stopped on a name and tapped it several times. "Ah, this belongs to Claire! Such a sweet girl and so talented at making potions."
"...Making potions? Is she an alchemist, then?" Liana asked in a detached tone as she desperately tried to hold off the instinct to pounce on the nearby obese human drinking heavily and feed on him.
The maid giggled at the question, "Hahaha! No, she's an adventurer. A talented one, too. She joined about a few weeks ago and is already Level 3 in the guild. In fact, just a few days ago she left to go foraging for herbs to make more potions. Oh! She also got a boyfriend recently: an elf, I believe."
"...Oh? Is he an adventurer, too?"
"Hmm, I don't think he is. He tends to prefer working with his tools, making various contraptions and trying to sell them in the market." The maid glanced around before leaning in and whispering, "If you ask me, I think she could do better. I hear he has a bad history with some not very nice people from a few decades ago."
"A few decades ago?" Liana slightly raised her eyebrows at that.
"Ah, don't you know? Elves can live for hundreds of years and age incredibly slowly after they reach their teens. Not to mention they all seem to be really good-looking, too. Ah~! I'm so jealous of Claire for getting such a good-looking boyfriend! Ah...but I wouldn't want someone with a questionable past." She looked a little embarrassed from her complaint.
"...I see. So, how did they end up meeting?" Liana tilted her head inquisitively, yet with a detached look on her face.
"Hmm, if I recall, they met while she was helping at the temple. He'd supposedly been stabbed by someone and she treated his wounds with her potions. Apparently it was love at first sight."
"...Apparently?"
"Well, I believe Claire really did fall for him, but him? I highly doubt it. The way I see it, she was a meal ticket for him. I mean, they even share the same room but she's the one who pays the rent and owns the key. Ah, come to think of it I saw him earlier going upstairs, but then leaving after a few minutes with a big sack on his shoulders. I wonder what that was about..."
"...Out of curiosity...is Claire's room next to mine?"
"Hmm? Let me check." She flipped through the pages to the most recent one and found Liana's name. "Yes. How did you know?" The maid looked up in surprise.
"...I think I saw the boyfriend using some tools to unlock the door just before I left to do some work..."
"EHH?!"
The maid then closed the book, took the key and headed upstairs - with Liana following close behind. As they reached the room, the door was unlocked when the maid tried the handle. She pushed the door open to see a ransacked room. The drawers in the dresser were left slightly open with the clothes half hanging out and in a mess, the chest that had been used for personal storage had the padlock open and lying on the floor with the contents mostly gone. The alchemist equipment that Claire usually used for making potions was on the floor - with broken vials and bent metal tools.
"...This...this...this is terrible! I knew he was a good-for-nothing!" The maid looked angry and was ready to storm off to tell the tavern owner, however Liana grabbed her arm to stop her.
"We don't know if it was him. He might have come back, found the door locked without Claire there and chose to wait inside for her. Then, once he opened the door, he saw this and fled with his own stuff in fear." She said in a detached tone.
"..." The maid didn't really think that was the case, but chose to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Okay...but I still need to report this to the owner so we can explain things when Claire gets back....Oh...poor Claire..." She started crying as she tried to tidy up the mess a bit.
Thinking about her quest, Liana asked where the boyfriend might be found, to which the maid said he usually hung around the market or the forge areas. Having another clue to go on, she asked for the name of the boyfriend - which was Karl Jakobsson - and then left the tavern.
Walking in the direction of the forge areas after seeing some soot-covered blacksmiths coming from a certain street, Liana looked for any signs of the male elf she'd seen earlier that night. After an hour of walking around all of the different smithies and other industrial buildings, Liana got a whiff of blood in the wind and followed where it came from. After following the scent for a few minutes, the new-born spotted some dark puddles of liquid on the ground trailing towards a dark alley with the puddles increasing in size the further away from her they were.
"..."
Looking around to see if there was anyone else in the area, Liana stepped into the alley to find a body lying in a pool of cold and drying blood. Feeling an ache in her throat - as well as her fangs involuntarily lengthening - she could see it was a male elf barely breathing. Creeping closer with great restraint over her hunger, she asked, "Are you Karl Jakobsson?"
