Ch 4

Waking up to the morning sun shining on my face, I rubbed my eyes to shake away the drowsiness. Almost immediately, I felt that my body was sore and stiff in all sorts of places. Well, that’s what I get for sleeping on something so hard and walking so much yesterday.

I untied the bandages securing me to the tree before slowly climbing back down.

Seeing that the horned rabbit meat had finished drying, I collected it and packed as much of it as I could into my dried meat pouch.

Then I gathered my things and let out a sigh. It was going to be another day of grueling walking, and, suffice it to say, I was not looking forward to it. My legs and feet were already dead after yesterday, and somehow, they felt even more dead today.

Today, I planned to reach the spring marked on my map before it got dark. From there, it should only be a few hours’ walk to Farsborow tomorrow.

As the sun was about to set, I finally reached the spring. Just like yesterday, my legs gave out once again, and I collapsed face-first onto the ground.

"Man, I really hate walking.”

Grumbling at that, I made a campfire and ate some dried horned rabbit meat I’d prepared while thinking about what I should do once I reached Farsbarow.

First, I should register as an adventurer at the guild and find somewhere to stay for the night.

After that, I can start taking on some quests for the next few days and training myself until I reach a level I’m satisfied with. And while I’m at it, maybe I could look for Norn if she was reincarnated like me. Still, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. I don’t think the chances of finding her are very high.

Oh, right… I should probably disguise myself. Looking at my silver hair, it would be much harder for me to stay hidden if I kept it like this. Silver hair like mine makes me stand out quite a bit, especially since there aren’t many commoners with the same hair color.

I gathered my hair into a ponytail and took my knife in hand before cutting it off.

Holding it in my hand, I stared at it for a moment. “Guess I don't need this anymore.”

Tossing it into the fire, I watched as the flames slowly consumed it.

Once it had finished burning, I used a stick to take a piece of charcoal from the campfire and placed it on a rock. I added some water from my flask and used the butt of my knife to crush it into a paste.

This should work as hair dye for now, at least until I find something better.

I scrubbed my silvery -white hair with it, then went to the spring to check my reflection in the moonlight. It wasn’t perfect, but it had changed my hair to an ashen black.

With my short black hair and these clothes, I looked much more boyish and quite different from how I used to look before.

Now that I was done dying my hair, I figured it was time to turn in for the night. Just like last night, I climbed up a tree, tied myself to a sturdy branch, and went to sleep. And I woke up with my entire body sore again. Honestly, I didn't want to get up, but I packed all my things and continued walking toward Farsborow.

After only a few hours of walking, I finally made it to Farsborow.

As I approached the town, I saw that it was a large settlement surrounded by high stone walls. Looking ahead, there was already a line of people waiting at one of the gates, so I went over and joined them.

It took around ten minutes of waiting before I finally reached the front. By the time it was my turn, the guard asked for my name and my business for being in Farsbarow.

“My name is Nyx, and I came to register as an adventurer.”

“So you're planning to be an adventurer. Do you have any form of identification?”

"Sorry, but I don’t have any.”

“Since you don’t have any, the gate fee is 3 coppers.”

He looked completely unfazed when I said that. I guessed this probably happened quite often, considering this was a well-known place for people to start out as adventurers, just as I had expected.

“Okay”

Pulling a pouch of coins from my backpack, I took out some copper coins while asking the guard for some useful information about the town.

“Do you know where the adventurer’s guild is?”

“It’s at the center of town; just walk straight ahead from here.”

He pointed in the direction of the inn, showing me where I needed to go. I then asked him,

"I see, and can you also recommend an inn I could stay at?”

The guard thought for a moment.

“There’s a decent inn called the Early Rope Inn with a green sign out front. It’s mainly for adventurers who are just starting out like you, and it’s not far from the Adventurers Guild.”

After paying the three copper coins, I thanked him and did as he instructed, heading straight to the Adventurers Guild.

I let out a sigh of relief as I walked away from the gate. I had been a little nervous about entering without any form of identification, but as I said before, this town was a popular place for beginner adventurers. Apparently, people arriving without any way to identify themselves to start their lives as adventurers wasn't anything unusual.

Also, if anyone is wondering, the name Nyx is an alias I came up with because why wouldn’t I use one? Plus, it sounds cool and all, though it's a name nobody ever heard of.

Anyways, as I walked toward the guild building, I was in awe when I saw the many different types of stores and shops along the way. The atmosphere and vibe of this town felt almost exactly like the towns in some of the video games I played in my past life, completely different from the types of stores I was used to going to.

After a while of walking, I finally reached the center of town. There, I spotted a three-story building that had to be the Adventurers Guild.

When I opened the door, I saw that the guild was mostly empty, with only a few people inside. Since it was already noon, I figured most of the adventurers were probably out doing quests.

I walked over to the reception counters and noticed that only one of the seven was open, with a receptionist sitting behind it.

Greeting me with a well-practiced, customer-service-like smile, she said, “Hello, my name is Emma. How may I help you?”

“My name is Nyx. I’d like to become an adventurer.”

“I see. We're happy you would like to join the Adventurers Guild. A moment, please. Let me get some paper for you to sign.” Pulling out a piece of paper and a quill from a drawer, she then placed them on the counter.

“The fee is 5 copper. Would you like me to read and fill it out for you?”

“No, I can do it myself.”

Emma had a barely noticeable look of surprise when I told her I could do it myself, which I noticed because I used to live in high society, where I was taught to pay attention to even the smallest changes in people's expressions, which I already could do in my past life.

