Astrid felt well rested when she woke up the next morning, so she got out of bed and dressed in her tattered dress and her cloak. She really needed to get some new dresses soon before the one she had fell apart completely. Since she was in a city and had money, she could get whatever she wanted.

Before she could get too excited, she steeled herself. Until she had a reliable income, her money should only be spent on the most necessary things. She also had room rent and food to think about, after all. Finding a job should be a main priority for now.

She still hadn’t gotten any new quests from the god of Deception, which was a good thing. Maybe he had finally lost interest in her now that she had made it safely to the city.

She put on her shoes, which had also seen better days, and went down to the main room of the inn for some breakfast. A few people were already seated, but it was nowhere near as crowded as it had been last evening.

She was about to go find a seat when someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned to see the innkeeper, who looked at her with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

“Who are you?” he asked.

At first, the innkeeper’s words confused her. They had, after all, met just yesterday. However, she quickly realized what the issue was. She had forgotten to disguise herself before leaving her room, so now she looked like her normal fourteen-year-old self and not like her eighteen-year-old sister. How could she have been so careless?

“Um,” Astrid said, mentally scolding herself for the blunder while trying to come up with a plausible response. “I’m Astrid’s sister, Sigrid.” The name that had belonged to her sister was the first that came to mind. A wave of emotions rushed over her from the memories of everything she had lost, making her eyes burn and her throat tighten.

Don’t think about it, she told herself, and pushed the grief down before it could spill over. Now was not the time to deal with her sorrows.

The innkeeper grunted. “If you and your sister want to keep the room another night, it will cost another ten small coppers. Fifteen in both of you want the meals.”

“All right,” Astrid said, handing over the money. Just the ten coppers. She didn’t feel like paying extra for food for a person who didn’t actually exist.

The innkeeper didn’t comment as he went back to the desk, counted the money, and wrote something in his notebook. Astrid took this as a sign she could continue with her breakfast plans, so she found a place to sit, and soon a plate with pancakes and fresh fruit was brought to her table. For so long, she had wanted pancakes, but now they just reminded her of the home she would never see again.

She quickly swallowed the food without tasting it and left the inn to search for the market. If she just kept busy, she wouldn’t have to think about her dead family.

As soon as she got back to the main road, she was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people moving in every direction. It reminded her of the large flock of sheep her old neighbor had before they abandoned the place. There had been so many of them, and when they stood close together, it was hard to tell where one ended and another began.

Astrid took a deep breath and entered the masses. She immediately jumped back again, narrowly avoiding getting run over by an overstuffed cart. After a moment, she had recovered enough to try again, this time checking to make sure nothing big and heavy was hurdling towards her before stepping out on the road. She could only hope she was heading towards the marketplace. She didn’t dare stop to ask someone for directions out of fear of being trampled.

Eventually, she made it to a big, open area where the crowds thinned. This looked like it would be a good place for a market, but there was nothing but empty space and people. Whenever she had been in the village, there had been rows and rows of stalls that sold anything imaginable, but here no one had even begun setting up shop. Where did all these people buy the stuff they needed?

She looked around, trying to figure out what to do, and noticed that a lot of people were entering and exiting the building surrounding the square. At first, she thought it was because they lived there, but after a while, that seemed implausible. One woman entered a building, then exited a few moments later, only to enter another one immediately after.

Curiously, she went over to the nearest building and looked through the window. Inside, selves filled with shoes stood in neat rows, and a man showed one pair to another man. It looked like a bigger and fancier version of a marketplace stall, so this had to be where people shopped.

Astrid looked through the windows until she found a shop with clothes. The many beautiful dresses hanging on display looked stunning. The vibrant colors glinted in the sunlight, and the lace trims had intricate patterns. They were completely impractical for any kind of physical labor, but she still wanted them. Before she could stop herself, she entered the building and made her way over the fine dresses.

“Is there anything I can help you with, dear?” a woman asked. She was elderly, with wrinkled skin and gray hair. Her orange dress fit her body perfectly.

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“I like this one,” Astrid said, pointing at a blue silk dress with tiny white bows on the skirt.

“It would suit you so well,” the woman said. “And for a small silver, it can be yours.”

Astrid returned to reality as her dream of owning the fine dress shattered. It was more expensive than she could hope to afford.

Maybe one day, she thought, casting one last glance at the dress.

“I’m also looking for a couple of sturdy work dresses,” she told the woman, trying not to let the disappointment show.

“We have a nice selection of those over here in the back.”

