Chapter 7
"Is this the place?"
At my question, Chris tilted their head and answered.
"Hmm... The map says this should be the place..."
"How many times has this happened now...? Are we sleeping outside again today?"
Two weeks had passed since we set out on our journey to Dennis.
If things had gone according to plan, we should have passed three small villages by now, but we hadn't found a single one.
Were we just bad with directions? Did we not know how to read a map?
If that had been the reason, at least we wouldn't have felt so cheated. The map we'd brought was made by those painfully slow elves.
Nervous at the thought that the first village we'd encounter was nearby, we'd slowly made our way in the direction it should have been, but
all we found was a sea of densely packed trees. That had happened twelve days ago.
And now we were once again huffing in frustration, having been led astray by the map.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted... Should we just head for the big cities, even if it's dangerous?"
When we first looked at the map, there were two routes we could take.
One followed the main roads that humans traveled by carriage, passing through major cities.
The other route was longer and required us to make our way through the forest, but it passed through small villages with fewer people.
We had plenty of time to reach Deus, so we figured we could take it slow. Choosing this route had been a complete disaster.
We'd planned to get used to people little by little as we passed through small villages, but we hadn't seen so much as a single goblin, let alone a village.
"Then how about going here? If we hurry, I think we can get there by evening."
Chris pointed to a city on the map that was obviously quite large.
The city was marked as Gir. It was farther than I'd expected, but if we picked up the pace, we could reach it before sunset.
"Let's do that. I'm sick of sleeping outside. I'd rather face humans."
Having made up our minds, we hurried toward the city.
After running for a long while, we saw the city in the distance.
"From here on, let's wear our cloaks."
At Chris's words, I took a cloak from my inventory and pulled it on so it completely covered my face.
"All set. Let's go."
We'd been walking along the road for about ten minutes after getting ready when we spotted two guards standing at the city entrance.
Gulp.
I'd confidently said I hated sleeping outside more than I feared humans, but I shrank back and hid behind Chris.
"Are you still scared?"
"It's not that I'm scared..."
Chris glanced back at me, hiding behind them, then headed straight for the guards.
"W-wait! Come with me!"
Startled as Chris suddenly moved away, I scurried after them.
"Halt."
When we were almost at the entrance, the guards called out to stop us.
"Show us something that proves your identity, and take off your cloaks so we can see your faces."
Oh, we have to show them our faces too? What do I do?
I looked at Chris, unsure what to do, and they told me not to worry before removing their cloak and revealing their face.
"An elf?!"
Seeing Chris like that gave me a little courage.
Come on, we'd made it this far. There's no need to be scared. If things go badly, we can always run.
Shff.
I took off my cloak and pretended to reach into its inner pocket as I pulled out the ID token Mom had given me from my inventory.
I handed the guard the octagonal wooden token, but they barely took it, staring intently at us instead.
"Um, aren't you going to check it?"
"Ah! Yes."
Only then did the guard look over the wooden token I'd handed them, their expression turning puzzled.
"But what is this?"
"Pardon?"
Mom had assured us that there'd be no problem if we simply showed this when we entered, but things had gotten strange right from the start.
"Hmm... I feel like I've seen this somewhere..."
Oh, was our mom an elf too?
"Let me take a look."
While I stood there flustered, a woman in a maid outfit approached. Her eyes were half-closed, and she had a dazed look on her face.
"Hmm, my master's right. Could you let these people through?"
"And you are?"
The maid took a necklace from inside her clothes and handed it to the guard.
The necklace was engraved with a griffin.
"Ah! Let them through!"
As the gate opened, the maid walked toward it.
We watched her and followed her inside.
"The headmistress of Deus has a message for you."
"The headmistress of Deus?"
"Yes."
It was true that we were on our way to Deus to enroll, but how did the headmistress know about us...?
"I was told my friend's children would be coming, so I've been waiting. You're later than I expected. I thought you'd arrive within a week at most."
"Ah..."
It seemed she hadn't expected us to take a different route.
"Well, since you're here now, I'll pass along her message."
Crack!
"Huh?"
The only item we had to prove our identities had just been destroyed.
"... ..."
"I agreed to do this favor, but I won't just accept lazy elves who live comfortably in their parents' shadows. Become adventurers, reach Gold rank before enrolling, and come find me."
"?"
"Those are the words of my master, Lady Stella, the headmistress of Deus. If you want to enroll at Deus, I suggest you do as she says."
I was angry at the maid, who'd suddenly smashed the item Mom had given us and delivered her message as if that were all there was to it.
"At least give us some reason to believe you're connected to the headmistress. What was that, smashing our belongings without warning?"
"Hmm... Even if I tried to prove it, you've lived only in Edren, so this is your first time outside, isn't it? You saw the necklace bearing Dennis's crest, and yet you didn't recognize it."
"That's... true."
They weren't wrong; we were elves who knew nothing about the world, so I had no argument.
"Why would you admit that?"
"What else can I do? She's not wrong."
Chris sighed and continued, looking at the maid.
