After talking at the knight's office, I bade farewell with Urek and his children.
I thanked him a lot for helping me and my weak body all the way to the gate. He told me that once I have settled down, I should come visit his store at the market on the western main street.
Not sure where that is, but I promised him anyway. For now, I'll remember it.
I waved my hand as his carriage went further away from me. I'm guessing they are going towards the marketplace that he mentioned along with his happy little kids.
Being a family man sure is nice… to have a happy family like that.
After bidding farewell to Urek, I returned to the large gate again and was greeted by someone.
A young female knight approached me from the gate's office. She looked to be around her late 20s. Her blonde hair was tied on the back and her blue eyes looked at me fearsomely, as if telling me to run. Nevertheless, she is beautiful.
"My name is Vane. Welcome to Mazino."
The knight lady said to me, and I immediately knew what kind of person she was just from her tone.
Her voice is calm, but deep down I could feel that she would cut me down if I tried anything stupid. She had her left arm holding the hilt of her sword on her hip.
She is being very careful with me.
I actually forgot about those things. If there are knights and castles, then there should be swords. Who knows, maybe I'll get to wield a sword one day. Adventurers fight monsters, right?
"My name is Rize."
"Follow me, Miss."
Somehow, hearing the word 'Miss' triggered the dark memory that I kept on trying to bury.
Damn… I forgot I'm in the body of a female...
I have to get used to this. I have to stay alive and survive, so that I can find a way to return. One day, I'll find a way to return to my old body. I'll find a way to return home as well.
But until then, I have to survive.
We are walking on some sort of main road inside the kingdom. I looked around at the buildings standing proud on the sides of the wide road. They looked very old fashioned, like old Britain kind of old. Maybe this place is England after all?
But that doesn't explain why some of the things here are very simple. Not even the buildings in England or any other European country are this traditional. This is definitely not a European country.
The clothes of the people here are more or less alike with those of Urek's. However, Urek's clothes are much filthier. Could the caste system still exist here? Like nobles and stuff?
Aside from that, there are also the expressions. Everyone looks happy, families strolling down under the daylight on the large road, and the kids laughing while playing around. I guess this kingdom is a really peaceful one. I already imagined I'd be meeting with a kingdom that's some sort of a war addict.
During the walk, we walked past a lot of things. There was a rather open park, with kids running around freely and having fun. Trees are placed along the road, carts are coming from both directions. It is truly like an old England kingdom that usually exists in stories.
Maybe… this place is really… an ancient kingdom?
I had to remove those thoughts for a little bit, because I suddenly felt an emergency coming from my body. I could feel my legs crumbling and my body getting tired from continuously walking. Which surprises me, because that wasn't even a long walk!
"Can we... rest for a bit?"
I suddenly said while walking limply towards a short wall at the park, right next to a water fountain.
The knight lady noticed that I don't look too good, and she can't help but ask.
"Are you, by any chance, sick?"
"I'm not sure. But I'm just… very tired..."
I tried to keep my consciousness awake, because it's getting hard to control my eyes. At another part, I could barely feel my legs.
I feel so weak right now… something is definitely wrong.
"Fine. Let's rest for a bit."
She sat down right next to me, on the short walls next to the park. This surprises me, because I wasn't expecting her to be so… casual around me.
There is about a one meter gap between us, so I guess she still keeps a distance. But the next thing she did surprises me even more.
"Where are you from?"
She suddenly asked from my left, which shocks me because I wasn't expecting her to start a conversation.
Her tone isn't as if she was interrogating me, but more like starting a conversation.
Which is… good, because that's pretty much what I needed right now to forget about my fatigue.
"A place very… far away from here."
"I'm asking for a name."
Is it really not an interrogation?
I gave her the name of the place I came from, but she just turned her gaze when she realized she didn't know where that even is.
"Oh..."
She let out a sound, and I tried checking my surroundings again. As I caught my breath, I looked around the buildings again.
