"And that’s about everything I’ve learned so far.” Mahiro concluded.

They were standing on a small bridge above a tributary, and Mahiro was informing Keisuke and Fumiko of what he’d discovered about Fortuna. According to him, the city was located in the kingdom of Altear—although they both knew that much already. It had a population of half a million currently residing within it, so it went without saying that it was a fairly large city. Fortuna was split into three districts for the poor, the middle-class, and the wealthy. These districts were more commonly referred to as the Rat, Plain, and Marble Districts. The area they were currently in was the middle district, the Plain District, where a lot of merchants and farmers sold their wares. It was the busiest district in the city because of this.

A lord by the name of Bram governed Fortuna, and he lived here in the city, in a keep that was inaccessible to the public. There existed a higher power even greater than this Bram, and that was the monarch who ruled over all of Altear. His name was King Oren. He did not live in Fortuna, but in an even larger city in the distant north.

“Wow, you’ve already learned that much...?” Keisuke was impressed.

Mahiro laughed sheepishly. “I asked around. Some of the people were kind enough to tell me what I needed to know. Others, not so much, ha-ha.”

“Yummy...” muttered Fumiko. She was eating one of the chicken wraps Keisuke had received and was thoroughly enjoying it too, by the look of it. Keisuke had decided to share the other two wraps with them.

“It's really good, isn’t it?”

“It is. I didn't even realise how hungry I was. Where did you get this?” Mahiro asked him, taking a bite himself.

“There’s a street with a lot of stalls back there. They sold a bunch of things, but I didn't have any money. Luckily, the guy gave me these for free.”

“Right, money...” Mahiro leaned over the bridge, thinking. “We don't even have a cent, huh? It feels like the more we discover things, the more lost we seem to be.”

Mahiro had taken the words right from Keisuke's mouth. He'd felt the exact same way. No matter how much new information he learned, they just made him feel smaller and smaller every time.

“I feel so out of place here...,” Fumiko said. “It's scary. I don’t know what to do.”

She inhaled sharply, and when Keisuke turned to look at her, he saw her shoulders trembling.

“It's all right, Fumiko-chan.” Mahiro quickly moved in to comfort her. “You can rely on me and Keisuke-kun. I think it’s best if we work together anyway.”

Fumiko looked back and forth between Keisuke and Mahiro. “R-really? I can rely on you two?”

“Of course. You don’t have to be alone. We’ll work things out together. I’m sure we’re all better off that way.” Mahiro smiled at her. “Well, I say that, but I’m not really sure where to start, either...”

“We could stop by one of those unions,” Kiesuke suggested, remembering what the stallkeeper had said. “Apparently, it's where people like us go.”

“Unions? Is that what the girl at the guild was talking about?”

“Yeah. It’s how you train to become a scout. From what I've heard, becoming a scout is one of the only ways people like us can earn money around here. I was on my way to find one when...when I ran into Fumiko.”

Mahiro placed a hand on his chin. “Scouts, huh? It’s true that we need money to survive. But it sounds dangerous... How do you feel about it, Keisuke-kun?”

“I...don’t know. I know I need money, at least. And we did take those badges earlier. It kind of feels like we don’t have a choice at this point.”

“I guess you’re right...” Mahiro mulled the idea over for a bit. He pulled out the badge they’d gotten back in the Recon Corps hall and examined it. After a short while, he nodded and tightened his fist around it, then looked over at Fumiko. “You don’t have to become a scout if you don’t want to, Fumiko-chan. It might be dangerous. We’ll look after you. Right, Keisuke-kun?

“Right.” He honestly had no problem with that. Somewhere inside him, Keisuke had already decided that his protective instincts had triggered for Fumiko.

Fumiko looked down at the ground, then shook her head. “N-no... I’ll be a scout, too… I don’t want to let you guys do everything. I-I'll do my part.”

“Are you sure?” Mahiro asked her.

She nodded her head.

“Then I guess it’s settled. Our first priority is finding a union. We can split up for now and meet up again afterwards. Sound good?”

They agreed, and with that, their paths were decided.

Keisuke now found himself wandering the streets once again, searching for a union that he could join. Mahiro and Fumiko had left his company to go seek their own, and Keisuke was tasked with the same thing.

