"Nn~" I stretch. My body aches from sleeping somewhere other than a bed for the first time in a while. It's still dim around me, and it seems the sun hasn't fully risen yet. When I lift the hood I was wearing, the cold morning air instantly wakes me up.
There's no sign of people, magical beasts, or animals around. The barrier hasn't changed and is still intact, so I dispel it. I take out a basin, fill it with water, and wash my face and brush my teeth. I do some light stretching to loosen up my body. I enter the forest a bit to gather twigs and fallen leaves, deciding to borrow a relatively decent fireplace. I light a fire and boil water in a small pot. While waiting for the water to boil, I take out some bread and stuff it with herbs and medicinal plants.
Using the fire that's boiling the water, I grill thin slices of orc meat taken from my storage pouch. When it's cooked just right, I put it in the bread from earlier. As the water seems to have boiled, I extinguish the fire, prepare a wooden cup with a tea bag filled with dried flowers, and pour the hot water over it.
"Mm, nice aroma. This is definitely the way to start the morning."
Since it's reusable, I drain the tea bag and dry it with magic. I put it in the box where I store various tea leaves and toss it into my storage pouch.
"Time to eat."
I take a sip of tea, savoring the aroma. When I eat the bread I made earlier, the sweet fat of the orc meat and the spiciness of the herbs blend nicely, making it delicious. Finally, I freshen my mouth with tea, rinse with the moderately cooled warm water, and clean up.
"Alright, the fire's out and I haven't forgotten anything."
I sit on my staff and rise into the air. Although I can only see trees ahead, there should be a town further on. As the sun rises, the temperature quickly increases. Oh, I spot an orc. Since there's only one, I wonder if it's a stray?
It's close to the highway, so I swiftly behead it with sorcery, toss it into storage, and ascend again. Judging from the many old scars on its body, I probably can't expect much when selling it. I also collected the weapon it was carrying, but it was in terrible condition, so that's probably not worth much either.
After traveling for a while, around what feels like lunchtime, the forest ends, and I can see what looks like a town in the distance across a grassland. I hesitate, wondering if it's okay to keep flying. Honestly, I don't know the common sense of this era. There's a possibility I could be suddenly attacked if I fly in. After considering for a while, I decide to land just before leaving the forest and walk from there.
It looked quite close from the air, but since the ground isn't flat, it takes surprisingly long to walk. However, I finally reach the town entrance. As I could tell from a distance, it seems to be a fairly large town surrounded by walls. In front of the gate, which is as large as the outer wall, two gatekeepers are standing around looking bored. I'm not sure if it's due to the time, but there's hardly any people coming or going.
They don't seem particularly wary of me as I approach. I lift my hood to show my face as I near the entrance, and the man who looks to be in his 50s calls out to me. By the way, the other one appears to be in his 20s.
"Miss, I haven't seen your face before. Did you come through the forest alone?"
The language used is the common tongue.
"Yes, I'm traveling alone. What is this town called?"
"This place? This is the town of Dana. If you want to enter the town, you can if you have something to prove your identity. An adventurer card, merchant certification card, or letter of introduction would do."
Well, as expected, I don't have any of those things.
"I'm sorry, I don't have either of those. The place I lived didn't have such organizations or guilds."
"Ah, I see. If you came from that direction, it must be some pioneer village, so it's not strange that you don't have them."
Pioneer village, huh. So if I had continued north along that highway, there might only be such villages and no towns like this one.
"I also don't have any usable money, but I do have some magic stones. Would that work somehow?"
Saying this, I take out a few small magic stones from my robe pocket.
"So you only brought magic stones with you, huh?"
The younger one says this with a bitter expression. Hmm, from the way he says "brought," it seems they think I ran away from my village.
"If you don't have identification, you need five copper coins to enter, but if you exchange those magic stones, it should be more than enough. Geese, accompany this girl to the Adventurer's Guild. She should be able to make an adventurer card quickly there. Have them issue the card, exchange the magic stones, and collect the five copper coins for the entrance tax from the exchanged money."
"Understood, Sergeant Josh, sir."
The young gatekeeper called Geese gives a light salute and gestures for me to enter the town.
"Um, thank you, Mr. Josh."
I bow my head lightly in thanks before catching up with Mr. Geese and following him. Entering the town, it seems quite lively and bustling. Amazing, it really feels like another world, with all this vitality. Somehow, there are stalls lined up on both sides of the street, making it feel like a festival.
"It's so crowded, it's like a festival."
"Ah, this is normal around here. On actual festival days, it's nothing like this."
After that, we walk in silence for a while along the main street until we see a building with a sign depicting a sword and shield hanging from it.
"This is the Adventurers Guild. At this time of day, most adventurers are out, so it's perfect timing. Come on, let's go in."
Prompted by Mr. Geese, I take my first step into the Adventurer's Guild.
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