Prologue: The Odd Job Mercenary

Most people don’t end up picturing a Mercenary getting paid to clean a bathroom. I’ve been ruining humanity’s image of Mercenaries ever since I became one. This is due to a philosophy that I have. That philosophy is to not be picky with the opportunities presented towards me. Well, that isn’t the philosophy for my life but rather my philosophy as a Mercenary. If I’m getting paid then there’s nothing for me to complain about.There isn’t an easier job than being a merc. Everyone jumps at the chance for other people to do things for them. My philosophy for life is a lot more simply; Just get by.
I reach up to move a few strands of icy blue hair away from my left eye. My hair is not actually blue. It’s white like snow. For as long as I remember there has always been this blue streak that  made up the center strands of my bangs.
Trapped between the middle, ring, and pinky fingers on my left hand was a stained blue cloth. Grasped in my right hand was a brush. “I’ve been scrubbing the walls of this bathroom for over an hour now.” An exasperated sigh escapes my lips after my quiet statement. If the owner of this Inn had heard me complaining about cleaning the bathroom he would most likely lower my pay. The scraping sound of the brush’s bristles against the grimy bathroom walls was getting annoying. I couldn’t blame them for not desiring to clean this place themselves. After the excessive amount of scrubbing focused on this one spot the cloth was beginning to feel damp. I slide the brush’s handle through a loop on my belt. With my hand free I reach over to the sink, turning on the faucet to wet the cloth once more. After wetting the cloth and turning the sink off I return to the task. An involuntary grunt slips out due to the amount of effort being put into cleaning off this one last spot.
“...Hhh” Finally finished. My task was complete and now I could go collect my pay. I put the cloth inside of a red pouch that was attached to the belt on my black pants. The cloth was the only thing that belonged to me that I used for this job. Once I arrived at the counter at the front of the Inn I handed him the brush. My blue-ish green eyes gazed around. This Inn is pretty spacious. If a lot of people come here every single day then it isn’t hard to believe that the bathroom would be as filthy as it was. I couldn’t help but think that. Oddly enough, the wooden floors, tables, and chairs seemed perfectly clean. It seemed that their focus was on keeping the important parts of the Inn presentable. As the man began to speak I was snapped out of my thoughts.
“Thanks...er...what was yer name again, kid?” The owner of the Inn asked. His voice was deep and a bit raspy. He sounded like the drunk guy you’d hear giving life advice that sounds wise but is most likely useless.
“Wake Altria.” My tone was a lot more neutral than I meant it to be. I had tried to sound polite when saying my name but instead my tone lacked emotion. I’ve always been this way. My expression barely ever changes and it’s incredibly difficult to put effort into feeling strong emotions. I’ve been told that my lack of emotions make me a good Mercenary when I’m not working on odd jobs like this.
“A’right, Wake. I happened to take a peak in the bathroom when you were finishing up…” Crap. Did he hear me complain? It wouldn’t be the first time. “and I’ve gotta say, kid, I haven’t seen the bathroom that clean in years!” As he said that an internal sigh of relief played in my mind.
“I just do what I can, sir.” If I am capable of a task I made as well actually try at it. Only the rich and the powerful get to slack off. Unfortunately none of those qualities apply to me so instead rely on working hard.
“I owe ya regardless. Who knows, maybe I’ll request your assistance again in another couple of years!” The man let out a hearty laugh and held his arm out with his fist closed. I open my palm under his fist and when he opens up his fist gold coins fall down onto my hand. Looking down, I do what anyone should do when getting paid. Count the money. 1 2 3...20. Twenty gold coins. I look up at the man.
“I thought you said it would be 15 for cleaning the bathroom.” It’s not like I was complaining but I was simply perplexed.
“Like I said, I’ve never seen the bathroom that clean in years. Consider it a bonus.” He wove his hand as if to say a bit of extra money was nothing.
“I see.” I responded simply, looking down at the coins a bit longer. Opening a different compartment of the red pouch, I drop the coins in, closing the compartment afterwards. Turning on my heels, I head for the Inn’s door.
“Y’know, kid...yer quite odd for a proclaimed Mercenary.” The voice of the owner reaches my ears and I stop right in front of the door. I stood there for a few seconds without saying anything before exiting the Inn..

