Episode 3: Highs and lows of adventuring

In the middle of the road, a tired figure could be seen, walking like a zombie

Taro: (I’ve never walked so much in my life, who would have guessed that simply walking would be so tiring, at least the sun is setting now, so it's not as hot)

on the side of the road, a lone tomb rested under the shade of the tall grass, it was relatively well maintained and even had flowers, Taro just walk past it without stopping, but the tomb stayed in his mind

Taro: (so someone did die out here… gotta hurry before the sun sets or I might be next)

laughter and banter could be heard getting closer, Taro worried and imagined a group of bandits. He switched to the complete opposite side of the road in hopes of not bumping into them and kept his head low so as to not draw any attention. The steps were audible, they were very close, but the voices started sounding more and more familiar

short guy: hey, isn’t that brutaro?

shield guy: nah, can’t be, he’s… wait, that is brutaro!

spear guy: yo brutaro, what are you doing out here, are you leaving town?

Taro was half relieved they weren’t bandits, and half annoyed that they would get to laugh at him again

Taro: …daliveri quezt

short guy: oh! a quest? not bad brutaro, you’re starting to take on bigger quests

spear guy: little brutaro is out here aiming for more

shield guy: so, how's it going? you look spent man, here, have some water

besides the annoying nickname, they were being surprisingly kind

short guy: you’re almost there brutaro, the town is very close from here

shield guy: you’ll have to sleep at the inn though, don't travel at night

spear guy: we’ll also be on our way. see ya around brutaro, come join us in the patrol quest next time, our bags won’t be too heavy haha!

the adventurers walked away, and Taro was surprised at how nice that interaction was

Taro: (I really needed that water, I guess they’re not as bad as I thought… though they’re still bad)

Taro finally stepped foot into the town. Though the architecture was the same, the style was different, the houses were painted and decorated with brighter colors compared to Taro’s village. Fortunately, the guild office was also of familiar structure, so it was easy to locate

Guild receptionist: hello, how may I help you?

Taro: daliveri quezt, here

the package was handed in, and upon reading the note the guild secretary sent, the receptionist understood everything

guild receptionist: alright, everything’s in order, here’s the proof certificate, all you gotta do now is take it to your guild office, thanks for your work.

Taro: tank you

By the time Taro was out of the building, the sun had already set. Now he had to locate the inn, which was intuitively located near the entrance of the town.

Taro: (a classic strategy to make themselves visible to visitors, at least games taught me something useful like this. It's my first time in a real fantasy inn. I wonder how it is; will it be similar to the inns in videogames and anime? I think I have enough money to pay for one night, let’s see how it is)

innkeeper: ha?

Taro: zleep... pleaze (dammit, I don't know how to ask for a room)

innkeeper: what did you say? speak clearly so I can understand you!

Taro: zleep pleaze, uhh…

Taro tried using gestures, pantomime, he even used his original language, but to no avail, Taro could feel the animosity of the innkeeper, a contempt similar to the one people like the priest guy displayed

innkeeper: are you stupid?! Is something wrong in your head!?, stop wasting my time, speak the language or get out of here, vagrant!!

Taro was outside again; the cold wind was whistling. He walked around until he found a tree under which he sat down

Taro: (no worries, I can sleep outside, it's just another trial in becoming a real adventurer, I won’t let anyone ruin this… but man, I thought I was getting used to people being rude to me but… it’s still rough. I want to go home)

he hugged his knees both to try to stay warm and to hold back his tears of frustration

Taro: (I didn’t choose to be a Transported, I’m trying my best, why is it never enough? am I never going to be enough?)

the wind was getting colder, the night was going to be rougher than previously expected. The street was deserted, not a soul could be heard.

town guard: hey, what are you doing out here? hmm… Aren't you the Transported from the other town? What are you doing here, are you lost?

