Takahashi Ryouta’s first step of freedom was rather uneventful.

After exiting the royal castle through its back door, his guide, a rather underpaid guard with a bored look, led him to the main street. Aside from a few glances, most of the passers-by practically ignored his appearance.

“Thank you,” Ryouta told the guard. Though the guard was rather stoic during their time together, as a Japanese boy raised to be well-mannered, he still thanked the man.

The guard was somewhat bewildered. He had once directly crossed path with one of the summoned heroes, and that person barely even acknowledged his presence, though he had been assigned to protect them. He thought that this person would be similar, thus he barely paid attention to the boy.

The guard awkwardly scratched his head, “Uh, no problem.” Seeming as if he was hesitating, he placed his hand on Ryouta’s shoulder.

“Here, take this. It’s not much, but it can be useful for you.” The guard took off his cloak, passing it to Ryouta. He did not know why he decided to give the boy some help; perhaps, he thought that it felt rather nice to be acknowledged by one of the people who had a status that could match the king’s, or perhaps it was simply a small, thoughtless act of kindness.

Ryouta stared at the cloak, thinking of multiple ways of how it could be useful for him. With the cloak, he wouldn’t feel cold if he decided to camp outside, it could also be used to cover his appearance, and his modern clothes which appeared to be rather conspicuous can be hidden. With a tone of gratefulness, he once again thanked the guard, “Really, thank you.” If his previous thanks were perfunctory, this time, it was really full of gratitude.

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The guard silently nodded to him, then made his way back to the castle to report back to his post. Being left alone, Ryouta suddenly felt lost.

He looked down at the cloak intently, covering his misty eyes.

He was finally, all alone.

There was no longer anyone else he could rely on, other than himself.

“Okay…!” He raised his head, staring up to the sky with a determined gaze. “I can do this!”

‘When it comes to other worlds, the first course of action is, obviously, the adventurer’s guild,’ Ryouta pondered as he walked along the main street.

The sights were a novelty to him, who came from another world. Though the hustle and bustle could not be compared to a morning train ride, it could still be considered to be busy.

He caught the sight of the many different writings on the signboards and banners all around him. They were clearly written in another language—the world’s language—which highlighted the fact that he was in another world. Though he had encountered many books in the royal castle that had the same text, it was still fascinating to him.

Along the way, many styles of clothes could be seen—solid coloured frocks and tunics were the most common, followed by people wearing all sorts of armours. Every once in a while, a rather richly dressed person would walk by, sometimes followed by a retinue, sometimes with another person, but never alone.

Although the people’s lives were definitely a notch lower in quality as compared to his modern-day Earth, the people still seemed to have fulfilling lives.

‘So this is really a different world…’ he mused.