Job: Find This Book! [Solo]

Job Description
“There is an old lady who enjoys reading books a lot when she was younger who wanted to read a certain book that used to be her favourite. Too bad the book is out of print and its not being sold anymore. The only place that the book could be found is in a library but she is too old to go out on her own. She would ask for help but most of the people she knew are too busy. So the old lady decides to make this a request for anyone willing to help her find this book in the library.”

Job Start
Hestia smiled softly as she walked through Peace Village. It was quite peaceful; birds were chirping, people were smiling and laughing, and a relaxing aura radiated from pretty much everything. Hestia sighed softly. I could get used to this she thought to herself. Still walking, she pulled out a piece of rolled up paper from her pocket and stared at the details written on it. “So the old lady’s house should be just around here…” she muttered to herself. “Ah!” She stopped at a small homey house just near the middle of the village. It wasn't anything special but it had some traces of olden day times which gave the house a somewhat rustic feel to it. Hestia skimmed over the details written on the piece of paper.
"This is it," she said to herself. "Hopefully she's a very nice old lady." She walked up the small steps leading to her house. Every step she took made a creak that startled her a little. This place must be quite old she thought to herself as she made it up to the door. She patted down her clothes and straightened up. Alright Hestia lets do this She knocked on the door of the old lady’s house and waited. After a few seconds, the sound of footsteps reached Hestia’s fox ears. The door softly swung open.

Hestia smiled softly as she walked through Peace Village. It was quite peaceful; birds were chirping, people were smiling and laughing, and a relaxing aura radiated from pretty much everything. Hestia sighed softly. I could get used to this she thought to herself. Still walking, she pulled out a piece of rolled up paper from her pocket and stared at the details written on it. “So the old lady’s house should be just around here…” she muttered to herself. “Ah!” She stopped at a small homey house just near the middle of the village. It wasn't anything special but it had some traces of olden day times which gave the house a somewhat rustic feel to it. Hestia skimmed over the details written on the piece of paper.
"This is it," she said to herself. "Hopefully she's a very nice old lady." She walked up the small steps leading to her house. Every step she took made a creak that startled her a little. This place must be quite old she thought to herself as she made it up to the door. She patted down her clothes and straightened up. Alright Hestia lets do this She knocked on the door of the old lady’s house and waited. After a few seconds, the sound of footsteps reached Hestia’s fox ears. The door softly swung open.

An old lady softly swung open the door with a smile. “Oh my! You must be Hestia of Suripingu Mori am I right?” she asked. Hestia nodded. “My name is Maria Hermosa. Thank you for willingly taking this job,” she said, bowing. “Most of the people I know are too busy to help an old lady such as myself.” Hestia smiled. “D-don’t worry Mrs Hermosa, I’ll do my best.” Maria led Hestia into her home and told her to sit on the couch next to the coffee table. She walked into the kitchen and came back with a sweet smelling batch of choc chip cookies on a small plate. She set them down on the table. “Here you go dearie,” she said sitting on the rocking chair in front of Hestia. Hestia took in the sweet smell and smiled. “T-Thank you very much,” she said, grabbing a cookie. “So.. um.. W-what is the title of the book you want me to find?” Maria smiled as if she was reminiscing. “It was a book that my husband suggested to me to read during our younger days,” she said softly. “He told me it was a great book filled with love. It was called ‘Romance To Bloom’; a very cute book with a painting of a rosebud on the cover. I, of course, read the book and its immediately stole my heart.” Hestia took down these details in her mind. Well at least she didn’t start ranting on and on about this little romance of hers she thought to herself. Hestia thanked Maria for the cookies, waved goodbye and set off for the library.

After a few minutes of asking and tripping over obvious traps by the kids in the neighbourhood, Hestia finally found herself looking at the entrance to the library. For some reason or other, there was quite a bit of noise coming from the building. “That’s strange,” she said. “I wonder why the library is so noisy?” She walked into the library and stared in awe and shock at what was happening. People were carrying stacks of books everywhere and papers were flying all over the place. A young lady that seemed to be in her early 20s approached Hestia. “I’m sorry, the library is in a bit of trouble right now,” she said, bowing in apology. “All the books are currently in the wrong places and we’ve been trying to get everything back together in the past few days or so. I’m afraid you’ll have to visit another time.” Before the lady turned to leave Hestia spoke up. “Um.. I-I’m actually here to complete a Job given by Mrs Hermosa,” she said. “I’m supposed to look for a book known as ‘Romance To Bloom’.” The lady’s eyes widened in shock. “O-oh! I see! Well then come in! Come in!” she said with a smile. She led Hestia further inside the library. “I know that the books are all muddled up but I’m confident that you’ll find it here,” she said puffing up her chest. Hestia smiled. “T-Thank you very much!” she said. Once the lady had left, she began her search for the book.