---

Ariael Town. It is the same town that has the Inn with the bathroom I had just cleaned. The plan is to stay here for a while in order to take on as many jobs as possible before leaving. Who knows; one of the jobs could require me to leave anyway. After about an hour of searching around I noticed an old man struggling to pull on a rope that was near a well. If getting paid to help him was a possibility so I approached the old man. Upon closer inspection the man seemed like he was in his mid-70’s. Usually old people were not out and about collecting water from walls. Those buckets could be heavy so pulling on the rope could put a lot of strain on a frail looking old man like him. In all honesty I didn’t care about his well-being but this was an opportunity. Being picky was not an option.
“Excuse me sir.” My tone was as loud as I could make it without having to yell. It was enough to get the old man’s attention since his head began to turn. Apparently it was too much of a distraction though as his grip began to slip on the rope. All of his effort would be for nothing. My hand reaches out, gripping onto the rope to keep it in place. It was then that I noticed something. This old guy’s barely made any progress with this. What was he thinking? Maybe he wasn’t.
“Thank you, lad! It’s nice to see the youth of society doing kind things!” His bald head, wrinkly face, and toothy grin gave the impression of a senile old man. His deep blue eyes however seemed to shine with wisdom. I immediately got the feeling that this would be an interaction I was going to remember. Remembering faces was not my specialty but I would remember his. I just knew. It was almost a scary feeling and I was tempted to back off and leave but that would go against my philosophy. I spoke instead.
“I’m a Mercenary. If you pay me then I’ll help you.” It almost sounded unreasonable. It was just retrieving water from a Well. However, in this world you could put a price on just about anything. The old man’s eyebrows raise almost as if he was perplexed. That was to be expected. Everyone questioned why a Mercenary would be doing something so irrelevant to what society expects a Mercenary to do. Instead of questioning my status as a Mercenary the old man just began to laugh.
“A Mercenary you say? We don’t get many of those in this town. I certainly can’t do this myself and you seem like a reliable young lad. Why not? I’ll pay you to help me retrieve the water. In exchange you’ll have to deal with talking to me.” There was this mischievous glint in his eye as if he was about to start meddling with my life. That scary feeling got even stronger but I still was not about to betray my philosophy. I could only give a small nod in reply while I began to tug on the rope. As I did the old man began to ramble. “Anyway, my name’s Arthos.  What brings a Merc like you to Ariael?” That’s a new question. I thought to myself.
“My name’s Wake. I’m just looking for work.” It was a simple reply. Being chatty was not my forte and I felt as if Arthos could tell that. It was why he decided to make conversation a part of this job.
“Wake. Interesting name. Aren’t most Mercenaries well known individuals that wait to be hired for something important?” Arthos inquired with a quizzical look on his face. What’s he trying to get at?
“I’m an odd job Mercenary. I guess you can consider me an outlier when compared to other Mercenaries in this world.” With a simple shrug of my shoulders I give another hard pull on the rope before moving my hands up the rough feeling texture of it; keeping a tight grip. “I’m not picky with work. So long as I get paid I can continue to get by in life.” I often let my philosophies go hand in hand.
“Is that why? I don’t believe that to be true. Aren’t you simply a traveling Mercenary because you are too afraid to get attached to anything?”
“...” Where did that come from? This guy doesn’t even know me. I couldn’t answer.
“Any regrets, Wake?” He then asked.
“None.” I replied honestly.
“Any family?” Another question.
“My parents and brother live in Vierna.” I respond again.
“Do you care about your family? Or anything for that matter?” This question was the one he was leading up to. That was obvious. Of course, as with the other questions, I answered honestly.
“Not really. I’ve never particularly cared about anything. I just do what I can to get by in life. Nothing more and nothing less.”
Giving one final hard pull the bucket of water was finally raised. It would have been done earlier but this man’s bizarre questions were distracting. No client ever asked anything personal. It was usually just my name and that was it. Perhaps this old man was senile and the wisdom in his eyes was merely an illusion. Yes, an illusion brought up by the stereotype that old people are wise. I reach over to grab the bucket, untying the rope from it to take the bucket and give it to the old man. He told me to set it down. For this job I got paid ten gold coins. What’s with me getting paid more than what the job is worth today? Again, it was not a complaint. It was a fair thing to wonder since this has never happened before. My intention was to leave but as I turned around, just like with the owner of the Inn, Arthos had one last thing to say to me. These words were the reason why I was going to remember him even though I was never going to see this man again.
“One day you will meet someone that will break through that stoic defensive shield of yours. When that time comes you will understand what it truly means to live. The human heart is not to be underestimated, Wake. I can guarantee you’ll reflect on my words one day.”

