Thus, I set out on my journey.

Apparently it took about five or six hours to walk, just time to think about what had happened in my last place of residence, otherwise it's hard to think of what to call it. It wasn't really that bad there, always warm and safe, as much food as I could eat, and Grim, who brought me lots of interesting books, and, occasionally, but told me about the world, even making sketches on paper for more understanding. I think if I can do my father's errand, I'll be free to do whatever I want, and then Grim and I can spend more time together, but here, outside. Then he wouldn't have to try to explain anything, he could just show me.

Imagining life outside my room, I walked unnoticed to the city wall. The masonry seemed solid, but the wall was surprisingly small, unlikely to protect against large monsters, though maybe it didn't need to.

To enter the city, I had to walk along the wall, looking for the gate. There were two men in armor standing near the passageway, not paying attention to the people coming in and out.

I walked past them awkwardly, peering at the people dressed in all sorts of outfits. My interest demanded that I look around, but I had to act more calm and detached. No one even seemed to focus on me. Everyone just kept on hurrying to get their business done.

As I entered the city, I was presented with a market with many shops, and in them an even greater variety of items, most of which I did not know, or knew only in a general sense. My eyes were running from side to side, but I tried to keep my cool as best I could.

"I'll have to look into all this more when I get a chance," I muttered to myself, and headed toward the center of town. From what I know, every city has an organization associated with protecting the city and killing monsters in the area, and they differ strikingly from each other. Some cities might have an army under the control of the authorities, some might have adventurers working for themselves, or receiving funding from the city treasury, as was apparently the case here, judging by the building I was able to find.

The sight of the guild building inspired excitement and a sense of adventurism. The huge, stately building was in the middle of the street and beckoned me to go inside. Nothing to do anyway, if I was sent here - then the hero is here, if he is here, where exactly? Surely there, where you can take quests to kill the monster and help people...

As soon as I got inside, walking freely through the front door, I was greeted by a short-haired girl. She began to quickly flicker around, diligently asking questions, but I failed to answer one question as a new one appeared. Contacting someone other than Grim, calm and quiet, proved difficult.

“Sorry, I'm not a member of the guild, I just want to join," I said trying to keep track of the girl.

“А... Come with me.”

All the enthusiasm of the employee has disappeared, and her "Come with me" as it seemed to me, was with such a strong contempt that I wanted to be indignant, but I managed to restrain himself. As a newcomer, I didn't want to get in trouble on my head even before the introduction, if it happened.

Together with the girl, we went into a small room, it was separated from the main room. Inside was a closed closet and a large desk, at which no one was sitting. The guild worker came to the desk, rummaged through the papers for a while, and then turned around and handed me a small piece of paper.

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“Please fill out a simple form and you can begin your work. Initially only simple tasks are available to you, in order to test your abilities. More complex guild tasks will be available to you after you have completed a certain number of simple ones.”

“Ok, I understand.”

This ease of joining the guild surprised me, but I felt better. I walked over to the table, and the girl handed me a writing utensil.

The form of the document had boxes such as: name, age, gender, experience in battles with monsters. They didn't seem to need more detailed information. And so, the name - Shikei, age - sixteen, although, looking back, I'm not very sure, Grim told me about my birthday, and gave any gifts, but a certain age I did not need to attribute to myself. The remaining two items were much easier, gender was male, no battle experience.

After filling out the form I was asked to go to the task counter, and choose something to my liking. Easy to say, in fact there were almost no normal tasks for newbies here, only help in getting rid of small monsters. While I was persistently choosing one of the many similar options, something glinted in my field of vision. Turning my head, I got the look of someone who could obviously be called a hero.

A young guy in bright silver armor approached the mission desk. His head was held high and his gait expressed confidence. He cast a quick glance at the flyers and picked up the heaviest of them. I couldn't see what it was, but the fact is, if anyone in this town is a hero, he is. Just have to make sure somehow.

The blue-haired "shiny guy" turned around and headed for the exit of the building, I'd have to follow him, though I'm not sure he's the right one for me. We walked around the city for about twenty minutes, and then the guy headed for the city gates. It was harder to hide outside the city, considering that the plain begins immediately there without any trees. After gaining distance, I went beyond the city wall and continued tracking at a distance. The supposed hero headed toward a small wooded area that began a few kilometers from the city. He went into the thicket and disappeared behind the trees. The possibility of losing sight of him threw me off balance, and I quickly followed there.

"And how could he hide from sight here, his armor is so shiny," I thought, trying to make out my target. As I walked a little farther, my foot caught on something and then jerked sharply upward, knocking me off-balance.

“What the hell is that?!” I blurted out randomly, and no one was supposed to answer that question, but it wasn't.

“It's a trap, what else," a woman's voice answered my shriek.

“Why did you follow me?” the blue-haired man asked, stepping out from behind the tree. His voice sounded calm and soft, like he was talking to a misbehaved child he didn't want to scold too much.

“I... I just wanted to join your team!” It was the only adequate excuse I could think of.

“Hmm, are you an adventurer?” The supposed hero seemed unplayfully interested in my offer.

“Yes, I'm new, I joined today," though I kept up a conversation with the blue-haired guy, my eyes tried to find the other people who were nearby, at least the girl who had responded to me recently.

“The rookie means, Evelyn, bring him down," he said without taking his eyes off me.

The rope that had caught on my leg loosened, and I fell to the ground with a decent bang on my back.

“A-a-a-ah," I groaned in pain. I hadn't had to take any hard hits or injuries before, it turned out to be very unpleasant.

“I'm sorry about that, but you could have told the guild instead of following me around," the blue-haired man seemed sincere in his apology.

After he said that, a redheaded girl, a little shorter than me, appeared from behind the trees, apparently the one who had set the trap. Her eyes expressed complete distrust and a certain contempt for me.

“Look, why don't you gain experience, improve your reputation in the guild, and then, if you want, I'll let you join my team?” said to me "hero", giving me a hand and helped me get up.

“Can I ask you a question?” His offer wasn't so bad, it gave me a chance to join, but I need to know if it's a hero at all. If I joined a random group of adventurers, it wouldn't make much sense.

“Go ahead.”

“You're a... hero, aren't you?”

“You wanted to join me without knowing exactly who I am?" the boy laughed. “Yes, they call me a hero, but I prefer my own name. I'm Azakiel, but you can call me Az.”

“I see, then... Az, when I'm stronger, will you take me in?”

“Of course, if you want to, no problem.”

The blue-haired guy's sincere smile made me smile awkwardly back. He seemed like an incredibly good person... and he's the one I need to kill...?