The Survey Of Fulci

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 38, Post Number 936

-The Outskirts of Fulci, midnight-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with Argent Gloves on her hands and backpack on her back plus her Silver Longsword on her left hip and her newly purchased SHG-IV glasses on her face, Leona stood on the outskirts of the long-deserted town known as Fulci. The moon was in the sky and the wind picked up, blowing Leona's hair around and blowing back the sounds of inhuman moaning, which allowed them to reach her ears. She knew all too well what that sound meant. Zombies.

Leona had first visited Fulci a little over a year ago when she followed her friend Kasim's trail to the town and ended up fighting a Balor in Fulci Cemetery after learning that the zombie outbreak that had destroyed the town had originated in the cemetery. Now she was back on behalf of Mister Burke, a client of hers who lived in Shirotsume and who she had helped once before by retrieving a book that was important to his family. Leona recalled how Althea Eventide of Fairy Tail had helped her recover the book from the ninjas who had stolen it and wondered how Althea was doing now, but she was not being paid to go down Memory Lane. Mister Burke had requested her services for an important reason.

Mister Burke had wanted Leona to survey the town to see whether it would be worth recovering from the zombies or if it was too far gone to be saved and needed to be permanently cordoned off. Since her new SHG-IV glasses could link with an iLac for easy communication, Leona had been loaned a company iLac by Mister Burke so that he could communicate directly with her as she conducted the survey. It was a special model custom-made for durability above and beyond the baseline model plus it was enhanced with encrypted communications and boosted signal strength, thus ensuring the ability to communicate securely and reliably at all times. The loaned iLac was kept in a specially made protective case that was stored in her backpack for an additional layer of safety because Leona tended to get into a lot of situations that were tough on her and her gear.

Standing beside Leona was her newly purchased guard droid named PG-13. Clad in a white cloak that was draped over one shoulder, PG-13 looked at the world with blood red eyes and kept his plasma staff at the ready to repel any attacks on his owner. It was not like Leona really needed a guard droid since she was the Wizard Saint of Courage, but his presence was a comforting one because he would follow her anywhere without complaint and he would fight to the end to protect her. Taking PG-13 with her on this job might make her look weak and lower her Wizard Saint stock, but Leona wanted to test his abilities in less dangerous circumstances before taking him to Desierto. She began to think about how rough the desert sand would be on PG-13 when the image of a male face with blond hair and wearing his own SHG-IV glasses suddenly popped onto a holographic screen and caused Leona to jump in surprise.

"Are you able to hear me, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Mister Burke asked her.

"Yes, Mister Burke. I'm hearing and seeing you perfectly." Leona answered while PG-13 looked around for threats. The man smiled.

"Splendid. I called to inform you that in addition to zombies, there are also scavengers who roam Fulci in search of items to collect and sell. An independent contractor of mine informed me of this fact when I sent them on a job to Fulci a few months ago. They reported that the scavengers carry firearms and will not hesitate to shoot, so please careful while conducting the survey." Mister Burke warned her of an additional danger in the town. Leona was not aware of the threat posed by human scavengers and appreciated the warning.

"Thanks, Mister Burke. What do I do if I encounter them and they're hostile?" Leona asked the client for guidance on the matter. The man hmmm'd and thought about it for a moment.

"Since I have no information on how many of them there are, I would prefer that you avoid them entirely, but that may not be possible. If you meet scavengers that prove to be hostile and they shoot at you first, you are authorized to kill them if you need to." Mister Burke answered, giving the Wizard Saint liberty to deal with the situation as she saw fit.

Since the choice had been left in Leona's hands, her first course of action was the one that Mister Burke had first suggested. She would try to avoid the scavengers entirely if it was feasible to do so. If she spotted any she would stay as far away from them as she could and run from them if spotted. If conflict was unavoidable she would try to knock them out, but if push came to shove Leona would defend herself with lethal force.

"Understood. I'm about to enter Fulci now." Leona informed Mister Burke, who nodded in reply.

"Good luck, Miss Jarnefeldt." Mister Burke wished the Wizard Saint before his face blipped off the screen, leaving her facing the gates of Fulci. With Mister Burke gone it was just Leona and PG-13... and some humanoid forms in the distance that her glasses picked up and marked out for her as possible threats. Their forms were highlighted in gray and little green holographic boxes with white numbers inside of them indicated how far away each form was from her. This was Leona's first time using the SHG-IV glasses and she would need protection while learning to use them in the field, which was another reason Leona had brought PG-13 with her.

"OK PG-13, let's go into Fulci and get started with the survey." Leona said to her faithful guard droid.

"Following your lead." PG-13 said to her in a calm and firm bass voice as he hefted his plasma staff into a ready position and followed her through the open gates into the ghost town that was Fulci.

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-Inside Fulci-

With PG-13 by her side and the light of the full moon lighting the way and her immediate surroundings, Leona entered Fulci to begin her survey of the town for Mister Burke. She paused at a fork in the road, then activated the SHG-IV's built-in camera so that Mister Burke could see what she was seeing and get an idea of the state of the town. Leona would have to be mindful of what she said and did because she was now recording everything that went on from her perspective.

"OK, we're now recording. Let me know if you're getting this." Leona said to her client. The moans of the humanoid figures approximately 800 meters to her north sounded. If she recalled correctly, north was where Fulci Cemetery was. Leona was not terribly worried about them because she had extensive zombie-fighting experience and had PG-13 keeping watch while she spoke with the client. The pair could also move much faster than the shambling corpses.

"I am getting everything so far. Please start your survey on the left side of town. The quickest way to get there is by traveling down Argento Street." Mister Burke requested.

"OK, I'll start the survey by heading down Argento Street." Leona replied. She turned to her left and PG-13 followed suit. The Wizard Saint looked for the street sign and saw a green sign with white letters about 50 meters away atop a metal pole that had been bent backwards by a strong impact from a blue four-door SUV that was embedded in it. The pair walked towards the sign while Leona looked to her left and her right so that Mister Burke could get a good look at the town.

Once she reached the sign she walked closed to get a look at it and tilted her head to read the letters. It took a few seconds to read the letters, but the Wizard Saint learned that she was currently on Argento Street. She left the sign behind and walked 250 meters to a four-way intersection that was home to a sporting goods store named Sportsman's Arsenal. Overcome by curiosity, Leona opted to walk over to the broken plate glass window and look inside of the shop. Inside was nothing but broken glass, empty shell casings and shotgun shell hulls, and several rotting bodies clutching hunting weapons like scoped bolt-action rifles and pump-action shotguns.

