Waking up to the cries of small green men would be a crowning moment for Astro-scientists who dreamt of the notion of discovering new life outside of earth.
I am not one of those people, considering the fact that the green goblin-like beings were currently eating each other in this small and damp cave really made me ill. Additionally, the fact that they were so humanoid yet not human made a deep primal fear erupt from my heart.
With nowhere to puke in the, at most 15 square meters, cave, without the tragedy of ruining my new alumni clothing that I had studied incredibly hard for, I forced down the fear and gorish images of what was currently occurring only a couple feet of me.
Once recollected and the goblin things were sleeping… and mostly dead, I thought about what I was doing before I had ended up in such a place.
I was driving the precarious route to school like usual, but for some reason, I felt different than my regular self. Slipping off into daydreams and becoming muddled-headed ever 5-minute intervals. I tried to force myself to slow down, but for some reason, I speed up as though I was possessed by an urge to go as fast as I could.
At speeds of 90 or 100 mph, my tiny rice cooker could not handle the stress of the curves, immediately shooting off the road, then hit the railing causing a flame spiral that ended in a burst of flames.
“I-I died? I killed myself by driving like a idiot?!”
“Ruok!”
Haha, those guys are light sleepers…. What are they? I say goblins because of their small body, rat-like face, chubby belly with thin arms and more importantly their green skin colour but I have no clue what they’re really called…
In fact, where am I?
I can’t have died if I’m feeling this much dread and fear.
“Rouuu…. Rouuu rouu”
… Certainly, not Kanas… for now, I’m going just to find someone to help me out so I can go home.
With ballerina like skill, I lightly skipped and walked through the now bloody bodies and corpses that nearly made me puke again.
Outside the cave, a primaeval forest overgrown and vividly greening daunted on me.
Wha-
Skill Learnt! ‘Light Steps’
… Say what?
Skill Learnt! ‘Light Steps’
…
Is this a game? It can't be I’ve been trans-...
Taking a breathe I chant the phrase that so many weebs and otakus dreamt of in their highschool days.
“Status”
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Name: Gale Virgil Race: High Humè Sex: ♂. Age:17
≪Job≫ None
≪Titles≫ none
LVL 1
HP 15/15
MP 100/100
EXP 0
LV. UP 10
ATK 12
DEF 6
AGL 30
VIT 11
INT 23
≪Magic Attribute≫ [Water element] [Life element]
≪Skills≫ [Light Steps Lv.0]
----------------------------------------
…
In my head, a window appeared, and without even focusing on the window I knew everything about it. It really is another world; my age has regress too.
A sense of euphoria went through my head then dragged back down to my current settings of in the middle of nowhere with any food or water in sight.
Thinking about the typical transportation isekai novel… don’t most characters get a cheat or some sort of advantage to combat the dangers that are ever-present in a medieval period where most only lived to 30.
Suddenly the world around me became ten times more foreign, bleak and terrifying.
Shaking off those thoughts I made the clique goal of finding a town to ground myself in this world and start from there.
Walking wantonly into the mossy forest I manoeuvred over and around fallen logs, rocks, boulders, streams.
The sun now peeked through the trees, so the forest floor was illuminated despite that I couldn’t tell if it was morning or evening.
“Uumph! … Ow...”
Overestimating my jumping abilities, I tried to jump over a log but landed badly on a sharp stone.
Sucking in some cold air, I inspect my ankle. No major damage occurred, but the bloodless wound made me wonder.
Would status detail every little thing down to the decimal?
“Status”
----------------------------------------
Name: Gale Virgil Race: High Humè Sex: ♂
LVL 1
HP 15/15
----------------------------------------
Hmm, so superficial damage does not count.
One issue is concerning me. How do I gain EXP?
If this world revolves around RPG standards then shouldn’t killing a monster level me up?
Thinking back to those dumpy green looking, creatures, I remember the claw marks and daggers on the corpses that I overlooked because of all the blood.
Nope, nope nope nope, those little green guys can live in peace with worrying about me.
What about skills then? If it requires monster exp, then I’ll probably get nowhere in this world.
Formulating a small experiment I tried to confirm what Light Steps entailed by thinking about the skill’s summary but to no avail. I probably needed an appraisal skill to examine status.
Emulating the ballerina moves, I had made in the cave I felt a pleasant feeling similar to enjoying a hobby.
Getting lost in my footwork, I lost my entire sense of direction and continued forward until I notice I had reached some goal that existed in my head that required me to level up this skill no matter what.
Skill level up! ‘Light Steps’ Lv.0 ➝Lv.1↑
Drawing a blank on my sense of time, the sun looked as if only a couple more hours were left in the day.
