1.2. First Mission: Food

In the slums of a certain kingdom a dilapidated house resided. Laid on the hard floors of that house was the body of a young girl with dirty green hair and ragged clothing. She was stirring awake as small groans and grunts escaped her lips, she held a hand on her stomach as a wave of pain hit her.

Lifting her head from the rough floor of the home which was filled with holes, cracks, and all other sorts of forms of deterioration. The tapping of rain was free for her to hear due to the ceiling containing quite a few holes.

The house was filled with dampness that made her uncomfortable and the windows were covered by large pieces of wood.

"Ugh."

With even more grunts she rubbed her hand on her stomach, she was fine just a moment ago. Raising her head to the continuous tapping she swiped her hair to the side, confused as to where she was she looked at the hair in her hand.

"Where is this place? Why is my hair so filthy and coarse?"

She had always taken good care of her hair so its current state was both unfortunate and strange, and that wasn't the only strange thing. Her hands were much smaller than they originally were, they were also missing the callouses that she had earned throughout her life.

Not to mention her voice was much lighter and squeakier than she remembered. Rolling over and sitting up she observed the room once more, it was cold and she was shaking.

She hugged her arms close to her body and looked at the holes in the ceiling, there was continuous rain coming through them and there were puddles dotted about the room.

"This situation is familiar. Waking up in the body of a child… in an unfamiliar home… in a place considered to be somewhat old-fashioned, and a home of a western-style..."

Listing out the different things she found in her situation, her eyes flashed with a look of realization. Looking down at her body, looking at the walls, and understanding her decision she nodded her head.

"This is… bad. I've been reincarnated- no, I've been transmigrated. I was sitting in my home not doing anything, so why?"

Questioning the situation was the only thing she could do was think of why the situation had happened.

"I was-"

Interrupted by her stomach rumbling, she struggled to rise to her feet, the fact that she had this crusty and filthy hair on her head was a distracting thought. She wanted to wash her hair right away but based on her surroundings and clothing she was sure that the body she was in wasn't in a well-off position.

"First off, food. I'll find myself some food, try to understand the situation, and find a way to move forward. Yes, that's what I'll do."

With her words, she stumbled over to the large wooden door that was falling off its hinges.

Struggling to push it open as it was indescribably heavy she finally forced it open, pausing to stare at it watching to see if it would finally fall off the wall.

Upon opening the door she was met, face first, with the heavy downpour, she knew it was raining from the water leaking in the house of course but she didn't want to starve so she'd risk catching a cold; especially since her body was that of a weak child.

Seeing as she was in a dark alley she looked back over the house and observed the outside. It was surely dilapidated and it had wooden planks covering the window areas along with moss and cracks along with other forms of ruin on the outside – the house was surely abandoned.

Turning to her right she could see light start to peek through into the alley from the main road as the rain started to settle down, she couldn't see in the sky as there was the roof of the building across from blocking her sight.

Walking toward the light she held her arm on her stomach, gripping at her raggedy top. The pain she was feeling in her stomach made her think that she had been starving for quite a while.

She peeked her head out of the alley and was momentarily blinded by the sudden light. When her eyes adjusted the sight of a street with buildings in a similar state as the one she just came out of.

There was a depressing feeling in the air while people were sitting around and strutting about wearing ragged clothing, they were almost all thin and bony with dirty skin and dirty hair. It was a scene of poverty.

"The slums…"

Mumbling under her breath it only took one look for her to know that she wouldn't find a smidgen of decent food here. Turning left and right she watched where people were coming and going.

After moments of not finding anything out, she spotted the sight of a man coming back with a slight smile and a piece of bread so she staggered her way in that direction.

She spent quite a while stumbling through the roads that were worse for wear passing by the sprawled-out bodies of people who were likely either exhausted or dead.

Based on how the others who were sitting and standing around it was easy to tell how common such incidents were.

