After getting some more details, Fayette and Mireille decided they needed to go have a look at the places the rats had been found in, and Elise volunteered as a guide. Soon she was leading the two through the streets.

Fayette walked just a bit behind her with Mireille, and crept closer to talk quietly. “Hey, what’s the real reason you didn’t like the job at Ange’s workplace? Were the conditions really that bad?”

“Well, it didn’t look like a pleasant place to work, that’s for sure. Still, that was not really what put me off the whole place.” Mireille looked around at the dilapidated streets they were walking and continued. “Honestly, I could handle poor working conditions for a while as long as the pay made up for it.”

Fayette was a bit surprised. “Really? Then what was the issue you had with the place?”

Mireille sighed. “Well, it’s something rather obvious in hindsight, but I only realised when I saw Ange working there. She really handled that sewing machine well—even had skills for it, and her class upgrade specialised in that direction."

Fayette nodded at that—it made sense. One should specialize in their work. “Of course, what’s the issue with that?”

“Right, I can imagine it being a good for you.” Mireille said. “But, it really unnerves me. The thing is, I won’t ever be owning any of that factory machinery, will I? A normal [Seamstress] only needs her needle and thread, and she can use all her skills. But, if that normal [Seamstress] then starts taking skills that need a sewing machine to work, or other expensive things, they start relying on things they don’t own themselves. You could get locked out of a big part of your skills. Having my class be tied in with something I can’t hold...” She shook her head. “I don’t like it.”

Fayette walked in silence for a moment, pondering the words. It wasn’t something she had ever thought of—as a [Maid] the tools of her trade were rather simple to come by. But if one’s class became highly specialized around some type of machinery, and they then lost access to that machinery, what could they do?

“Isn’t that pretty similar to like, [Sailors]? They don’t own their boats either.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be a [Sailor] either, to be honest. Maybe I could be a [Captain], if I could own the whole boat too.”

Fayette nodded. Mireille’s words were sensible, and she could see her point. “Alright, I understand now.”

“What are you two whispering about back there?” Elise asked, finally noticing their conversation.

“Oh, nothing much.” Mireille said. “Just thinking about how we’ll be handling these rats.”

Fayette focused her mind on the task ahead. Right, pest control.

The situation might have been bad for those living here, but Fayette could not hold back the bold smile that appeared on her face. Pest control, helping take out disease spreaders and doing something other than boring junior hunter missions—this was close to what she had been imagining in that sauna. A proper job for a [Maid], helping clear the places around them.

They arrived at their destination, a food warehouse, one of the places that had been seeing the most rat incidents. Elise helped explain the situation to the owners, and they were quickly let in. Everyone was happy that someone was finally taking on the situation.

The rats seemed to be a persistent sort. Holes and cracks in the walls and ground had been boarded up, but the critters had not cared—the boards had been chewed right through. Some damage even seemed very recent, a bag of grains lay half-emptied out on the floor.

“Are rats normally this fierce?” Mireille asked, looking over the damage.

Fayette shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. These seem... abnormal. I’ll up the dosage in the poisons to make sure it works.”

“Do you really know much about rat poison? I thought your alchemy skill was more about cleaning stuff.”

“Well, it’s not like the skill only gives information on cleaning agents, that’s just what the focus is on. Very basic alchemy knowledge applies similarly to everything, and I got some basic teaching on the subject. I should be able to make some workable stuff. Killing them is easy, getting them to eat the bait is the hard part.” Fayette answered, pulling out a vial from her apron.

Mireille nodded, taking out her own tools. “I’ll work out some snares then. I wonder how big I should make these?”

They quickly got to work. Fayette began brewing some poison using her alchemy tools, while Mireille began rigging up some stealthy snares.

“Are you two really just a [Maid] and a [Seamstress]?” Elise asked. She had been watching their work diligently, twirling her braid around every now and then.

Fayette finished applying the poison on a bit of stale bread chosen for bait, and quirked an eyebrow at her. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

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“It’s just, all... this.” The [Labourer] vaguely gestured at the poison and snares. “Like, isn’t this like actual proper hunter stuff? Setting up traps and brewing poisons?”

Fayette almost looked offended. “Well, I am an actual proper hunter, I’ll have you know. I even have a license! Of course my methods would be proper.”

“But didn’t you want to do this under the table? Not through the hunter’s guild?”

“Well, well, that’s just a whole separate matter, alright? I just have some disagreements with their paper pushers, they get all fussy about rules and what-not.”

Elise slowly nodded her head. “A-alright. I get what you’re saying. You won’t get in trouble for this, right?”

Fayette stopped. “It’ll probably be fine? I think?”

Mireille raised her head, away from the snare she had been making. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean ‘probably’? We are getting paid, right?”

Fayette shrugged her shoulders. “Probably?”

Mireille sighed. “I knew I should have come with you to the guild. Still, what they don’t hear can’t hurt them. If we quietly solve this issue, quietly get paid and the request quietly gets pulled at the guild, we should be fine.”