“Sh*t, I what was I doing?!”
Dazed I realized I had just left the forest a couple of meters behind me and a great plain sparse of trees extended for what seemed like forever only retain by the bundles of trees that appeared now and then.
A little frantic I set off back to the sun at a jogging pace.
By some sort of strange luck, a dirt path unquestionably stomped on and trod on by carriages due to the two small depressions that appear in muddy areas.
Following the road until nightfall, I saw the light.
Well, firelight… by people… who can feed me…
Filled with energy that one gets from a runner’s high I made a mad dash to the city.
“Who goes there?!”
At the gate lit by torches was guarded by a brawny and stoic face.
“Haaah… haaaah …. Haaaah….. Haaah”
“Are you… okay?”
“Hah, yep…. Just exhausted….. I got lost… on the way here.”
“Lost? Are you fucking playing with me?! You got lost in the most remote city of the empire by chance?”
“N-no, I am lost. I got knock on the head tripping over a log or something, and when I woke up, I was in a forest.”
The guard’s fierce face soften.
“Knock on the head eh?”
“Yea?”
“And you have no recollection of who you are and have no money?”
“Yea? No, umm I remember my name and that's about it. Plus what's in my status which isn’t much.”
“Name?”
“Gale… Virgil.”
The guard looked at me with an understanding gaze and signalled me in with his thumb towards the city.
“No toll, this one is on me this time but cause any problems, and I shall personally take responsibility for you.”
Ignoring the last bit, I said my farewells with the guard and walked into the city.
“This truly is a fantasy world…”
Down the street men and women carousing to bars with fluffy tails and ears. Some with monster traits of lizards, short dwarvish people, drinking outside a shop. An elvish like women retiring to an inn, with random denizens carrying swords, shields, spears, bows, daggers, and amour.
“... It really is.... Umph!”
“Sorry, excuse me.”
“N-no problem.”
The hooded figure hurried off at a fast pace.
“What should I do now… join a guild?”
Searching for a guild, I soon ran into a problem that even my ten-year-old self never struggled with.
Not understanding any of the strange writing on shops without even being able to guess like one could with a romance language. Making me realize how important literacy was on earth.
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The level of a person’s literacy could and for the most would alter their entire career. In this world, it could be a person’s greatest asset, even a life saver.
The first goal, join a guild for benefits.
The second goal, learn to read.
Stopping one of the few none drunks on the street I ask about this city and got a strange look but it worth the information.
1.This city is Raft name after the Raft family who built the city from mud village it once was.
2.The city is one of the most protected and remote regions in the empire(still not known)
3.There are tens of different guilds, but this has only the standard three that are needed for a city to be recognized, the adventurer's guild, Merchant’s guild and the Craftsmen's guild
4.The guilds are located around city square
5.The guilds require payment in the form of a fee to register
(at this point the guy looked really sick of me and was trying to leave) 6.The fee was five silver
“Thanks”
“Tch, wasting my drinking time.”
Heh…
After some trial and error, namely walking into the Craftsman's guild and getting yelled at by some drunk dwarves. I found the merchant’s guild. The most intricate and fancy building of the three.
Why the merchant’s guild?
Because the fee is the lowest of the three guilds, the only skill I have is non-combative, and fighting would be particularly taxing and not to my modern era mind advantage. Additionally, peddlers have to travel for their financial security so it’ll be only nature for me to hop town to town if I have to run for whatever reason. Who doesn’t want to travel the world for profit?
----------------------------------------
“Ayleth, do you think you can manage the last shift? I'll only be a little while.”
“Yes, Sir!”
“Haha”
Smiling like a fool, a girl in her mid-teens got the job she had trained for over three years. Studying how to read, write, calculate, cast simple appraisal magic, and learn the general outline of the economy’s flow.
Putting in countless hours just become a candidate for the receptionist position that only a very few were chosen from a vast majority of people. It might have been that her boss was tipsy but with the higher-ups revoking the appointment of receptionist
Processing her first customer, Ayleth felt every single second that came up to this moment. Forcing down the overwhelming emotions, a sincere smile shined on her face that every receptionist had to manage even to be considered for the idea of becoming a candidate.
Getting a closer look at the young man walking towards her, Ayleth mind short-circuited. A combination the man’s refined features and worried yet puppy-like face was too powerful. Typical dark brown hair and a normal face wouldn’t have distracted her but ever feature the man had seemed refined without any mistakes, almost like a piece of carved marble.
“Hello, my name is Gale. I would like to register with the guild.”
“Yesth, ow, I mean, certainly. What business are you here on?”
“Umm, Registered… ma’am?”