Taro didn’t feel capable of attempting to speak without sounding like an idiot, and with a cracked voice on top of that

town guard: come with me, I’ll take you to the local church, they’ll know what to do

The church’s architecture was exactly the same as the one in Taro’s village; he was surprised that he missed such a familiar landmark. The door was already closed, as Taro expected, being used to living in a church for over a year, but the guard knocked the door nonetheless, and a priest did answer the call

town guard: hey, I found him outside, looks like he’s lost, he’s a Transported from the other town

town priest: huh? sorry, we don’t take in people at this hour

town guard: come on man, can't you do something about it? this guy looks like he has nowhere to go, you can't just let a sad man out in the night, where is your holy mercy? I don’t wanna take him home, my father-in-law is visiting today

the priest groaned and accepted consulting the matter with the other priests, shortly after, the door opened again, and next to the priest was Sidra

Sidra: oh goodness, Taro! What holy mandate compels you to be here?, come in

town guard: great, I’ll be on my way then

Taro was moved by the guard’s solidarity, and despite his cracked voice, he managed to pull himself together

Taro: W-Wait!

town guard: huh?

Taro: yor neem

town guard: my… name? its Turt, what do you need it for?

Taro: my neem iz Taro, I… never forget (one day I’ll repay your kindness, I promise)

Turt: …uh-huh, anyway, I’m running late, gotta run, don’t get lost again, Taro!

the door was closed and Taro followed Sidra to the dining room

Sidra: we had our sacred meal a while ago, but the goddess would frown upon letting a guest sleep hungry

Taro: Sidra uhh, zee yo again… good. (that’s barely intelligible, at least I tried)

Sidra: oh? Your speaking has improved a lot these past weeks. Blessed be the sight of seeing you again too. so, why are you here? What happened?

Taro: dali–deliveri quest

Sidra: I see now, you’re becoming an adventurer, but look at you, by the divine goddess of the order, you can't just start a journey without preparation, you need gear, after you’re done with your sacred meal, we’ll go get you some gear

Taro ate with haste, expecting some cool armor or even a weapon, instead, the promised gear was a bunch of dusty rags on a storage room

Sidra: I'll teach you the noble art of the sew, if you can make a hat and a robe with this, may the goddess bless them for your protection

Taro coughed dust disappointedly, but on second thought, it was his chance to get a free hat, and perhaps even a cape.

Sidra taught him the basics of "sewing”, which was actually just using a stapler-like instrument to stitch cloth together. Taro thought it was easy, until he saw how much more refined Sidra’s examples were.

The night flute started playing, announcing the time to sleep, Sidra let Taro sleep in an empty room, and Taro took the stapler instrument and the rags, excited to make his new adventurer gear.

The next day, after having slept late, Taro woke up early due to force of habit, and by that same force, he started doing chores. though nobody told him what to do and they were alerted to him doing things outside, they were pleased to see he knew the order of the holy tasks

priest: So, you know him?

Sidra: yes, he is a Transported, we taught him most things at the other church

priest: hm, he’s not half bad, maybe he can join us if he can learn how to speak properly and how to use the Healing Grace

When it was time to wash clothes, Taro vigorously washed a collage of rags the priests recognized as the ones they were going to throw out. He quickly went to hang it in the dryer room, which is a very hot room powered by hot magic stones in which clothes are left to dry. Taro took special care to check the room so as to not make the mistake of hanging his creation on the room where beef and fruits are dried.

Sidra: Taro, did you really do all the holy tasks? you had the goddess’s permission of a guest today

Taro: for eat, and zleep, I work, to tank you, for gear

Sidra: for the gear? you finished it? show me

Taro went into the dryer room, and when he walked out, he was wearing a decently made hat, and a long robe that he pushed back, revealing its dual function as a cape. Sidra was both surprised and amused

Sidra: most impre–heheh… most impressive… ahaha! ahem, sorry, I'm just surprised, I… ahahahaha!

though Taro was embarrassed and feeling insecure about the cape he thought was cool, he realized he had never seen Sidra laugh before, she always tried to keep a very priestess-like demeanor, but this time, she couldn’t

Taro: not… look tough? (do I really look that bad? oh no, her laughter is contagious)

Sidra: no no! you look very tough ahahahah!

after making herself cough and clearing her throat multiple times, Sidra regained composure

Sidra: …Sorry, I don't know what got into me, ahem, as I was saying, it looks great, you look like a noble from a foreign land, like in the history books, quite the fashionable… hehehe sense

Taro: it ok Sidra, hahaha

Taro’s laughter unleashed Sidra’s laughter again, and they laughed more than they expected, to the point they didn’t even know why they were laughing, all their tension was being laughed away.

priest: by the goddess, what is happening in the dryer rooms? are they crying or laughing?