Seeing the woman's glowing red eyes in the dark alley, the male elf was alarmed but thought there was no point in being scared since he felt he wouldn't survive the next few minutes anyway. Nodding his head with great difficulty, he recognised the woman once she got close enough, "You're...hah...that...ngh...tavern...hah...neigh...bour...?"
Liana didn't answer as she continued her questioning, "Are you Claire's boyfriend?"
Karl's eyes widened at the mention of his girlfriend, before tearing up, "...I was...I doubt...hah...she's alive...now..."
"What makes you think that?" Liana asked coldly - her fangs already digging into her lips and making a mess of them.
"...I don't...hah...deserve...good...things ngh...and hah...she was...the.........best thing...I hah...ever...had..." His breathing was getting more laboured as he struggled to speak; blood coming out of his mouth with every word he spoke.
Gulping hard with difficulty, Liana stuck to her task, "Who did this?"
"........................A flower...of metal...bright hah...as the sssssssun ngh....with thorns...full of...mal...ice.........................and roots hah...digging..........deep..........................." He passed away from his many stab wounds as well as blood loss.
She looked at Karl's corpse and pondered what to do next. Seeing as how she'd found out where Claire had lived - as well as that she had a boyfriend - and that she knew the tavern maid last saw her leaving the tavern saying she was going to collect some herbs for more potions. She then thought about how her boyfriend had died the same way that she had: multiple stab wounds, and that it was related to Karl's past affiliations most likely.Not wanting to pass up a free 'meal', Liana knelt on the ground and greedily licked the blood like a starved animal. She then crawled towards Karl's open wounds and sucked the remaining red nectar before it dried up. Regaining her senses after a few minutes of sucking and swallowing, she released her mouth from the rapidly cooling body and wiped it on a dry patch of her prey's clothes. She then got up and patted down her clothes and legs to get rid of any dirt from when she was crawling.
"A flower of metal as bright as the sun, with thorns full of malice and roots digging deep..." She muttered to herself as she recalled the male elf's final words, his answer for who did it. Not really knowing what to do about this supposed organisation, Liana decided to head back to the guild, making a mental note about where Karl's body was so it could be cleaned up by the city guards.
- Asked around the city for info on Claire, but nobody knew her
- Found out she lived in the tavern
- Found out she had an elf boyfriend with a questionable past
- Found her room broken into and ransacked
- Found whereabouts of boyfriend
- Boyfriend was also stabbed like Claire and died shortly after being found
- Before dying, boyfriend gave enigmatic answer to who killed him: 'A flower of metal as bright as the sun, with thorns full of malice and roots digging deep.'
@Epsil
[OOC: Don't know if I did this right. I also didn't know if it was okay to incorporate a bit of the Golden Rose into this, or not...
Sorry, if I've messed things up!
>w<]
X
A Night of Uncertainty (Closed)
Walking along the streets of Scribel City at night, Liana didn't know what to do as she struggled to comprehend what happened the night before. She remembered being tripped over while she was running away...but no more until she woke up when the sun set this evening.
"What happened?" She questioned internally, "Why was I aching all over? Did he...down there...?" She continued wandering down a street, not paying attention to where she was going as she hugged the wine bottle in her arms subconsciously.
She stopped as she realised her body's situation - her figure trembled as a wave of shame and lament crashed over her. She crouched on the ground and held her head - dropping the wine bottle in the process - as she felt remorse over losing something she considered most precious...something she had dreamed of gifting to her master every time she thought of him.
"Hey, pretty lady, are you all right?" A familiar, masculine voice sounded over her head. Looking up at the source, she noticed it was Julrik - Hejlikka's younger brother - with a bag over his shoulders.
Shrinking away from him as she recalled what Jasper had done, she turned her face away and replied while choking back the tears pooling in her eyes, "I'm fine...I just...need to rest for a bit, is all." She wrapped her arms around her crouched legs as she tried to smile at the male elf - albeit looking very forced and uncomfortable.
