The horse stopped at the gate. A knight (OMG is this an actual kingdom??) came to the carriage for a little inspection.
"Yo! Mind opening the gate for us?"
Urek talked to the knight as if they were close friends. And as expected, the knight replied softly, as well.
"Sure thing! Just let us check up for a while."
The knight went to the back and looked inside. His gaze fell on me, and I do feel scared for a bit. Then he walked back to the front to meet back with Urek.
"May I see your identification cards?"
And… here we go.
"Actually, there is a person here who doesn't have any identification card."
"The young lady?"
"... Yes"
Urek turned to me, with a sorry face. I shook my head at him, telling him it's fine.
"May the young lady step down, please."
As the knight requested, I stepped out of the carriage. The breezing air came to greet me once more, and I can feel my super long hair flowing with the wind.
Damn, that felt great. I wonder if every woman with long hair felt like that. Then again, any man with long hair would feel the same. Surprisingly, long hair feels enjoyable.
"Follow me to the office please."
He said to me as we walked to where Urek is. The knight went back to face Urek and nodded.
"You may proceed inside."
"Thank you."
Urek moved his carriage into the castle's gate. Urek pointed his fingers at the gate, as if saying he will wait inside. I gave him a nod.
"Follow me."
The knight stiffly walked towards the office, which is right at the gate's left wall.
I followed the knight inspector as he entered the office. The inside is surprisingly not that wide, but it's enough to fit a lot of people. There are a few officer knights interviewing some people at their desks. Seems like they are questioning them before they can enter, the same thing that's about to happen to me.
"Sit here."
The inspector knight told me to sit at the table, right in front of a knight woman. The knight woman had short black hair, with pale skin and blue eyes.
Her face is not showing the slightest sign of friendliness, which gets me a little nervous.
"Name?"
She asked with a cold tone. Ah, this felt like being called to the headmasters office, just like back in the day.
"Rize."
"Full name?"
Full name? Do I have to think of a backname?
Whatever. Just pick anything. Food, fruit, banana, color... Color?
"Rize Violet."
I always liked the word violet. Damn, now that's some good name.
"Age?"
Oh... Right. Since this is a new body, I don't know a single shit about it. How old is this body? How old am I?
I guess my face couldn't hide my thoughts and showed signs of confusion. The knight lady seemed to understand.
"Uncertain?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. Profession?"
She just wrote something down and asked the next question. Dude, it's not normal to not know your age, how is she just moving on with it?
And profession? What am I suppose to say, prostitute?
"N-None."
"Homeland?"
"..."
"O… kay..."
She is totally suspicious!!!
"Hmm. Reason for coming to Mazino?"
"Emm... Staying alive?"
"Staying alive?"
She showed an even more bewildered face than my face. Haha, this is funny.
"I was in the wild for a long time. I came from a very far-far away place. Plus, I have a slight... memory issue... But certainly, I would need a place to stay."
I probably came up with the worst story ever, but 'somehow', the knight lady thought it's a normal thing, because she just wrote something on her paper and stopped. It's funny how she just believed that.
"You know, living here isn't easy."
She suddenly said, which surprises me that she is accepting everything that happened a few seconds ago.
"I... Don't know about that. Do you know any good profession that I could join here?"
I had to know, to survive. I could start by getting money first so that I can eat, and maybe a place to sleep.
"Hmm. If you are good at cooking, you can become a chef at a diner."
I shook my head.
"If you are good at slicing and blood, maybe becoming a butcher would do."
Also nope. I don't like blood.
"Or maybe an adventurer."
Hell n--wait what?
"Adventurer?"
"Yes. It's an official profession now... apparently. If you don't know, basically you do missions and quests given by the kingdom or the people, and you can get paid."
Like… mercenaries?
It's like in video games. They were paid by the server to do missions. Except this isn't a game and there's no server, which means real people with real problems will be the one to create those real missions.
Damn, this is real shit.
"What kind of missions?"
"Missions that come from the people basically, like catching a fish, or killing a monster at a certain location. It could be anything. But stuff like knights or kingdom related is left for the knights. We kept the integrity of the kingdom."
Hmm. Maybe I could also become a knight. It's probably boring, since I have seen an army training. I will probably hate it.
And did she just say monsters?
"Or if you aren't good at anything but seducing men, you can always consider-"
"No."
She looked at me with a grin. I knew she was joking, but I just can't help but reply with a cold tone.
"I mean... No thanks. I think I'm clear with what I want to do. Does this mean I can enter the kingdom?"
"Yes, but to enter, you need to have an identification card."
"How do I obtain that?"
"Well, you can issue one from the kingdom, but that would cost money. I think the free and easiest one is by becoming... An adventurer."
The way she said it, she wore this disgusted face. I can tell easily that she hates adventurers.
"What should I do to obtain an adventurer identification card?"
"You can head to the Adventurer's Office, on the main road. There, just go to the front desk and ask to issue an ID card right away."
"Oh, thanks."
I was about to turn and leave, but she wasn't done talking.
"But, of course... Someone must keep an eye on you until you obtain an identification card."
"I don't mind. Who would be keeping an eye on me?"
"A member from the Knights Corps."
"I see. I understand."
And here I thought I could get away from having made a card, like any intruders would.
Adventurers huh? Sign me up!
Then again, if I have to adventure around the world in this weak body, do some labor work, or even fight beasts, I probably won't last a day. But let's just try it out! I want to see what this brand new world has!
Afterwards, the office knight lady told me to go to the adventurer's office, with the condition that I will be guarded by a knight. Luckily, she chose a lady knight. Looks like it's a date.
But after seeing her inside the gate, I found that she was even stiffer than the office knight lady.
She is… in fact, quite cute. Her blonde hair was tied to the middle while her whole body was covered in metal armor. A long knight sword is inserted to the scabbard and placed on her left hips. Her expression shows not even a smile, and her glare as she looks at me made me shiver a little.
A strict… knight?
"My name is Vane. Welcome to Mazino."