"Woah…"

A wooden carriage went past them, pulled by two horses at its front. It was as Lily said, the use of magic wasn’t common here.

"Is that a carriage?" he asked out of curiosity, but Lily immediately elbowed him. The sheriff accompanying them looked toward the carriage in question.

"Yes, that is… Why are you asking?"

“Ah, no reason.” William looked away, hoping the sheriff didn’t catch on. He wasn’t sure why Lily elbowed him, though. Was knowledge of another world not common in this world? Lily did believe them, but was she an exception?

They accompanied the sheriff to the sheriff's headquarters located in the center of the city. The sheriff guided them to a private waiting room, served them food, and asked them to wait before leaving.

The knights and sheriffs were two separate organizations, or so Lily said. The knights were tasked with manners outside the city and surrounding the walls. Basically, anything regarding defending a town or defending order outside of cities, that falls into the jurisdiction of the knights. Sheriffs, meanwhile, were tasked with things on the inside. Essentially the police organization of this world. Not all cities have them, while some others have a similar force with different names.

As they waited, William decided to check the gift. As it turned out, the gift from the goblins was indeed fresh fish. It was a massive one, thirty centimeters in length. Since they already had food, William wrapped it back and put it to the side. Feodora then extended her hand toward it.

“May I?”

“Sure. What are you going to do with it, though?”

Feodora opened the packaging, bringing her hands above it. Her hands glowed a light blue, and the temperature dropped.

“Ice magic?”

Feodora nodded. “Here. This shall last a few days without problem.”

“That’s impressive, Feo!”

“Thank you very much.”

William set the fish down next to him. He then took a spoonful of the fried rice before him, enjoying its taste. All three of them were hungry, and the entire plate disappeared within just a few minutes.

“Aaah…”

William let out a satisfied sigh. The food was surprisingly delicious. Originally, he expected his tongue to need some time, or meals, to adjust to the cuisine of this world. As it turned out, he found himself liking it immediately.

To be fair, the fried rice wasn’t all that different compared to the ones on Earth.

“Did you enjoy it?” Feodora asked from beside him. She had just finished her portion a minute earlier.

“It’s awesome.”

“Good to know.”

“It’s just normal fried rice, though. If you think it’s delicious, then you haven’t explored enough.” Lily smirked.

“In my defense, I just arrived here,” William retorted.

As they were conversing, the sheriff returned to them.

"I apologize for making you wait. Mind if I take a seat?"

William nodded, unsure why the sheriff asked them that. The sheriff sat down on the sofa across from them. The room itself was pretty barebone, with just a table with a plant in front of them, and two sofas on each side of the table.

"First of all, we would like to formally express your gratitude for your assistance in the issue. We have captured the suspects and have begun interrogation."

"So you are aware of this problem?"

"As much as it pained me to admit, yet, we do know about the issue. Unfortunately, we are currently understaffed to deal with it."

"Understaffed?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot speak more about such issues. But please know that we are grateful for your assistance and will look into this matter. We have sent your reward to the adventurers' guild. Please show this to the receptionist there, they will deliver you your payment."

The sheriff pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over to William. It was written in this world's language, William being able to read and understand it, and showed the signature of the head of the sheriff. He showed it to Lily, and Lily nodded. He then stuffed it into his waist bag.

“Is that all?” William asked.

“For now, yes.”

Why bring us all the way here, though? William wondered. He assumed it had something to do with the payment. Then again, he did receive a free meal, so he wasn’t going to complain.

"Alright, thank you for this and the meal."

William then turned to his two companions and nodded. The three stood up, saluted the sheriff, and made their way out of the building. Walking down the cobblestone road, they headed for the adventurers' guild.

"Do you know where the adventurers’ guild is?"

"The guild is usually located around the center of the city. We usually build it as the first building in a new area. The guild then will search for adventurers willing to take on jobs and prepare the land for the city." Lily explained.

"I see. You really do know a lot."

"I used to be part of their staff, remember?"

William then turned to Feodora, who walked silently next to him.

"Is this world different from your previous world? You don't have to tell us if you don’t want to, though."

“I’m curious as well. What’s your old world like, Feo?” Lily walked closer, keen on listening to the story.

"There is no need to worry. I have no reason to hide anything from you two. But, I suggest telling you that after we return to the truck."

William looked around. They were in a crowded area, and considering that people coming from other worlds weren’t common, Feodora’s suggestion made sense. "Yeah, you're right."

They managed to find the adventurers' guild, which was a large, three-story stone building in the center of the city. Two government buildings stood next to it, a small gap in between. They entered through the large wooden door, heading inside.

"...?"

"Is something wrong, William?"

"It's just… the guilds here are kind of different."

He had expected a place filled with loud adventurers that reeks of booze, but what he found instead was a tidy, clean place. There weren't many people inside, nor was there loud laughter as a burly old man told his story to a crowd of people. No, there was none of that.