"...Right." Julrik saw the passersby staring at them and felt the situation was most definitely not fine. Thinking about how he'd been planning on bunking in the old family home to keep under his love rivals' radars, he remembered how his frigid sister seemed to have a positive opinion of the young woman and had even mentioned having invited her home once. Scratching his head, he said: "Look, I was heading over to Hejlikka's place just now after finishing work, wanna come with me and rest there? Then I might get to do things with her later, hehehe~"
Hearing the man mention Hejlikka's place, a heavy weight around her heart lifted slightly as she recalled her work colleague's earlier offer to live there. Since she was currently homeless, and she did not want to be anywhere near the tavern right now, she meekly nodded her head but didn't move to stand up.
Seeing her nod in agreement, Julrik smiled happily and quickly picked her up in his arms and lifted her into a princess carry.
"Ah!" Liana gasped as fear started creeping in from memories of Jasper wrapping his arms around her and dragging her into his room flashed in her mind.
"Easy now~" The male elf said in a placating tone as he noticed his companion freeze up and start shivering as soon as she was in his arms. "I'm just helping you get to the house since you needed a rest~"
Hearing his words, Liana calmed down a bit, but still retained a rigid posture. "My bottle..."
"Hmm~?"
"That bottle was a...gift from someone, I can't leave it behind." She muttered in a quiet tone that was barely audible.
Julrik looked down where Liana had been crouched and noticed a wine bottle lying on its side with some black liquid in it. Ensuring he had a good hold of the woman in his arms, he bent over and picked it up and placed it on her lap. "Here you go~"
"...Thank you..." She buried her face into his shoulder out of embarrassment of being stared at by the people on the street, but also to better smell the sweet scent coming from him.
"No problem~" Enjoying the sensation of the woman nuzzling him, he made his way to the house with a spring in his step.
Upon reaching the building, Julrik took out the key he always kept in case he ever needed to return to the family home and unlocked the door. He then nudged it open with his foot before entering and kicking the door closed. Still carrying Liana, he moved through the kitchen and headed for the living area before gently placing her on the sofa.
"Here we are~! Let me light up the candles so we can see better--"
"No need."
"Hmm?"
"I prefer being in the dark at the moment." Liana wrapped her arms under her legs as her knees were against her chest - the image of a frightened person in a defensive posture.
"...Okay~ I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. Oh, want me to cook anything while I'm there~?"
"I'm okay, Mr Julrik...I...ate not long ago..." She buried her head in her knees as she felt ashamed of how she came to acquire the blood in the wine bottle.
Seeing the woman wasn't in a good state of mind, Julrik knew better than to pry, and so went into the kitchen to make himself some food.
Alone in the living room, Liana thought about what she should do from now on. She knew she couldn't stay in the tavern, since Jasper was there and obviously had intentions on 'feeding' on her again. She involuntarily shivered at that thought before she turned her mind towards what she should do in terms of living in the city.
Ideally, she thought it would be safer for her to leave and travel to another place - away from the incubus - but then she felt she couldn't since she had to wait for her master to arrive. Remembering what Jasper had said about how her being under her master's compulsion meant he was still alive and intended on coming brought some relief to her. However, the fact that the demon had known she was under compulsion made her think about how it had protected her from his own attempts to control her and she involuntarily shuddered again. She instinctively knew that the man was dangerous. So...what should she do about living in the city?
"That frigid b*tch!"
"!?"
The sound of clattering could be heard from the kitchen which brought Liana out of her thoughts. Getting up and walking over, she saw the kitchen in a mess with scraps of badly chopped vegetables strewn all over the worktop. Noticing Liana was at the doorway observing the chaotic scene before her with surprise in her dull gold eyes, Julrik smiled wryly before running his fingers through his hair and waving his arms at the room.
"I don't usually do the cooking...and Hejlikka didn't leave any leftovers to warm up..." He looked a little embarrassed as he thought about how much face he'd lost just now.
Liana found the male elf amusing and couldn't help but giggle a little before smiling gently, "I know how to cook. If it's okay with you, I can salvage the ingredients and make you something."
"My lifesaver~! A goddess in the flesh descended down to save me from hunger~!" He knelt down and clasped his hands in front of him before raising them in the air towards Liana.
