Underling/Linda - Chapter 1

"Hah!"

One final overhead smash ruptures the soft body of the victim. It's insides spill out all over the grass, and begin to disappear slowly, until there is no sign of it ever being there. A girl holding a metal pipe breathes heavily after taking out her final prey. She wipes the sweat off her brow and the remnants splattered on her pipe.

"Phew, that's the last of those dogoos. That should make 10, and I can turn this in now."

The girl speaks to no one in particular as she finishes up her task and sheathes her weapon. She dusts herself off, straightens her jacket, and checks her surroundings one last time. The forest is devoid of other people, as blue drop-shaped slime creatures with dog-like faces begin to reappear. The girl clicks her tongue in annoyance as she hides behind a tree.

"Seriously? They're back already? I don't want to deal with them again especially after they overpowered me last time... damned dogoos."

She places her hand on her chest and starts to flick off something that isn't there. "Ugh, glad they can't really see far... I should be fine if I don't make too much noise."

Walking slowly, she avoids direct contact with the dogoos and uses the trees as cover when needed. "I can't believe these things are tough as nails... these bastards look the same from home..."

After a while she finally reaches the edge of the forest, and a short path to the city. She sighs in relief, finally away from those dogoos. Making her way to the guild, she enters the building and heads to the front desk. A line is currently in front of the desk, filled with other guild members turning in their own quests, asking questions, or initiating their own quests among other things. The girl clicks her tongue in annoyance.

"What the hell is this line...? I would've shoved my way in front already... but not after last time... ugh. I hate playing nice..." she grumbled to herself.

Impatiently tapping her foot and gritting her teeth, she eventually reaches the front of the line, greeted nonchalantly by the clerk, still busy tapping away on their keyboard.

"Hey! I'm here for the bounty reward for the 10 dogoos!" the girl shouts.

"No need to shout, tell me your name so I can look if you've completed it," replies the clerk, looking up slightly.

"It's Linda."

"Alright, let me just check here... Linda... 10 dogoos... looks like everything's in order," says the clerk as she taps a few keys on her keyboard, "The reward should be credited to you now, please check."

Linda opens up her inventory and sees that her credit amount has increased, but not by much. Clicking her tongue, she walks towards the bounty board, looking at the available quests.

"What the hell is this? 'Seven Sages: CPU Assistance Initiative'? Who would want to help the CPUs?"

She scoffs at the very idea. "Where are the organizations like ASIC? Is there no organization that's going against the CPUs...?" she grumbles to herself.

"Is this really how it is now...?" she says taking a seat on a nearby bench. Looking around at the guild office, there are various adventurer types are going to and fro, bickering about their quests, making various complaints to the guild clerk, yet nothing out of the ordinary. She hasn't heard or seen any news about a major city attack, a sudden crazed goddess attack, collapse of multiple dimensions, or anything.

"Maybe I should just throw in the towel and turn a new leaf..? It has been a while since Arfoire was defeated... and that rat didn't even follow me here." She sighs as she goes back to the bounty board, this time looking at the odd jobs instead of bounties.

"I've taken too many kill quests recently... getting a bit tired of those dogoos, a change of pace might be nice..."

Checking around the list of odd jobs, they range from delivering items to helping with housework. None of them seem to interest her until she saw the requester of the one asking for help with farm work. She rubs her eyes, shakes her head and re-reads the request, along with its requestor. Taking the quest from the board to the clerk to accept it, she walks out of the guild still in disbelief.

"Is this really...Arfoire? In an eggplant farm, of all places? Maybe this is just a big coincidence. Can't be her... but if it is maybe we can regain the old glory of ASIC..."

She follows the map to her destination, which is a little ways beyond the city. The trek to the farm was uneventful. Eventually the landscape is slowly being replaced by fields of eggplants, as far as the eye can see. To her left she can see a cabin, probably where this 'Arfoire' lives, she thought. To her right are just more eggplants, and surveying the place, she sees a figure moving about, placing eggplants in a basket and wiping its head.

"Huh, I was expecting a more desolate looking farm for some reason, but this place looks really well cared for," she says carefully navigating through the eggplants. The figure notices Linda as she approaches and speaks out loud.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the figure barks out.

"I'm here for the request you old hag!"

Linda sees the figure motion angrily at her and stomp towards her.

"Who are you calling old hag?! You'll regret the day you were ever born you brat!"

Linda looks at the woman stomping towards her, there's no mistaking it, she looks like Arfoire, with her gray-white skin, red eyes with cat-like pupils and dark purple make-up, but her outfit is of a farmer with an apron bearing an eggplant motif patch on the front.

"Cr-crap... she looks like Arfoire..." Linda stammers out.

