The male echidna spins the dagger in his hand casually and leans against the wall. I look behind to see the two presences are a lizard-type animan with a spear and a clothed-one(which the Hero called a human) with a shield and axe. I look back at the echidna and he speaks with a heavy lisp, "Well hello Hero, we heard you need a new party after tthhe sooo unfortunate deatthhs of your team. Tthhings can be soo difficult without one and we tthhought we would be kind enough to allow you to join ours." he says, gesturing behind me. I'm starting to understand where this is going, so I keep a wide stance with a hand ready to grab my new weapon. I've never fought with a melee weapon before though so I'd like to resolve this without fighting if possible. The few people in the side street are avoiding our location and looking away, so these guys must have a reputation around here.

I calmly begin, "Wow, you are so thoughtful, it would be difficult on my own..." The echidna smiles, confident they have succeeded, before I continue, "but I must refuse."

The echidna's slit-like eyes narrow and I hear the guys behind me shift their weight, "You see, I was summoned by the magistrate to decide that exact thing. He mentioned something about having a selection of people ready for me to choose from for my new party, but since you guys are so kind I am sure I can get a word about you in to him. I'm in quite a hurry so you can write your guild card numbers here so I can contact you later." I say, pulling out my notebook and tearing off a page and handing him it.

I'm totally fibbing right now, but they don't know that. I would assume the magistrate would leave finding a party to me to ensure compatibility and peace within the group.

He was surprised and worried at the mention of the magistrate but now seems a bit confused and hopeful and takes the paper. He sheaths his dagger and pulls out a writing tool and his guild card, writing the number down. The men behind me are a bit confused as well and slowly walk up from behind me and take turns with the paper as well.

I nod thankfully and reply with a happy tone, "Much appreciated guys, I'll be sure to put in a good word, make sure to visit the guild often in case I contact you!" I say and confidently walk back towards the main street. The group stay where I leave them, stunned, as I round the corner onto the main road again. I pass the corner and quickly make my way across the street to another side street before finally letting out a huge sigh and slumping to the ground. My face is sweating profusely and I use the cuff of my sleeve to wipe what I can reach under my helmet.

I cannot believe they bought that!! Thank goodness I am usually quick on my feet when it comes to stuff like this. I nervously laugh to myself a little at the absurdity of it all and look out back to the main road.

The group walks slowly out of the other side-street and walks back near the housing section of Thelian, very obviously confused and talking amongst themselves as they head out of sight. I sigh again in relief and get up, dusting off my armor a bit and about to walk back towards the guild building before I hear a small "hello?" behind me.

I turn around to see a small featherfallen girl standing there. Her shirt and skirt are fraying at the edges and filthy. Her wings are folded tightly behind her and her tail feathers are dirty and uneven from lack of proper care. Her feathered face is ruffled and there are two tear-trails long-since dried running from her eyes to her chin. She was yellow with green tips once, but she looks more gray now and the green is hidden in dirt. She looks smaller than normal, and what little structure I can see under her feathers shows signs of starvation. Falacia was so small that no one ever went hungry because we always helped each other out if someone was in need, but I can see how in such a large town there would be those going without due to some reason or another.

She asks in a weak, scratchy voice, "Do you have any food? My dad is sick with brittle feather disease and can't work so we have nothing to eat." she says. She is visibly trembling and keeps her eyes cast down towards my feet as she asks.

Now that I think about it, it must be scary to ask someone in pristine, expensive-looking armor like this. She is small enough that, should I be so inclined, I could do whatever I wanted with her, and most rich folk tend to have some nasty personalities.

I think for a minute about my meager funds, and the fact that if I don't manage to hunt today giving her anything would put myself at the whims of starvation too, but there's no way I could just ignore this little girl's plight. I kneel down and say "You are so brave! Your dad would be proud of you for trying to help. I can give you some money to buy food and medicine, but this is all I have so don't expect too much." I say gently, grabbing my coin bag out of one of my waist pouches and pull out 20 silver pieces. It is enough for medicine and roughly a weeks worth of food if spent frugally.

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I hand the substantial amount to her, the coins barely fitting in her tiny feathered fingers. She looks up at me for the first time, an expression of wonder and happiness showing in her bright purple eyes. I say, "Quickly, bring them back to your family, don't let anyone take them from you." and ruffle the feathers on her head. She makes an adorable shrieking noise and quickly runs away through the alley, her wings flapping a bit to help her run faster in the narrow street.