Now I can see it clearly. Some of these buildings are actually a living home on top of a shop, like diners and stuff.
There is a diner right across the street. I wonder if I could eat there...
Wait. I don't have any money now, do I?
I looked at Vane. She looked like she was enjoying the air as well. She looked very pretty too, which made me wonder if I can find myself dating her.
Then again… I'm a female, now…
But they probably won't mind, right?
As I stared at her, an idea popped into my head. I wondered about it for a bit, and finally decided to do it since I truly need it.
Let's pry some information out of her. My turn.
"Hey, Miss Knight. I wish to ask, how big is the pay do adventurers usually get?"
"Hmm? Well that depends on their rank. The lowest rank usually only gets paid fifty Jules a mission. And a single mission could cost them their lives.
But if it's a higher rank, I think I heard that they can get around 2000 Jules a mission."
Wow, there are ranks for that. How did you even rank them? By skills and knowledge? I mean that's obvious but, does the difference of payment have to be so big? Maybe the higher ranking one is like the big boss of the adventurers or something.
Wait...
"How much is a Jule, here?"
She let out a sigh.
"A single Jule can barely get you anything. You need at least 2 Jules to obtain a single bottle of mineral water. Four to six if you want to buy the cheapest food or fruits."
"Hmm… How about a house?"
"A house? The lowest one should be... Ten thousand Jules. And it's probably a terrible looking one, so try to be smart and don't buy a house for only ten thousand Jules."
I nodded in gratitude. Good advice.
I tried moving my legs and stomped on the ground. They seemed to be a lot better now. And I don't feel tired anymore, I'm ready.
"I think my legs feel fine now. I can walk again."
"Let's go."
We continued our walk towards the adventurer's office. It's actually not that far from the gate I just entered. But in this body, I can barely walk a single kilometer.
Arriving at the adventurer's office, I looked around. It is exactly like what I imagined. It is like some sort of fantasy group of mercenaries that fight monsters all the time.
Inside, there are a lot of people doing their own things. On the right, some people I'm guessing are adventurers, are looking at the wallboard filled with papers divided by different colors of the wall. I'm guessing those are the assignments board, while the colors are the ranks.
Some of the adventurers are sitting at what looks to be a diner, right next to the receptionist desk. There's a kitchen at the back side of the diner, which I assume is where they cook the food for the diner.
Right in front of the entrance, there are a few adventurers lining up for the front desk that is at the back. The line isn't quite long, so it looks like we won't have to wait for long until our turn.
From outside, the building is quite large. It is an office, after all. But, the inside looks even more spacious.
As I looked around, I noticed something about these adventurers that somehow piqued my eyes. Something about their physical... appearance.
Wait, are those... Short guys? Dwarves?
Long ears? Elves????
What…?
Where the hell am I??
How come I didn't realize this when I was walking on the street? I might've walked past a couple non-human beings but decided to ignore them, thinking they were just another human.
Vane noticed the worried look at my pale face, and she became worried as well.
"What's wrong, lady?"
The knight lady asked me. My face is showing too much confusion after all. I didn't even move my gaze towards her as I answered.
"Emm... Those people. They aren't humans, are they?"
The knight lady let out a sigh and shook her head.
"Where are you even from? That person is an Elf. You know? Elves...?"
"Uhuh…"
"The weird looking beast and man combination are 'beastlings'. Just like its name, they are of humans and beasts. How did this happen, you may ask? Ask the first human that married an animal and created them."
Wow.
"Is... Is that so…"
Though there are these non-humans, there weren't that many. Very few are from the elven race, while the other species is even fewer. Most of the adventurers are humans. There's like only one or two dwarves here, while there are about three to five elves that I can see.
Vane just shook her head again at how stupid I am being, and immediately grabbed my hand.
"Come. Let's talk to the receptionist."
She pulled me towards the line of people for the receptionist desk.