After I was able to make a child so happy, I decided this might be the correct line of work for me. I went out of my way and bought one of those funny squeaky hammers, and was able to get the agency to enchant it. Having a self-defence tool makes me feel a lot better, and being able to keep it with me and not being able to accidentally hurt someone is a huge advantage. I spent some time practicing using it, and researching these "contracts", and I think I will be better prepared for the next one. Hopefully, all of my contracts are like this, it makes me so happy to bring joy to people's lives. 

Just in case though, I packed up some other objects that might be useful in these contracts and packed up a bag, so I can grab it and go when a contract calls. As for my hammer, I keep that on my all the time.

After finishing the mission, I returned to the hospital to try to cheer the other contractors up and recover from my wounds. It took about a week, but everything healed up very well and I didn't end up with any permanent damage. I am really glad I have that armour.

Afterwards, I returned to the circus I decided to lay low for this month and work on reverse-engineering my artifact. Unfortunately, the clown magic is very sensitive, so I accidentally broke it. However, based on those pieces, I was able to figure out how to construct a similar, albeit worse version of the effect. The artifact can no longer summon multiple clowns, but other than that, the spirit of the item is intact. I started crafting a ton of copies of them - One for each of the other contractors I get along well with, as gifts, and two for myself.