After a few minutes of searching she took a break. This is harder than I thought she though, letting out a sigh. She shook her head, moved to another section and continued to look for the book. I can’t give up now! Suddenly, without warning, something pushed her. Startled, Hestia fell on her butt with a thud. “Ow!” she cried. “What was that?” She then heard the sound of laughter and feet running around. Hestia tilted her head in confusion. What’s going on? She then heard the voices of children not to far away from her. “Alright men!” a commanding yet childlike voice said. “Our mission is to mess up this library’s books as much as we can!” “Yes sir!” was the reply. Then the sound of feet shuffling across the room was heard. Hestia sighed. Kids? I’m not very good with dealing with them she thought to herself. Nevertheless, Hestia stood up and, even with the mess the kids made, continued to search for the book. Her searching was soon stopped by the voice of a child behind her. “Hey freak with the fox ears! What do you think you’re doing here?”

Hestia froze. “F-Freak..?” she stuttered softly. The child seemed to have heard her.“Yeah! You’re a freak! A fox eared freak!” he insulted. Hestia frowned. This kid didn't listen to his parents talk about manners that's for sure. The kid started to laugh and continue to call Hestia stupid and childish names. Hestia just ignored him and continued to look for the book. The kid noticed this and growled. “Hey! I’m still talking to you!” he exclaimed. I noticed. She was looking through a shelf when suddenly she was kicked in the leg. Hestia winced in slight pain but continued to diligently search for the book. After a while, the kid started to speak. “Hey. Why are you trying so hard to look for a stupid old book?” he asked. Hestia turned towards him with a slight glare. “It’s a special book that an old lady has requested me to find,” she replied. “I promised I would come back and bring it to her. What you’re doing is childishly stupid and if you’re not going to be useful in anyway possible then leave the library.” The kid growled. “You can’t tell me what to do!” he exclaimed. “You’re not the boss of me! Didn’t your parents teach you not to boss people around?” “I never really got to know my parents,” she replied quickly. “They left me.” The kid froze in shock. “…Why?” he asked. Hestia shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know”. The kid stayed silent for a few seconds then spoke. “Hey,” he began. “Want some help?”

Hestia smiled at him. “Sure,” she said. “Oh by they way, what’s your name?” “Kai,” he replied. “Kai Ferster”. Hestia dragged him to the shelf she was looking through. “Well then Kai, since you offered, let’s look for the book together!” she said with a smile. Kai blushed and turned away from her. “S-Sure…” he said, pulling out books from their place on the shelf and checking their title. Hestia tilted her head in confusion. Is he sick or something?. The two continued to look for the book for quite a while. Kai was starting to get annoyed. “Why is it so hard to find this book!” he complained. Hestia sighed. “Maybe its because you and your friends are messing up the order of the books,” she replied, flipping over a book to see its title. Kai stared at her in confusion. “I just arrived a few seconds before I saw you enter,” he said. “And my friends are all at a camping trip that I wasn’t allowed to go to”. Hestia stopped what she was doing and looked at Kai. “...Are you serious?” she asked. Kai nodded. “Then… who are the kids messing with the books and pranking around the library?”

Kai and Hestia searched through a couple more shelves while being on guard for the prankster kids. Every now and then they would here sounds of screaming, laughter and stomping of feet but they would still continue to look for the book. Kai then pointed to another shelf a bit far from where they were. “Hey lets look there,” he suggested. Hestia nodded and together they walked to said shelf.
Kai started to walk a little slower until he was behind Hestia. She noticed this but paid no mind to it, thinking he was just tired. Suddenly, Kai lunged forward and pushed her into what seemed to be a trap made by the children.
“Ahaha!! Great job Kai!” a voice praised. “Maybe this time she’ll know her place!” Hestia stared at Kai with a look of disappointment. She was covered head to toe in feathers and dust. She brushed everything off and was about to walk away when 3 kids stood in front of her.  “Hey where do you think you’re going?” the child on the right said. “I’m fulfilling a job request by a nice old lady,” Hestia replied. “She wants to read a certain boo-”. Hestia froze mid sentence. She walked past the 3 children blocking her path and made her way towards the shelf Kai was pointing at moments ago. She pulled out a book with a familiar cover and smiled. “Here it is!” she exclaimed happily. In her hand she held the book she was looking for, for quite some time; Romance To Bloom.
She was about to walk away with it when Kai snatched it out of her hand and gave it to what seemed like the leader of the group of misfit children. “Hey!” Hestia cried. “Give that back!” The leader sneered and passed the book to one of his colleagues who ran away with it.  “Better catch him first!~”

