Despite the cold temperature that was typical of the later half of the winter season one could easily say that Lycoris was a warm bundle of sunshine as she wandered along the market of Baska. Today she had come to the market for an entirely different reason than work, the reason being that she was scouting which merchants would possibly be able to help her obtain a weapon and armor that was of a high enough quality for her profession. So far she had a few good leads, for example a local blacksmith who was very talented simply needed the materials for the job, so if she was fortunate enough to find said materials at the market then she could possibly get her weaponry crafted there. An alternative would be to go and import those goods, but ordering those in such a way would make it quite an expensive endeavor to say the least...

A soft hum escaped her lips as she looked over the wares of one of the merchants, idly musing if an alternative was to actually order a rare weapon rather than getting one crafted. While this certainly would be cheaper, it had the downside that it was not specifically made for her, so she would have to weight the pros and cons of each option carefully.

"Miss Lycoris!"

A boyish voice called for her attention, causing the purple-haired lass to turn toward the source of the shout with a hint of curiosity visible upon her face. A cursory glance upon the stranger suggested the young boy was, in fact, a delivery boy, something that was made evident when he handed her a letter that was enclosed in an overly fancy pink envelope that made her groan while smiling weakly. "Let me guess, Fernando sends his regards?"

The boy nodded his head with a sheepish grin while giving her a little salute as he darted off toward his next delivery while she started reading the letter.

"Dear Lycoris,

I hope you have been doing well. Thanks to those rare materials you helped me obtain I have successfully completed my special collection, and let me tell you... it is absolutely fabulous! However, I am in a bit of a pinch and will need your help finding some models to put on those pretty clothes. Can you please visit me at my atelier so that I can tell you the details?

By the way, I have prepared a rather nice sum of Jewels for your time and effort should you desire to help me out.

Best regards,

Fernando."

Now that was a first, to think she would get a letter requesting her help for a job, it made her feel a little bit proud and the mentioning of a rather nice payment in exchange for her work only intensified her desire to help the man even more! They said Jewels didn't make for a happy life, but they certainly helped make life a bit easier! And so she prepared to go to the Atelier...

WC: 507/1600 (20% WC reduction from 2000 words)

It didn't take long for Lycoris to reach the atelier where Fernando worked at. Like expected the man was eagerly working around the place, in particular he seemed to be admiring several sets of clothes that were put on mannequins, the sight of them making the mercenary lass hum softly. "Fernando, correct me if I'm wrong but don't you think your clothes would look much better on a living being?"

The man's lips curved into a smile upon her arrival, making him nod his head in agreement. "Spoken like a true expect my dear Lycoris! You're entirely correct: My clothes would look absolutely stunning on stunning people, and that is why I have called for your help." Blinking in confusion Lycoris was quick to retaliate to that statement with an inquiry of her own. "I'm not sure that I'm following what you mean..."

A gentle smile crossed the man's visage as he spread his arms lightly and declared with enthusiasm. "Of course I mean the search for models! I have a list here of several, five particular type of individuals I'm searching for. It will be your task to go around the town in search for each person and invite them to be a model for my latest collection."

So she would simply need to search for several people who matched the descriptions that Fernando had prepared? That sounded simple enough to her! "Don't worry my dear, I been very descriptive in my descriptions of each individual, so I am certain the job will go absolutely smoothly for you."

While it was quite a bit different from her usual jobs she had to admit she didn't see much harm in helping the man, and so after a moment of consideration she replied with a boyish grin on her lips. "Fine~ I'll help you find your models!"

Fernando was clearly beyond himself of joy at the statement of the girl, making him clasps his hands together in an expression of his happiness while he declared cheerfully. "Magnificent~ I have prepared a note for you with the descriptions, here let me hand it over to you."

The man seemingly gave her a rather fancy paper that held some sort of floral design on it and soon she started reading its contents:

-One young maiden with an innocent and elegant air about her
-One boyish teenager who radiates with a rebellious spirit.
-One senior mademoiselle who is still filled with an adventurous spirit
-One lass who has the mysterious presence of a trickster
- A cool and handsome looking gentleman.

That was quite a list of people that Fernando wanted her to find, and secretly she hoped that she'd find them all in Baska! She would be kind of sad to disappoint the man after seeing how excited he was about his word...

"I'll let you know as soon as I got all of them!"

And with those words, Lycoris walked out of the atelier in her search for the models...

