I don't know anything about this word

So, as it appears, I really have no special powers. The weirdo sleeping near the crater was right about that. My body was different but aside from that, nothing felt out of the ordinary. No abnormal strength, no special toughness, no laser shooting out of my eyes, not even a particularly high stamina…which made the walk to the nearby city so much tougher.

At least instruction to reach it was not a problem. Given that my first thought was to reach for some kind of mirror and my second was the sight of the Goddess body, I completely forgot to look behind my back…doing so revealed a gigantic…thing!? It was a city, I could guess as much…but maybe if the stranger didn’t tell me that a city was nearby, I wouldn’t have guessed immediately.

The gigantic chain connected to the Goddess body descended from the sky and pierced the ground. Inside the second to final ring stood the city. It was basically a sphere of…something and human made structures and streets could be vaguely seen inside.

So, I started walking towards it, tiring myself every step of the way. My beautiful gothic Lolita dress was heavy, hot, way too hot. This must be what they mean when they say that to appear cute you must suffer a bit. Driven only by the desire to find the much-awaited mirror, I took step after step and slowly houses appeared on the horizon. The houses appeared on the horizon, as numerous as mushrooms on the remote mountains where I was forced to spend my vacations before the incident. I am not at all sorry that I cannot return to that dilapidated, remote house that my family used to isolate themselves from the world in the summer.

The city was not limited to the sphere inside the giant ring, a vast majority of houses were built around the chain’s point of impact with the ground. Unfortunately, I also met something that complicated things, a staple of fantasy world’s cities: a wall surrounding its perimeter. Multiple doors could be used to enter, but each had at least one security check.

Now I’m here, thinking about what to do next.

I need to enter the city, but without knowing anything about this place, it would be difficult to convince a guard to let me through. Searching inside the numerous hidden pockets of my dress led me to nothing useful, no forged document, no instructions on what to do, nothing.

Maybe the weirdo was right, Arthesya really could have scammed me. How was I supposed to save her without any powers, any information about the world nor any secret weapon to free her from the chain. The instruction to break the shackle was obviously not enough to get me started.

With nothing else to try, I approach the city gates and pray for the best. The best obviously does not happen as I’m stopped by a guard dressed in a white and blue uniform and armed with a luckily still sheathed longsword.

“Hello Miss. I’ve never seen you around here, can I get your humanity identification badge?”

He’s smiling so brightly it could blind me. Blond hair, blue eyes, elegant uniform and equally elegant movements, this guy’s a bastard. With just a smile and by reaching out to me with his right hand, he immediately made me feel at ease. Dickhead. It’s unfair. He has everything, he shouldn’t, leave something for the other poor guys of this world.

I almost can feel my heart melt.

But no, I can’t feel at ease. After all, I have nothng resembling a badge! And what’s with that name “humanity identification”? How can he say something that stupid out loud without even a hint of embarrassment.

“Miss? Are you okay?”

Shit, I’ve been frozen for who knows how long.

“S…sorry”

Good, start with what you know best, say you’re sorry without knowing why or meaning it.

“I…I…lost it!”

“You’re lost your badge? That’s troubling.”

“R…really?”

“I will help you search for it! My shift is almost over; do you mind waiting for a bit?”

“N…no wai…”

I don't even have time to answer before the blond guy is already back at the gate talking to a colleague. Just what we needed, him being generous. I want to die. Like, not really, at least not until I save myself from oblivion.

“You're an idiot. If there's someone without a badge, we have to detain them. Are you really buying that she lost it? Go arrest her right now.”

Oh, at least there are some dickheads around.

No, wait, I can't be relieved. I'm the one they have to arrest!

The puppy guard and one of his rough-looking colleagues arrive together. The classic inept man who is given a weapon because he is incapable of doing anything else. In my world, he would be an unemployed failure or a cop.

“So it’s you who’s trying to enter our beautiful city without the humanity identification badge?”

“I….I…S..sorry.”

“Do you have any idea how serious of an offense it is to walk around without your badge?

“A…ctually no.”

“No?! Are you stupid?! Come on stupid child. Arrest her.”

The rough guy slaps the blond guy on the back of the head. Hehe, serves him right. That'll teach him not to be so perfect.

“Raise your hand against me another time and you’ll find your fingers inside your butthole.”

I couldn’t see which kind of gaze the blond guy shot towards its colleague, but seeing as the other took a step back, it must have been terrifying. So this babyface has quite a temper huh? Wouldn’t have guessed. Maybe this is my chance…but to do what?