As she had no time to focus on the well-being of others she continued on her way, only glancing at the bodies if she passed right by them. Moments later she came upon a large wall, there were men covered in light gray armor wielding spears as they were inspecting each person that wished to pass by them.

While she approached, a commotion started to kick up. A man in a slightly similar position to her was being pushed away by the guards, their spears pointed at him.

"We are warning you now! Leave and don't come back, due to causing a ruckus in the city and offending a noble you will not be allowed back into the city!"

One of the knight guards shouted at the man, there was a look of pity held in the man's eyes as he gazed at the man.

On the man's revealed shoulder was a branded symbol, that symbol was used to state that the person that has it branded onto their skin has offended a person or persons of nobility. With the brand on their skin, they aren't allowed to exit from the slums and would be executed as a criminal if they did so.

"I just want to do some menial work for a restaurant! I beg you to let me through, I promise I won't cause trouble again, please sir."

The man was begging the guard, practically pushing the tip of the spear into his chest as he stepped forward.

The other guard stared at the man worriedly, loosening his grip on the spear, and attempted to set it up until he remembered the pair of eyes resting on his back; causing him to steady the spear.

"Listen, Joffrey, we are doing this for you, neither of us wishes to hurt or see you get hurt. We are doing this for your own good, if you go into the city now you will most certainly be imprisoned and possibly killed."

He spoke with worry while also trying to keep up a competent look for the pair of eyes watching him.

"Yes, so please just return home for now. We'll see what we can do to help you out."

"Er… okay."

Realizing that shouting and begging wouldn't change anything in his situation he toned down. Offending a noble is a bad thing, he was already lucky enough to not have been killed so right now he was just pushing his luck.

Nodding his head towards the two guards Joffrey walked away, dragging his feet in disappointment and uncertainty.

The knights let out relieved sighs, they were glad they didn't have to hurt Joffrey. They went back to their still positions and glanced back at the man talking to the nearby knights.

That man had a head of black hair on the verge of greying as seen by his few grey strands, while his face showed how he was quite old. He was clothed in clothing that contrasted greatly compared to Joffrey and all the people the girl had passed.

His clothing looked regal and of high quality and the knights and people around him were showing him great respect.

The man after seeing the situation being handled accordingly stepped up onto a grand carriage.

The carriage was made of rich golden brown and dark brown wood, pulled by beautiful and strong black stallions, and had a crest carved into it. The crest consisted of a great lion stepping and chomping down on a large snake.

That was the family crest of the Lionn family or the Lionn Dukedom.

If the girl had seen the crest she would have immediately realized exactly where she was, but alas, she didn't.

The knights had returned their attention to the other peasants trying to enter the city, one of them caught sight of the girl with muddied green hair standing off to the side, and gestured her over.

"Did you wish to enter the city as well, child?"

"... I wanted to look for something to eat. I've never been to the city before, do you know a place that will offer food?"

The man looked into her eyes, there was a possibility that once she entered the city she might try and steal food, and if she was caught and something happened to her it would be a shame.

"Do you have money?"

"Uh, let me-"

Stuffing her hands into her pockets the girl shuffled her hands around them for a few seconds, not finding anything she patted herself down before sighing.

"No."

The knight looked back and nodded to himself now that the nobleman wasn't watching them any longer.

Looking around he could see a few peasants looking in their direction so he decided to do it out of sight, so he punched the other knight on his shoulder plate.

"Cover for me, Mitchel."

"Sure sure. Just don't do anything to the little girl, it wouldn't look good on your record."

"As if I would ever do such a thing, I'll be back in a minute or two."

"I hear you."

Nodding at him the other knight took complete charge of inspecting and questioning those that sought to enter the city.

"Follow me, kid."

The knight turned around and walked over to the box that was on the side of the gate entrance, it was the compartment where the guards would take breaks in.

Following the knight, the girl was looking all around them, curious about her new environment. When they entered the box the knight went under the table in the center and pulled a large leather bag out and started to dig in it.

"So, what's your name kid?"

"It's Oxyelle, sir."