Akira had learned two important things about the town.

  First: it was easy to get lost.

  Second: everything that smelled good cost money.

  His stomach made that painfully clear as he wandered past another line of food stalls, the air thick with the scent of grilled meat and baked bread. After hours of exploring—alleys, shops, streets that somehow looped back on themselves—hunger had finally caught up to him.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered under his breath. “I get it.”

  At his feet, Kristyne chirped softly, tail swaying as if she found the whole situation amusing.

  Akira stopped in front of a vendor grilling thick slices of meat on a flat iron.

  “How much for one?” he asked.

  “Two bronze,” the vendor replied.

  Akira nodded and reached into his pocket.

  He pulled out a handful of coins from his old world.

  The vendor stared.

  Akira stared back.

  They stood there in silence.

  “…What is that?” the vendor finally asked.

  “Uh,” Akira said, glancing down at the coins. “Money?”

  The man picked one up, squinted at it, then knocked it lightly against the stall.

  “…This isn’t bronze.”

  Akira’s stomach sank. “It’s metal.”

  “Not our metal,” the vendor said flatly, handing it back. “We use bronze, silver, gold. Platinum if you’re important enough to ever see one.”

  Akira tried another coin. Then another.

  Nothing.

  “…So,” Akira said carefully, “this has absolutely no value here.”

  “Correct.”

  He slid the coins back into his pocket.

  'Of course it doesn’t,' he thought. 'Why would anything be easy?'

  His stomach growled again.

  The vendor raised an eyebrow. “First day?”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “You’re alive, confused, and broke,” the man said. “Yeah. It’s obvious.”

  Akira hesitated. “So… how do people earn money around here?”

  The vendor jerked his thumb down the street. “Labor if you’re strong. Trade if you’re smart. Or—”

  His gaze lingered on Akira.

  “—the Adventurers’ Guild.”

  Akira blinked. “…That keeps coming up.”

  “Because it works,” the vendor replied. “Monsters pay bounties. Requests pay coin. Survive long enough and you won’t be standing here hungry.”

  Akira glanced down at Kristyne.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “…Guess we’re doing that,” he murmured.

  The vendor waved him off. “Come back with coin and I’ll sell you something warm.”

  Akira turned away.

  No money.

  No plan.

  A ridiculous number of skills he barely understood.

  And one very obvious next step.

  The Adventurers’ Guild was exactly as intimidating as he remembered.

  Big building. Armed people. Badges. Swords.

  Akira exhaled slowly and crouched beside Kristyne.

  “Listen,” he said quietly. “That place is full of people who fight monsters for a living. If they see you, best case they ask questions. Worst case… someone tries to ‘handle’ you.”

  Kristyne tilted her head.

  “I don’t think they’d mean it kindly,” he added.

  He opened the bag at his side.

  The interior stretched deeper than it should have, calm and softly lit.

  “Just for a bit,” he said. “I’ll get food, figure out money, and we’re out.”

  After a moment, Kristyne slipped inside. Akira closed the flap and slung the bag over his shoulder.

  “…Thank you.”

  He stepped inside.

  The guild hall buzzed with noise—conversation, clinking metal, rustling parchment.

  At the counter stood a woman with ash-brown hair that was tied back, glasses perched neatly, posture sharp.

  “Registration?” she asked.

  “…Yeah.”

  She moved quickly. “Name?”

  “Akira.”

  “Age?”

  “Seventeen.”

  She nodded. “I’m Mira. You’re registered as G-rank.”

  She slid him a metal plate and explained ranks, quests, payments—efficient, practiced.

  Akira listened, absorbing everything.

  “Quest board’s to your left,” Mira said. “Start small.”

  He nodded and moved on.

  The quest board was a mess of parchment.

  Akira squinted and read aloud.

  “‘Hunt three wild boars…’ Easy enough.”

  “‘Deliver herbs…’ Walking quest.”

  “‘Escort a merchant…’ Pass.”

  “‘Collect five wolf pelts…’ Maybe.”

  “‘Investigate strange noises in the old mine…’ Definitely haunted.”

  A few adventurers glanced his way.

  Then a shadow fell over him.

  “Don’t bother, stick boy.”

  Akira looked up. A D-rank adventurer—broad, armored, axe on his back—smirked down at him.

  “You think that twig makes you an adventurer?”

  Akira tightened his grip. “…It’s reinforced.”

  The man laughed. “Sure it is.”

  Kristyne rustled faintly in the bag.

  “Pick something safe,” the man said. “If you want to last the week.”

  He walked away.

  Akira exhaled.

  “…Alright,” he muttered.

  He scanned the board again.

  The boar hunt in the northern woods stood out.

  “…First quest,” he whispered.

  He tore it down.

  Back at the counter, Mira frowned.

  “Northern woods?” she said. “I apologise but you can’t take this.”

  “Why?”

  “A crimson Bear has been sighted in the northern woods recently.”

  Akira lifted the bag Kristyne was in slightly.

  The bag made from crimson colored fur.

  “…I killed it.”

  He showed her the leftover pelt in the bag, ensuring Kristyne doesn’t get seen.

  Mira stared.

  “…You killed a Crimson Bear?”

  “Yes.”

  Silence.

  “…Alright,” she said finally. “Be careful.”

  Akira nodded and left.

  Outside the town, he released Kristyne.

  She darted into the trees.

  Akira followed.

  And then—

  He saw her.

  Not a glimpse.

  A girl stood in a clearing, long hair loose, dark wings folding against her back. A thick tail shifted behind her as she stared at a ring on her finger.

  Their eyes met.

  She gasped—and ran.

  Akira followed.

  And then—

  Kristyne stood alone in the clearing, looking up at him.

  “…Wait,” he muttered.

  She chirped softly.

  The forest went quiet.