He’d been walking around for some time and none of what he’d found stood out to him. There were five unions in total: the warrior's union, rogue's union, hunter's union, spellcaster's union, and priest's union. Each of them had various professions—commonly known as classes—under them that one could choose between.

Despite so many to choose from, Keisuke didn’t know which to join. There were plenty of options, and that was showing itself to be a problem for him because he wasn’t too confident in his ability to decide on his own. What was best for him? What did they all do? He had so many questions, which just made his anxiety of picking one even worse.

Keisuke’s first stop was the paladin profession under the warrior’s union, but he didn’t get far because Mahiro was already there and they saw no point in them being the same class.

Keisuke’s second option was the barbarian profession, also under the warrior’s union. He immediately rejected that one upon seeing the type of people queued up to join it. They were far bigger and stronger than he. All of the other unions went along those same lines of Keisuke not feeling confident enough to join them.

It was nearing sundown, and Keisuke was still mindlessly dragging his legs around. At this rate, I won’t join anything... Maybe I should just pick whatever and stick with it. Mahiro has already found his, and I’m sure Fumiko has as well. I’m pretty sure I’m the last one...

Keisuke was ready to just choose whichever union he stumbled upon next and be done with it. As long as he just joined one, he was sure everything would work out. Maybe.

What if it didn’t? I mean, I don’t fully understand why I’m joining these unions anyway. Apparently, it’s so we can survive in this world? I don’t really get it.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

But I’m here now, and I don’t have much of a choice. I promised Mahiro and Fumiko that I would join one, so let’s just get that done for now.

“Hey, you!” a voice suddenly called out.

Keisuke stopped in his tracks. He wasn’t sure if the voice was even referring to him, but he looked around anyway. He saw a woman with short, brown hair standing in front of a big warehouse-like building.

“Me?” Keisuke pointed to himself.

“Mhm! You. I don’t see anyone else around. Come over here.” The woman beckoned him over.

Keisuke was reluctant at first. He looked at the woman. She seemed modest enough. At least, she didn’t look sketchy. Reluctantly, he walked towards her.

“What's your name?” she asked him.

“It’s Keisuke...”

The woman placed a hand on her chin and began examining him. “Keisuke, hm...?” she murmured.

This action left Keisuke uncomfortable and confused. “Huh...? What is it? Is there something on me?”

“You caught my attention earlier today, Keisuke,” she said, still eyeing his body.

“Earlier...?”

“The way you stepped up to help that girl.”

She was talking about that incident with Fumiko. But Keisuke didn’t recall seeing this lady. “You were there...?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And you didn’t do anything?”

“I was going to. Well, I wasn’t going to let them do anything to the girl. But then you stepped in, so I decided to watch. If things got too out of hand, then I would’ve intervened.”

“I see...”

But I got beaten up quite a bit. Wasn’t that out of hand already? he wondered.

“Still,” the lady regarded Keisuke with interest. “I didn’t think someone like you had it in him to do something like that. Your kind always seems too passive to do anything.”

Keisuke scratched the scruff of his neck. “Someone like me, huh?” And what did she mean by “his kind”?

“Someone as scrawny and doesn’t stand out as much as you. I mean, I doubt I would have ever noticed you if it wasn’t for that. Ha-ha-ha!”

“Gee, thanks...”

“But it’s fine. Scrawny is good. I can work with scrawny.” The lady then raised Keisuke's arms high and poked at his stomach. “You’re not very fit, are you?”

“Eh...? No... Sorry...”

“Hm...” The lady continued measuring his body for whatever reason. When she finally stopped, she put her fingers on her chin and looked to think deeply about something.

Keisuke was standing there, lost and confused. “Who are you anyway? And what’s all of this for?”

“That’s it! I’ve decided!” She suddenly snapped her fingers. “I’m going to take you under my wing and train you! Congratulations! I don’t often recruit people, so you should feel honoured, okay?”

“Huh...?” Keisuke was dumbfounded. He blinked a few times before asking, “Your profession? You’re under a union? Like, in the scouting legion?”

“Precisely that! Specifically, the warrior's union. I work under the fighter class.”

Keisuke was still struggling to see where he fit in. “And you want me to join? Why?”

“You’re perfect! I’ve decided that I can make great use out of you, Keisuke. Someone like you doesn’t come around often, you know?”