---

After those two jobs I didn’t find work for the rest of the day. Deciding to stay the night at the Inn, I was allowed one free night for cleaning the bathroom. I do not often see my clients a second time but an Inn Keeper was pretty hard to avoid if you intend on staying in a town for more than one day. Today was the beginning of the gradual change in my life. All because of the job I accepted today and the Philosophy I have.

---

As I was leaving the town of Ariael I could hear the sound of footsteps rapidly moving in my direction. The footsteps were accompanied by the heavy breaths of what was certainly a male. Just as I turned around a man had stopped in front of me, bent over, and hands on his knees as he huffed and wheezed. His light brown hair was messy probably from the wind as he ran, his average-looking brown eyes gazing up at me.
“Y-You...You’re a Mercenary, right?” He asked between heavy pants.. I wonder what makes it obvious to him right now. My belts full of equipment or the sword on my back. I hadn’t carried my sword with me on the previous day since it would not be useful for the jobs I was taking up. Now that I was on the road where anything could happen it would be stupid not to carry it.
“I am.” Of course, if this man was asking if I was a Mercenary that meant he had a job for me. Since he had a job for me I would have to accept it. An opportunity is an opportunity no matter how large or little.
“There’s a village to the east! It’s about a two hour trip on foot! The village of Melya. I-It’s my home village! I overheard a group of bandits! They said they were going to attack the village. Please! I’ll hire you! But I need someone to go and stop those bandits!” His desperate tone made it very obvious that he was serious. This man was paranoid. Afraid that his home village was going to be destroyed.
“How much?” This was a job a Mercenary was actually supposed to be doing and as a result the price would have to be a reasonable one. This guy wanted me to go risk my life to kill some Bandits. RIsking my life wasn’t something I was afraid to do but it would be nice if it were at least worth it.
“200 gold coins! I’ll give you 200! Please!” He had already fished the money out. He wasn’t lying.  He handed me a bag that was full of gold coins. I placed the bag in the larger compartment of my pouch and gave a small nod.
“I’ll head to Melya.” Now that I’ve been paid there was no choice but to do the job. No...I didn’t have a choice to begin with. My philosophy was like a curse. A curse that prevented me from declining jobs no matter how dangerous or strange. It was a curse I placed on myself and according to that old man it would one day be broken. Who could break this curse other than me? If it was a curse I decided to place on myself then removing it should be my decision and mine alone.

A two hour trip. No time for complaints. I made sure there was still food in my pouch. Three slices of bread and two apples still remained. More than I thought. Though, thinking on it now, I ate at the Inn yesterday when I first arrived there before taking on the job. Since I was set to travel I headed out for Melya.

---

I suppose this is where my life truly begins.

Author's Note

Any necessary constructive criticism would be great.

Reviews

[KittyKatgirl]

Wow this is brilliant. Keep on working on this novel. I really enjoyed reading this and love the last thing the old man says. It makes me wonder what could happen further more in the story. Great job and keep up the great work :)

[Shaxenz]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Chapter 1 will be up sometime next week so please look forward to it!

[KittyKatgirl]

Ok awesome and I am :)

[annalysiar]

Don't stop writing. Its good structured. Interesting. I'm used to a lot of prologues being dead in the middle but you introduced your story great job

[Shaxenz]

I appreciate the review! This was initially going to be the first Chapter but as I neared the end I felt as though it fit more for a prologue. I'm starting on chapter 1 tomorrow and I'll have it done as soon as I can manage so please look forward to it.

[annalysiar]

Oh I do I can't wait😃😇

[Shaxenz]

I'm glad someone's interested! It really gives me a lot of motivation so I'll work hard on the First Chapter.

[annalysiar]

It shows. But its not just working hard but putting heart. Putting yourself into it. I have faith in you shaxenz

[Shaxenz]

Of course. I have to make sure it shows that it's my writing after all. I'll be pouring all of my passion into this story.

[annalysiar]

I'm glad 😃