The closer we came to the drawbridge, the fewer buildings we saw. Soldiers began littering the roads. Our traveling is being watched by a multitude of guards. They must think we're up to no good since they keep staring at us. Fortunately, we're not surrounded by only guards. There are some adventurers that I saw at the guild hall earlier that seem to be returning from their quests. Some of these adventurers appeared to be fine while some had cuts and scratches on them. I hope I return like the former and not the latter, or even worse.
Unfortunately for me, my traveling companion seemed to be incapable of reading the mood of the situation.
"Kenji, Kenji! Isn't this exciting?" He kept nudging me. "I've never been outside of the city before! We get to go and kill monsters and be heroes like in those story books! Have you ever been outside of the city before? What's it like? Are there big scary monsters?"
I pushed Tael away from me. "I've never been outside of the city before either. Would you calm down? We have a long day ahead of us and we need to sustain our energy. I don't know about you, but I've never been in a battle before with monsters."
Tael shrugged. "Me either, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited about it!"
I simply scowled at him and let bygones be bygones. We had finally reached the gate to the drawbridge after some time. As we came closer and closer to the exit of the town, a guard came and stopped us.
"Woah there. Who are you two? I've never seen you around here before." He held a piece of paper in his hands as he held a pen in the other.
A smirk formed on Tael's face. I felt a chill run down my spine. "Fufufu... Can't you tell by my magnificent robes and my regal features? I am mmph-!"
I quickly covered Tael's mouth before he could spout out more nonsense. I instead elected to speak for the both of us.
"We're adventurers. We're going to head out to go monster slaying."
The guard eyed us as I struggled to prevent Tael from spouting out childish lines. "Adventurers, eh? If you're really adventurers then you ought to have that one spell cast on you. Show me and I'll let you pass."
Since it was requested, I took my hands off of Tael's mouth so he could speak the command word.
"MMMPH! H-Hey don't steal my thunder, man! Now my cool intro is ruined!"
"Shut up and do what he said. Status."
My screen appeared in front of me. After a moment, Tael reluctantly followed suit. The guard walked over to us, reading out our screens for a moment as he wrote down our names on the paper.
"Hmm… I see." He jotted down "level zero" under my name and "level one" under Tael's. "Well, everyone needs to level up at some point I suppose. Good on you two for taking the initiative."
As the guard motioned for us to begin walking, I stopped Tael from stepping forward. "I have a few questions if you don't mind me asking."
The guard eyed me for a second before he shrugged. "I don't have a problem."
"I heard that this drawbridge closes, is this true?"
"Yeah." He began digging in his ear. "This drawbridge closes at ten every night and opens at five the next morning. I don't care if you're the emperor, you're not getting in until five o'clock."
I nodded. Tael seemed antsy to go, but I held his robe so he couldn't move anywhere. "Alright. Why is the drawbridge closed at ten at night?"
The guard held his face like he was just asked a dumb question. "Jeez, you really are green around the gills... Look, some monsters become more active at night. They try to find a good place to huddle down in and a walled city is like a buffet to them."
"What monsters should we expect?" Tael was trying his hardest to make me release my grip, but his inferior strength failed to do so.
The guard inspected his fingers. "I dunno... Goblins, slimes, wolves, maybe a zombie. Urik says he saw a skeleton once."
I don't know how dangerous any of these monsters are. I don't think I'm ill equipped, but I don't have any information on the monsters either. "This might sound naive, but if people get trapped outside, do you send out rescue parties?" I asked. I hate planning for the worst, but you need a final option in case everything else goes poorly.
"Nope. You're on your own the second you step outside these walls."
"I see…" I turned away and cupped my chin.
The guard began to laugh. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now, are you?"
"N-no I'm not!" I stomped my foot on the ground, creating a loud bang that reverberated in the area.
Tael stopped struggling against my pull as he instead started going in the opposite direction. "You know what? Maybe I should practice my spells some more…"
Tael began to sidle away before I caught his robe once more. He struggled against my grip, even attempting to bite me.
"Haha! You kids are a riot!" The guard turned away and began to walk back towards the interior of the wall. "Alright, stay safe out there."
"Yes sir. I plan to return tomorrow." I bowed.
"Always plan for the dawn! Stay safe on your travels." He waved without looking back.
"Likewise." I raised my head.
With that, I dragged a reluctant Tael with me outside of the gate and over the drawbridge. We have left the city of Ruks and begun our first adventure.