The Chair, Back in Town

“Welcome back to Akamai.”

“Thanks!” I took back my identification card with a small bow to the guard before walking through the gates. It was a little past noon, but the town was lively as ever. People walked along the paved street, chatting about everyday life. Farmers sold their crops from fields just beyond the wall. A new cult tried to recruit members, which most were promptly ignoring. Yep, this was definitely my home: peaceful with a hint of weirdness.

I had only been gone for a season, but I was already feeling nostalgic. Kumari was a real slave driver. She sent me to gather materials from a dungeon by the capital, telling me I couldn’t return until I obtained everything on her shopping list. Her jobs were normally unreasonable, but this was the worst of the bunch. It took forever for those beasts to spawn. Not to mention, the boss only spawned once a season, and I needed the materials from at least three of them. Three hundred days gone, just like that! Luckily, the dungeon had an overabundance of mana, allowing me to speed up the process. Sure, there shouldn’t have been an overabundance in the first place, but I would happily take advantage of a problematic situation.

Well, whatever. I had to report the question completion to the Adventurer’s Guild. It wasn’t that far from the gate, so I could’ve just walked there. However, after being stuck in an enclosed and boring space for a long time, I felt like taking a more scenic route.

Sneaking over to an alley, I used a modified version of [Pocket], one of the many skills I kept refining while waiting for the beasts to spawn, to materialize a single leg of a chair into my hand. There were still a few parts I was unhappy with, but it was stable enough to store everything I had without disappearing into limbo now. Plus, there weren’t any more weird looks for lugging a chair around. Nobody understood how satisfying it was not to be stared at, gawked, or whispered about. The days of random people accosting me were finally over!

Back on track, using the leg, I circulated the mana within, envisioning the outcome I wanted. With a silent spell, wind burst from the soles of my shoes, sending me flying onto the rooftops. A slight breeze tickled my face. From up here, I could see the hundreds of buildings dotting the landscape, the city walls past that, the farmlands surrounding them, and the forest even further out. It was a familiar, yet beautiful sight to behold.

I ran and jumped from roof to roof, keeping an eye on the rapidly changing scenery. Only a minute passed, but I was already right across from the guild. Once again, I used the wind to safely lower myself into the nearby alley, with everyone none the–

“Are you a hero, mister?” I hastily turned around. A kid covered in a giant rag stared back. She definitely saw me jump down. Though, she didn’t seem that surprised. Maybe those color-changing eyes had something to do with it.

I could worry about that later. There was only one thing to do!

“U-umm…yes, yes I am…” I lied. What? I couldn’t think of a better option.

“Why were you on the roof?”

“U-umm, it’s a secret,” I whispered, putting a finger to my lips. “So, you need to make sure not to tell anyone I was here.”

“Secret,” she whispered back, mimicking my pose.

“Right. Make sure not to tell anyone; otherwise, something bad might happen.” To me, anyway. She nodded her head, so I’d probably be fine, or she’d hold it against me somehow. Eh, future problems. I gave a small wave before scurrying across the street into the Adventurer’s Guild.

The entrance had a rather simple reception area. There was a bar to grab some food and drink along with a few tables placed around the entrance. Occasionally, some of the higher-ranked rookies picked on the lower-ranked ones, but the receptionists always put a stop to it, usually with a punch to the gut or a kick to the gonads. Never mess with the receptionists.

Beyond the tables were the reception counters, where you could take or report the completion of quests. While adventurers were primarily responsible for exploring dungeons, there were also plenty of odd jobs lying around. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was to make up some of the missing operating budget. Kumari’s always griping about a lack of funds, after all.

While the guild was a bit noisier than usual today, probably due to the upcoming Rank Up Exams, most of the adventurers were either on a quest or eating lunch. I didn’t have to wait too long to reach the counter.

“Welcome! How may I help you today?” the receptionist asked with an award-winning smile. And no peculiar stares this time! That said, I didn’t remember seeing her before. Her pale brown eyes skittered around, so she was probably a new hire. She looked to be about fifteen, but her features were more youthful. If anything, she seemed like a…

“Squirrel?” Her eyes widened, hearing my mutter.

“Huh? I’m a marmot, but that’s pretty close. How’d you know?”

“Would you believe me if I said you look like one?”

“I look just as human as everyone else, so no.” Fair enough. It was almost impossible to tell someone’s race by looking at them. Any creature that could socialize with others, possess intelligence, and manifest their mana looked human. It didn’t matter whether the creature was from a race of plants, insects, mythical beasts, or gods; if they met those conditions, they looked human through and through. Of course, there were always exceptions to the rule. Some people had features of their race, like ears on top of their heads or a tail, but those mutations were not that common.

“So, how did you actually figure it out?”

“It’s mainly intuition,” I shrugged.

“Hmm…okay then.” She didn’t seem to believe me, but there wasn’t anything I could do. After being alive for…twenty? Twenty-one? I stopped counting after the first thousand. But regardless, explaining something with ‘I just know’ would probably annoy her. “So, how can I help you? Completing a quest?”

“Yep, here’s my ID.”

“One moment please.” The receptionist placed my ID against a magic tool known as the record keeper, pulling up my quest information. As she kept reading, her expression became more puzzled before rapidly turning pale.

“Is there an issue?”

“N-no! Everything’s fine, sir!” She took a couple of small breaths to calm down. “Would you mind following me, sir? I’ll show you to the guildmaster.” I wondered what Kumari put in to rattle the receptionist so badly. Though, there was something more important to deal with first.

“You don’t need to call me ‘sir’.”

“Yes, sir!”

…sigh.