I took out a large copper coin for the fee, gave it to her, and took the paper.

After reading it, the general gist of it was that the guild wasn't responsible for my death or injuries. I was expected to act appropriately as an adventurer, meaning I couldn't break any laws or guild rules, or else I'd get kicked out. In return, I would have access to various benefits provided by the guild, such as discounts on certain things, training areas, a library, access to information, and more.

I then looked over the information I needed to fill out, which was mostly just general information about myself.

I wrote down my name as Nyx, gender as male, age as 14, hair color as black, eye color as red, and listed a random nearby town as my place of origin.

I chose my age to be 14 because, as someone from nobility, I tend to look a few years older than most commoners, given the difference in lifestyles, like not having to worry about food and such.

After filling that out, it asked for my role. I put down swordsman since a sword was the weapon I was most familiar with from my past life.

After giving back the paper I had filled out, Emma looked it over before handing me a wooden tag.

“Congratulations on becoming an adventurer. Your starting rank is F. This tag serves as proof that you're an adventurer while we prepare your adventurer card, which will be ready for you to pick up tomorrow.”

Taking the wooden tag, Emma asked if there was anything else she could help me with.

I asked if I could sell some monster parts.

She looked mildly surprised by my question, though not overly so. After a moment, she nodded and motioned for me to follow her to a counter at the far end of the reception area that was larger than the others. I followed her over, wondering how much the monster parts I had collected would be worth.

Putting away the plaque that said the counter was closed and replacing it with one that said it was open, she then said, "I do apologize, but there aren’t a lot of adventurers around this time of day, so most of the staff is on break, and I’m the only one working right now. What would you like to sell?”

Pulling the five-horned rabbit furs and horns out of my backpack, I showed them to Emma.

“These are horn rabbits that I’d killed on my way here.”

I looked back up at Emma to see her suddenly lose a bit of her composure.

Strangely, I sensed a sudden and subtle change in her demeanor, though it wasn’t outwardly noticeable. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what had changed because she was hiding it remarkably well, especially compared to most nobles I had known.

“Umm… May I ask if you killed all of them, Mr. Nyx?”

Huh? Why did she suddenly start acting so formal?

“Yes, aren’t they just horned rabbits?”

I tilted my head at her question.

“No, they’re white-horned rabbits.”

Emma went on to explain that they were both rarer and more dangerous than normal horned rabbits, mainly because of their much longer horns and their increased aggression. Unlike normal horned rabbits, these horned rabbits were far more willing to attack and kill other creatures.

That is why normal horned rabbits were ranked F and white-horned rabbits were ranked D.

For some reason, she gave me a troubled smile when I blankly replied that they weren't that tough.

“Oh, I see, and how much do I get for selling it?”

Ignoring the fact that they were white-horned rabbits, I was much more interested in how much money I’d get since they have a higher rank than normal-horned rabbits.

“In total, it will be one silver coin, Mr. Nyx.”

A silver coin. I don't know how much it's worth, but I feel like it's probably a lot. I don't really have a good sense of money in this world, and strangely enough, I didn't have much of one in my past life either.

Before I ran away, I would usually ask for whatever I wanted, and I almost always got it, no matter how ridiculous the request was in this life. Though compared to my past life, my commander typically said no to most of my requests.

After saying goodbye to Emma and leaving the guild with my newly earned silver coin, I decided to head to the inn the gate guard had recommended.

I pulled out my coin pouch and checked how much money I had left. Excluding the silver coin, I had 5 large lead coins, 6 large copper coins, 8 bronze coins, and 1 large bronze coin.

I had no real idea how much any of it was worth yet, but surely that was enough to cover a night at an inn.

After about five minutes of walking, I finally found the place the guard had told me about.

It was a relatively cheap-looking, two-story building with a green sign hanging out front. Engraved onto the sign were the words The Early Rope Inn.

Yep, this had to be the place the guard was talking about.

Walking into the inn, I saw the first floor was a tavern, like what I kind of expected from any fantasy inn.

I went to the reception desk, where a middle-aged lady was sitting, and asked her for a room for the night.

“The price is 3 bronze a night. How long are you planning to stay?”

“For 5 nights, but I plan to stay longer.”

“Are you an adventurer? We have a deal with the guild to offer discounts.”

“Yes, I just registered today.”

I showed her the wooden tag I was given.

“Then the price is 1 bronze instead of 3 bronze a night, so 5 bronze coins in total.”

One bronze coin instead of three. Huh… that's a pretty big discount. I guess it makes sense, though, since it makes things more affordable for new adventurers who are just starting out.

Taking my coin pouch, I gave her five bronze coins.

“Your room is the second-to-last door on the right," she said while pointing me to the stairs.

Given the keys to my room, I went upstairs and looked for my room.

I opened the door and saw that the room was small. It had a bed, a small table, a bucket, and a window in it.

Dropping my backpack to the floor, I shut the door behind me and immediately plopped myself onto the bed and lay on it, my face already on the pillow.

“Finally, a bed.”

Who knew sleeping in a real bed could feel this good after spending days sleeping outside?

I am exhausted; a nap really would be nice.

In my previous life, when Norn and I were recruited to become pilots, we had to go through training.

We were pushed to our limits every day, but at least we had a bed to sleep on. Who knew not having a bed to sleep on would be so awful?

Almost immediately, I dozed off and slept like a log because I actually had something comfortable to sleep on compared to a literal tree branch.

After sleeping through the entire day and night, I suddenly felt the rays of the morning sun shining through the window, which woke me up.