In the center of the room were a couple of large desks combined to make a rectangular shape, the receptionists sitting behind them. Behind those desks were two staircases, one facing left and the other right, both heading to the second floor.

"What did you expect?" Lily asked, giving him a side-eye.

"A tavern or something."

"I wasn’t expecting you to be an alcoholic.”

“I’m not-”

“I am not going to stop you from drinking the drinks you like, William. But, if I may, I suggest you keep it in check.”

“I told you-”

“No, Feo. Even if he’s your boss, if he’s not doing something right, you need to scold him.”

“While I agree with the latter part of that sentence, I seriously do not drink alcohol!”

“Then why did you want to go to a tavern?” Lily stared at him.

“That’s where adventurers gather, back in my previous world, at least.” William let out a sigh. He didn’t drink alcohol because of how expensive they were. He would rather spend that money on chocolate bars and model kits.

“If you’re interested in that, then most guilds had their tavern in a separate building behind the main building. It can be entered through pathways beside the building, either that or the bridge on the second floor."

"I see," William nodded and stepped forward. The tavern wasn't the reason he came here. There were five receptionists behind the desks, and he went to the one currently doing nothing. She wore the guild’s formal wear, with a nametag on her chest. The word ‘Arkancel’ was written on it. She looked up, her short white ponytail shaking as she tilted her head.

"Hello, how can I help?" the receptionist asked with a cheerful tone, keeping a professional smile on her face.

"Good day, we received this from the sheriff," William brought out the slip of paper and handed it over to the receptionist. She gracefully accepted it and examined the piece of paper carefully.

“Alright… Please wait.” The receptionist stood up and bowed her head. She turned around, heading through a door at the rear of the room, returning not long after.

“Sorry. I had confirmed the reward from the sheriff. The issue is, we haven’t received said reward, so we cannot give you anything just yet.”

“When will it arrive?”

“I’m not sure. The sheriff promised as fast as possible, but I have no confirmation exactly when. I cannot make any promises as of now. We’ll try to get it as fast as we can, though.”

“Probably a few days. The guild acted as a middleman between the sheriffs and the adventurers, so if the payment hasn’t passed them, it won’t be available.” Lily shrugged. Her words caught the attention of Arkancel, who nodded approvingly.

“What she said is right. I hope you don’t mind a bit of waiting.”

“Ah, if it’s me, then I don’t mind.” William waved his hand, before turning toward Feodora who stood next to him. Feodora looked up.

“Is something the matter?”

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“You’re fine with it, right?” William asked. Feodora stared at him, mildly confused. “What do you mean?”

“Technically, it’s your money.” William’s words were met with Lily’s vigorous nod. “He’s right, Feo. You’re the one that fought off those pesky bastards, so it’s your call. I mean, not that we can do anything about it.”

“But are you two not involved as well?”

“You see, I’m not the one firing off cool magic.”

“Nor am I the one blindly walking straight into trouble.”

“Hey, I’m a peaceful person, alright? I searched for a middle ground before I threw fists.”

“Can you even throw fists in the first place?” Lily did some shadowboxing accompanied by tiny hops.

“Urgh…” It pained him to admit, but for now, he was in no way comparable to Feodora. He needed to learn magic quickly. He loved his railgun, but he too wanted a chance at firing magic spells and being a cool hero.

Feodora stood to the side, letting out a little giggle as she watched the two bicker. She then turned toward Arkancel.

“... I have no problems with getting my payment delayed. As long as I have rations to fulfill my basic needs, that is enough.”

“... That isn’t enough.” Lily approached and held Feodora’s shoulders. “That’s not enough, Feo! You’re allowed to enjoy life a little.”

“I think it is. But, if you truly believe that it is not, then I am willing to try new things. Maybe I will find some things I like.”

“We’ll help you discover them, right?” Lily elbowed William, who nodded in return.

“So for now, while we wait, how about we take up a quest? So we can feed this hungry boy.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I shall follow you.”

“A quest? Well, we do have some quests available. Can I see your adventurer cards?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Me neither.”

The receptionist looked quite puzzled by their answers. Lily panicked a bit, looking for excuses. William turned toward her, putting even more pressure on the former guild member. Arkancel, unaware of the little turmoil she created in between the group, continued asking.

“... Birth certificates?”

“... No.”

For a moment, William considered giving her his birth certificate from his previous life, but he quickly remembered that other than the truck, his clothes, and himself, nothing else passed to this life. Besides, he didn’t even carry his birth certificate with him.

“Identification?”

They both shook their heads. The receptionist stared in disbelief as Lily let out a heavy sigh.

“I really should’ve thought about that one.” She turned away, walking off for the bulletin board.

“Hey, Lily?” William called but he was promptly ignored.

