Reniris found herself just outside the guild doors, standing there alone and Eon nowhere to be seen. She felt a bit of anxiety at the prospect of being alone outside, and she had no idea how to start what she was supposed to do.
Eon had said it would be easier for them if she just went to the library and searched for what she needed while he took care of the quest; then, later, they'd meet up at the Inn and discuss things.
She agreed, finding the idea to be practical. However, she didn't expect how anxious she would be without Eon. He had been a constant presence in her life this month or so, so it's weird not having him close by.
'I can't stand here forever'
She thought. It was an odd feeling to be alone; She had gotten so used to his constant presence that it felt like she was naked without him like there was part of her that wasn't there.
She took a step forward and began walking in a random direction; there was no point in just standing in front of the guild.
Her legs moved, she was supposed to ask for directions to the library but she didn't feel comfortable enough to just stop a stranger and ask them questions, which was weird because she had done it before, back in the forest where she met with him and at Rix when her and Eon were looking for the guild.
She eventually found herself in a rather crowded area, with plenty of fruit and vegetable stands, with people shouting left and right about their fresh fish and recently picked fruits.
'Took a wrong turn'
She thought. She was about to turn around when she suddenly felt something crash against her legs, she looked down and saw a child stumbling back.
"I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to"
"Jake, how many times have I told you not to run, you'll get hurt"
Just as the child was apologising, a woman with ginger hair and a plus-size figure spoke as she walked towards Reniris with hurried steps.
"I'm sorry miss, he's just energetic sometimes"
The woman said with a bow of her head, while Reniris celebrated the fact that this could be an opportunity to ask for directions.
"No, it's fine, I was actually looking for the library, if you could me point towards its direction, I'd be grateful"
"Gladly, my name is Ruth"
"Reniris"
"Nice to meet you, Miss Reniris, please give me some time, I need to buy some things, then I can guide you to the library"
"Very well"
Reniris agreed; directions were what she wanted, but a guide was better. The trio then proceeded to walk, with Ruth looking over some of the products
"I take it you're new to the city, Miss Reniris?"
"Yes, I arrived today"
"I suppose that's why you're lost, it would have been embarrassing if you were a resident"
Ruth chuckled and Reniris scratched her cheek, feeling slightly embarrassed despite not needing to be embarrassed. Reniris and Ruth had some small talk, with Ruth asking Reniris some questions and Reniris answering the best she could.
It took little time before they were out of the market.
"I didn't think you were an adventurer, Reniris"
"What makes you say that?"
"The way you're dressed and your countenance, even female adventurers have a sort of manly ruggedness to them, not to mention you aren't tense like a taut rope"
Ruth explained and Reniris simply shrugged as it didn't really matter if she looked like an adventurer or not.
"Whenever I go anywhere with my husband he's always tense, not jumpy but it's easy to tell that he's ready for something to happen"
"I suppose he would be; being an adventurer involves a lot of risk, so unless they're in a place they know is safe, they won't relax.
Reniris said as she took a guess, she figured since they deal with the risk of death practically every day, adventurers will naturally be cautious of everything around them.
"That makes sense, by the way, why are you looking for the library?"
"I'm looking to read up on ancient creatures, maybe find some information about demons and where they come from"
"I don't know about ancient creatures but, anything related to demons you'll probably find only in the capital's library"
"Is studying about demons not encouraged?"
"No, it's not like that but I think it has to do with King Arthur's barrier, the crown doesn't want any books related to demons to spread and have someone accidentally summon a demon or something like that"
Ruth said. Reniris wanted to ask if there was a barrier but chose not to ask, she did find it odd that she was unable to sense the barrier at all, she'll have to investigate it too.
She figured everyone probably knew about the existence of the barrier, and it would be odd for her not to know and ask questions about it, so instead, she chose to say something else.
"Makes sense I suppose."
The devil said, reining in her curiosity about the barrier till further notice, and making a mental note to mention it to Eon.
"If you're interested my husband's first wife, knows a little about demons, she took a class on them in Arthuras royal academy"
"Thank you, if I won't be a bother then please ask her to share, any information would be useful"
Ruth gave her a nod; however, before she could answer, her son Interrupted the conversation.
"Mama, look. Dragon rider!"
The boy pointed at a large window that displayed multiple wooden figures of a man riding various reptilian creatures, including one that looked like a T-rex.
"You have Dragon Rider at home, Jake. We can't afford another one"
Looking at the figures, Reniris realised that they were what Reniella had been referring to back in Rix City and made a mental note to buy one for the princess before they met again in the future.
…
While Reniris was making acquaintances inside the city, Eon was deep inside the forest. He was slightly a bit angry over the fact he could only do a C-rank quest, and he hadn't been an adventurer long enough to do a rank-up quest.
The quest observer told him he had to be back before the gates to the city were closed, more specifically, an hour before they were closed; otherwise, the quest would be marked as incomplete.
The quest required him to kill and bring the body of a six-legged sprint-wolf for 350 ixe. Which was a type of wolf-like creature that had six legs and ran at speeds surpassing most other monsters, hence the name sprint-wolf.
Unlike typical wolves, the sprint-wolf is a solitary hunter that usually hunts in areas with a lot of small rodents, like moles and rats. It can hunt bigger prey, but large prey is usually hunted by a group of other wolves, so it chooses not to and avoids such hunts.
"But what do they mean when they call it a natural monster?"
He said as he looked over the quest form, reading the description of the creature, it was here that he realised he had very little information about this world.
"I was expecting to be given some sort of space bag or something similar"
He said, looking at the large sack he had over his soldier; It was just a normal sack that wasn't bigger on the inside like it usually is in most isekai or fantasy. He figured since there were no space bags, adventurers were expected to drag the creatures back to the guild.
"Not like that is an issue"
He said before his body blurred and he sped through the forest much like a hunter searching for his prey.
While Eon was searching, he heard commotion within the same forest, which made him curious.
....