A Fox, Not A Wolf [Job:Time To Farm!] (Itori Burakkurõzu/Solo)

Job Description:

Mages are known for possessing abilities that allow them to perform feats that the common man could never imagine, and have even less chance of ever equalling. They are special beings, gifted with powers that can incite both great amazement and deep envy. They travel through the lands, finding lost knowledge, discovering ancient secrets, developing new spells and using all this to help out those less fortunate. For a price, of course. Mages take the special position of mercenaries who can do things nobody else could do, and do so for prices that even those normal people can still afford it.

At least, that's how it normally works. If you don't take into account that even those mighty mages first start out as apprentices, or have yet to go on the journey that would make them unimaginable founts of power and knowledge. Or maybe for some other reason they aren't quite there yet. These wielders of magic who have yet to reach that far into the secrets of magic will do tasks that even those without an affinity for the mystical could perform. Perhaps just not quite as easily and quickly.

In the middle of a field of crops stood two figures: a farmer who was covering his balding head with a large straw hat, blocking out the sun which shone down upon the land to illuminate and warm everything. It was a good day to be out and about, which was fortunate because to work in the fields during the rain would have been an exercise of misery. While the farmer was already old his hard work had kept him from growing frail: he was a bit on the short side, with a solid build and good muscles, although he had some fat covering his belly, making it somewhat round rather than the firm straight shape it would otherwise have had. He had a pitchfork firmly held in one hand, the butt planted into the ground as he looked at the woman who had showed up and offered to help him with his predicament. The wrinkles and lines at the corners of his eyes became tighter as he narrowed his eyes, rather confused that somebody of her appearance would offer to help out with farm work.

The woman in question was robed in what looked like the exotic Midi style, of good quality and suiting her perfectly. That alone was already enough to make him question this: somebody who could afford to dress like that, why would they waste their time getting dirty on the land like some commoner farmer? It wasn't his business, but her clothing would almost certainly get dirty if she were to work while wearing it. But her clothing wasn't the only thing. Like mentioned before, the strange robes suited her perfectly, which meant she didn't look like somebody used to farm work at all. She was tall, with an elegant build. Any farmer girl would at least have some more muscles from the amount of work required. Her skin was also rather pale, so she couldn't be used to going out into the fields, where the sun would most certainly have given her something of a tan. Her skin also looked smooth, so she wasn't used to rough work. That or she was somehow blessed with unnaturally smooth skin. All in all, he wasn't sure whether she would actually be of much help. However she was polite and looked willing, so he just sighed and began to explain what he needed her to do.

"I've lost my trusty helper, such a tragedy. And on top of that, the crops are growing weeds and bugs are coming. I can only handle so much of the field work before I can't work anymore. I need someone to help kill all the bugs in the crop fields, spray all the weeds, and clean out... the farm house. Please... be careful in there, we have a bit of a... rat problem. My helper was going to get to it, before, you know, he won the lottery."

At that last part he spat on the ground, thinking back on how his helper one day had just up and left without warning. He didn't think he had been so hard on the lad that he would leave the first moment that he thought that he no longer needed the money. However that was in the past: now he just had to make sure that all the difficult work was taken care of before he could find a new helper. One who wouldn't just up and leave like that. He had asked the mages for help because those guys with their fancy spells should be able to take care off such things without any trouble, right? Probably give him a bit of a show to look at as well. However this girl who had shown up didn't give the impression of being either physically or magically strong, so he would just have to hope that she was up to the task. What's more, she was apparently mute, which made the farmer wonder just what the idea was to send her.

Itori meanwhile nodded and bowed, motioning that she would first take care of the rat. A rather odd choice, to first deal with was supposed to be the most dangerous task. The farmer stared at her for a bit before shrugging and sighing again. He had already warned her that the rat problem was a real one, although he doubted she would actually be hurt too badly. But if she had to learn the hard way, he had warned her. Maybe somebody like her could use a bit of a wakeup call regarding the harshness of life on the farm. He went to tend to the crops, leaving Itori to her own devices as she walked over to the farm house.