What should I do? I can’t lie on this one.

He couldn’t forge documents. He didn’t even know what they looked like. He couldn’t back out now, either. He thought of excuses, something like losing them in his journey. Considering the way people traveled in this world, losing them on the road or being robbed by bandits would make sense.

Okay… the bandits one didn’t make sense considering Feodora’s strength.

…

But maybe I can say I met her after I was robbed?

“We do not have any official documents on us,” Feodora stated flatly and honestly, her words shattering all of William’s plans. Lily glanced back at them, let out another heavy sigh, and continued walking in circles. William held himself from saying anything.

She probably had some kind of plan.

“Can you tell me where you come from?” Arkancel asked. Feodora looked at William.

Why are you looking at me!? William screamed inside. He didn’t understand what Feodora saw in him, but she did turn back toward the guild receptionist.

“No.”

Well, that’s unexpected.

“Hmm…”

“Do we really need those things?” Lily asked, exasperated. She had returned at some point. Arkancel glanced around. She was about to call another guild staff when Lily held her in place. “Come on, I used to be a guild staff member as well. I knew that no one actually cared.” She said with a sly smile. Arkancel gulped, looking down at the space below her desk.

“I know you have those registration papers down there. You can just get this done with, you know?”

“... sigh… fine.” Arkancel took two pieces of paper from below her desk. Lily fist bumped the air and glanced at William, eyes saying ‘you owe me lunch for this’, William himself unsure whether he caught the meaning right or not.

“Name?” Arkancel asked, bringing William’s attention back toward her.

“William Ari.”

She then scribbled down William’s name, before looking toward Feodora.

“My name is NY-.”

“Feodora! Her name is Feodora!” Lily clasped Feodora’s mouth. Arkancel eyed them with suspicion.

“Feodora… sorry, your family name?”

“I do not have one.”

“So just Feodora?”

“Correct.”

“Hmm… that made it a bit hard to discern you from other people sharing similar or same names. Will Feodora Ari be alright-”

“Absolutely not!” Lily complained, while William looked flabbergasted. “My family name? Why, though?”

“You three are traveling together, aren’t you? What’s your relationship?”

“I am William’s and Lily’s ser-”

“Party member!” William and Lily said at the exact same time. Arkancel stared at them in disbelief.

“Oh… If that’s the case, Why don’t you share your family name with both of them?” Arkancel suggested.

“That’s better than before. How about it, Feo? Feodora Atores Ari.” Lily leaned on the table and smiled.

“... My family name is on the rear?” he asked, before remembering that in academic papers, at least on Earth, the last name was the one used. In other words, having his family name be Feodora’s last name would put him at an advantage.

Not that it mattered. This world probably had a different academic system. Even if it did share its system with the one on Earth, the likelihood of Feodora being a scientist was low. He wouldn’t stop her if she wanted, of course, but still…

“On second thought, I have no objections.”

Lily gave him a sharp gaze, probably wondering why he suddenly changed his opinion. She didn’t mention it any further, though.

“I am not against that.” Feodora gave her approval.

“If Feodora’s alright with that, then I’m fine.”

“Alright,” the receptionist continued scribbling things down.

“Done, here you go,” she handed over two slips of paper, one for William and one for Feodora. The paper had the words ‘official documentation’ on top, followed by horizontal lines showing where things should be written. On the first line were their names, while on the second were their ranks.

“To put it simply, there are nine classes of adventurers. Rank S and rank zero are the two highest ranks, exclusive for the toughest quests and the strongest warriors. For solo adventurers, we recommend selecting quests that are either the same or lower than your current rank. For parties with two, the most you can do is one rank above. For a party of three or four people, you can do quests two ranks above. For five or more, you can do up to three ranks above your current rank,” Arkancel explained.

“Note that for two people or more, the rank that is used as a base is the lowest one. How high you can go is based on the one with the lowest rank in the party, not the highest or the middle. This only applied to ranks one to seven. Gathering a rank zero with two rank ones wouldn’t mean you can grab a rank S quest.”

The two checked their respectful cards. Both of them were rank four.

“The group you fought before consisted of one rank five and two rank four, so I think it’s safe to assume you’re at least their level.”

“Isn’t this a bit unfair? I did nothing to help Feodora,” William pointed out. All he did was talk and taunt the group, he did nothing to help her. He couldn’t use any magic yet, and his railgun was a weapon anyone could wield.

“Is that so? I didn’t have the details of the fight. I only know that you two defeated those people.”

“Yeah, that’s all her doing.”

“But I could not accomplish it without William.”

“I didn’t throw a single magic spell.”

“William, can you use magic?”

William shook his head in response.

“That may be quite the issue. If that’s the case, then I’m forced to lower your rank to the lowest, rank seven.”

“Fine by me,” William handed the card over. He was slapped on the back by Lily. “Great, we won’t be able to take better quests now.”