“Sorry Miss, I will need to detain you. Don’t worry, once we identify your identity, we’ll provide you a new badge.”

His eyes hid something. There must be a way why he didn’t tell me right away that a badge could be made for me.

“You should worry, the inspection process is a bitch.”

The rough guard was such a dickhead, but at least he clarified my doubts. And with that information…there was nothing else I could do but panic. Luckily, my anxiety manifested in my body freezing and sweating cold, which is exactly all I’ve done since starting this charade. The blond guard shot another menacing gaze to his colleague then asked me

“I’m Lionheart, please ask for me if thing get…well, too rough. I’m sorry I can’t spare you from the inspection, but you must understand. With the fateless and the Goddess disciples still around, we need to enforce security.”

Fateless? Goddess disciples?

Thank God for my panicked silence. I can’t imagine how bad things would have turned out if I actually spilled the beans on my pact with Arthesya. The weirdo was right! Still, this could be a chance to actually learn something.

“Wha…what’s the threat in the disciples?”

“Stupid child, arrest her now! A badgeless girl which asks questions like those can’t be anything but a criminal.”

I think I’ve really done it. Even the babyfaced Lionheart now seems dubious of me.

“S…sorry…it’s…j…just…I hit my head and can’t remember anything! I don’t even know my name!”

Well, I know it but that one can be gladly left in the other world so fuck it. Still, both guards are unconvinced. Like my name, it seems I’m fucked as well.

“Oh, finally I found you! This is where you ended up.”

An high pitched, overly energetic voice interrupted the moment. Looking to my right was a girl, around the same height as me (which wasn’t a lot) in a extravagant dress. In my world, it would have been an red oriental dinner dress, but instead of having a slit up the legs, it opened into a bell-shaped skirt. But the strangest part of her was absolutely about her head.

Not only she had foxlike ears, her purple irises were full of round waves that moved around her pupils, as if the pupil was echoing itself all over the iris. Looking at her was mesmerizing. She approached me and took my arm making me squeal a little.

Not used to being touched. Never liked it.

“You know you shouldn’t wander around alone like that! You just lost your memory after all!”

“Miss, do you know this criminal?” asked the rough guard

“Criminal? Are you sure that you want to label one of Kriem Baron’s maids as a criminal? He paid good money for her you know? She was just shipped the other day.”

“O…oh…”

“So, will you let us pass please? If the Baron’s dinner is late this evening, I will tell him it’s your fault! And who do you think he will believe?”

“G…go on, nothing to check here. Kid! Back off!”

Lionheart still stood unconvinced but let me pass through. Well, let the girl who took my arm drag me through the gate. I’m sure he smelled the lie.

Still, I’m much more confused than he is.

What? What happened here? Who’s this girl?! I’ll wait till we’re inside the city to struggle away and ask her…but actually, that wasn’t needed.

“You’re one of the Arthesya sent girls, right?” asked her

“Y…yeah?”

“I was sure of it. You seemed so confused, all of you are at the start. But don’t worry, I won’t let you go through the inspection process. They would find right away that you’re reincarnated.”

“So, you’re like me?”

“Yeah! But I’ve been here longer and I’ve already given up on the mission. By the way, you should give up too if you haven’t.”

“W…why?”

“Arthesya is powerless in this world, and so are we. Just focus on living day to day for now, I’ll get you employed at the Baron’s mansion! Don’t worry, the Baron’s it’s wrapped around my finger!”

“W….wait, you’ve given me way too much information, way too fast, I can’t get my head around any of this!”

“You’ll get used to it bit by bit, this is why I told you to just start living day to day!”

She’s so carefree. Way too much for my tastes honestly! I’m terrible with people like her…but still, she’s the only help I’ve gotten thus far.

Going along would be to me advantage.

“What’s your name?”

She asked.

“I…actually don’t know.”

“Huh? So the memory loss thing it’s true? Arthesya’s powers really depleted if she can’t even transfer here people properly.”

“No it’s that…my old name is dead. And I didn’t really think of another.”

“Oh, ok. Please improvise one! I need it to have a badge forged to you as soon as possible.”

A name it’s not something that I can choose on the spot like this!

“Kaede is ok?”

“Kaede huh? It’s not uncommon in this world, so it should work!”

“Great!”

Not 100% convinced, but on the spot this was the best I could do.

“What’s yours?”

“Right, I forgot to introduce myself”

The fox lady finally let go of my arm, took a step back and with an exaggeratedly elegant bow, she said to me “My name is Tama! Pleased to meet you Kaede!”