First day of spring, I went to the Capital as soon as I can. Winter did us no good, food supplies are about to run out and it will only take a few more months before my family starve. That is why I want to become an adventurer, a high risk and high reward kind of work. If I become successful, my family won't worry about food anymore and they can live doing what they want. But if I die...
They will also die.
I engraved that phrase into my mind. Opening the wooden door to the Adventurer's Guild, a small screech annoyingly produced but it was indifferent compared to the loud chattering of the adventurers either planning for their next move. I headed straight to the counter where a beautiful woman stood with a smile.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild! What can I do for you?"
Her smile however, was one that is professional. As mascots of the guild perhaps they always choose the prettiest ones. Not forgetting my goal, I placed the pouch of common bronze coins onto the desk; it amounts to a hundred, which is enough for the registration.
"A registration, please."
Without any further ado, the receptionist took a quill and paper.
"Please write your name here, age here and where lived. If possible, previous experience."
Her fingers pointed atop the lines on the paper, alongside symbols I cannot understand. I know this is the symbols merchants put on a wooden board nailed on their caravans, I recognize some of them too, but I just can't find their meaning.
"I would like to have some help..."
Understanding my predicament, her head nodded and took the quill on her hand. This time, her professional smile seemed comforting.
"My parents call me Alterion. I lived in a small village called Weavestalks and I just reached sixteen last month"
"Good, that's all we need. Please wait a moment."
The receptionist went inside the room with the paper and there I waited. While waiting I was suddenly grabbed by my shoulder by a woman. Her blue hair reaches onto her back, long eyelashes that compliments her round green eyes and her pink lips forming a really confident smile that it looks rather smug.
"Would you like to know about our lord and saviour--"
"No."
Her smug remained unchanged, but her grasps became tighter. It seems like she wouldn't let me go; my eyes went up and down, examining the weird woman. Her weird first impression aside, she is dressed quite thickly, white long sleeves shirts tucked inside the red high waisted skirt that reaches knee-length, but above all of that, is a brown coat. Her garments look expensive, perhaps she is a noble.
"Haha, that was just a joke. But here comes the real deal--"
Before she could even speak out her intentions, the receptionist finally came back to save me from this misery.
"Here's your identification card, Sir Alterion. You can come to me whenev--"
Upon catching the sight of the woman beside me, the receptionist made a weird and panicked look and immediately ran over and handed me my card. She looked me in the eyes and had a worried expression like a mother who's about to send off her child on an errand.
"Be careful around them okay? As much as possible go solo until you can get into a better guild. See that board over there? Just look at a with this symbol then hand it to me, I can read it for you.",
"Oh, come on Ms. Drea. If he has a party this early then he wouldn't have problem taking on quests. I can even teach him to read!"
The woman exclaimed. True, having a party early in my career can significantly boost my chances of advancing my rank. Which in turn, can allow me to take on requests with higher reward...
Wait, was she trying to make me join her? I thought this woman was trying to introduce me on her cult.
"That may be so but, there's other parties there that may be willing to accept him!"
"The question is, is there any?"
The receptionist looked at the busy crowd, no one is even paying attention to the commotion happening at the counter.
I remained silent, waiting for a chance to go away from the scene; although her hand is still tightly holding onto my shoulder. Realizing that there is no one willing, she sighed and sat down on her seat.
Why is she so against the idea? Is there something wrong with this woman? No wait, I think the second question is already answered. Yes, there is something wrong with her.
"What do you think? Are you willing to join my party?"
The blue haired woman asks.
First off, I don't see any disadvantages in working with a group of people. Not only will we be able to profit higher from taking on harder quests, we will be able to do it quickly too. Even if they have bad reputation...I don't see any problem in it as long as it's not about getting someone killed.
"...you haven't killed anyone yet right?"
"Yeah! We haven't killed anyone yet."
The blue haired woman puffed out her chest and confidently declared; she has a really confident smile all over her face.
...what does she mean about 'yet'?
Laughing nervously, I stood up from the chair and was about to leave, but my hand got caught in her hold.
"So are you in or are you out? Look, it's better if we help each other right?"
Her tone changed to that befitting of her appearance. Her hold gradually loosened before letting go of my hand. Eyes glum unlike before. It surprises me so much of how this woman changed so suddenly.
But just like she said, she may have some reasons in recruiting me. I can help her with that, but my priority is my family, yet she did say she will help me that. So it is practically win-win for the both of us.
"As long as my chances of dying is low. I can be part of your party, but can your group handle themselves?"
"Oh that? Don't worry, we can perfectly handle ourselves. I'm Mana by the way, Marina Nanami, but just call me Mana."
Nanami? That's a strange name to hear. The merchants in the village haven't mentioned anything about them either.
"If you're wondering where my family came from; my family originally lived in the north, but then moved in the capital for my studies."
Studies huh, I have to ask her about it. If my financial situation did get better, I'm planning to make my sibling attend school.
"Are you listening? Don't get quiet! We do know how to handle a monster or two. Let's get you meet the others."
Dragging my hand, with people blocking our view we had no choice but to blindly follow the direction while passing through. However, it did not take really long until two women came into view. A silver haired beauty with a stern expression, eyes as blue as the sky during daylight and pale complexion. Her stare however, are as cold as winter. Next to her is a woman of small stature, a red head with an uncommon feature. What I thought from first sight is just a lump of hair suddenly stood up and revealed a pair of ears and looking further away, there seems to be a tail coming from her back. She is without a doubt, a woman from a beast clan.
"I can't believe you finally sunk this low Mana...if only I could've--!! I'm sorry I couldn't do anything."
The stern looking woman sighed and covered her face, surely from the tone of her voice she was just teasing Mana here. Yet, here beside me is a girl fuming.
"I didn't seduce him or anything! He joined in his own accord."
"Is that so."
Emotionless, the woman uncovered herself and stared at me. Ignoring the chills I feel on my spine, I reached out my hand and introduced myself.
"I'm Alterion, looking forward to work with all of you."
Having received no response other than an endless staring contest, I turned my attention towards the red head. Her looks are simple, although her features are not as strikingly beautiful as the woman beside her but her gleaming golden eyes catches my attention. Noticing my gaze, she turned her head away shyly.
"L-Leona here...from the Feline Tribe...nice to meet you."
Her small voice almost passed through my hearing without me noticing, especially with how noisy the guild is.
"And I'm Mana! The mage in this party, I learned a lot of things from the academy so you can count on me to teach on a lot of stuff!"
"Add that it takes five tries for you to complete a spell."
The silver haired woman added, effectively making Mana pouty.
"This one rude fellow here is Anastasia, she's our marksman but her accuracy sucks. I add it that she has a higher chance of hitting her teammates than the enemy so do be careful around her, okay?"
"W-what did you say?!"
Anastasia and Mana clashed their heads and began to argue. It was pointless to listen to their arguing so I sighed and turned over to the quiet one.
A heater shield made of wood, no decorations other than the nails. Although it looks pretty beaten up, it can still be used for a few more hits. Strapped to her back seems like the grip of a sword. Without a doubt, the melee fighter in this party.
While the other two are arguing and this one is silent, I can't help but wonder if it was really a good idea to join her party.
For now, I would like to get used to how things are done in here, so maybe it won't hurt much to join them...I really want to go and finish some request already though.