“You talk about that, but what rank are you?”

Lily opened her pocket and showed her adventurers’ card. She puffed her chest, pushing the card toward William. On it was written the number three.

“I’m sorry,” William murmured in defeat. Using magic, the receptionist changed the number on William’s card. It now showed number seven.

“... Are you still going to adventure together? Sorry for saying this, but now that William is rank seven, the highest you can go is rank five.”

William looked toward Feodora.

“Sorry for dragging you down,” he scratched his head.

“You’re not going to apologize to me?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Lily.”

“Do not worry. If anything, I prefer this. I need to protect you until you can learn to fight.”

“Thanks a lot, Feodora.”

“Shall I guide you to the bulletin board?” the receptionist stood back up. She headed for the bulletin board, a large board hung on the side of the room. Various quests were attached there, complete with their rank, reward, and description. They were lined up tidily based on their rank. The lower the rank, the lower the reward. On the far right of the board was a single-rank S quest.

On it was a picture of a weapon William had seen before. The ballista.

“So these are the quests you can accept,” the receptionist showcased the rank seven, rank six, and rank five quests, but William stepped toward the ballista.

“Umm… sir? That one is way too high. Even if I didn’t change your rank, you’re still not allowed to accept it.”

The reward listed was massive. Thirty million Karape. Thirty thousand chocolate bread.

“We can’t accept this, right?” he asked, despite hearing what the receptionist said loud and clear.

“Yes. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of our rank S adventurers would accept it.”

“But if I destroy it without accepting, will I still receive the reward?”

“If people can confirm that it is indeed you, then yes, you can claim it. But the procedure is quite lengthy.”

“We’ll think about it later, then.” William returned to the ranks of his level. Most of the rank seven quests consisted of assisting local farmers with harvest, merchants with moving things, and subjugating animals that harmed farms but weren't dangerous to humans. Low-level quests that required almost no fighting.

The level six quests, meanwhile, consisted of things like gathering meat or herbs, or taking out not-so-dangerous monsters. They required more care and would occasionally involve fighting, but not much more dangerous compared to rank seven quests. Rank five consisted mostly of hunting monsters.

“Which one should we choose?” Feodora asked.

“Any you want?”

Feodora scanned the board once more. It was midday, so most of the lucrative and easy quests were probably taken at this point.

That didn’t mean the ones left were terrible, but they didn’t have much to offer.

Another receptionist came and stuck a quest on the board. A rank seven. A simple quest, asking to help with finding some kittens. The pay was decent. William recognized the village name from Feodora’s map. A little village located south of Pakihana, around an hour's ride by carriage away.

They could get over in an instant in the truck, and William could probably use 'magic' as an excuse for how the truck moved so fast.

"Should we take that?" William pointed toward the quest. Lily walked toward the quest paper.

Kittens were adorable. They were harmless as well.

From his perspective, it was an easy and hopefully enjoyable quest that could get him some money.

“I’m fine with it,” Lily said. Feodora stared at the quest for some time, before finally nodding.

"Do you not like it?"

"What made you think so?" Feodora asked, albeit sounding a bit weaker than usual.

"Are you not great with kittens?"

She did have some cat features, after all. Maybe there was some kind of hostility between cats?

“... Unfortunately, yes.”

“We don’t need to-”

Feodora grabbed William’s hands all of a sudden.

“No, If I could not get over my fear of kittens, then I could not fight stronger enemies.”

… fear?

“If you say so…”

“I didn’t know you’re scared of kittens, Feo.”

Feodora always followed orders so far. If she wanted to take on this quest, then who was he to decline?

“So you’re going to take the quest?” Arkancel asked to confirm.

“Yes.”

“Alright. Can any of you use magic?”

Feodora stepped forward.

“Alright, see this magic circle?” Arkancel pointed toward a round stamp on the bottom side of the paper. “The party leader must use magic on it. That will be the sign that you accepted the quest.”

“Alright. But are you sure that I should be the one leading?”

“Of course. You’re the one that destroyed those guys. You’ll lead, Feodora.”

“... Very well,” Feodora extended her right hand. Her right hand glowed purple. A bolt of lightning flew and struck the stamp. Inside the red circle, appeared another circle in the color of purple.

“Once the quest is finished, please ask the quest giver to use a magic pen on the stamp. That will confirm that you have finished your quest. If there are any conflicts regarding the quest or its completion, please notify the guild,” the receptionist said, giving the piece of paper to Feodora.

“Alright.”

Feodora handed the paper to William, who stuffed it into his bag.

“Also, one more thing. The quest completion time is five hours. If you took more than five hours, then the guild would put it up for other parties to help. In case something like that happens, you may lose your reward.”

“I see. Better complete it quickly. Let’s go.”

The three turned around and headed outside.