"Yes, I AM Arfoire. Do you have a problem with that?"

"W-what's someone like Arfoire doing in an eggplant farm, shouldn't you be sowing the seeds of destruction instead of ... eggplants?"

"Were you sent by the guild, to check up on me again?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb with me, this is the 4th time they've sent someone to check up on me. I've told you people, all my papers for the farm is legitimate and I even have my damned tax paperwork in the records!"

"W-what? Y-you're serious about this farm work business..?"

"Yes, how many times do I have to tell you people?"

"W-wait, so you're telling me Arfoire is just ... a farmer?"

"Tell me girl what do you know of Arfoire then?"

"The Arfoire I knew was called the Deity of Sin and would bring ruin to Gamindustri... I guess I was mistaken... anyway I'm here to do your stinkin' request."

"Hmph, I see. Tell me girl, why are you looking for the Deity of Sin?"

"Huh? Obviously it's because I'm bad to the bone-- why do you care anyway?"

"Forget it. Anyway for the request, all you need to do is carry these baskets of eggplants into that shipping bin. The task will be done when this whole field is harvested. So let's get started."

Arfoire points at a filled basket for Linda to get started and begins to harvest more of the eggplants to place in other baskets. Linda looks at the basket and gets taken aback. The eggplants in the basket are huge, nothing like she's ever seen before. Holding on to the side of the basket, she tries to carry the basket but struggles from the sheer weight and size.

"W-what the hell are with these eggplants?! They're frickin' huge!"

"Oh? These are my prized eggplants, of course they'll be amazing," says Arfoire pridefully, "I've spent nothing but the best for them."

"Are you gonna say that you've taught them how to walk as well... heh, yeah right."

Almost on cue, the basket began shaking and some of the eggplants have begun to jump off. Linda's eyes grow wide in surprise while Arfoire's face is of exasperation. The eggplants have started to pull the other eggplants out of the basket and slapping what seems to be what they consider the other eggplant's faces and begin waking up to what looks like standing upright. They've begun to walk in different directions as Arfoire began to yell.

"Don't you just stand there! Pick them up and put them back in the basket!"

"What the hell are these things? Wouldn't they just hop off the basket again?"

"Just carry them back to the basket and don't you even dare think of hurting them. I'll deal with them after you place them back in the basket."

"Seriously, what the hell... I better get paid double for this crap!"

"Just go! Before they wake the others!"

"This is ridiculous!" Linda begins to run after the eggplants slowly walking away to the other eggplant fields. Nearing one of them, she grabs an eggplant with her arms, only for it to begin to struggle. She tightens her hold and walks back to the basket as the eggplant continues to try and escape her grasp. The eggplant manages to punch Linda square in the face making her almost let go.

"You little punk!"

Bringing the struggling eggplant to Arfoire, Linda calls out to her.

"Well, I got one of the eggplants, what exactly do you want me to do with this? It's still struggling like crazy!"

"Just place it in the basket over here, and grab the other ones, it seems you got the biggest one already, so that's good."

Dropping the eggplant in the basket, Linda's eyes widen as the eggplant calms down and stays in the basket, almost glad to be inside of it. Linda turns around and runs towards where the eggplants started to walk to. The eggplants are trying to wake up the others still planted in the fields, and none of them are stirring, much to Linda's relief. She tackles, grabs hold, brings them to the basket, and drops them off one by one until there are no more walking eggplants in the field. Linda and Arfoire takes the baskets filled with eggplants and places near the shipping bin.

"Seriously, what are you doing to even make these things have the ability to walk?!" she shouts at Arfoire.

"There's no need to shout and it's called a little TLC, it does wonders for agriculture. Anyway, it seems you didn't come out of there unscathed, so I'll give you your pay and I'd recommend you going to Trick's clinic, he's the nearest one here, tell him I sent you and he shouldn't charge you a credit. He's just a few minutes away from here."

"W-wait... Trick? That huge pervert for children?! Him?! A doctor?!"

"Hm? Yes, he's a pediatrician by trade but he can definitely fix your scratches and bruises, and to answer your first question, he's turned a new leaf, just like me."

"W-what the hell..? Him? A pediatrician of all things?!"

"I personally don't see what's wrong, he brings results and all the children were more or less happy after their visit with him. No complaints from the parents either."

"That's impossible... no goddamned way."

"You're free to believe what you want, but, go on, you're free to go now."

Arfoire turns and walks back to her home, leaving Linda alone. Linda crosses her arms to think about what to do until the bruises from the eggplants start aching. She checks her credit amount and while it increases drastically in comparison to the other quests, she won't turn away free medical care along with confirmation of what Trick is up to.

Sighing loudly, she begins the short walk to Trick's clinic under the afternoon sun.