“Someone like me...?”

“Yes, someone like you. So, what will it be? Will you join the fighter profession? Will you be my plaything?”

“Excuse me, what was that last part?”

“Nothing, nothing! Come on, now, the clock's ticking. I might retract this generous offer!”

There were a lot of alarm bells ringing in Keisuke’s head right then. The loudest being whether or not he could trust this random woman and what she was saying.

“Why me?” he asked her, trying to fish for a hint of credibility from her. He wasn’t convinced at all.

“Like I said, because I can make use of you,” she said simply. “And you stood out to me. Is that a good enough reason?”

Keisuke examined the woman’s appearance. She was well-kept and had on a long white blouse which she folded at the sleeves and brown woollen trousers. She had no visible weapons on her, which comforted Keisuke a little. She didn’t look like a thief or a trickster, but with no weapons and armour she didn’t look like she belonged to any of the unions, either.

She must be lying, Keisuke thought. He had no reason to believe her, after all. And if he was careless here, he could walk right into a trap of some kind. He didn’t know how this city worked or the dangers that lurked within it. For all he knew, people like him were taken advantage of very often around here. Heck, he just recently stopped a couple of scoundrels from assaulting Fumiko. Keisuke would be stupid to blindly follow some woman who appeared out of nowhere, making claims that he didn’t know to be true. With all of that in mind, Keisuke took a couple small steps backwards.

“I-I'm sorry, but I think I’ll look elsewhere. I appreciate your offer, though. I’m sure you’ll find someone else who will be of better use than me, ha-ha. After all, like you said, I’m weak and scrawny. I don’t think I’d be much help.”

He was bumbling awkwardly and pedalling backwards at the same time. The woman was watching him the entire time, saying nothing, her face a stoic mask.

When Keisuke was further back enough, he turned on his heel and said, “Sorry!” then tried to hurry off as quickly as he could.

He’d only gone as far as a single step when the woman called out to him. “Hey,” she said.

Keisuke stopped, his heart now drumming in his chest. Did I piss her off? he wondered.

Maybe she was finally going to unveil her true intentions and was done trying to fool him. “Y-yes…?” He turned back around slowly.

“Look.” The woman reached into her blouse and pulled out a round medallion that was hanging around her neck. It was a glossy platinum colour that seemed to shimmer in the light. When Keisuke looked closer, he noticed a symbol engraved into the medallion.

It was a half-crescent moon with an arrow piercing straight through it.

“That’s…”

“The symbol of the Scouting Legion, yes.” The woman finished his sentence for him. “I assume you had doubts about whether I was telling the truth or not and if I was really from the guild like I said. Understandable.” She let go of the medallion, and it fell and rested on her chest. “This is a medallion from the Recon Corps. Only official scouts get them, and it’s a serious crime for non-scouts to have one by any means. So, I wouldn’t be showing this to you if I wasn’t the real deal.”

Now that Keisuke knew what that was, he vaguely recalled Ren and his party also wearing something similar around their necks, although theirs were a different colour.

So, this woman didn't appear to be lying after all. She was truly from the guild and worked under a union. There was still a great chance she was bluffing and trying to trick him, but somehow Keisuke doubted it. Deep down, and perhaps it was just a gut feeling, Keisuke knew this woman was authentic.

“So, Keisuke,” The woman looked at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read, but it affirmed his feeling that she was very, very serious. Her eyes were locked directly into his, and a slight smile played in the corner of her lips. “I ask you again: Will you be my plaything?”

Keisuke gulped so hard for a second he thought he had swallowed his Adam's apple. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Keisuke got the feeling that if he didn’t accept this offer here and now, then he would have a difficult time finding something else. Feeling a wide range of emotions, one being extreme trepidation at the woman’s gaze fixed on him, Keisuke slowly nodded his head. Whether he fully intended to or was intimidated by the woman in front of him into doing that, Keisuke didn’t completely know himself. But he did know that he had just agreed, and he got a feeling in his gut that there was no going back now.

“Great!” The lady clapped her hands excitedly. “Now, step this way, please.” She opened the doors to the warehouse and gestured for Keisuke to enter. “By the way, my name is Koto. We’re going to have loads of fun together. I promise!”

Keisuke took a deep breath and went inside.