"Ah, yes. Sportsman's Arsenal. As the name suggests, it is... or rather, was a store that sold hunting rifles and shotguns. I suspect that the store was a popular place at the start of the zombie outbreak as the citizens rushed to arm themselves with anything at hand. After the outbreak I am sure that the store was equally popular with scavengers who needed ammunition for their weapons." Mister Burke commented on the place. She was sure that the stock of weapons and ammunition had long since been picked over, so there was no point in going inside to check for anything she could use. Seeing nothing else of interest and not wanting to linger any longer than she had to, Leona turned away from the store and continued straight through the intersection.

On her left was a cherry red convertible that had plowed into a telephone pole and just past the convertible was a small coffee shop named West's Coffee Creations.

"Please go down that street, Miss Jarnefeldt. Just past that coffee shop is a bookstore on Lucio Street that I would like you to go by." Mister Burke requested.

"OK. I'll go that way." Leona replied in the affirmative. She heard more moaning from nearby and turned to the right to face the source. About 200 meters away was a lone female zombie with stringy black hair missing its entire left arm and wearing a black West's Coffee Creations apron with the company name written in red letters. It was shuffling towards her and PG-13 at a pace best described as glacial.

"Undead human being detected." PG-13 reported before the ends of its plasma staff flared to life. Even though it was not a threat, Leona wanted to get rid of it anyway. If the road ahead was blocked by more zombies she did not one closing in behind her. She also did not want to get overconfident and end up being bitten by a zombie she did not consider a threat. Then she saw PG-13 and knew that there was no need to get close or waste magic power on a ranged spell when her guard droid could easily dispose of it for her.

"Get it, PG-13. Aim for the head." Leona instructed her guard droid.

"Understood." PG-13 replied before sprinting towards the lone zombie at human running speed. The zombie raised its remaining arm while PG-13 continued to close the distance. When he was two meters away PG-13 leapt towards the zombie with its staff held in both hands and brought down one energized end of the staff on its head, smashing the zombie's head in and generating sparks that caused the downed zombie to convulse on the ground for several seconds before finally going still.

"Threat neutralized." PG-13 reported before twirling its deactivated staff, quickly turning around, and walking towards his owner. Leona faced towards the coffee shop and walked slowly so that PG-13 could catch up to her. She was walking by the shop's front by the time her droid companion rejoined her and altered his gait to match her own; he fell in lockstep with Leona just a foot behind her. Leona looked towards the shattered glass double doors and saw a rotting corpse bent over the counter near the open cash register. Near the front of the shop and just to the left of the door was a white sandwich board sign that read "Coffee strong enough to reanimate the dead!"

"Strong coffee was not responsible for the outbreak." Mister Burke dryly commented on the sign as Leona walked past the mostly intact coffee shop and continued down Lucio Street towards the bookstore that Mister Burke requested she check out. All along the street were abandoned cars with the windows still intact and businesses with their windows either boarded up or smashed in. Down the street about 500 meters away were five zombies standing listlessly in the middle of the road and staring straight ahead at Leona and PG-13 without moving.

"Five threats detected." PG-13 announced. Leona saw them just seconds later and drew her Silver Longsword. She then slowly advanced down the street while PG-13 activated his staff for the skirmish and walked briskly to get just ahead of Leona. These zombies should be as easy to dispose of as the reanimated coffee shop employee, but Leona was not going to take any chances with them. Slowing down and using her brain to think things through, the Wizard Saint elected to not rush in against the zombies, not when she had a bite-proof guard droid to do most of the fighting for her.

"Get them." Leona ordered.

"Understood." PG-13 replied before taking off at running speed to engage the zombies while Leona followed close behind the white-clad droid.

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Leona proceeded somewhat slower than she normally did because PG-13 did not need her help to fight the quintet of zombies it had engaged. He was taking care of business just fine without her aid... two of the zombies had already fallen by the time she could get to him and he bashed in the head of a third just as she got within two meters of the fighting. The two remaining zombies sensed her and turned to face her, but PG-13 took advantage of the distraction to nail one in the side of the head with the business end of his plasma staff. Leona engaged the last one with her Silver Longsword and killed it effortlessly with a stab through the forehead that punched clean through its skull.

"Hostiles neutralized." PG-13 reported factually. Leona planted her right boot on the zombie's chest and pulled the Silver Longsword out, then wiped off the blade on the corpse's black tank top. Now that the fighting was over for the time being Leona stepped over the corpses and continued down Lucio Street with PG-13 following closely behind and to her left.

Leona looked down the street and saw abandoned cars lining the sides of the road. She noticed that the windows of a few had been smashed out and shattered glass twinkled on the ground. When she walked past them she saw traces of dried blood on the driver's side doors, indicating that the would-be driver had been pulled out of the vehicle and... well, one did not need to be a psychic to know what came next. The bloodstains on the ground told the rest of the grim story.

"The bookstore in question should be on the end of Lucio Street. Look to the left as you near the end and you should find a bookstore named Fulci Booksellers. They used to have the most marvelous rare tomes from centuries ago... for a pretty penny, of course." Mister Burke informed her exactly what she was to be looking for.

"Understood." Leona said as she and her droid companion continued down the street littered with broken glass and the occasional dried bloodstain until they reached the end of Lucio Street. Leona turned her head left and spied a small building with a white sign above the door that read Fulci Booksellers in green letters. The Wizard Saint looked down towards the doorway and saw that the door to the shop had been battered down and was lying at an angle on the floor. The plate glass window to the left had been broken too and bloodstains from where zombies had pulled themselves inside were visible. Further inside books were lying on the wooden floor and zombies could be seen shambling in the dim foyer.

"Oh dear. It seems that the bookstore did not survive the outbreak. It pains me to think how many valuable tomes have been ruined by blood or being scattered carelessly onto the floor." Mister Burke said in understatement. It sounded like the man cared more about the books than he did human life, but Leona refrained from commenting and instead made an offer.

"Would you like me to go inside and take a closer look?" Leona offered to explore Fulci Booksellers for Mister Burke.

"That will not be necessary, Miss Jarnefeldt. I have much greater concerns than a bookstore. As much as it pains me to say that, there is a more important place I would like for you to check on." Mister Burke turned down the offer and explaining his reason for doing so. Leona did not argue with that.

"Where would you like me to go next?" Leona asked him.