It was a good thing that the farmer wasn't going to look over her shoulder, because if he did he might end up seeing something that Itori had rather remained hidden. After slipping inside the swordswoman quickly closed the doors again, so if he came to look she'd immediately know. She then turned around, using her special nature to see even though it was rather dark inside the farmhouse. Her nose twitched, alerting her of the presence of the rats that she had been warned about. Or rather, it was one rat. A very big one. Most humans would at this point get worried, at least those without any special abilities. Itori however got a completely different reaction: her stomach rumbled, reminding her that it had been a while since she last ate. Now that there was nobody to watch her she revealed a sly grin, her cutting teeth a bit longer and sharper than was normal.

As she walked further into the farmhouse she was suddenly met with a hissing from one of the corners of the construction. Turning towards that spot she saw the large rat, much larger than one would expect such a creature to normally become. It looked ready to charge her, head low to the ground and gathering strength in its legs to rush her. Its fangs were long and sharp, and its tail was sweeping from side to side, its size and the way it moved about making it clear that it could and would be used as a weapon.

Itori stared back at the rat as she entered a crouch, at which point her appearance began to alter: her hair became shorter and slowly paled until it had changed from raven black to snowy white. Her pupils elongated into vulpine slits, and her sharp teeth became even more prominent. Her human ears were replaced with the large pointed ears of a fox. She even went so far that whiskers showed up on her cheeks and upper lip. However the most important change was that from her lower back, where humans only had the coccyx as a remnant of their ancient past, a long and fluffy tail had grown. It was covered in the same snowy white fur that covered her ears and had replaced her raven black hair, smooth and silky. It swayed behind her in excitement as the Kumiho revealed her true form, licking her lips as she drew her sword and began to advance on the King Rat.

The King Rat, meanwhile, had shifted from hostile and aggressive to rather panicky and uncertain. It had been expecting yet another human to enter its territory, which it could easily deal with. However now it was face to face with what its brain was telling it was a giant fox, which was looking at the rat with clear hunger. More importantly, it was a fox which it couldn't intimidate or scare away, and from the looks of the weapon it had in its hands the rat wouldn't be able to beat it in a fight either. The King Rat tried to retreat, but found its back pressed against the corner of the farmhouse while the fox kept advancing. With a nervous squeak the rat went on the attack, leaping straight at the fox.

The farmer meanwhile was still busy with his own work, looking after the crops and removing any weeds that he came across. The girl had already been inside the farmhouse for a while, which probably meant she was still busy. If she was unable to deal with the rat she would already have ran out screaming. Or maybe not, considering how she was mute. Either way, it took quite a while before she emerged again, looking exactly the same as before. That made the farmer's eyebrows climb nearly all the way to where his hairline had been in years past. She hadn't even gotten her clothes dirty! The only sign that she had actually done what she came to do was the large rat tail she held in one hand, which she held up to him for inspection. Not sure how to react he just nodded and grunted.

"Well, good job. Now let's take care of the problems in the fields and I'll pay you."

Itori nodded, having decided it would be better not to speak of what had happened to the rat. If the farmer were to enter his farmhouse the most he would be able to find would be some spots of dark blood. Igniting the tail now that the farmer had confirmed that she had taken care of the King Rat Itori turned towards where she could hear a certain buzzing. Once again drawing her sword she headed in that direction, where she was met by a group of overgrown bugs. She wondered why all these creatures were significantly larger than they were supposed to be. Not in the mood to enter a drawn out fight she created the illusion of a large beast, which quickly scared off the bugs. Using her agility and her sharp sword Itori began to cut the bugs down as they tried to run or fly away, dashing from one to another to cut them in two with one swift stroke of her blade.

Next up was removing the weeds, which was the one job which Itori didn't have a special trick for. However in contrast to her appearance she was in fact used to working hard, so rather than complaining she got to work tearing out the unwanted plants, causing the farmer to be somewhat surprised at how she would work so hard without a single moment of hesitation regarding the fact that this work was getting her robes dirty.

With the both of them working hard it didn't take too long for the work to be finished, after which the farmer walked up to the girl. He had to admit that he hadn't expecting her to actually be of much use, but since she had done everything that he needed her to do he wasn't going to mention that. Instead he just nodded respectfully.

"Thank you for your help. Here's your payment, and if you ever want to buy some cheap veggies I'll give ya a discount."

Itori nodded and smiled, gracefully accepting the payment before bowing again. She began to walk away, leaving the farmer somewhat curious about where such a strange girl came from before he shrugged and returned to his work. Itori had taken care of all the big problems, but a farmer's work was not something that would finish that quickly.