Red Fragrance

'Shit, didn't notice my armory is getting empty' Ace scratched his head as he walks around his armory, which is just a small room that only has a wardrobe and a few cabinets neatly placed against the wall.

'Should be able to last me for this job I think, well if I'm still short I'll buy more then' he thought to himself.

Then he stops and stares at his pouch while jingling it. 'Damn it, I'll do long distance then' as he picked up a crossbow and poison darts from the cabinet and a quiver that only had 3 arrows inside. "Guess I have to make more along the road too" he sighed to himself.

Wearing a shirt padded with soft plates of aluminium on his chest and back. Over the shirt was a long sleeved coat armed with small knives, needles and arrow heads hidden beneath.

A long black pants armed with a studded shin guard sewn underneath it made him look menacing. His boots were made from a lizard monster keeping his feet waterproof. A knife dipped in its poison hid at the heel.

"Where did I place it again?" he groaned as he looked around his house. His house was near the edge of town which was the cheapest and rural place he could find and where he could live comfortably without people disturbing him.

"There you are, da hell you doing in the kitchen?" as he picked up an azure coloured katana. "Oh yeah, I was testing out that technique and went to bed straight after" he remembered as he facepalm himself.

Behind his kitchen door was a small backyard that had an empty space he would train in when he felt like it and at the side were two palm trees with a hammock hanging between them where he would take breaks in.

He stared at the hammock for awhile before slinging the katana over his shoulder and walking back into the bedroom to take his bag. 'Hmmm seems like it's a half moon now, I'll probably reach that official's house by the new moon' Ace looked at the night sky as he walked back to the bar.

"Hahahaha Wow! Someone is looking good!" a woman's laughter came, "didn't expect the great Ace to actually start his job on the very day he requested one" she continued and from the direction of the voice a red mist emerged from the darkness. "Sigh, it's not that surprising Reds, you've seen me wearing this since when I brought you here to this town" Ace lazily retorted back.

The red mist suddenly disappears and a ponytail woman wearing a skin fitting maroon coloured dress with black leggings appeared. Instead of a veil over the face was now a scarf covering her nose and mouth and the two ends dangling at the back which sometimes float whenever a breeze comes by which makes her the more alluring.

Around her belt were bottles of different colours which presumably are the smells that she let out into the air around her. A pair of blue and red 'Wakizashi' hung horizontally at the back of her waist stacked on top of the other facing opposite sides.

Red Fragrance, her eyes were bright blue while her hair was light red. Apparently she got her eyes from her mother and hair from her father before they died protecting a nearby village from a monster stampede. Since she and her little sister were the only ones left in the family, the rights to the house was given to her.

Sadly old enemies of her parents came and burned the house down when she was out on a quest. Yes, a quest, before she became an assassin, she was an adventurer or what the common people called monster hunters while some call them heroes of the new world.

When she finally came back the next day, her little sister was missing and weeks later news came that she was found in an abandoned house naked with whip marks all over her body, dried blood stains were found between her legs and her tongue was cut off and her eyes were still wide open with dried tear stains, her arms and legs were spread wide and tied to a table and bruises could be found showing she tried to struggle her way out.

It was a nightmare that became reality to her. Reds broke down and she shut herself from the world quitting the adventurers guild and disappeared. The body was buried alongside her parents at the cemetery in the nearby hills.

A few months later, news came out that several families were massacred in their homes. Every member was stabbed or cut into pieces while the men were tied to their beds with missing tongues and their privates cut off and shoved into their mouths and a spear shoved into their asses.

No one knew why or what happened but those who were there on that fateful night did not dare speak about it for fear she would come for them if word gets out. There was only one evidence that showed that it was the same person that did it and that was because when the bodies were found, there was still a smell of flowers present in the building.

Ace found her when he was on a job. Coincidentally it was the same family that Reds had on her kill list. Both of them fought until she was at the end of the line.

She stopped the fight knowing fully well that she was at the losing end and finally explained to him the reason why she needed to do the deed. She found out that this particular family was the mastermind behind the attack on her house and the kidnapping of her sister.

The family was kicked out of the squad due to negligence of duty. They were supposed to be on watch duty but disappeared into the night and monsters suddenly attacked the camp causing major casualties to the squad.

By the time they returned Reds parents had defended the camp grounds but they could not protect everyone and the two were then heavily punished and blacklisted under the law thus hatred was bred between them.

Ace being the guy who didn't like hard work and seeing an opportunity, agreed that she could do what she wanted but he has to be there to mark his target and retrieve a certain item from the household.

Although Ace didn't do much, he saved Reds life when she was ambushed by the butler when she was about to deliver the killing blow to the mastermind. Before the butler reached Reds, an arrow had penetrated through the back of his skull which shocked Reds for a moment before nodding her head as thanks.

Reds finally felt free but she had no more aim, no more direction to follow. She was then brought back by Ace who took pity of her state, to the bar where he explained to the bartender who took her under his wing and was taught the ways of assassination.

Slowly, her name became known by people far and wide due to her red head and the smell of flowers wherever she went. Therefore the name Red Fragrance became one of the top assassins in the known world. She had a saying that she kept with her always which were 'The scariest monsters are not the ones outside our walls, it is those who are around us, those are the ones to watch out for'.

"I know, I'll never forget what you did for me", Reds replied smiling at him. "Alright, see you inside", Ace replied nonchalantly as he walks into the bar.