"There is an office building that I would like you to check the status of. It is a four-story structure near the end of Argento Street... it is nearly impossible to miss. But be warned. Inside that building was where my independent contractor encountered the scavengers who shot at them. I was also informed that there is a lot of zombie activity in that area." Mister Burke answered, adding a helpful warning about scavenger and zombie activity.

"Got it. I'll return to Argento Street and look for that office building." Leona stated before turning around to retrace her steps. PG-13 turned around and followed his owner back down Lucio Street while keeping an eye out for more zombies who had heard the fighting earlier and were just now getting to the scene. She was not worried about their arrival; her only real concern was keeping an escape route open in case things got too dangerous and she needed to fall back before resuming the fight from a safer location.

-Back on Argento Street-

Leona stood at the corner of the four-way intersection and looked for the four-story office building that was her next destination. She also listened out for either zombies or scavengers roaming the area. It did not take very long to spot the distinctive office building that towered over the area. It was about 700 meters northeast of her current position, but standing between her and the destination were quite a few zombies. The markers appeared on her SHG-IV and amounted to fifteen zombies plus a pale zombie with stringy white hair standing roughly five meters away from the pack. Leona paused in place when she saw the pale zombie.

"Strange. My sources did not tell me about that pale zombie. What is that?" Mister Burke asked Leona. The Wizard Saint did not take long to give her answer.

"It's called a Bacor. It's a zombie leader of sorts. It can call more zombies to it with shrieks. It also moves pretty fast for a zombie." Leona answered with knowledge that came from experience.

"How fast can it move?" Mister Burke asked.

"It can move almost at human running speed." Leona answered.

"Oh dear. I trust that you can dispose of it without much trouble." Mister Burke said to her. As if it knew that it was being talked about, the Bacor turned its gaze to Leona and shrieked. The blonde winced. She knew what was about to happen.

"I've gotta go, Mister Burke. I'll talk to you after the fight's over!" Leona told him before ending the call so that she could focus on the fight that was to come.

"Agreed. We will talk later." He said before hanging up, leaving the Wizard Saint and PG-13 free to deal with the fifteen zombies in front of them plus an unknown number heeding the call of the Bacor... and the Bacor itself, which was charging straight at Leona with its claws extended!

PG-13 stepped in front of her and brandished its plasma staff, deftly knocking the Bacor aside with a single right-to-left swing of its weapon. The Bacor groaned as it flew five meters to the left and skidded an additional meter on the pavement before coming to a stop. PG-13 remained in front of Leona while the latter aimed at the Bacor's head and prepared a Wind Bullet to take out the zombie leader and kill the zombies currently under its control in one strike. It made sense to take out the leader while she could instead of chopping through its minions and leaving herself open to attack from the Bacor while performing that arduous task.

With that in mind, Leona aimed her left index finger at its head and prepared to fire the Wind Bullet.

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While PG-13 kept the rest of the zombies at bay Leona aimed her Wind Bullet spell at the head of the Bacor that PG-13 had knocked to the pavement with his plasma staff. Once the spell was ready Leona fired and scored a direct hit on its head just as it rose to rejoin the fight. Its head exploded in a mass of brain matter and its headless body fell to the pavement, never to move again. Leona looked towards the zombies her droid companion was fighting and noticed something seriously wrong with the picture.

When she had killed that Bacor in Fulci Cemetery, the zombies it had raised and controlled died immediately. The fifteen zombies controlled by the Bacor she had just dispatched were still up and moving. Leona's heart began to race. The Wizard Saint had started to think about what was going on and a realization hit her.

The Bacor she had just killed was not in charge of those zombies!

Leona felt her face go pale. She had just killed a "decoy" Bacor. Where was the real one?

Leona got her answer when she heard running and felt a sharp shove from behind. The blonde had no time to react before she was sent falling forward from the shove. The Wizard Saint rolled onto her right shoulder and stood up upon completion of the roll, then spun around to face her attacker. It was none other that the "real" Bacor that was in control of the zombies PG-13 was fighting!

"DIE HU-MAN!" It rasped at her. Leona took a deep breath and held her Silver Longsword in the ready position to await its next charge, which was not very long in coming. It rushed at her with claws out and Leona drew back her left fist, slugging it in the face when it drew close enough to be punched. It hissed and fell onto its back, giving the blonde just enough time to flip her sword down and stab it through the head before it could get back up. When the sword plunged through its head the zombies that were still fighting PG-13 all collapsed like puppets with their strings cut and did not move again. Leona had killed the right Bacor this time, but the fact that pale corpses could come up with such a simple but surprisingly effective tactic was something worth noting.

Leona pulled the sword from its head and wiped the bloody blade off on the remains of its dress shirt, then put the sword away long enough to re-establish contact with Mister Burke.

"Hello, Mister Burke? Can you hear me?" Leona asked the client. She heard a sharp cough on the other end that threatened to puncture her eardrums and heard a swift apology.

"Yes, sorry about that. Are you OK?" Mister Burke asked a question in return.

"Yes, I'm OK. I took out two Bacors. They're getting smarter." Leona stated before warning him about the new threat posed by the pale zombies.

"Oh? Your mentioning them is the first I have heard about them, but please, tell me how they are getting smarter. I plan to send an independent contractor into Fulci soon and I would like to warn them of this new threat before they go." Mister Burke indicated interest in her warning.

"Remember when I said that Bacors were zombie leaders? They've come up with a new tactic where one Bacor stands with a zombie horde so that it looks like it's the leader. Then while you're focused on trying to take it down, the real leader attacks from behind." Leona reported what she had learned to him.

"Oh? Yes, that could indeed be a problem for anyone used to fighting garden-variety zombies and not expecting zombies that can think. I will have to make a note of that for my records. Thank you for passing that information to me." Mister Burke thanked the Wizard Saint for passing along the information.

"After I took out the real Bacor the zombies in the way all died, so I'm heading for the office building. Is there anything special you'd like me to do once I got there?" Leona asked the client for any instructions he had once she reached the front of the office building.

"Yes, actually there is something I need you to do for me. I would like for you to enter the building and examine the first floor for me." He answered and gave her some instructions to carry out. Leona could do that for Mister Burke. She set out for the four-story office building at a brisk walk.

"Understood. As soon as I reach the building I'll go in and examine the first floor." Leona repeated the instructions back to him.

"Splendid. And do be careful, Miss Jarnefeldt. My independent contractor reported that the scavengers they encountered were last seen in the building, so be prepared for the possibility of being shot at by hostile humans." Mister Burke warned her.