Giggling more at the elf's flamboyance, Liana smiled more and went to gather up the badly chopped vegetables and set about making a soup. Seeing the woman had perked up a bit from when he'd found her, he smiled before sitting in one of the chairs and watched her beautiful figure as she deftly dealt with the ingredients. Once the soup was ready, Julrik greedily wolfed it down and asked for seconds praising Liana's skills in cooking.
"I'm telling you," he slurped another spoonful of soup, "your cooking is better than my playmates'!"
"Oh? I thank you for the flattery." Liana smiled cheerfully - her mood completely lifted to her usual, original cheerful self from before she was turned into a vampire.
Seeing the young woman clearing up the now empty soup bowl, Julrik propositioned: "Hey, how about staying here for the night~?" Liana's hands halted briefly as that feeling of fear began inexplicably creeping in again. "I mean, I heard how Hejlikka offered you a room to live in a few days ago and, since it's so late at night, it would be safer for you to stay here than to go out there again. Who knows~? Maybe some miscreant will try and rob you, or worse force himself on you~?"
The sound of a bowl smashing onto the floor reverberated in the kitchen before the room fell awkwardly silent.
"..."
"..."
"...Hey...you weren't in the middle of the street like that because that happened...right?" Julrik showed a very concerned face while inwardly cursing himself for his previous words of jest.
"...You're wrong, Mr Julrik." Liana turned around with a strained smile, "No such miscreant forced himself on me while I was walking the streets tonight. I was just startled by the thought of that possibly happening, hence why I dropped the bowl." She gave a seemingly embarrassed smile that also seemed strained.
"...Oh. My apologies for putting such vivid imagery into your pretty little head, then. Also, don't worry about the bowl. You cooking that delicious meal for me is enough to pay for replacing it~" He winked at her before getting up from his seat and stretching while yawning. "Ah, it's pretty late now. I'm going to go sleep upstairs, you can take my old room on this floor. Hejlikka will be back in a few hours, so you won't have to wait long for her to arrive. Well, good night, pretty lady~" The male elf then left the kitchen and headed upstairs - most likely for what used to be his parents' room.
Finishing with the cleaning up, as well as gathering up the broken pieces of bowl, Liana headed back into the living room and sat down in the darkness. She stared at the wine bottle that contained Jasper's blood, unsure of what to do with it. On one hand, it made her feel exceptionally energised and fully satiated from hunger; on the other hand...it was Jasper's blood that he used as a tool of transaction to feed on her vitality...
Sitting in the darkness for the next few hours, Liana pondered over her future choices while staring at the bottle in fear and want.
With the sun halfway up the sky, Hejlikka entered the house with a few bags full of groceries and daily necessities. Entering the kitchen, she noticed nothing amiss except for a bowl no longer being there, and wondered if Julrik had decided to come over to do his usual laying low from love rivals. Thinking not much of it, she put the groceries away before entering the living room and stopping in shock with her mouth wide open. In front of her eyes was Liana, sleeping like a corpse, on the sofa with a wine bottle in her arms.
"Morrrrrrrrr.....ning~" Julrik greeted Hejlikka while yawning, lethargically entering the room from the stairs.
"Y-y-y-y-you! What did you do with Liana?!" Hejlikka whisper-shouted at her brother while pointing at her friend.
"Ah?" He turned to look at the sleeping beauty on the sofa and admired it as a smirk crept on his face before turning to his sister with a smug expression, "I invited her to spend the night with me here~"
Hejlikka slapped him on the cheek and dragged him into the kitchen by the ear.
"Ow! Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! It hurts! Stop it! Frigid b*tch, stop it, it hurts!"
Closing the door, the female elf let go of her brother, pushed her glasses up and crossed her arms with a stern expression, "Tell the truth! Why is Liana here?"
Rubbing his sore pointy ear and cheek, he languidly sat in a chair and lazily crossed his stretched out legs, "I found her crouched in the middle of the street last night looking out of sorts. Since I was heading here anyway, I invited her to come and rest here. I didn't want to pry, since she seemed afraid of being touched by me, but she reacted pretty badly when I jokingly mentioned the dangers of men on the streets for women." He shrugged as he reached behind him and took an apple from the freshly filled fruit bowl before taking a bite out of it.
