The trek through the pass was rather slow but far more peaceful than Aunai anticipated. The presence of a dragon had basically cleared the area of the more dangerous bird monsters that would often hunt. It was nice knowing it was rather safe, yet the appearance of a dragon still had most of them on edge. Only Lila looked excited to see the dragon appear, even if everyone else didn’t want another encounter.

As they got near the exit of the pass, the sun in the sky was already setting. As there was no stopping, all carriages had to be out of the pass before night. The worst case was that the night creatures would appear and take advantage of the darkness. It wasn’t too uncommon for a caravan to be lost in a night attack in these passes. That was why guides prioritized safety and would order groups to leave behind belongings if they suspected they wouldn’t be out before night.

“I wonder,” said Mimiki, keeping her eye partly on the sky as they talked. “This is the first dragon I’ve seen. The feeling wasn’t like anything else I’ve experience yet… For some reason that felt like a rather weak dragon.”

“You must be joking,” said Nobina, shocked by Mimiki’s words. “If that was weak, then we are basically ants standing before giants.”

“Not me,” said Lila, giving a laugh. “I might have not been able to take on the dragon, but I would have given it a run for its money.”

Nobina was happy Lila was keeping optimistic, but her worries were that dragons would start appearing and messing with the city of Navira. If this happened because of her yet again, Nobina wouldn’t know what to do. Telling people that they were being attacked by dragons because of her would never go well.

“Nobina?” asked Mimiki, noticing Nobina’s worried expression.

“Uh… I’m just worried about the dragon. Is that… not normal,” she asked.

“Perfectly normal,” said Aunai. “Dragons are beings that have lived well beyond humans, changed the world time and time again, and have done unspeakable things we would never condone. Being cautious about dragons is wise.”

Nobina couldn’t have agreed more. She’d be cautious around them until she could comfortably fight one. Not that she was anywhere close to even standing up to one.

The party left the pass and was greeted with the sight of a large city. Nobina, who was keeping her gaze on their surroundings, was in awe seeing the city. Despite its far distance, a lot of it was still visible and impressive. From what Nobina could recall, Navira was a central city that was used as a bridge between other major cities. The city itself was still a place to be though. There were a vastly larger number of dungeons to visit and monster nests containing monsters stronger than goblins.

From what Nobina knew, Navira was going to be an amazing place to explore and learn. Of course, they still had their primary job as guild officers, but Nobina wanted a chance to view the city before she became known.

“Hey Aunai,” said Nobina, getting Aunai’s attention.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Can I look around the city by myself?” Nobina asked with sparkles in her eyes. “I rather get a chance to do that before people recognize me as a guild officer.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” nodded Aunai. “However, would you be against Line being with you? He’ll merely shadow as you look around.”

“Sure,” replied Nobina. She had a feeling she didn’t have enough leverage to deny such a request, so she accepted it without any trouble. Once that was done, everyone once again focused as they continued for a bit. Soon, the moonlight was upon them, and they rested in an unplanned location.

“The forests near Navira are rather safe. At most there might be a C rank threat, but if we fail to stop one, then we disgrace the ranks we all hold.”

With that, the party rested for the night. Nobina was still amazed at how they didn’t need someone on watch, but she figured it was something that the strong didn’t need.

The moon, in particular, tonight felt beautiful. Looking at it, a memory appeared in Nobina’s head. One she didn’t expect to recall.

Nobina remembered Fay bringing her to the park in the middle of the night. It was her birthday, and Nobina had a blast celebrating it with all her friends. Fay had taken the lead the whole day, making sure Nobina was the center of attention and having a blast. It was only at the very end that Nobina saw Fay almost fall over that night. It scared Nobina to death, but she quickly learned the reason Fay looked weak. She had worked all week non-stop, ensuring the day would be perfect, and it wasn’t until it was dead of night that she felt her job was done.

“Fay,” said Nobina, letting Fay rest her head on her lap. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You’ve made… today far more special than most of my other birthdays. However… Please never work yourself this hard ever again for my sake. I care too much about you to watch you hurt yourself for my sake.”