"First, thank you for letting us in, but the item you just smashed was precious to us. Our mother gave it to us. Even if there was no other way to prove it, I wish you'd at least tried."
"Hmm, even so, I'm simply following my master's orders to the letter..."
Chris had a point, so the maid hesitated.
"Actually, I was ordered to deliver this message and return to Deus immediately, but I suppose it can't be helped. You just need to verify that I'm affiliated with Deus, right?"
Uh, would that be enough? Even if we really wanted to verify it, we didn't know anything about her.
"That'll be enough."
As I tried to think it through, Chris answered for me.
"Come with me. I'll help you register at the Adventurers' Guild and verify your identities at the same time."
The maid said that with a dazed expression and began walking.
Are we sure it's okay to follow her?
The maid headed straight for the large building in front of us.
Creak.
The large doors opened, revealing the inside.
On one side, people were eating and drinking like they were in a pub. On the other, there were three counters like the ones I'd seen at a bank.
The maid went over to one of the counters, and we followed her inside.
"An elf?"
"An elf?"
The drinkers' gazes instantly turned toward us.
"I never thought I'd live to see an elf."
Come to think of it, after taking off our cloaks at the city entrance, we'd followed the maid without putting them back on.
So much for slipping in quietly and leaving quietly. That plan was ruined.
When we reached the counters, the three women working there also turned their attention to me.
"Wow, she's beautiful..."
"Is she really an elf?"
"Ahem..."
The maid drew the dazed women's attention with a cough.
"Ah! I'm sorry. What can I help you with?"
"Yes, first, I'd like you to look at this and verify my identity."
"All right, let's see..."
The clerk's eyes widened when she received the necklace, and she looked at the maid.
"Isn't this the headmistress of Deus's insignia? And that maid uniform... Could you be Miss Aria?!"
The way she looked at the maid with sparkling eyes was quite cute.
"Yes, that's right. I am Aristea herself."
The moment she confirmed that she really was Aristea, the clerk's already sparkling eyes began to shine even brighter.
"And I'd like you to register these two as adventurers."
"Ah... These two?"
"Yes, please. That should be enough to prove my identity, so I'll be on my way. I hope to see you both again sometime."
By this point, it was clear enough that she was connected to Deus.
"Yes, understood."
The maid called Aria left the building in no time.
As I watched Aria quickly disappear after doing only what she needed to, a staff member spoke to us.
"You said you came to register, is that right?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then I'll give you a brief explanation."
Adventurers take on requests for people, complete them, and receive a fee. They pay 10% of it to the Adventurers' Guild and keep the rest. They're a bit like troubleshooters.
Every city across the continent has an Adventurers' Guild branch, so once you're an adventurer, you can verify your identity in any city you visit.
In other words, it's like a visa that lets you travel around the world.
Adventurers have ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Mithril, and Orichalcum. Gold rank is fairly common, but those above it are said to wield power on par with nobles.
The way to raise your rank is simple: complete ten requests suited to your current rank, then take an exam to advance to the next one.
"Simple, right? However, if you commit a crime, you'll lose your adventurer status and won't be allowed to register again, so please be careful."
We'd gone through the registration process while listening to the explanation, so it was finished around the same time she was.
"Your registration is complete. It will take two days to prepare your insignia, so please come back then to pick it up."
At the clerk's words that we were finished, I turned to leave and saw an old man holding a mug and looking at us curiously.
"Are you really an elf? How fascinating. Nice to meet you. I'm Schutz. Since you just finished registering, you're Bronze rank, right? Let's get along, fellow adventurers."
I'd noticed someone behind us ever since the explanation started, but I'd tried to ignore it. I hadn't expected him to speak to us.
He seemed friendly as he greeted us, but my last memories of humans were so unpleasant that I hid behind Chris.
"Oh? My apologies. Am I frightening you?"
Chris explained on my behalf while I hid.
"Sorry. This one has some bad memories involving humans, so it's hard for her to be friendly."
"Hmm, if an elf has bad memories of humans, I suppose you went through a rough time. Let me apologize on their behalf."
I watched from behind Chris and nodded to show I understood.
"You're a cute young lady. Say hello next time we meet, will you?"
With that, the man who'd introduced himself as Schutz returned to his seat.
"Let's go find an inn now."
When the employee heard Chris say we should go find a place to stay, she called us over.
"Just a moment. If you need a place to stay, the guild offers adventurers rooms at a low price."
Oh, becoming adventurers meant we didn't have to worry about finding a place to stay? It seemed like a good system for adventurers traveling all over the continent.
Since we hadn't decided where else to go, we paid for a room for two at the guild.
"Oh, there's one rule: sexual activity is prohibited in the guild's lodgings, so please understand."
We didn't feel any particular need to correct the receptionist's misunderstanding about our relationship, so we simply said we understood and went up to our assigned room.
But even though I'm a woman now, would I ever do that with a man?
I let my imagination run wild for a moment, thinking about Chris.
Since I'd been a man myself, I pictured it in truly vivid detail.
Hmm... That was pretty disgusting. It wasn't just the thought—I actually felt bile rise in my throat.
Blegh!
"Katrina?"