"...Out of sorts? Being touched?" Hejlikka looked concerned as she subconsciously glanced at the closed living room door behind her. "Why didn't you take her to the tavern? She rents a room there."
Julrik shrugged again while taking another bite from the apple, "From what I could tell, the only possession on her person was that wine bottle. She also seemed to have come from the direction of the tavern when I saw her." He looked at his older sister and was surprised by how full of expression she was compared to her usual stern face. "Sis, you--"
"Did you do anything to her?" She glared at him with eyes full of suspicion.
"What do you take me for? A goblin in heat? I like to see myself as a gentleman towards women, thank you very much! I never go after an unwilling woman, nor a woman in a troubled state of mind...A woman suffering from a break-up, however--"
"Shut up, you hormones-on-legs!"
Julrik raised his hands up to show his surrender, while smirking. Seeing her good-for-nothing brother was keeping silent, Hejlikka pushed up her glasses as she turned more serious, "We should find out if she still has a room at the tavern, or not. If not, then we'll wait until she wakes up to see if she'd be willing to stay here or not. If she really has suffered from an...unfortunate situation, then I don't think it's a good idea for her to be on her own. What do you think?"
"If it means I get to see her pretty face whenever I sleep over here, I'm willing for her to stay~"
The female elf glared at him again while thinking to herself, "Truly a good-for-nothing who only thinks with his lower body!"
The two then discussed what they would each do during the day, allowing Liana to sleep on the sofa without disturbing her.
[OC: Liana with Julrik|Setting: Scribel City - Streets, Hejlikka's house|Word Count: 2343]
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Quest Report - verified
Waking up as soon as the sun set, Liana saw she had fallen asleep on the sofa and had somehow acquired a patchwork blanket over her body. Sitting up, she noticed Hejlikka - resting her head on her crossed arms - fast asleep beside her. She looked to have dark circles under her eyes, a sign she'd been awake way past the time she should have gone to sleep. Remembering that she should have arrived early in the morning, Liana wondered why the female elf looked so tired when it was evening - as well as why she was sleeping next to her in the living room.
"..."
Not wanting to disturb the sleeping elf, Liana silently got off the sofa and looked around for the wine bottle. Finding it on the sofa, she carefully picked it up and checked that its contents hadn't been reduced while she'd been sleeping. Noting in her mind that the blood level was the same as before she fell asleep, she silently walked to the kitchen and carefully opened the bottle. Smelling the strong bitter scent wafting out of the opening, Liana subconsciously bit her lip in hesitation before shoving the bottle to her mouth and drinking down the rest of the contents.
"Mmnh..." Feeling her body brimming with a lot of energy, she licked her lips to catch any residual liquid and realised that the bitter taste wasn't as bad as the first time she drank it making her wonder if it was like how some human foods and drinks required repeated exposure in order to acquire a taste for it. "..." That thought made her a little concerned that she'd end up becoming addicted to the flavour if she kept drinking it, thus placing her more easily in the palm of Jasper's dangerous hands. Shuddering at the thought, she washed out the wine bottle a few times to ensure nothing got contaminated by the demon blood, she then left the house with the empty bottle; an idea formed in her mind from last night.
Walking down the street, Liana hastily went past the tavern and headed for the guild quest board. She knew she didn't want to work in the offices for a while. She had the feeling that Hejlikka would start asking lots of uncomfortable questions if they met and so determined that she would avoid her until she'd sorted out her feelings and emotions on certain things. With that in mind, as she was glancing through the numerous quests, she recalled how Julrik had complimented on her cooking when she saw a certain quest that caught her eye:
Thinking about how there was no way office workers would be in the kitchens, Liana went to the guild receptionist to get a note and directions to the place before making her way there.
Cooking Rations
- Sponsor: Adventurer's Guild
- Location: Scribel City
- Required Level: 1
Objectives:
- Visit the guild kitchens.
- Cook 40 satisfactory rations.