Hestia stopped for a break. She had been chasing this kid for a while now with no luck. She leaned on the nearest bookshelf and slid down. “Fuah~ I’m so tired,” she huffed. She started to think about what happened earlier with Kai and the 3 boys. I wonder why he did something like that? she thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of violence and Kai’s voice groaning in pain. Hestia immediately ran towards Kai’s voice. She saw the 2 lackeys kick Kai towards a shelf and laugh. Kai winced as he hit his back on the shelf. Books rattled and started to fall off the shelf. The books were about to hit Kai when Hestia dashed forward and shielded him. Kai stared at her in shock. “W-Why…?” he asked. Hestia smiled down on him. “Because I can,” she replied with a laugh. The boy without the book ran off to tell his ‘leader’. The boy with the book turned to leave but stopped at a strong commanding voice. “Drop the book”. Hestia stared at the boy with slight anger and disappointment. “Drop the book,” she repeated. The boy’s eyes widened with surprise. “Y-You can’t make me,” he stuttered. Hestia took a step forward and patted the boy’s head. “What you’re doing is very bad and ruining the name of your village,” she scolded. “Your parents are going to get very upset with you. You wouldn't want that right? That’s enough now alright? Hand me the book please”. The boy nodded slowly and gave her the book. Hestia turned towards Kai. "Why were they kicking you?" she asked. Kai turned his head to the side with slight embarrassment. "Because I wanted to help you," he replied. Hestia smiled. There was a quiet peace in the area. Suddenly, an angry voice broke through that peace and quiet. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?"

Hestia turned towards the voice. It was the leader and he had the other lackey with him. The boy who gave the book shivered in fear and stood behind Hestia, clutching her clothes. The leader glared at the boy. “What a coward,” he insulted. “You can’t even stand up to that fox eared freak”. Hestia frowned. “Why are you trying so hard to stop me from getting a book and leaving anyway?” she asked. The leader smirked. “Because wasting the time of grown ups is just what I do,” he said. I’ve had enough of this!. Hestia glared which startled the leader. “Have you no shame?” she asked. “You’re tainting the name of this wonderful village because wasting the time of grown ups is just what you do? How childishly stupid!” To Hestia’s surprise the leader started to tear up. “I know! But we never get attention from our parents!” he exclaimed. “They’re so busy and barely have time for us!” He started to cry. “So what if we decided to wreck some havoc so they could actually pay attention to us! Is that bad!?” he cried. He's lucky enough to have parents. Hestia stopped glaring and smiled softly. “Its not the best way to deal with it but I understand in a way,” she said patting his head. The leader stopped crying and sniffled. “I-I’m s-sorry…” he sniffled. Hestia smiled. “You’re forgiven but not completely,” she said. “To be completely forgiven you need to help with sorting out the library okay?” The leader nodded and wiped his tears away. “Okay!” he said with a slight grin. He turned towards Kai and his two other (now identified as) brothers. “Men!... and lady, let’s fix up the library!”

After a few hours, the library was organised. The library lady smiled. “Alright everyone! We did it! The library is all neat and organised!” she exclaimed. “Thank you for all your help!” The boys bowed towards Hestia and the library lady. “We’re sorry for what we’ve done!” they said. Hestia smiled and hugged the three boys. “Its alright,” she said, standing up next to the library lady. “You’ve recognised your mistake and you’ve apologised for it. That’s good enough for us”. Kai then stepped forward and handed a book to Hestia. It was the ‘Romance To Bloom’ book Maria wanted to read.“Here,” he said. “There was a bit of dirt on the front but I fixed that up”. Hestia smiled and kissed Kai’s forehead. “Thank you very much,” she said. Kai’s face grew red. “N-No problem,” he stuttered. His brothers snickered behind him. Hestia borrowed the book, waved goodbye and ran off to Maria’s house. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for Maria to open the door. Soon enough, Maria opened the door and let Hestia in. Hestia handed the book to Maria who then started to cry. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen this book,” she said. “Thank you so much!” Hestia blushed in embarrassment. “I-Its nothing Mrs Hermosa!” she said rubbing the back of her neck. Maria smiled. “Come back anytime dear,” she said. Hestia smiled. “O-of course Mrs Hermosa,” she said happily. Hestia waved goodbye to Maria and made the somewhat long trek back to her guild. I’m so tired~ I think I’ll have a nice long bath when I get back!
Job Complete