Back at the post, I saw a massive line that stretched out through front doors. Many adventurers were attempting to redeem their receipts, and I really didn't have the energy for standing in that line and waiting god knows how long.
I hadn't slept last night as I was traveling to the town, and had spent the following day walking around the town, registering with the Pentaz Guild, learning about adventuring at the Guild Post, and then fighting in an Emergency Quest.
It was dusk outside, and although the streets were still bustling the day was definitely coming to a close.
Moving around the line to the counter where clerks cashed in your bounty, I went to a separate counter where one could rent a room in the Guild Post's upper floors.
The clerk sitting behind the counter was the same one I had seen announcing the Emergency Quest yesterday, her stern and pretty face edged by silky dark brown hair.
The nametag on her chest read 'Jina', she was my height and seemed to be in her late twenties.
"Hi. How much is it for a room?"
"Oh?" She looked up from her paperwork and responded, "It's 7 Dali for one night, 20 for three."
I handed over 7 of my 8 Dali, not feeling any hesitation since I would be getting a nice payout in the morning anyways.
After showing her my name on my ID, she took my money and gave me a key to room #34.
Room #34 was on the third and top floor of the building, with the second and third floors both being only bedrooms and a single bathroom, one for each floor.
I climbed the two flights of worn wooden stairs, trudged down the hall and jammed the key into the room marked #34. I closed the door and locked it behind me, throwing my pouch on the bedside table after taking out my remaining food.
I ate all of the bars before falling asleep on the spot, my exhaustion being a combination of extensive physical exertion, being awake for two days straight, and using quite a bit of magic on top of that.
It was only just past sunset when I had gone to sleep, and I slumbered for 12 hours until the sun had risen in the morning.
I got up and stretched my slightly sore body, noticing I felt energized and content, this being the first time I can ever remember being happy with where I was in life.
Exiting the room, I took my sole pouch of belongings and the room key, went to the bathroom, and then turned in my key downstairs in the main lobby.
Jina was already there, having gone to sleep after her reception shift ended for the night, and woken up before sunrise to begin work again. She was back at the central counter, which dealt with quests and other general guild matters, the same one people lined up at to redeem their bounties yesterday.
Being the early morning it was, there was significantly less people around, and I was able to walk right up to Jina and ask for my receipt to be redeemed.
"Good morning...?"
"Its Einer, I wanted to redeem this."
I handed her the paper that held a signature from the guild worker who appraised my kills, a certain magic-based skill he utilized while signing proved the authenticity of the document.
"Just one moment please, Mr. Einer"
It felt strange having an older mature beauty treat me with hospitality, hospitality being something I was unfamiliar with in the first place.
I stood there awkwardly for a minute, until she came back from behind a wall of cabinets with a white pouch twice the size of my fist.
It was packed full and the outline of coins inside pushing against the walls of the pouch reignited my joy at having this much money.
"Here is your 355 Dali, thank you for your participation."
She performed a light bow as she thanked me.
"um... ah... t-thanks, too?"
I took the bag of coins and walked off, my face slightly reddened. I didn't know why but I felt embarrassed just talking to the oddly charming and professional clerk, especially after struggling to respond correctly.
Jina watched as I retreated, behind the neutral and professional façade, she wondered about this newbie everyone was talking about with whom she had just spoken.
His slight ignorance and skittish persona revealed his inexperience in interacting with others, and easily inspired the instinct to protect and take care of him.
It didn't help that, unknown to Einer, he had a serious case of baby face. His fluffy brown hair and light magenta eyes could even make guys admit he was pretty or even cute.
Even though he thought he was average in height, that was among the malnourished kids back in the woods, and in actuality he was only average if you put him in with the town girls his age.
He had also considered himself toned and muscled after the standardization, however his physique was still on the lean and gentle side from everyone else's perspective. His face and body giving him a fit and young image that made most people underestimate his age by up to a few years.
His standards for many things had been severely distorted over the years, as he lived his early life in a completely estranged and dire world. He was disconnected from the culture and concepts of society.
However, it would take him a long time to learn this, and the unexplainable events it would bring to the young adventurer (who would continue to assume he looked manly) could only multiply in the future.
---
Leaving the post, I decided to walk around the nearby parts of town. Savoring the refreshingly crisp morning air after having just woken up was a glorious feeling, and I relaxed while searching for a place to get breakfast.
While eating back at the tavern was an option, (as they had a decently extensive menu from what I had seen), I could always eat there any time I was hanging around the guild, so it wasn't a big deal.
Eventually I found a homey bakery shrouded in the smell of fresh bread. I went inside and purchased an entire baguette from the nice old guy running the place with the last Dali remaining from when I had left 'home'.
I resumed my walk, taking bites of crunchy goodness, deciding it would be boring to just sit around all day to eat and sleep just because I had money now, and that I should earn more as long as I didn't have anything specific I wanted or needed to do.
I rerouted to walk back towards the guild post, when I bumped into someone who was coming from the inner town.
It was the Geode Rank girl with the soft yellow hair from when I had registered.
"Good morning Einer."
"Good morning... wait wha- did I introduce myself?"
"actually no, I just remembered your face from yesterday, quite a few people talked about you last night at the guild so that's why I know. I'm Valacia by the way."
"Oh, nice to meet you."
Her noble figure could easily be considered beautiful, but I was more weary than attracted if anything.
After that she just walked off to do whatever, and I continued on back to the post.
When I went inside, I saw Philip standing in front of the Stone Grade Requests, and decided to greet him.
"Hey Philip."
"Huh? Ohhh it's you, good morning."
"hah... What are you up to?"
"Just trying to find a quest to do by myself."
"What about Annali and Aisha?"
"They're out in the forest right now, Aisha is helping Annali get some experience points today, since we normally don't have the leeway to set her up with easy kills in the middle of serious quests. She really should have learned a combat spell first, that's just mage 101, how is a poor girl with nothing but a Stone Rank healing spell going to gain power if they can't kill any monsters? Jeez who knows what would have happened to her by now..."
Philip suddenly became talkative, and the contrast made it feel like he secretly cared a lot about his party.
He seemed like he was worried about Annali not being able to survive without their help.
'I guess they're all good people huh... aww that's kind of sweet.'
Something inside me told me to get closer to this kind of wholesome group dynamic, and I came up with a proposition that even surprised me.
"Then, want to do a quest together?"
"WHAT? I mean... uh, sure I guess. But why? Aren't you a pretty good mage with that fireball of yours? I'm only level 15 you know."
I probably shouldn't tell him that I'm only level 13...
And that I got to level 13 in a single day...
And that I was level 4 when I killed the centipede...
"no no, that's great actually! I'm not only new around here, but that was my first time adventuring as a whole yesterday. I don't really have any adventurer friends so it would be great for me if you could let me join you!"
"I mean if it's okay with you dude, a combat mage would help out a lot. I'm kind of a support guy anyways. Based on what you pulled off yesterday, I'd say we can take on a pretty juicy hunt request. Wait here a second, I'll find something good."
'Support guy'? Hunt request? Hmm... maybe tracking is his specialty.
I watched as Philip went over a variety of tacked up papers, before he took one off and brought it over.
"How about this one?"