The village during Simon's teenage years looked almost exactly the same as it did now, albeit it was slightly smaller back then, because the amount of space their territory encompasses is still enough to accommodate the whole populace.
It was the golden time of his youth; At that period, he was almost the same age as Philip is right now, when the previously assigned surveyor to their village came, and of course he was only there for one specific reason, to announce the kids that had been chosen to be given a recommendation to study in the academies of the kingdom of humanity.
However, Simon wasn't chosen, it was already obvious from the start, he was untalented as a mage back then, he barely managed to be able to cast a first-tier magic spell, and to top it off he can only do it one time.
He too already expected that he would not be chosen, but still Simon may it be because of his youth or his personality, he was still stubborn enough to go along with this generation's chosen no matter how much his parents protested against it.
"My son, please don't go" Simon's mother pleaded with him.
As his mother was pleading his father just asked him one thing, "Are you really sure about this, Simon?"
"Yes, father" Simon answered earnestly, showing to both his parents that he was serious.
Simon then walked away, holding his head up high, with a determined gait, his back showing to his parent just how much conviction he held with that decision of his.
"You know exactly why I didn't want him to go, that boy is just way too honest for his own good, the people there will surely take advantage of him and destroy him." Simon's mother spoke in a regretful tone as she looked away from her son, showing just how much lament she has in not stopping him.
His father also fretful about his decision of not stopping him, held his wife in his arms and said, "But you know, you already knew that we can't stop him, and even if we did manage to, he may be safe, but it will be like clipping his wings, making him regret the life that he could've lived - I just hope that he does not burn his wings along the way"
...
When Simon arrived there, him and the other kids immediately separated, and he was left at the outermost part of the kingdom of humanity, the baron's territories, specifically the Avila's.
At first Simon was able to eat and drink for an entire week without a job, because of the sheer amount of food and water that his parents packed for him, he was like a kid in kindergarten that were being sent by his parents to school for the first time.
Furthermore, his parents also wanted to make him bring along that thing called "Money", because they heard of how convenient it is, their village did not have any, they were not that advance yet.
But no matter how much his parents love him, it wasn't enough to make his stomach enriched with food for eternity, as after that first week came the second week, where he starved for its entirety.
Although his rations could've last him for an entire month, he could not help but give some of it away to the pitiful child beggars that he came across on the streets.
The reason for it is that he also slept there because on inns wanted to take him in, as he was unfamiliar with the ways of the world here, so just he slept on the roads, and sometimes on the back alleys if there is rain, as there are covers there.
"Good morning, sir? For how many nights do you plan on staying here sir?" The innkeeper asked Simon.
'Sir? Is that an insult? But judging by his expression and how he spoke to me it doesn't seem that way, so what the hell does that mean?' Simon thought for a bit before finally replying, "Can I stay here for just one night"
"Of course, sir!" The innkeeper replied enthusiastically
Simon then took out something from his comically large pouch, "Is two bunch of bananas, enough?" As he tried to barter, like the way they did back on his village.
The smiley face and the enthusiastic demeanor of the innkeeper then changed, "Sir, are you telling me that you don't have any money, and you dared to step foot in our inn?" The innkeeper asked sarcastically.
"Are two bunches not enough? Should I add more?" Simon asked confusedly, not understanding why the innkeeper was behaving that way.
"If you don't have any money-THEN GET OUT!!!" The innkeeper shouted angrily thus causing a commotion and attracting the guards that was standing at front door, so Simon was forced to leave.
After trying for the best-looking inn, Simon then tried to go to the other not nicer and smaller inns, but each time he was rejected either politely or angrily.
...
After some deliberating, Simon decided to give up on looking for lodgings for the day and decided to look for a job first.
"So, what kind of experience do you have prior to this job?" The HR asked while adjusting his glasses, kind of like the gesture that the anime characters with glasses does, when he/she acts smart.
("HUH?!!! There are HR's here?! WAKANDA SHIT IS THIS???!!!" The narrator commentated while he was narrating his own narration.)
"Umm... Etou... Ehh?" Simon replied dumbfounded.
He then continued his job search, but the HR's are always there to block his path to being employed, they were like a virus that just out of nowhere started popping up everywhere.
And with nowhere to stay but on the streets, his hygiene worsened, and as his hygiene worsened his chances of getting a job also worsened,
He had the highest chance of being employed when he first arrived here, but now he had already missed that.
So, with no other choice, he decided to enter the adventurer's guild, the most frowned upon job here, but more on that later.
...
After waiting in a somewhat long line, Simon finally arrived at the counter.
"Hello Sir, would you like to take a commission? or make a commission? or register here as an adventurer? This receptionist here will take care of it for you" The receptionist spoke sweetly and enthusiastically; it was a perfect greeting, as if she had practiced and rehearsed it every day, but Simon became even more disturbed by this, because the way she did it was similar to the past innkeepers that he had encountered.
So, he hesitantly asked, "T-Then can I register as an Adventurer"
"Of course, sir! but before that sir please show me your identification plaque, so I can verify your Identity and start registering you!" The receptionist retained her smile and enthusiasm, so this time Simon's heart felt at ease.
Simon then took out his Identification Plaque that the surveyor took care of, by handing one each to the kids that he rode with in the carriage, before they entered the gate, "Oh, okay here"
"Hmmm, I see, based on what's written here, no prior experiences, hadn't graduated from an academy, no noble relations, and came from the @*#4 - Sir! It looks like you're gonna have to start at bronze!!!" Again, the receptionist spoke enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Simon was just glad that the receptionist did not change her attitude towards him when she found out about his identity.
He then looked at the commission board to look for his first job, but he realized that almost all of the commissions that were high paying were hunting jobs.
'Forget about it' He thought, he was weak, and he knew the limitations of his body, he knew that he might actually die trying to hunt even the weakest beast, and he did not even have any money to pay for a healer in case he got injured, (something that he had learned through just listening and asking around) no matter how much he thought about it, the risk just far outweighed the reward.
So, with hunting crossed off the list, he went to the next best thing, foraging and gathering.
Huff! Huff!
Crack!
Sweek!
However, that too seemed like a bad option for him, because although he had no trouble navigating through the forest because of the village that he was born to, the biggest problem was the language that he spoke.
Simon was lucky enough to be able to talk to the people here, because their language had the same roots. But the problem starts from when their ancestors separated, their languages evolved differently and the kingdom of humanity in particular, developed different dialects.
So, from the beginning the reason why the people here did not treat Simon weirdly from the beginning even though he spoke their language in a broken manner and in a weird accent, was the fact that they just assumed that he just came from other noble's territory.
Which leads us back to why Simon's language became problematic, for example in Simon's language the yellow thin long fruit is called a banana, but in the Avila's territory it is called Plátano, but if you translate Plátano back to Simon's language it becomes a pineapple.
This led to confusion and different catastrophes, as Simon kept on bringing the wrong stuff, and even if he does get it right, the amount money that he earns in exchange for the trouble that he goes through is just not enough.
The amount of food that he can buy with his meager money, is just not enough to replenish the energy that he expends every time he works.
So, with this kind of lifestyle, Simon's mind grew weary and tired, as his body had gotten noticeably thinner over the past two months.
But just as he was about to give up and just quietly pass away on the streets, a man dressed up nicely suddenly approached him.
Simon with his vision fading in and out, he thought 'Forget it, it's probably one of those gangs looking to hire me to commit evil deeds or those people looking to hire prostitutes'
...