"Thanks for the warning. I'll be there shortly." Leona informed him before going silent. PG-13 had fallen in step beside her and was ready for anything. He was good at bashing zombies back into the afterlife, but Leona wondered how he would fare against hostile humans with guns. She hoped that she would not have to find out.

-10 minutes later, in front of the office building-

Leona and PG-13 walked up to the front of the office and paused to look around. The Wizard Saint immediately saw that it had borne the brunt of the outbreak. She noticed numerous spots on both sides of the building where broken glass mingled with dried bloodstains to tell yet another grim story in a town that was full of them. She looked up and saw where numerous windows had been broken out and started to put two and two together.

Leona deduced that the virus had spread to the office building and that desperate people tried to escape by jumping out of windows. Those on the first floor stood the best chance of survival and those on the second story had a bit of a drop but could survive it if they were lucky. People who jumped from the third floor would be lucky to even survive the fall and those unfortunates who leapt from the fourth floor were practically guaranteed to die on impact with the pavement below. Then another thought came to her.

Maybe that was the whole point of jumping from so high.

Those unfortunate people, when confronted with no way out and facing certain death by being eaten alive by swarms of zombies, chose to take matters into their own hands and die as humans.

Leona looked from the empty windows to the ground and noticed that a few of the bloodstains showed drag marks, perhaps indicating that the person who jumped survived the fall with broken legs only to be eaten by zombies prowling the streets. That thought made the Wizard Saint shudder. She was glad that she had not yet faced such a desperate situation and she hoped that she never would.

Leona faced the wooden double doors of the office and took a deep breath to prepare herself to go inside. Depending on the layout of the lobby and how many zombies were inside, this would either be a quick and easy exploration or a slugfest with plenty of close-quarters combat. There was no way to find out until she went inside.

Walking up to the doors, Leona noticed that they had more than a few bullet holes in them, but that did not deter her. She pushed the right door open and clenched her teeth when she heard a drawn-out CREEEEEEAAAAAK. If anyone was on the first floor, they would be sure to hear her.

Clutching the grip of her Silver Longsword, Leona entered the building with PG-13 following right behind her.

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-Inside the office building-

Leona and PG-13 stepped inside the office and quietly shut the bullet-riddled door behind them to find themselves standing in a deserted medium-sized lobby. To their left was an empty and overturned water cooler that had drained onto the floor long ago and to their right was a coffee table with scattered magazines. Leona walked over to the coffee table to take a closer look at the magazines and found a face-up old copy of Sorcerer's Magazine with her fellow Wizard Saint and current God of Justice Johann Von Weiss on the cover. His stern gaze looked at Leona as if asking her what she was doing to live up to her title. She hoped that what she was doing here was enough for him and the Magic Council to consider her worthy of the title Wizard Saint of Courage.

Leona turned away from the magazine and towards a semicircular desk ten meters to the left that must have been the receptionist's desk because she saw all the hallmarks of a receptionist's desk. She spotted items like a computer monitor that had fallen onto the nearby floor, an old-fashioned landline phone on the desk hanging off of the hook, and papers scattered every which way on the floor plus a black three-ring binder lying open on the floor. Whoever was sitting behind it had gotten up and left in a hurry. Leona looked away from the desk and down the hallway to her right and saw that her SHG-IV glasses had placed a gray marker on the screen. That meant that she had company.

"Great." Leona whispered to herself as the marker darted past the double doors of an elevator and off to a stairwell entrance at the right end of the hall. She drew her Silver Longsword and slowly made her way down the carpeted hallway to investigate the area for Mister Burke, who had gone silent again so that she could focus on the investigation and fighting. PG-13 activated his plasma staff and together the pair went to begin their survey of the first floor.

PG-13 took the lead and walked down the hallway with weapon at the ready while Leona followed behind and peered into each office they walked past. The first room to the left was an empty office with metal filing cabinets lined against the wall the desk was facing. The window had been broken out and the white vinyl blinds had been torn off and were lying on the floor. Bloody shoeprints marked a path that led from the window to the hallway that Leona and PG-13 were currently standing in.

Leona looked into the open doorway of the right room and saw an office that was virtually the same as the one on the left, but in the middle of the floor lay a badly chewed and badly decomposed corpse that was missing its right arm below the elbow, a good portion of its left and right legs, and its head. Judging from the tattered white dress shirt and black dress pants with black shoes, the corpse lying before her had been a male. Leona winced and looked away, facing down the hallway and seeing that gray marker again. Someone or something was trying to get her to follow it, but the Wizard Saint was not going to take the bait. Whoever it was would not be facing the impulsive blonde mage who had something to prove, but a Wizard Saint who had survived countless fights across Earthland and had finally learned the importance of caution. If they wanted to fight her so badly, they would quit playing games and come after her already... they knew where to find her.

Leona and PG-13 continued to carefully advance down the hallway and look into each room. Each room was an office with the exception of the second-to-last door on the left side of the hallway, which was a small break room. Inside of it was a wall-to-wall counter with overhead cabinets filled with white coffee mugs, a small circular table situated in the right corner that could comfortably seat four, two vending machines that sold snacks and sodas in the bottom left corner, a black microwave sitting on the counter closest to the window, and stains on the floor. Whether they were from coffee or from blood was unknown, but Leona's attention was drawn away from that by the sound of feet shuffling on carpet. She turned her head right and saw another Bacor dressed in a black three-piece suit standing next to the elevator control panel!

"DIE!" It rasped at her, then punched the glowing elevator button with its right hand. The doors opened to reveal a swarm of almost two dozen zombies that staggered out at the sight of the blonde and her guard droid. Leona's stomach turned a flip as the Bacor charged at her and rushed past PG-13. She heard Mister Burke gasp as she slashed at the pale zombie's head but only cut its hair before it tackled her to the carpet.

"I KILL YOU HU-MAN!" It rasped, then began clawing at her. Leona brought up her Argent Gloves to protect her face and neck and blocked four of the wild slashes before the zombie realized what was happening and started slashing lower, cutting her arms where the Argent Gloves did not reach. Leona clenched her teeth and endured four slash wounds, then gripped her sword in her right hand and used the pommel to strike the Bacor in the left temple twice. It reeled back and Leona readied a Wind Bullet spell with her left hand that she released when it stopped moving and stood up straight.

The Wind Bullet did not hit its head but went wide and hit its left shoulder, dislocating the limb and almost tearing it off completely. The Bacor shrieked in pain and PG-13 turned around and slammed it in the side of the head with the end of his plasma staff, knocking it against the wall with a CRUNCH. The Bacor slumped against the wall and did not move, but Leona did not trust it to stay down without a little help from her sword. She carefully edged closer to it but remained ready to jump back at any moment should it come to life and start flailing its arms. Once she got close enough she stabbed it in the head three times as PG-13 turned to fight the zombies that had been released from the elevator. A familiar voice sounded in her ears.