I stand up and watch for a bit until I can't see her anymore and walk back out onto the main road. I grab a singular health talisman and some rodential jerky before heading back to the guild. It is just about noon and I chew on a gamey piece to satiate my hunger as I look at the request board, my body slightly protesting at my decision to give away half of what little money I had left.

I walk back inside the guild building towards the request board, but as I do I notice something. Everyone was looking at me before, and this might have been something I missed, but I'm noticing that the adventurers are actively avoiding me. Even as I approach the board everyone near it backs away and is giving me side-eye as they walk away. I thought about the possibility that the Hero would have a reputation before, but I don't think it is a good one from their reactions now, I guess the overseer was just being friendly out of political necessity rather than actual niceness before.

The noise level inside has decreased as well and I notice people with food have stopped eating. I try not to let it bother me and look at the fancy board with electric flipping letters and numbers. Each option is laid out horizontally and organized by difficulty and reward and has an identifying code. This is my first time seeing such technology, but from what I have seen other people doing, you write the code down and press a button on the row you want and it will remove itself for the estimated completion time of the request. If it isn't claimed by then, it will be put back up.

I want to start with something easy since it'll be my first time doing an actual guild-request, but not too easy that people will wonder what is wrong with the Hero. I see one to exterminate a herd of spiked boars tearing up a farmer's fields and write the number down as well as other details like the location in my notepad before pressing the button. There is a loud shuffling noise as the requests re-order themselves. I take this opportunity to make a report about the group who was harassing me before and hand the paper with their numbers on it to the clerk as well. Then I walk back out of the building as quickly as possible, the others' eyes boring holes in the back of my helmet.

I can hear the noise level return to normal as I leave and can't help but feel a little sad at my exclusion of what seems like and otherwise good opportunity to make new acquaintances and maybe even party members. I sigh and head towards the gates.

As I leave the barrier, I stop and suddenly remember that I don't have an entry coin! Aluli said to visit the nearest guard station, but I'm already outside! Oh no, I groan and turn back somewhat sheepishly. The guard on one side of the gate looks up and greets me as he salutes, "Ah, uh, Great Hero! Is there something you need..?" he says very stiffly. I see my reputation affects even their behavior and I internally sigh.

"Um, yeah... I don't happen to require an entry token... do I?" I ask also very stiffly, but mostly because I feel extremely stupid right now.

The guard wasn't looking at me before but he now steals a glance with a somewhat confused and concerned look on his face, "But, Sir...I mean Great Hero, You're wearing it." he replies skeptically.

I look down, unsure what he is referring to but feeling even more dumb as my Hero's token glints on the front of my armor. I look back up quickly and say, "Oh, yeah, that."

The guard stares at me now, still confused and continues, "Your Hero's token grants you access to any city in the realm.... My apologies, I forgot you are suffering with amnesia and probably forgot about that, although I figured you would have understood what it meant considering the word 'token' in its name."

I am very much red as a roseapple and quietly manage a small "yeah, thanks." before swiftly turning around and heading out to the request location. I can hear some stiffled snickering behind me and I walk as fast as I can without running, embarrassed beyond belief. Stupid, stupid, stupid Rualta! I mean Levi! How could I not have figured that out! And I'm supposed to be pretty smart or so I thought... I just hope they forget it by the time I come back.

My embarrassment wears off as I enter the farmland area and lush white hills greet my eyes. Most of what is harvested out here is a grain called 'snowfelt' which can be used for salads, bread, as a filler with meat, or even on it's own as little balls for portable meals. It is a gorgeous white stalk with hundreds of little pods growing up and down it. It feeds on nutrients that have a small amount of magic in them so farmers also have to be casters. They can usually handle pests on their own but a herd of spiked boars is probably too much for one farmer, and it seems like those daggers the boy had before are reserved for those too weak to defend themselves as they are in short supply.

Even though I've been jogging at a light pace for nearly 15 minutes, strangely I don't feel tired as I passively gaze at the expanse of snowfelt fields and roseapple orchards. I notice a green glow around my legs as I look down and realize I must have been using magic this whole time. My mana pool is so much larger than what I am used to so I didn't even notice.

I finally slow down as I reach the outskirts of the fields I see evidence of crop damage. The request already told me the location of the boar's resting grounds so I don't slow down as I pass the farm house on the edge of the field. I think I see some red hair in the window as I run past, but when I look the curtains are drawn and still. I shrug and keep heading past the fence into the forest towards my goal.