Isabella is used to having high expectations placed upon her, but low-no expectations? She deals with the only way she knows how; very poor responses she picked up in university
Just a short little one-shot of Isabella before she moves to Mistria, and how exactly the small town came to catch her interest. Also available on Ao3
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Isabella knew she should give it up eventually.
At some point in the last two hours, she had lost the topic of her paper. But it was due in two days and she had gone through stacks of paper trying to write it. If she didn’t get something done by tonight for proofreading and editing tomorrow, she may as well just drop the class.
So, she plowed on, despite knowing the chances of her getting anything above a C were slim. Hoped that maybe it wasn’t making sense because she’d been staring at the paper all day and it’d be fine when she looked at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.
Looking back at her book, Isabella grimaced. If she had known how difficult it would’ve been to find sources supporting her theory and argument, she would’ve picked something else entirely.
“..tria? Out in…”
“…been struggling since…”
“…dropped two…”
Voices from nearby caught her ear. She pauses in flipping through the book, looking up to the source of it.
Her classmates had called her crazy for working so close to the Adventurer’s Guild, but Isabella has never minded it. When she got in the zone, it was easy to tune out other noises, and when she was looking to procrastinate, it had become a valued way of doing so. Plus, the weekly trip across the city gave her the opportunity to actually take a look at whatever new jobs were posted by the guild on the board.
Currently, said board was the source of the voices, belonging to three individuals standing next to it.
“It has. I heard a lot of people moved away after the earthquake a few months ago.”
“Guess that explains the posting - looking for dedicated adventurer to help rebuild.”
“It does seem like a tempting offer… even after the recession ended, land everywhere is expensive. Free land is a pretty sweet deal.”
“Honestly? I’d consider taking it, but then I’d probably have to move… and with Grandma the way she is, it just isn’t feasible.”
“Oh yeah. It’d definitely be a big change, unlike most of the other jobs. I wouldn’t want to do it unless you were entirely sure.”
“Yeah… let’s see what else is on the board.”
As the adventurers continue their conversation, Isabella turns what they said over in her head. She vaguely recalls Mistria being a small-time town in the southwest, near the ocean, but not much more than that.
Curiosity piqued, Isabella waits until the group leaves before standing up. It’s a quick walk over to the board, and she skims through the postings and flyers until she finds the right one.
To: Any and All adventurers
The town of Mistria is looking for a dedicated and hardworking individual to help with rebuilding efforts.
After the earthquake, we have suffered a number of losses, including damages to major infrastructure, with little relief to help recover. In addition, many people have moved away, making help harder to find.
In exchange for help with rebuilding, we are offering free farmland and a house south of town for anyone who wishes to help. If this interests you, please contact Adeline and Eiland of Mistria.
Free land? Isabella’s eyes raise at that. Though the recession had ended several years ago, land was never cheap (at least not without good reason), and the recent earthquake had only made things worse.
Even in the Capitol, there were people still suffering the effects of it. The university had to get half of the west wing rebuilt after it had collapsed during the quake, forcing the school to rent out a two-story business building until construction was complete.
It is a pretty tempting offer, even counting the rebuilding aspect, Isabella considers, thumbing the bottom of the paper. But… those guys were right. It’s a lot of effort.
Rebuilding wasn’t an easy process—she’d almost certainly have to pack up everything and move there. It’d be a big change. There’s no way she’d be able to do that and do school at the same time.
Isabella grimaces at the thought, glancing back to her paper, still lying on the desk behind her.
Realistically, it wasn’t a job for her. Most of the jobs she took were simple and easy, quick ways to make some extra cash when funds got tight. More community service than an actual job. She had been taking on a lot of stuff related to rebuilding after the earthquake, but it was mostly small things. Make food, gather supplies, things like that. From the sound of it, this job was a lot bigger than that.
Isabella should leave it. Let someone else with more to lose and less to do take it.
Yet… she finds herself pausing as she goes to leave, looking back at the paper again.
It bugs her for the next hour as she tries to work, looking through her book and rewriting in the margins and trying to string her words into some semblance of an argument.
Yet, every time she sees someone else going towards the board, she finds her gaze drawn towards it. Waiting to see if the paper is taken off, and feeling a strange sense of relief each time the person comes to the same conclusion she did, leaving the paper behind.
It’s only when she gets realizes there’s now a gigantic ink plot in the middle of her paper does Isabella call it a day. Gathering her things, she thinks about getting a cup of coffee on her way home.
But, before she does—before Isabella can talk herself out of it—she goes up to the board, and takes the request off of it.
Anyways, I’ve gotten really into fields of Mistria, so here’s my Farmer oc! Her name is Isabella, and she’s a scholar from the Capital looking for something new and exciting to do.
I don’t know how consistent I’ll be with drawing but I loveee talking in long tumblr posts so feel free to ask questions about her!