"Miss Jarnefeldt, I saw everything that happened. Are you OK?" Mister Burke asked Leona.

"I'm fine, Mister Burke. I just ran into another Bacor inside the office. It tried to get me to chase it, but when I didn't it came after me. It was smart enough to release some zombies that had been trapped inside an elevator before it charged past my helper and tackled me to the floor." Leona reported to him.

"I do not like the sound of that. If those things are as smart as you say... I hear fighting in the background. Is everything OK?" Mister Burke asked her, abruptly shifting gears from the topic of Bacors to the source of the noise he was hearing.

"The Bacor I killed wasn't in charge of those zombies, so PG-13's still fighting them. I'd better go help him, so I'll talk to you later!" Leona said before Mister Burke acknowledged and went silent again. She turned to face them and PG-13 had already killed about four of them with blunt force trauma to the head, but he was still being menaced by fourteen more. Four of the zombies took advantage of the droid being occupied to slip past him and head for Leona, but she was ready for them. Hefting her Silver Longsword, Leona walked forward to meet them in battle.

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[Total Word Count: 6,118/11,000]

The four zombies who had broken away from the pack shuffled towards Leona and she slowed down so that she could fight them one-on-one, which was not too hard because the four zombies moved as a collection of individuals rather than as a team. Leona took advantage of that disunity to cleave the skull of the first zombie diagonally in two from right to left, then turned and gave the same treatment to the second zombie. The third reached for her with rotting hands and Leona jumped back a distance equivalent to three steps, then drew the sword back and plunged its blade through its forehead and out the back of its skull. The fourth zombie staggered closer while Leona drew her knife; she stood up and hit it with a Mach Uppercut under the chin that caused it to stagger back four steps.

That gave Leona just enough space to throw her knife and nail it right in between the eyes. It stood and stared at her with milky white eyes for a few moments before falling against the left wall and slumping to the floor. With the immediate threat over the Wizard Saint quickly retrieved her Silver Longsword from the skull of the third zombie and wiped off its blade, then pulled out the knife embedded in the skull of the zombie she had just killed. With her weapons cleaned off and ready for use, Leona then faced PG-13, who had whittled the horde down to eight zombies who did not quite comprehend that he was a droid and was thus immune to their bites. She was thinking of hanging back and letting him do the rest since her involvement would only get in his way, but three zombies broke off from attacking the guard droid to go chase something they could really sink their teeth into.

The Wizard Saint stood her ground and let the zombies come to her until they were within three meters of her. Once they reached that distance she approached and met the first with a two-handed diagonal slash through its skull that instantly dropped it. The second went down in the same fashion and so did the third. Once those three were down Leona looked towards PG-13 again, who had finished off the last five by himself using his bare hands, which were dripping with blood and brain matter. Leona winced when she realized that if he could crush zombie skulls with his bare hands, crushing human skulls was well within his ability.

Leona hoped that her new droid companion came with some kind of failsafe she could use that would prevent him from crushing her skull if he was hacked by some kind of techno-wizardry. In the meantime, she was glad that the fighting was over for the time being. She wiped the blade of her Silver Longsword on the clothing of an office worker zombie and re-established contact with Mister Burke to learn where she would be going next.

"Hello, Mister Burke? Are you there?" Leona asked him.

"Yes Miss Jarnefeldt, I am here. I take it that you managed to kill all the zombies without any trouble?" Mister Burke inquired.

"We did. I've explored about all of the first floor. Once I'm finished would you like me to go up to the second, third, and fourth floors?" Leona asked the client while PG-13 placed his right foot under the middle of his fallen plasma staff and kicked up, launching his plasma staff upward. He caught it with his right hand and twirled it around in triumph, then faced the stairwell to watch for any more zombies or for human scavengers.

"No, that will not be necessary, Miss Jarnefeldt. I have a different destination in mind for you. I would like for you to travel to Fulci Bank and check it out." Mister Burke replied. Leona was a bit puzzled as to why he only wanted her to explore the first floor and not the rest of the building, but she did not argue with him. He had to have a plan that she was not part of... perhaps he would get the "independent contractor" he had spoken of several times earlier to explore the rest of the office on his behalf. That was fine by Leona.

"OK, where is the bank?" Leona asked him.

"It is not too far from your current location. Leave the office and head right, then go down Savini Street until you reach the very end. It will be on the right corner." Mister Burke gave her directions to Fulci Bank. Leona had gotten her next orders, so it was time to get going. Just to satisfy the objective, she walked around PG-13 and examined the room directly behind him, absentmindedly flipping on the light switch. By some miracle the lights came on, but she soon wished that they had not.

Piled in what used to be an office supply storage room were human bodies stacked against the wall in front of her that were in varying states of decomposition. On the bottom of the stacks were the badly rotted bodies from months ago and on top were more recent kills, most likely made by the Bacor she had killed earlier because there were numerous gouge marks from claws on their faces and torsos. In between the sight of stacked bodies and the smell of decomposition, Leona felt a wave of nausea so strong that it almost knocked her off of her feet.

"Disturbing." Mister Burke remarked laconically at the sight as the Wizard Saint flipped off the lights and tried not to throw up. After seeing that she would be glad to go to the bank and see if it was still standing. Leona walked towards the front door and PG-13 followed behind her with mechanical precision.

-Outside the office-

Once she got to the outside the nausea abated enough for her to focus on the next objective, which was going to Fulci Bank. She faced to her left and took a deep breath, then walked away from the office and started going down Savini Street. Ahead of her loomed a dark stretch of road littered with abandoned police cars, ambulances, and the occasional walking corpse clad in a police uniform or EMT uniform. Her arms began to hurt from the wounds the Bacor had inflicted, so Leona took the time to sheathe her sword, take off and put down her backpack, and fish out some hydrogen peroxide to douse the scratches on her arms before they got infected in zombie-infested territory.

Leona clenched her teeth as the wounds burned from the peroxide, but now she would not have to worry too much about the wounds getting infected. She would also not have to worry about turning into a zombie from getting clawed by the Bacor. From her experience rescuing Dr. Miller's party in Silent Cemetery, the only way people could be turned into a zombie was by a bite from a zombie. Once she had administered basic medical care to her arms, Leona closed up the bottle of hydrogen peroxide, put it back into her backpack, put the backpack on, and finally drew her sword before continuing down Savini Street towards the bank. Hopefully it was still standing so that this errand would not be a waste of time.

