As a vaguely free lance mage, Juliet typically did not benefit from the same easy jobs as guild mages. Though she hoped to join a guild eventually, it was a fear for her to be rejected for being too weak. More than just not being allowed to join, Juliet was pragmatically concerned that she might not be able to achieve her aspirations should the word spread around legal guilds that she was worthless and an unworthy mage and job partner. No matter how strongly she preferred solitary time over that spent with others, Juliet needed to work with fellow mages who shared her vision in order to progress it faster. She could not afford to lose credibility in the eyes of other mages, irrespective of how much it bothered her to be worried about such a vain thing as popularity. Respect and also a lack thereof had its consequences, much to her displeasure.
Today, Juliet had accepted a job for an elderly man. He had insisted that she repair his home in Rose Garden without magic. It was incomprehensible to her why he had desired to hire a mage in the first place, then; surely a civilian carpenter or someone of a similar job would benefit him much more in achieving his desired result? However, when she arrived, she began to understand. Rather than repairing the house and building it up, adding rooms and painting walls as was specified in the mission, Juliet found herself cleaning. The original job had been a very minor one already, part of a group intended for less experienced mages and meant for practicing the physical aspect of themselves that was often pushed to the wayside in favor of the magical one. However, the job Juliet ended up toiling on was even more insignificant. Nonetheless, she did complete it as requested, even going so far as to organize a bit of the house in addition to giving it a good dusting, vacuuming, and mopping, as instructed.
Juliet simply could not restrain herself at times when it came to messiness. Even if it wasted a precious bit of her time, the result was inevitably worth the hassle of taking a few moments to straighten up. After all, cleanliness prevented several things, including disease, injury, malcontent, and the list went on. Pleased with the outcome of the mission, despite the confusion surrounding its level of difficulty, Juliet headed into the parlor of the home to receive her payment. Thankfully, it appropriately matched the level of the initial job. Juliet had scheduled an amount of time she was sure the original mission would have consumed, and as a result, her train was due to depart an additional four hours from now. The fairest series of events would be to pay her for her time and because it was his mistake.
Still, Juliet found herself surprised and a bit touched that he had suggested it. Even though she was not money hungry in any sense of the word, simply wanting enough to live on, she understood that stinginess was an apparently innate trait in many people. Whether it stemmed from a compulsion to conserve a hoard of cash (that was steadily decreasing in value the longer it stayed unused, by the way) or conglomerate enough to support a lavish lifestyle, people allowed money to preoccupy their entire lives. Personally, Juliet could only be happy that the house owner was not inappropriately frugal. Happy was even a bit too mild of a term; ecstatic, perhaps? Overjoyed. She was thrilled that she had not wasted time and could continue to afford utilities and groceries.
603 Words
