Act I

  “YAWN~”

  I felt my mouth sore as I let out a morning yawn, my arms and back stretched to their fullest.

  After that I smiled and accepted the stew, which the kindly Innkeeper’s husband gave me.

  “Brother, I want to ask, why are you the one cooking for the Inn?”

  The cook for the Inn was a rather large but short rabbit man.

  To tell the truth, I’m intimidated by him, as his visible fat muscles.

  Rippled at his woolen sleeves, which is something I’m still getting used to.

  Why do you even wear clothes, if you already have fur?

  “Why? Because I'm the better cook of course! Do you really want to eat watery stew?”

  The thick furred man said as he smiled and patted my shoulders.

  I returned the smile, and shook him off as I enjoyed the grain thicken, carrot and cabbage stew.

  “Oh, this meat, I don’t know what it is.”

  I said after swallowing a slice of something that looked like ramen pork slices but tasted nothing like pork.

  The Cook gave me a look but then he looked down and saw the meat-like piece in my spoon.

  “That’s not meat Love, it’s from a redcap.”

  “A redcap? It’s a mushroom then?”

  The question made the muscular rabbit man cringe as he motioned a yes and no.

  “Yes, but unlike other mushrooms it has legs with a large red head, and they're about this big, better to avoid them than brawl with them.”

  The cook was measuring a monster larger than his youngest daughter with his hands.

  I could feel myself frown as he spoke.

  Does that mean even plants are monsters here?

  My hands clasped at the awful thought.

  “Lady Hestia, let me not die because of a monstrous vegetable.”

  I mumbled the prayer, before continuing my meal.

  “Ha ha ha! A good prayer kid.”

  The cook laughed as he took my empty bowl away, refilling it with another ladle of stew.

  Act II

  On a road of cobbled stone, a priestly young man dressed in a white robe walked barefooted.

  “I wonder which of these shops would sell me shoes.”

  I mumbled as I walked through the town’s single main road cutting through the place.

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  It reminds me of those old westerns, of those cowboy frontier towns.

  But with cobble stone rather than wooden planks.

  As I thought more about how similar this place is to those of 18th century American towns.

  I saw what I was looking for, it was someone fixing a shoe infront of a small shop with no signs.

  “Hello their brother, can I ask if I can buy shoes from you?”

  The bearded older man looked away from the shoe he was hammering, and turned to me.

  “You mean boots? I don’t make fancy city-folk shoes.”

  The man clarified as he looked me up and down, his eyes sharp even with his greying age.

  Is he a dark elf? I thought as I noticed his skin was the shade of a dark oak.

  Also his ears were only pointed and not long, unlike the other elves I’ve seen in this town.

  “Yes, something I can use while traveling and comfortable enough that I can wear it while sleeping.”

  I explained what I wanted as the dark elf paid attention, and that’s when I noticed something.

  He isn’t old, his hair is just grey with black streaks.

  With a smile, I didn’t show any surprise as I noticed his beard was the only sign that he was an older man.

  “Are you a Sellsword, Dear priest?”

  The man asked, as he motioned for me to place my foot on a flat board on a stump.

  Slowly the board magically matched the size of my foot. This thing’s a spirit?

  “Not yet, I’m still looking for the right Sellsword troop.”

  The shoe maker nodded to my lie, before he took away the foot shaped wood plank and measured it by eye.

  Before he placed another board for me to step on using my other foot.

  “Are you from one of the giant races, Dear priest?”

  I felt my heart beam with pride.

  It wasn’t that common to get compliments back on earth, especially because of my height.

  “Why do you ask, brother?”

  Naturally I asked him, it might have been an important detail.

  “Well, your foot is larger than it should be compared to your height. . . That usually means you're still growing.”

  Scratching my chin, I tried thinking about his words.

  Did I grow? At first I thought these elves, and animal people were just short but is it actually just me?

  I should try praying to the Lady, it’s probably her who’s changing my body.

  “It wouldn’t be much of a problem, even if you grow a little bigger, it just means I need to make the padding more flexible.”

  The cobbler broke me out of my thoughts.

  In the end I accepted his words and agreed with them.

  “So how much for a pair?”

  I asked as he tapped with his small hammer.

  It wasn’t very hard to understand that he was calculating the cost, in his head.

  “If you want a cheap one, I can use some Draconid leather that I just got, it hasn't aged that long, but that just means it’s soft and tough.”

  My brows curved at those words, they skin sentient talking monsters and use them for shoes?

  “It would only cost you a silver.”

  I looked at my pocket and saw five gold and nine silver royals.

  “What would four silver royals get me?”

  The man took a sharp breath from the question, before tapping his hammer again.

  “For that much I can ask a metalsmith friend of mine to help me add reinforcements and then ask my wife to work on worm wool paddings.”

  I looked at the cobbler thinking he was kidding but then I saw how serious his eyes were.

  That was when I pulled out two silver royals, and handed it to him.

  “How long before I get my boots?”

  I told him as he looked around and accepted the coins, quickly hiding them in an inside pocket.

  “Three days at the shortest and a week at the latest, this I promise Dear Priest.”

  He sounded serious, he even gave me an odd salute.

  Which made him close his eyes, as he bowed and then using his hand he motioned to his head and then to mine.

  “Táim buíoch as do fhlaithiúlacht, a mhóir.”

  As he saluted, he spoke in a language I still didn’t know, as I felt my bracelet vibrate.

  Act III

  I said my farewells to the serious cobbler.

  After that I went into an alley shaded from the morning sun.

  Sitting down on the stairs leading into a cobbled building.

  [Mission: Explore the Vallis ruins (0/10 Exploration missions completed)]

  “I guess I wasn’t lying to that cobbler.”

  The screen was clear, I can’t explore something so big as a ruined city alone.

  I would need to join a group, might as well join a sellsword troop. . .

  “But do I need to do this mission?”

  I thought about it, unlike the first mission where I was trapped alone in a room.

  Right now I was in a town, it’s small but there's people here, there's different foods. . .

  I can just live here, pick up a trade. . . I can act as the local doctor, with Hestia’s help.

  Can I just give up on this mission? You’ll become a quiet quitter again.

  Who would even care? If I quit, I can probably live my life here in this town safely.

  Or moved to a different one, atleast I’m inside civilization again.

  You’ll regret it, like how you’ve always regretted not helping that girl with her bullies.

  That thought made me frown, as my eyes closed.