[Post Word Count: 1,226]
[Total Word Count: 7,344/11,000]

-On Savini Street-

Leona hung back while PG-13 took care of the odd zombie that challenged Leona's passage through Savini Street. She hated to hang back from the fighting because she felt like she was making PG-13 do all the work while she got all the credit, but the encounters with the Bacors had justified her cautious approach because they had gotten smarter since the trip to Fulci Cemetery when she had followed Kasim's trail to Fulci. They were getting smarter by using simple but effective tactics like using a Bacor without any zombie lackeys to distract Leona from the real Bacor and releasing an elevator full of zombies so that PG-13 was too busy fighting the zombies to be able to stop the Bacor from getting to Leona. Leona was more than a little embarrassed to keep getting surprised by walking corpses, but in her defense Bacors were no ordinary walking corpses. Whatever had brought them back from the dead had also given them a small but noticeable boost in brainpower; that boost was just enough to let them think of simple but effective tactics that one would not expect from the undead.

Leona looked both behind her and around her feet while PG-13 dealt with the zombies up ahead. The zombie threat was everywhere and there could have been some zombies who were late to the fight near Argento Street following her scent. The Wizard Saint needed to be cautious and watch her back while PG-13 was up front clearing the way for her. Speaking of which, he had stopped fighting and waved to her with a mechanical hand, which must have meant that the way was now clear. Leona slowly and cautiously walked down the street while carefully peering into open car doors to watch for any undead waiting to jump out at her when she passed by.

Leona made her way past multiple abandoned cars with more than one chewed-up corpse still belted in the driver's seat or in the passenger seats. She made her way past a police cruiser with a dead and headless officer lying on the ground beside the open driver's door with a long-dried bloodstain underneath him, an abandoned ambulance with the back doors open and a gurney ready to receive a patient for transport, and two minivans plus an old green sports car that had the macabre feature of a pair of decaying hands still gripping the steering wheel. They had been chewed off at the wrists and there was no sign of the zombie they belonged to. She was not going to go looking because the driver might catch up to her soon enough anyway.

After a brief walk that was more tense than dangerous Leona met up with PG-13, who had eliminated the zombie menace on the streets and was looking for more targets to dispatch.

"No hostile lifeforms detected." PG-13 reported to her. Leona could see that there were no "hostile lifeforms" since he had killed them all with a plasma staff to the head. That was fine by her since the Wizard Saint did not have to deal with them herself and risk getting bitten. Besides, she had been given permission by the client to eliminate any zombies in her path.

"Great. Now we go to Fulci Bank and see what's left of it." Leona said to her faithful guard droid, who followed just behind her when she set out for the end of Savini Street and walked past the corpses of the zombies PG-13 had killed on her behalf. She walked past an abandoned ambulance with open back doors and a bloodstained interior with an EMT corpse sprawled inside of it. She was sure that PG-13 did not intend for the EMT zombie to end up inside the ambulance when he bashed it in the head, but that was how the "fight" ended. Leona could not reasonably argue with the results, which was a clear path until she got to the bank.

-Outside Fulci Bank, five minutes later-

"I'm outside Fulci Bank, Mister Burke. Would you like me to go inside?" Leona asked the client while standing outside of a building that was made in a neoclassical architectural style with a triangular roof and two columns flanking the doorway, which housed a large set of wood and glass double doors that had been smashed in. She also noticed soft yellow lights glowing inside, which was curious because she was under the impression that the electrical station supplying the town had long since went out. Then she remembered that the supply closet lights had come on inside the office. The bank likely had an emergency generator powered by lacrimas to keep the lights on if the main power went out.

"Yes, Miss Jarnefeldt. I would like to see the interior of the bank. If there are any zombies inside you may dispose of them, but do not take anything. Do not open the vault either." Mister Burke warned her. She was not sure why that warning was necessary, but she kept her doubts to herself. She cared more about completing the job to the client's satisfaction and getting out of Fulci alive than looting a bank that had likely long since been picked over by scavengers. She had also saved up enough money over her career that she did not need to loot banks.

"Got it. I'm going inside now." Leona informed him before walking towards the bank to get a look at the interior. PG-13 followed behind and together the pair walked past the threshold and into the bank.

-Inside Fulci Bank-

The soft interior lights that had drawn Leona's attention were in the form of glass globes on the walls and adorning brass candelabras hanging from the ceiling. Leona and PG-13 heard their footsteps echo on the empty lobby floor, which was white tile that resembled marble. About 50 meters away from them was a long wooden counter with a granite countertop that had partitions to make individual bank teller stations for a total of twelve stations. The Wizard Saint was impressed by the beauty of the bank, but she also noticed that for a bank with the doors that had been smashed in there were no bloodstains on the floor or any other signs of a struggle.

"I'm looking around and I'm not seeing anything that indicated a struggle. Did the bank employees evacuate during the first hours of the outbreak?" Leona asked Mister Burke. He hmmm'd into the earpiece.

"That is possible, but I cannot confirm or deny that hypothesis because I have no information on that. I see that the lobby is intact, which satisfies one of your objectives. Your next objective is to go behind the counter and find the vault for me." He answered her question before shifting gears and reminding her of the next task she had to accomplish in the bank.

"OK, I'll heading that way now." Leona said to him before walking for the other side of the counter with PG-13 in tow. After a short walk Leona had passed through the open waist-high gate barring access to behind the counter and was facing a section of the bank that had burgundy carpeting. Leona looked at the floor and saw numerous dried bloodstains that stood out against the burgundy carpet. She also spotted drag marks that led towards a wide hall about four meters to her left.

"That does not look good, Miss Jarnefeldt." Mister Burke said what was on Leona's mind while she looked around the area. Leona looked at the counter and saw individual computers behind each employee station and open bank drawers. That had to be the work of scavengers.

"It seems that scavengers forced open the drawers and took the Jewels. It is as I suspected. Along with weapons and ammunition, the scavengers targeted the bank once the chaos died down." Mister Burke added. Leona then turned her attention back to the hall where the drag marks led and walked towards it. She reached the hall and noticed that it was wide enough for two people walking side-by-side to travel down. There were also doors on each side of the hallway that were either left open or had been smashed open. A brass sign on the right wall featured a black arrow pointing left with the word "VAULT" above the arrow.