The guild stockpiles on rations in case of emergency.
Rations are foods that are easily preserved and can store for a long time.
The Adventurer's Guild provides the ingredients, and there is an easy recipe to follow.
One ration is one day's worth of food.
Rewards:
- Points: 40 EXP
- Money: 10 G
- Other: 5 rations
- After completing quest 3 times:
- Permission to use guild kitchens
Reaching the guild, she wrote up her report and handed it in for evaluation. She then hurriedly left as soon as the report was evaluated.Entering the kitchen, Liana was surprised at how busy it was even though it was the evening. Seeing a man shouting at some nervous-looking teenagers who were making their work space an incredible mess, Liana wondered if he was one of the permanent chefs or not. As soon as that thought popped into her head, the man noticed her presence and went up to her with a stern expression filled with impatience:
"You here to make rations?" He asked while towering over Liana.
"Yes. Is there any space for me, sir?" She smiled gently, seemingly unfazed by the man's intimidating exterior.
"There's a work station at the back. Get to it! Why aren't you moving already?!" He shouted, looking angry.
"Ah, I was feeling overcome by your powerful presence. Don't mind me." Smiling as she headed for her work station, the chef scratched his chin while his eyes followed the newbie, unsure of what to make of her just yet.
Reaching her designated spot, she noticed a huge pile of fresh ingredients ready to be used in numerous boxes around the kitchen. Inspecting the equipment available, Liana walked to the ingredients and pondered over what would be a good idea for a ration. Looking around, she saw something she recognised from when she was at the temple. "Ngh!" Making a tiny bit of noise, Liana felt a twinge begin throbbing in her head. Gathering the ingredients, she hurried to her work station to start making the rations.
After a few hours, Liana brought forward a box filled with 60 rice crackers and showed them to the chef. Tasting one, the chef nodded that it was acceptable before taking the whole box to the ration storage room.
"Good work! Now get out of my sight!"
Gently smiling at the chef, Liana complied and immediately left.
[OOC: Third of a wine bottle of Jasper's blood changed to - Empty wine bottle]
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XQuest Report
Getting another signed note from a very tired receptionist, Liana hurried over to the kitchens again - still trying to avoid being seen by Hejlikka.
Writing her report and handing it in to the receptionist for evaluation, noon approached and Liana's body fell limp as her eyes closed and her face slammed hard into the desk before she collapsed onto the floor - dead to the world as she deeply slept in front of the desk.Entering the kitchen, it seemed a lot quieter than the early evening had been.
"Why are you back?"
"I wasn't feeling tired so thought to use my energy to help here." Liana replied while smiling with a gentleness that reached her gold eyes.
"I see. So why aren't your working?!" He shouted.
"Because I wanted to greet you before going, sir." She responded while giggling. "I'll see you when I've finished, then!" She hurried towards the ingredients while waving back at the gruff chef.
"Hmph!"
Gathering up the ingredients, she walked to one of the many free work stations and began her food prep. This time she'd decided to make use of the abundance of vegetables available and make pots of vegetable pate. She made sure to also prepare some chicken and liver pate, along with pork and liver pate for those that might want some protein in their ration.
A few hours later, Liana's cooking process had slowed after dawn passed but it didn't hinder her too much. Taking the first batch out of the cooling area, she called over the chef to get his opinion on it.
"Hmm, it tastes okay but how long will it keep? It looks quite wet..."
"The pate will let it last for a few weeks if stored in a cool place, and a few months if frozen." She smiled proudly as she answered.
"I see. Then I think it should be suitable as a ration."
"That's good to hear!" Liana's smile became brighter as she rushed to her work station to finish the last batch.
Just before noon, Liana very tiredly presented 120 small pots of pate to the chef; 40 vegetable pate pots, 40 chicken and liver pate pots, and 40 pork and liver pate pots. Looking nervously at the scrutinising chef, Liana worried that she'd maybe not made the portion sizes big enough - her dull gold eyes glancing at the rations and the chef.
"...It's acceptable! Now get out of my kitchen!"
"Yes, sir!" Liana responded while smiling brightly.
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