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A while later, Astrid left the building with two new dresses. She had to carry her new purchase back to the inn by hand since her pouch was full. She was not comfortable leaving anything she currently owned unattended in her room, even if the door was locked. Both the book and the amulet would be a dead giveaway that she followed the god of Deception. Maps were valuable, and she didn’t want to lose the one she had, should someone gain access to her room while she was gone. She would need to get a bigger bag soon. Three inventory slots might not be enough for much longer. She already had to tie her room key to her belt.

Back in her room, she freshened up and changed into one of the new dresses. The green linen felt soft against her skin. This was the first time in her life she wore something that hadn’t been passed down from her sister. It had never bothered her, as she knew just how expensive clothes could be. These dresses were the cheapest in the store, and they still cost one large copper each.

The woman in the shop had tried to sell her a nice leather belt to go with the dresses, and Astrid really wanted it. However, in the end, she turned it down. The rope she had was still good enough, so spending money on a new belt would have been wasteful.

Besides, there were many other things she needed to buy that were a lot more important, like a bar of soap and a comb for her hair. She also had to make daily payments to stay at the inn until she could save up enough to get her own place. She would need to find a job as soon as possible.

She combed her hair as best she could with her fingers. Then she braided it and tied the ends with strips of fabric she ripped off her old dress. They were not as nice as the ribbons she had lost in the forest when she fled from her farm, but they would do for now.

After disguising herself as her sister, she went downstairs and over to the innkeeper.

“I’m looking for work,” she said.

“I don’t have any vacancies, but you can try at the job hall. People looking to hire often post there.”

The innkeeper gave her directions, and she thanked him before leaving the inn again.

The job hall was easy to find. Inside, multiple notice boards stood in neat rows, and people walked among them, browsing the offers. Astrid looked around, trying to figure out where to start. She saw a group of young girls standing by one of the boards and decided it would be a good place to start.

She went over and quickly scanned through the different notes, trying to find something that caught her interest.

The first one was for a position as a maid, paying one small copper a day.

No way, Astrid thought, moving on to the next note. It was much the same, as were all the others on this board. Taking a full-time job at such low pay would never get her anywhere. The other people around her didn’t seem to have the same concerns, as they eagerly took down the notes to go apply for the jobs.

Astrid decided to check out the other boards before making any decisions. There, the options weren’t any better. Either the pay was less than she needed to afford her inn, or they required specific skills to be at certain levels. She needed work as soon as possible, so raising a skill would take too long.

Maybe she was being too picky about the jobs. After all, other people seemed happy taking jobs like this. Then again, they likely had families working together to cover expenses. Astrid was all on her own and had lost everything when the monsters attacked her farm, so in addition to paying rent, she needed enough to replace necessities. None of these jobs allowed her to do that.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Some of the first jobs she had looked at had a boarding option, which meant that the small copper she earned would be hers to keep. Still, it felt unfair to be paid so little for a full day of work. Sham had offered a lot more for completing his quests. It would take several years of working as a maid to earn the same amount.

Astrid shook her head. What was she even thinking? Had she really gotten so greedy and spoiled in a few days that regular work was beneath her? That could not be allowed. She would take a job with a boarding option, work harder than anyone else had ever done before, and she would be happy about it. Maybe in a few years she would have gained the skills to get a better job. That was how the world worked for people in her situation.

Filled with new determination, she marched back to the first noticeboard, only to find it completely empty. A young girl had just snatched the last slip of paper off the board.

I guess I’ll have to come back tomorrow then. She thought. Since she was already here, she might as well check out the last few boards in the back.

She had almost given up on finding anything when she reached the last board. It was stuffed with notes, and she perked up as she read through a few of them. This could be it. Each note contained a one-off quest and most only required her to go to the forest, pick a few plants, and then bring them back to the right person. If you had the right equipment, it would be easy. To make things even better, they paid at least a large copper each, which was a hundred times more than the other jobs she had been looking at.

Why is no one else taking these? She couldn’t think of any reason, so she shrugged off the concerns. It meant that there would be more for her. She just needed to buy a few things first.

Astrid quickly found a store that sold bags. If she got a big enough bag, she could take on multiple quests at once and then avoid having to go back and forth a hundred times. She decided on a brown leather bag with fifty stackable inventory slots. It was the best she could afford, as magical items were expensive.

After paying, she only had a few large coppers left, but it would be worth the investment. She could make the ten large coppers back in a few days.

The next stop was a store that sold all kinds of tools. Here she got a sickle to harvest plants. Although food could be plucked by hand, any attempt at harvesting magical plants without the right tool would leave the plant useless.

She secured her new sickle beside the dagger on the rope for easy access. She had spent most of her money now, so she really hoped taking these gathering quests would be as lucrative as she imagined. Otherwise, she would have wasted all her money.

With her new equipment, she went back to the job hall to sign up for some quests.