"Please proceed to the vault, Miss Jarnefeldt. And do be cautious. I see that those drag marks extend quite a distance down the hall." Mister Burke said to her.

"OK, I'm heading towards the vault now." Leona stated. She then began to carefully make her way down the hallway with PG-13 following beside her on her left. She did not like the look of this, but she was the Wizard Saint of Courage and she would set aside her apprehension to complete this job.

[Post Word Count: 1,482]
[Total Word Count: 8,826/11,000]

Leona followed the drag marks down the hall and past several ominously open office doors that gave the Wizard Saint cause for concern. PG-13 brought up the rear and looked towards the open doors to his left, preparing his plasma staff for action. Leona kept her sword at the ready and began looking around her because from what she knew of him PG-13 was not prone to posturing just to look cool. If he readied his weapon that meant combat was imminent. Leona backed away from the door to her left just in time because a pale stringy-haired zombie lunged out with claws that ripped open the midriff of her outfit and inflicted minor scratches.

"Engaging hostile." PG-13 declared before striding into action against the Bacor. This one was dressed in a tattered three-piece suit and had a golden monocle over its left eye, a style of dress which meant that it was once part of Fulci's upper crust, perhaps even the bank's manager. That did not matter any more... whatever it once was was gone now and all that remained was a threat to be disposed of. PG-13 was well on his way to defeating the Bacor without any intervention on Leona's part.

He sidestepped a claw thrust and hit back with a downward two-handed swing of the staff on the Bacor's left shoulder with enough force to nearly drop it to a knee. PG-13 hammered the shoulder again and followed up with a horizontal swing that caught the Bacor's left cheeck and knocked the monocle off of its eye. The droid then continued to hammer its head with repeated hits until the Bacor eventually dropped to one knee, unable to offer any meaningful resistance. PG-13 raised the staff above his head and delivered a crushing blow to the skull that killed the zombie and made an audible CRUNCH that caused Leona to wince. Blood oozed onto the carpet beneath the Bacor and PG-13 looked at Leona before speaking.

"Hostile eliminated." He succinctly reported. Leona looked down at her outfit and saw that the midriff had been ripped open, causing her to frown. She had been doing so well up to this point and was convinced that she was going to complete this job without taking any outfit damage. She examined her stomach and saw that while there were some scratches from the Bacor's claws, none of them were bleeding. An application of hydrogen peroxide would be all the first aid she needed.

"I saw the battle. Are you OK?" Mister Burke asked as Leona sheathed her sword and took off her backpack. She set it on the floor and fished out the hydrogen peroxide before answering him.

"I'm OK. I only took a few minor scratches to the stomach. I'll get back on track to the vault shortly." Leona answered while carefully pouring hydrogen peroxide on the scratches. She clenched her teeth when they began to burn, but again that kind of pain was preferable to them getting infected in a zombie-infested town. Once she was finished she put away the peroxide and put her backpack back on, then looked ahead of her. Another sign labeled "VAULT" pointed left at a bend in the hall, giving the Wizard Saint all the direction she needed to meet her second objective.

"OK, I'm ready. Heading for the vault now." Leona announced, stepping over the deceased Bacor and passing by PG-13, who dutifully followed right behind her. The vault was just a left turn down the hallway. If the sign was not enough of a clue for her, the drag marks continued down the bend and led to the vault. She got the impression that whatever left the marks had a different idea of what was valuable than humans did.

-At the vault-

Leona stopped once she reached the vault door, which was a giant circular slab of metal that was easily many meters thick. It was wide open, but Leona did not dare go inside the formerly pristine interior that was now scattered with stray Jewels that had evaded collection by looters because she had been expressly ordered not to. In addition to following orders, the Wizard Saint had another good reason to stay where she was. Inside the vault was a giant pile of rotting human bodies dressed in attire of varying styles. She saw the casual business attire of bank employees, the dark business suits worn by members of bank security, the blue uniform shirt with gold badge and black pants worn by members of Fulci Police, and contemporary outfits worn by Fulci's ordinary citizens.

"Are you seeing this?" Leona asked Mister Burke, fighting back the urge to vomit from the stench while PG-13 stood nearby.

"Yes, yes I am, Miss Jarnefeldt. Part of me wishes that I had not." Mister Burke affirmed.

"That makes two of us. Is there anything else I need to do in here?" Leona asked him.

"No Miss Jarnefeldt, I am satisfied with what I have seen. Now I need you to go to Fulci Hospital, a six-floor structure on Craven Avenue. I would like to see if it is still standing." Mister Burke instructed. Leona was glad to follow those orders. She wanted to get away from the stench and the sight of bodies heaped in a pile.

"Understood. I'm leaving the bank now." Leona informed him, turning away from the vault and heading for Craven Avenue with PG-13 following close behind to protect her from attacks from behind.

-Outside Fulci Bank, three minutes later-

"OK, I'm standing outside the bank. Where's Craven Avenue?" Leona asked the client while looking for a road sign.

"It is the street to the left of your current position." Mister Burke answered. Leona spotted the green sign with white letters just after he had given her the information she needed.

"I see it. I'm going down Craven Avenue now." Leona informed him, drawing her sword and walking across the deserted intersection. PG-13 briskly walked past her to take the lead while Leona followed him and watched her back for any more Bacors or ordinary zombies who might be following them. Once the pair had crossed over to Craven Avenue the Wizard Saint peered down the avenue and saw that it was oddly bereft of abandoned vehicles but had plenty of zombies shuffling in the middle of the road with no semblance of cohesion. She counted at least three dozen threat markers flashing onto her glasses but could not see any Bacors among them, meaning that the enemies up ahead were just ordinary free-range zombies. That disorganization would make her life easier because she would be facing a mass of individuals instead of an organized horde.

"Engaging hostiles." PG-13 reported before charging into battle against the nearest zombie, who was a reanimated man wearing a paramedic's uniform. Not wanting to be left alone, Leona followed closely behind him at a brisk walk while looking for threats approaching from behind or the side. So far she was in the clear, which meant that this would be a simple street-sweeping battle undertaken to clear their way to the hospital.

[Post Word Count: 1,190]
[Total Word Count: 10,016/11,000]

-On Craven Avenue, twenty minutes later-

PG-13 had finished dispatching the zombies that crowded Craven Avenue and all Leona had to do was stand back and watch the action while occasionally checking behind her for any zombies that were late to the party. Since no stragglers presented themselves the blonde rejoined her guard droid to get the lay of the land while walking towards Fulci Hospital. PG-13 fell into step beside her and looked to the left for zombies or human adversaries who decided that now was a good time to attack. Leona was worried that she might grow lazy and complacent if she fell into the habit of letting PG-13 fight all of her battles for her, but she saw no harm in letting him take care of the zombies, who were no match for the advanced combat droid. Besides, it was nice to have a companion who did not make fun of her lack of friends or the size of her backside.