“Yeah,” Fay chuckled. “I guess I should have toned it down a bit.”

Fay’s eye looked up at Nobina, who was looking at her.

“Nobina,” smiled Fay. “I wish we remain friends… forever.”

“I do too Fay,” she smiled back.

As Nobina blinked, she found herself in her bed, looking up at a nighttime sky that looked different from her old world.

“Do you still look up to the sky and think about me Fay?” asked Nobina, hoping that Fay was living her best life in this new world.

Soon, her own tiredness overtook Nobina, and she was asleep.

The next day, the party continued for about a few hours till they were within range of the city. They started encountering adventurers heading out to do their various quests. Many of them gave their respects to Aunai. The rare few who didn’t seem to recognize them were quickly reprimanded by their fellow party members, who knew these were the big shots of the Navira guild.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Nobina found all the interactions funny, enjoying the large variety of adventurers here. It was very apparent the majority of them were swordsmen or had melee weapons. Every party seemed composed either fully of melee weapons or had a majority of melee weapons with the occasional other Paths like archer, mage, or even healer.

When they were close to the city’s main gate, Nobina was in awe. The whole city was walled off, protected by walls that must have been about thirty feet high. Nobina had never seen a castle before in real life, but seeing a massive stone wall like this made Nobina realize how small she was compared to such a big wall.

The entrance to the city was already packed full of people of all sorts trying to get in. There had to be at least a hundred people, either adventuring groups, civilians, or traders and their caravans.

Their group went past all of them, drawing the eyes of everyone in the main line. Most of them recognized Aunai immediately, not questioning her cutting to the front. Once they were there, the guards greeted her nervously and allowed Aunai and the rest to travel through.

“Welcome to Navira,” said Aunai with the biggest grin.

Nobina’s face was in awe, seeing the sheer size of the city. From a distance, it was hard to actually understand the city’s scope, but once she was inside, she was impressed by the sheer amount of multi-story buildings. This was a completely different vibe compared to the small town of Agora. People were coming and going in swarms. There seemed to be a shop for everything. More importantly, it made Nobina wonder if exploring was a good idea.

“Alright,” said Aunai. “We’ll drop by the guild to discuss your living situations. The guild has a designated residential building behind it for guild officers or individuals of high importance. After you’re settled in, you can join Nobina.”

Aunai’s gaze turned to Nobina, who merely saluted.

“I’ll be sure to not do anything to disgrace the guild.”

Aunai nodded, moving with the rest of the group towards the guild. Line himself left his horse to Mimiki, who rode it with the rest of the party.

“So,” said Line. “Do you need assistance, or will you be searching on your own accord?”

“My own accord for now, but thanks for asking,” she smiled.

Hearing that, Line nodded and took a step back. With the freedom to look around for the first time in a while, she began by walking down the roads everyone else was walking.

Nobina hadn’t walked in a large crowd in such a long time. It felt like she was at in the downtown of a major city in her old world, with people focusing on where they were going. Inside such a crowd, Nobina felt free to look around to find her first place of interest.

“Wait!” she said, stopping in front of a sign with a book on it.

Looking at the store name, she saw the name Mara’s Books.

She immediately found herself going in moments later, causing a ting on the door’s bell.

“Welcome,” spoke a red-headed woman with short hair behind a wooden counter. She looked a bit like Sarah, though her hairstyle was definitely messier.

Nobina’s eyes quickly scanned the room, seeing shelves full of books that could be potentially good reads. The thing about the guild library was that it was all non-fiction writing. Nobina had craved a new book that was fiction, which would have been hard to find in this world. When she asked Eric about it previously, he merely told her that such a book wouldn’t be too popular. It seemed crazy initially, but Nobina had accepted that not many people in this world had thoughts of what wasn’t possible. After all, there were a lot of magical and fantasy elements in this world that made it hard to find something that would fit the fictional realm.

“Uh,” said the red-headed woman. “Welcome.”

