Chapter 1: Home

As I opened my eyes the brightness of the sun began to flood my vision, causing me to squint. After a moment of laying still, I rubbed my right eye and sat up. I looked around the attic that I had rented the night before and noticed some hay on the ground.

I picked up the straws of hay and quietly stuffed them in my bag. Before closing my bag, I checked my current financial state and was left disappointed. Three coppers are all I have. That's not even enough for another night up here... I sighed away my disappointment, then opened the hatch which leads to the lower floors and exited the attic.

Once I had exited the attic, I then navigated my way to the stairs and walked down to the reception area of the inn. As I avoided eye contact with the man at the front desk, he began to speak.

"Breakfast is five coppers." He said. Ignoring him, I walked out. It may have been rude to do so, but I don't have enough money anyway, so it doesn't matter. As I walked away from the inn I could feel myself begin to choke up a bit, as my vision was blurred by tears.

Suck it up... I can't afford to waste tears... Especially after the wells were poisoned, I'm still paranoid about that... I thought to myself as I used my fingers to put a small amount of pressure on my eyes and wipe away the excess liquid.

I refocused my vision in front of me where I saw many wagons and carriages going up and down the road next to me. I continued down the road until I eventually reached the adventurers guild, my place of work. Admittedly, I'm a low-tier adventurer and make very little money, but I manage to scrape by.

After a few moments, I walked in, and right after I did, I heard a bunch of sighs.

"Oi, she's here again." A man said. "When are you going to quit?" He asked.

Ignore him, I thought as I ignored him.

"Hey! He's right. Why the hell is a scrawny little girl like her even working as an adventurer?" Another man piped up.

Ignore him, I thought as I ignored him.

"Honestly, she makes adventurers like us look bad!" A woman said.

I... Can't ignore them... I thought as I shut my eyes as hard as I could and walked up to the job board. It's true I'm a bit young... And weak... But I still do my best! I thought as I opened my eyes and looked over the quests.

I can't take hunting quests because I don't have any weapons, although that never stops the fighters, they can take down anyone with just their fists, I also can't take the exploration quests because I don't have any skills that relate to them, so that's a no go, but I wish I could, they sound fun. I thought as I narrowed down my options, of course, all the guild members were still talking about me, but I had gotten a bit too distracted to notice, at least, that's what I tell myself.

Eventually, I chose one and took it off the board, then walked to the desk with it. I placed it on the desk and gave my best radiant smile, which, if I have to say, it's pretty damn good.

"Lana, are you sure about this?" The receptionist asked.

"Yep!" I said while keeping my smile up.

"I know you said you wanted to make money, but are you sure about going that far into the woods? You do know there was a goblin camp spotted out there recently, right?" She asked.

"I'll be fine! I always come back okay!" I said. "Except for at least ten times..." I added.

"Lana, I can't in good conscious allow you to take this quest." She said.

"P-please?" I asked as my smile began to dim.

"She already said no, just leave already!" A man said.

"Lana, if you fail another quest, you'll be kicked ut of the guild, you should choose something easier." The receptionist said.

"B-but..." I said as tears began to form in my eyes. "Please... I... I don't..." I said as I began to cry. I tried to wipe away the tears and stop crying, but I couldn't. I don't want to sleep outside again... That's what I was trying to say... I thought as my legs gave and I collapsed onto my knees and began to stare into space.

"Someone take the kid out of here, she's making the food bitter!" Someone yelled. Soon after that was said, a man with an Iron breastplate, greaves, and boots, approached me and began to drag me away by the arm.

After a moment, I realized what was happening and immediately tried to get out of his grasp. "N-No! Please!" I yelled through my tears as the receptionist looked away from me. Why? Why is this happening? I can't help but wonder... I continued to try and escape his grasp, it was to no avail, but I tried. I hate this weak body...

After being dragged out, the man picked me up by my arm and spoke to me. "You can either leave, or you can sit here until you calm down, your choice." He said. After a few moments, he spoke again. "What will it be?" He asked impatiently.

"I... I'll wait..." I said as the flow of my tears slowed.

"Alright." He said as he set me down. I walked over to the door and sat next to it and brought my knees to my chest.

"Hey, mister..." I said as he began to walk away. He sighed.

"What?" He asked.

"Why is it that nobody wants me?" I asked as I looked down at my legs.

"Look, I'm not the one you should be asking this, ask your mom or something." He said as he walked back inside.

"Oh, okay..." I said quietly as I began to play in the dirt with my finger.

After a while, I stood back up and patted down my clothes to make sure there wasn't any dirt on them, and went back into the guild. This time it was silent. It felt weird. I went directly to the quest board and after a few minutes found something and brought it to the desk.

"Are yo-" She started talking.

"Yes." I said, cutting her off. "It's just going outside the gates to get some flowers, something simple and easy, clearly even someone as weak as me can do it." I said blandly.

"R-right..." The receptionist said as she stamped the quest paper and handed it to me. I then walked out without saying thank you.

"You think she's angry about earlier?" Someone asked as I exited.

After leaving, I headed directly to the gate closest to the flowers I had to collect. "Hey, there Lana!" One of the guards said as I approached. I grabbed the quest paper from my bag and showed it to them. "I take it you're angry, then." He said as he looked at the paper. After a moment, he motioned for the other guard to have the gates opened. "Go on through." He said. I nodded, then went through the gate.

After leaving the city, I quickly spotted the flowers I need and went to pick them. Once I had picked a few, I went back to the gate and delivered the flowers, then went back to the guild. As I approached the guild I noticed a man in clothes only a noble would wear, he seemed to have been in a confrontation with a guild member.

"Need something little man?" John, a brute of a man, asked.

"I'm just deciding whether or not it is a good idea to join the guild." The noble said.

"The guild isn't for the dainty and weak! You'll just ruin our reputation!" John said with an insulting tone.

Rude. I thought to myself.

"Yeah, you're right." The noble said as he walked off. John began to laugh as the nobleman walked away.

Pushing what just happened to the side, I walked into the guild and put my quest paper on the desk. "Card please." The receptionist asked. I handed it to her. After a moment, she confirmed the completion of my quest and handed me the reward after the deductions from failed quests. Two copper.

I put the copper in my bag, then walked back to the quest board. After a bit, I found another quest and brought it to the desk.

"Two quests in one day? Are you sure?" She asked. I nodded.

"Also, sorry I forgot to say thank you earlier, I was angry, but that quest calmed me down." I said with a polite tone.

"R-right..." She said as she stamped the quest. "Well, be careful, alright?" She asked as she handed me the paper. I nodded.