Ahead of her was another empty stretch of avenue with a small smattering of reanimated police officers and citizens; she counted only ten markers this time, a number of adversaries which would be a piece of cake for PG-13 to handle. All the Wizard Saint had to do was point PG-13 towards the enemy and let him go to work, which was exactly what she did once the pair closed to within 100 meters of the zombies. PG-13 charged off to do battle and Leona brought up the rear and looked around for additional enemies that the droid may have missed. As it stood the only enemies in sight were in front of them, so Leona relaxed and watched PG-13 do his thing.

-Five minutes later-

"Hostiles eliminated." PG-13 reported to Leona once she reached him.

"Nice work." Leona thanked him for helping her get this far. She strolled by him and gingerly stepped over a fallen EMT in a white polo shirt and black pants with an empty red medical bag slung across their shoulders. PG-13 soon caught up with her and took his place at her side while she continued down the avenue.

-Ten minutes later, 200 meters from Fulci Hospital-

"There it is." Leona said laconically as she looked towards Fulci Hospital. The six-floor structure immediately drew her attention with bright spotlights that were aimed towards the sky. The beams had crossed to resemble the fingers of a hand reaching out for help. What really got her attention was a multitude of threat markers that flashed onto the bottom of the lenses of her smart glasses. Leona looked away from the hospital and towards the middle of the street, which boasted a hastily improvised barricade of seven police cruisers parked end-to-end and a bulky SWAT van with their doors hanging open at each end of the line of cruisers.

In front of the barricade was a thick line of approximately sixty zombies that the police had taken down before their lines were breached. Behind the cars were numerous zombie officers mingling with the zombies who had killed and reanimated them. She even saw around thirty zombies clad in full body armor complete with helmets shuffling behind the barricade. They must have been part of the SWAT teams assigned to protect the hospital.

Behind the barricade stood even more zombies; these zombies were clad in green medical scrubs and surgical masks. Leona instantly knew what that meant. The hospital had been invaded and was most likely teeming with zombies, but before she could worry about the hospital she had to get past the zombies behind the police barricade. Her glasses showed markers too numerous to accurately count, but the total was well over one hundred.

"Do not approach the barricade, Miss Jarnefeldt. The fight to clear it would be too risky, even for someone of your power." Mister Burke ordered. Leona blinked. She did not want to leave the objective uncompleted, but her rational side told her that there were way too many zombies for even PG-13 to handle... they would just go right around him and head straight for the Wizard Saint. Even calling in summons would only go so far towards fighting the one-hundred zombie swarm that waited beyond the police vehicles... recalling Luna Mira's advice to not get overconfident against "weak" enemies, Leona's rational side started to win out.

"Forget about the hospital, Miss Jarnefeldt. I will have an independent contractor investigate it for me. You have done enough for tonight. Please come to Shirotsume." Mister Burke requested. Leona hated to end her mission with anything less than total completion, but right now there was no way she could fight her way past the hundred-plus zombies outside and still have enough stamina to clean out Fulci Hospital. Mister Burke had also ordered her to forget about the hospital, which meant that not going in to investigate would not count against her since she had left it behind on his orders. Leona looked at PG-13, who silently looked back at her.

"All right. I'm going to leave Fulci and head for Shirotsume. It'll take awhile for me to get to you." Leona reported. She sheathed her sword and stole one last look at the hospital, then turned and walked away before the zombies got wise to her presence. PG-13 dutifully followed on her left side.

-Shirotsume, outside Mister Burke's house, eight hours later-

Leona had arrived in Shirotsume just as day began to break over the small town. She was tired from the fighting in Fulci and the eight-hour walk to Shirotsume. She was not sure if PG-13 was light enough to fly on the Winged Lion and she did not want to risk hurting her summon in a zombie-infested area and drawing unwanted attention due to his bellows of pain, so the Wizard Saint had chosen to walk the distance from Silent Cemetery to Shirotsume. Leona slowly walked towards the house and past the cherry blossom trees that lined the path. Once she reached the door she reached to knock but was greeted by Mister Burke himself.

"Welcome, Miss Jarnefeldt! You must be tired. Do come in!" Mister Burke bade her. She was in no mood to argue. She took off her boots and entered the house while PG-13 wiped his metallic feet and entered behind Leona as Mister Burke obligingly stepped aside to permit him entry.

-Inside Mister Burke's house, First Floor-

"I appreciate the grave risk you took in accepting this mission for me... pardon the pun." Mister Burke said to Leona as he guided the barefoot Wizard Saint to the living room.

"Did you get everything you needed from the video feed sent from my smart glasses?" Leona asked the client. He nodded.

"Yes, Miss Jarnefeldt. I got everything my employers needed. They will be reviewing the footage with great interest." He answered. That reminded Leona... she owed him his iLac back. Leona took off her backpack and opened it, fishing out her desert cloak. She unwrapped it and retrieved the iLac, which had taken no damage during the survey of Fulci due to its durability and the cloth cocoon Leona had made for it.

"Here's your iLac. It should be just fine." Leona said before powering off her smart glasses and returning the iLac to Mister Burke, who accepted it with both hands.

"Thank you, Miss Jarnefeldt. My employers will appreciate the care with which you treated their property." He answered with a faint smile. He then looked towards the midriff of Leona's outfit.

"I can have Miss Kumiko repair your outfit for you." He offered.

"I'd like that. Thanks." Leona answered wearily.

"I have a guest room that you can sleep in if you would like. You can stay as my guest until you are ready to return home." He offered. Leona initially decided against it, but her body made up her mind for her when she wobbled on her feet.

"I would like that too, thank you." Leona accepted his offer of hospitality.

"Excellent. I will guide you and your companion to the second floor. There you will find a guest bedroom featuring an attached bathroom complete with a shower." Mister Burke listed the amenities of the guest room as he guided the Wizard Saint up the stairs to the second floor while PG-13 followed carefully behind them. Leona had completed another mission on behalf of Silver Wolf. Once she had slept awhile and got back to the guild hall she would look for another job to take. She would prefer to take a job that did not involve fighting, but she would go wherever she was needed and do the job she was hired to do.

[Post Word Count: 1,453]
[Total Word Count: 11,469/11,000]