Nobina turned to see Line walk into the store, his eyes merely looking toward the books. It was at that moment that Nobina remembered her purpose for coming into the store.

She approached the woman, who looked at her curiously.

“Hello there,” said Nobina. “My name’s Nobina and I’m here to find a certain kind of book.”

“Oh?” responded the red-haired woman. “Well, I don’t have the most extensive collection Nobina, but I can certainly help you out. My name is Mara if you didn’t know, and I made this store to spread books to those who wanted it.”

Mara explained how her store wasn’t a traditional store. Rather, she took in books of all kinds in exchange for books she had. It was a sort of book exchange place, with her taking a small fee to help fund her getting more books. Her goal was to spread as much knowledge as possible to every single person who was willing to share.

“Wow,” said Nobina. “That’s so cool.”

“I know,” replied Mara, showing her own excitement. “So. What book are you looking for?”

“Uh… something that is fiction, or isn’t real,” she replied back.

Mara entered deep thought as she analyzed Nobina’s request.

“Hm… I have a few of those. What kind of topic? I only really have hero stories for younger people. Someone as old as you…”

“Can I see it?” asked Nobina, her eyes sparking as she got close.

“Sure,” said Mara, only slightly phased by Nobina’s action.

Soon, Nobina found herself reading a book called The Daughter’s Hero. It was a story about a young girl who became the hero of a nation under the teachings of a powerful S-rank adventurer. The adventurer had suffered a serious injury, and she declared she’d grow up powerful and spread her father’s name far and wide. She saw her achievements as both of theirs and would never let anyone forget either her or her father.

“It’s a rather touching tale,” said Mara, looking a bit tearful. “I won’t give away anything major, but this is truly a story that people have both taken and given back. I was always scared that someone would one day take this story and never return it. After all, this is a book exchange and rarely do people exchange the books back. Especially since this isn’t a town that values books. However, this story in particular always finds its way back.”

“Amazing,” said Nobina. “I really wish I could exchange for the book.”

Mara was confused by Nobina’s sad expression, but it suddenly clicked in her mind.

“Yeah… I wish I could help you,” said Mara. “However, I cannot give you a book without a book in return. The whole point of the store would collapse if I just sold books like a traditional bookstores. You probably won’t find a copy of a book anywhere.”

Nobina understood, yet she really wanted to read that book.

“If only I had finished my own book,” Nobina told herself softly. However, Mara’s ears didn’t fail to catch that.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked.

Nobina explained how she was an inspiring author and how she was writing her own book. That fact instantly made Mara happy to hear.

“Meeting an author. Despite me exchanging so many books, no one has declared themselves an author. This would be a first,” nodded Mara.

“Yeah… Well, I appreciate knowing what you do and this store Mara,” said Nobina.

With that, Nobina began to leave. As she did, Line approached Mara, drawing her attention.

“Can I help you, guild officer?” asked Mara.

“Yes… May I exchange this book for The Daughter’s Hero?”

Line took out a rather colorful book that he handed to Mara. She opened it up, her eyes glowing upon her reading through it.

“My god. There’s so many pictures and words on tea in this book. What is this?” asked Mara, her curiosity soaring.

“My personal book on the various teas and their ingredients. I’ve always kept a copy on me for emergencies, but I think it’s worth getting a read. Plus, if it’s still around, I can exchange it back, right?” asked Line.

“Of course, but there’s no guarantee this type of book would last the day,” sighed Mara. “Nobility often comes here to hunt books they might not personally have. They often exchange information books or books that cannot be easily obtained by commoners, so their trades are often accepted.”

“It is of little concern,” smiled Line. “I shall always have the most updated version. Also, an act of kindness for those you know is worth giving a bit of yourself.”

Those words had much more meaning to Nobina than Line knew. Instantly, she remembered Fay and found tears running down her face. It didn’t escape Mara, who approached Nobina.

“What’s wrong Nobina?” asked Mara, grabbing her hands.

“Just… remembering my past,” she said, wiping away my tears. “I guess with everything going on, I forgot today was my birthday.”