Fayette relaxed. “I can do quiet.”

“Hey, nobody from the hunter’s guild had shown up for two weeks, but now you two did. I don’t think people here are feeling too grateful for the guild. They’ll help you out,” Elise offered.

“Well, that sounds well and good.” Mireille said, rising up to stand from her snares. “I think I’m done with snares for this place, how about you Fay?”

“I’ve still got one more to go.” She answered, busy lathering more poison inside bait.

It didn’t take her long to finish. However, she was a bit surprised by the notification that followed.

[Wow, you’re getting real experimental with the spices! Keep up the good cooking!]

[Progress towards next level: 55%]

Fayette stopped still in her tracks and narrowed her eyes. Hey... wait a minute here, I’m not cooking anything here! Don’t connect my spices to... this! Are you implying my spices are...? No!

“Fay, you aright? You froze up.”

The [Maid] stumbled for a moment, then looked at her concerned friend. Alright, I definitely can’t mention this to Mireille—She’ll never eat anything I cook again!

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just had an errant thought.”

Mireille looked doubtful, but didn’t push further. Fayette put her rat poison back inside a pouch. “I think I’m done too.”

Mireille nodded. “Alright, let’s head out to the next spot then. Elise, lead the way if you would.”

Their group went through a few more places, placing traps and rat bait in strategic spots. Fish-markets, houses in disrepair, food stalls, the rats had been in many places. Mireille had been quiet for the last few spots, seemingly lost in thought.

Fayette poked her in the back. “What’s got you brooding all dark-like?”

“Gah! Don’t poke there.” She glared at Fayette. “For one thing, how much exactly did it cost you to make that rat poison? You are using it quite a lot.”

“I don’t really know to be honest; I haven’t bought any new ingredients for a while. These were all from my stockpile, so I can’t really estimate.”

“You need to think of these things if you are going to be a real hunter! It’s a job that costs money to do, so you need to keep track of your resource expenses.”

“As far as I’m concerned, as long as I get my experience, I’m good.”

Mireille did not look too pleased at the answer. “I guess you really do need me around, don’t you? If you go at this alone, you’ll be bankrupt in a month.”

Fayette opened her mouth to protest, but Mireille silenced her with a gesture. “Enough, that’s not the thing I’m really worried about.”

“It’s not?”

“No, I’ve been thinking on our mission. All these spots, they cover quite the distance. How are these rats getting around?”

Elise perked up at the question. She had been silent as she listened to the pair’s conversation and seemed eager to contribute. “Oh, I forget you two are not from around here. The rats are probably moving through the undercity.”

Two pairs of curious eyes turned to her. “Undercity?” They both asked at the same time.

“Yes, the undercity.” Elise answered.

Fayette started staring at the ground and pointed at it. “Like, there’s a whole city under there?”

Elise laughed. “Oh, no no, nothing grand like that. It’s just some old mining tunnels and catacombs that run under the city. This place used to be a mining hot spot, but eventually the city expanded and the mines got left underneath. It’s just called the undercity because it’s under the city.”

Fayette nodded. “Under the city so it’s the undercity. That makes sense.”

Elise nodded back and continued. “Some parts of it were used as catacombs some time back when the graveyards ran out of space, and other parts are used for all sorts of different things. I remember when I was a kid, there were always rumours going around about scary stuff being down there.”

“Those were just rumours, right?” Fayette asked, suddenly more alert as she looked at the ground.

“Oh, I don’t know. I never went to check.” Elise asked. She lowered her voice and looked at the [Maid] conspiratorially. “I still remember the tales of the facesnatcher, a horrific beast that stalks the darkness with a bag full of heads. The creature has a pole that it puts the heads on, and if you see one of the heads peeking from behind a corner while you are down there-”

Fayette had started to get absorbed in the story, so she jumped up quite a distance when Mireille suddenly poked her in the neck. “Hey! What was that for?”

“She’s having you on; don’t let some ghost stories scare you.”

Elise laughed. “Hey, I think its quite the good story.”

Mireille turned to look at the ground below them. “I hope our poison and snare tactic works out. Sounds like it would be very bothersome to head down there.”

The group went through a few more spots before they called it quits. Mireille and Fayette said their goodbyes to Elise and promised to meet up the next day to check on things. The pair headed back to their inn, and after a hearty dinner, retired to sleep.

----------------------------------------

Fayette woke up the next day to a slew of notifications.

[Efficient pest control, good job!]

[Level up: You have reached Maid level 11! Congratulation!]

[1 Skill point gained!]

[You have gained a new skill: Spicy Cooking!]

[Progress towards next level: 15%]

Nice, looks like the trap worked. A new skill too!

However, her thoughts continued on as she noticed a curious detail.

Wait a minute... I’ve done pest control before. It was not this much. That is a lot of experience for some rats... What exactly are we dealing with here?