WC: 511+507= 1018/1600 WC

To say that it was an eventful assignment was quite an understatement. Not only was she not exactly that familiar with the locals of Baska, but the fact she had to search for very specific people that matched a certain type of look that Fernando was looking for left Lycoris with a situation where she was sorely outmatched in an field she held no experience in. However, what she lacked in experience she made up in eagerness, and throughout the day people in Baska found themselves questioned by the purple-haired lass. Sometimes she asked questions about themselves, sometimes about their friends or people they knew inside the village. Indeed, while Lycoris might had not known the people of Baska that well, it was an entirely different case when one asked the People of Baska if they knew the People of Baska! All in all it was quite a clever idea, even if she said so herself! And in the end her efforts had started to pay off. At first she had some 'almost' matches, people that nearly resembled the type of person Fernando was looking for, but usually a certain detail was wrong, and that was enough for Lycoris to consider it a dud. In exchange for the payment she received and Fernando's excitement and entusiasm in the whole matter Lycoris had deemed it necesarry that she would get the people that flawlessly described the people Fernando had been looking for.

However, after three whole days her search had finally paid off. From morning till late in the evening she had searched, she had talked to countless people and had finally succeeded in convincing the five people that Fernando needed for the assignment to serve as his models. How couldn't she be happy? She, someone with no experience in recruiting models had just flawlessly recruited all the people Fernando needed, their appearances matching the descriptions perfectly! She could pretty much bounce around in excitement. However, the evening of the third day she found herself temporarily distracted again by a personal matter: The mysterious letter her late adoptive brother had left behind. It spoke about a treasure that was specifically meant for her, and while her fellow surviving mercenaries of the Gardenias crew were hard at work to track down the clues toward the whereabouts of the location of the treasure, she could only wait till she heard back from them on the matter.

And what about Kon and Alice? She had heard rumors about the approaching events in Crocus, and while it was understandable that Alice wouldn't go there with her pregnant state, she couldn't help but wonder if Kon would answer the call to arms? Grimoire Heart certainly sounded like a worthy opponent to test your blade on! In fact, she felt a tingle of excitement at the thought of the amazing duels that might happen within the city during the invasion, even if it might had been a bad thing to think about when so many lives would be lost...

WC: 507+511+501= 1525/1600

Before she knew it dawn had arrived and Lycoris made her way back to the atelier of Fernando. Of course she had not returned without her trophy, that trophy being the spoils of war she had obtained upon this battlefield, symbolically speaking at least since it were simply said five envelopes that each contained the agreement of the to-be models that Fernando had been searching for. When she arrived Fernando was the embodiment of joy and excitement, a smile beaming on his face as he watched her approach. "My dear Lycoris~ How goes the search for the models? Did you have any luck finding the right people?"

The mercenary lass nodded her head lightly, her lips curving into a grin as she explained further to the man. "Even better than that Fernando, I searched high and low throughout the village to find the right people for you, in the following envelopes you'll find a picture of each person and their agreement to work for you as a model."

Fernando opened each envelope with clear excitement and curiosity, looking carefully at each photo before his eyes started to water with tears of happiness. "Tres magnific my love~ I could have not possibly ask anyone else to do the job as amazingly as you have."

Fernando's words of praise caused her to grin, a grin that went from ear to ear when she saw the man prepare a large pouch full of jewels for her, one that contained double the usual amount she tended to receive, a wooping fifty thousand jewels!

"I also got a surprise for you my dear Lycoris~" A surprise? Now that was something she was quite interested in hearing about. "a surprise?" Fernando nodded his head lightly in response to her inquiry. "Indeed, please follow me~" The man hummed happily as he guided her deeper into the atelier, to be specific a particular room where a rather stylish and elegant piece of armor was on display. "Hmm the steel is forged quite expertly, and the style is as elegant and stylish as I have come to expect of you Fernando."

Her words of praise made the man grin softly as he nodded his head in agreement. "Of course my dear, that is because this outfit's theme is proud yet stylish mercenary girls, made specifically for you Lycoris." A few nods of agreement came from the girl before she paused in shock, oh boy she felt like she just stepped onto a landmine and was terrified to remove her foot! "Umm... Just to make sure, with 'specifically for me you can't mean-"

Fernando nodded his head eagerly, exclaiming in a happy tone. "You're my sixth model for this collection!"

Oh gods no, that was NOT in the contract! About to profusely refuse the invitation, she had not expected Fernando to say the magical words a moment before she spoke. "There will be a heavy sum of payment involved?" And that seemingly was all that was needed to convince her...

WC: 506+507+511+501= 2031/1600