task:

What an interesting invitation she had received. It was a letter from the court of the king himself. The talented inventor known as Elena Veil was being ordered to meet with the king under the pretenses that were unknown to her at this stage. She doubted she would be able to refuse so easily if she wanted to, unless she wanted the crown's officers sniffing around in her business. To be quite honest, Rokuju was intrigued as to what this was all about. She had never been to the palace before, the gem of a building smack dab in the heart of Alabasta itself. Who knows what it could be about?


It had come to the date in question that was a couple of days after the letter had been received. Ro had traveled into town the previous day and booked into an inn for the night. This was so that she wouldn’t have to come to the palace while being all dirty and sweaty from the road. Today she was all ready in her finest clothing and had walked over to the palace gate. She didn’t really know what to expect, she had never really interacted with anyone of this status before, apart from her own family. For all she knew, they could turn around and arrest her for whatever the king wanted. But she did doubt that, there was little point of playing games of trickery when you were the overlording monarchy, you could just use your overwhelming authority to achieve whatever it was.


Ro showed her official invitation to the guards outside and was accepted in, being escorted through the front entrance of the palace gates. Her feet tapped against grand marble floors and her eyes wondered up to the long colourful sheets of tapestry that marked historic events. Then there were the gilded chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. Oh what an impressive estate it was. Ro was almost a little jealous. Imagine if all of the king’s wealth would somehow become hers?...


She was put into a side room to wait while the king took more important audiences. It was about an hour before she was escorted back out and taken to the throne room. There she walked up and presented herself, making a curtsey and then waiting to be addressed. The king was an old man, he sat in his official chair with a little discomfort, leaning onto one hand. “You there, you are Elena Veil, correct?” The man said to her, a little rudely. But that was to be expected. He was the king after all, he could be as disrespectful as he pleased to his subjects. Ro would inwardly roll her eyes. Maybe on a different day in a different time, she would be in a position to demand respect from men like him. But for now, she best not forget her ant-like worth.

[487]

“Yes I am Elena Veil, I am pleased to meet you Your Majesty, I have come to Alabasta on your command and hope that I may be of service to you.” She lowered her eyes and made another half curtsey, trying not to think about how silly it must look when she didn’t have a dress on. Ro had done a good job at presenting herself so far, and indeed, she liked to think that she was able to camouflage in these sort of social situations well. She was the lady known as Elena Veil, the young and up and coming inventor with a flair for brilliance. She had been surprised to receive the invitation, but hadn’t it just been a matter of time before she had been recognised by those of a higher order?


“And you are the woman who has been making things for the marines and other folk, yes?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
“I hear you are quite the talent. I have a job that needs doing that requires and oddly specific skill set and my advisors have recommended you to me.” Hearing these words, Rokuju was already beginning to feel an itch of anticipation. What was it gonna be? Like a dog whose owner had told they were gonna go for a walk, she could not wait to see what was going to come out of this.
“You see, there has been a recent increase in pirate activities in the fringe towns on our fine country. No matter how much attention we turn to this problem, they always seem to get away. We need someone to create a trap for them to fall into and make sure that it all goes to plan. Is this something you are capable of doing, miss?” Her mind followed the words as they rounded out the shape of the situation and pulled together different ideas. It sounded like those pirates she had resupplied just last week were kicking up a mighty kerfuffle. And now she was getting employed to stop them? The lady of fate had a strange sense of humour sometimes.


Rokuju couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Why yes, this does sound like something that would fall into my expertise. I would of course need to be fully supplied with information- and beli”
The king waved his hand dismissively. “Of course of course, you will get plenty of pay when the time comes. My staff will hook you up with anything you need. There will also be a squad of my men sent to guard you and help you when the pirates come. Now, off you go, you may start your preparations at once. See to it that those pirates learn a valuable lesson.” Rokuju curtsied once more and then followed her escort back off down the palace halls.

[474]

Well well well. It looks like she may have just hit the jackpot. The kingdom of Alabasta, in it’s immeasurable wealth, had hired her for something that was not a small task. And boy, would her bill be long. She planned to get every last cent she could out of this expedition. She almost wanted to start skipping, but she would remain composed. The Vinsmoke girl found herself being lead into what looked like some sort of administration room. There she was told to wait (again!) until she was called up to the counter. The small round woman looked through her stringed up glasses at the documents below her. Grabbing a few, she would hand them over to Ro, and told her that all the information she needed was there. Leafing through the documents, she could see various things that could be of use. First was a mission briefing with the name of the squad leader she was being assigned to. Second, there was a map outlining the general vicinity of the target town. Third, there was a list of places where she could pick up all of the gear that she would need. Apparently they had been informed that they would be reimbursed by the crown after she had made her purchases. Did this mean she really was free to go wild? This definitely did look like a golden ticket to her.


Ro would thank the lady and make her way for the exit. She wanted to begin straight away. She already had ideas for what she wanted to do. While she walked, she mulled over the mission description again. Apparently, there was one small village that had been predicted as the next town to be raided. They had laid a bait by putting various valuable items around the village out in the open and dressed the place up to look both prosperous and defenseless. Ro nodded her head. The plan was potentially a bit hit and miss, but she could work with this. She would need some time to travel as well as some time to set up. She should go and get the supplies she needed sorted and meet up with the captain of the squad before she left. This was an exciting job, and one that definitely wasn’t anything like her usual ‘make stuff’ occupation. Ro wondered what exactly would come of this whole situation. With her eyes firmly set on the horizon, she marched off to her future.

[415]
~exit~
Thread Closed

150,000 Beli
300,000 Bounty
7,500 EP