Stupid, stupid, stupid, I cannot mess up on my first customer.
“That would be five silver, Sir. However, tradition has it the receptionist has the right to pay for the registration in good faith of a loyal customer.”
What am I saying?! There’s no such tradition, I just lost a day’s worth of working! For no reason!
Unless… does he have the charm skill? Yeah, there’s no way a slightly attractive person could sway me!
Treacherous! The life of a receptionist is one full of interaction and eloquent mannerisms. I can’t fail so early on in my career because of a customer who possesses such skills.
“Sir the papers… Do you wish for me to write them in?”
“Heh, Please.”
“Okay then please list your name, race, level, skills, origin and any magic abilities that you may have. You may not list any false information or the guild master will personally take care of issues that occur in the future due to any lies.”
Wait! I forgot to introduce myself!
----------------------------------------
Entering the fancy building thankfully lead to a more simple yet still elegant architecture. A little lost I randomly walked past the talking merchants near the door and saw a receptionist.
Getting closer, the receptionist’s beauty magnified with every step. Blue straight, waist length hair, a face that looked as if she was a princess and a slim and firm body to match her unyielding hazel colour eyes.
Thinking of nothing, I stole a line from the light novels I read on earth. Something generic that nobody could mess up on unless they were an idiot.
“Hello, my name is Gale. I would like to register with the guild.”
Was that right? The receptionist is still smiling at me…
“Yesth, ow, I mean, certainly. What business are you here on?”
“Umm, Registered… ma’am?”
Am I committing some sort of faux pas? The girl regathered herself and spoke in the same slow bird-like voice.
“That would be 5 silver Sir, however tradition has it the receptionist has the right to pay for the registration in good faith of a loyal customer.”
Wow, that dude didn’t mention something so important like a freebie. I thought I would have to work like a slave for a while for the money.
Skill Learnt, Charming aura!
Wha-
“Sir the papers… Do you wish for me to write them in?”
Being illiterate sucks.
“Heh, Please.”
“Okay then please list your name, race, level, skills, origin and any magic abilities that you may have. You may not list any false information or the guild master will personally take care of issues that occur in the future due to any lies.”
Should I tell the truth? I know nothing about this world… Having the skill light steps could get me killed or enslaved if it's some sort of rare ability that everyone desires. On the other hand, if the guild demands a reassessment of my abilities and has a method of discovering any anomalies that a transported person like me has it would give a warrant for my detainment.
…. Hah, I cannot be too strange, but for good measure, some stats should be not be known to the guild. For example, my race as a High Humè sounds remarkably odd, and from the typical RPG, the word High in a racial sense infers a status of higher being. The saying the nail that stands out the most is the one that gets hammered first justifies this action I believe.
Later on in the years, Gale felt relieved at his actions that day.
“My name is Gale Virgil, I think I come from a small settlement far south of here. I am Humè, attributed with the water and light elements and only have one skill, Light Steps. I’ve lost a majority of my memory in an accident so my academic ability seems to be strained. Umm, oh yeah, my level is three somehow even though I don’t have a job.”
Stunned, the girl thought for a second, brows furrowed and then question me with an awkward smile as though she found the answer.
“Amnesia perhaps?”
“I think so.”
“If that is the case, considering your surname and lack of skill and level you seem to be a noble. Shall contact the higher-ups to find your family head?”
“No thank you, I think I was one of many sons without being the eldest.”
“Understandable, please wait a moment while I register your information on a guild card.”
Hurrying behind the curtains into the back room, Gale could not help to think he had said some contradictory and stupid.
… I think I was a little too impulsive getting a guild to back me with the proper knowledge of this world. For example, the five free silver tradition was a completely good thing the opposite could happen at any time if I don’t learn at least the common sense and knowledge of this world.
…
It does take awhile to process a guild card, huh?
----------------------------------------
Unannounced to Gale a great battle in Ayleth conscience due to the abnormal… everything about him.
Gale is too mysterious, a surname, lack of skills, lack of origin but more importantly… dual attributed.
Only one in ten thousand of quarter million of mages which makes up an extreme minority of 13% of the population. A mage of two elements are rare as a dragon heartstring. About 15 or 20 are found a year only in this enormous empire of 45 million. With almost every one born into the royal families and the upper nobles.
Gale is untapped mithril mine without an owner, obligations or entitlements. Even with a below average mana pool and average comprehension if he set down the path of a healer he would certainly become one of the best in the continent. Also certainly able to become an A-ranked adventurer if he tried or created a massive healing service industry by simply throwing his status of two attributed mage of the light and water elements.
Reporting him to the higher-ups would surely give me a promotion even significant increase in pay, but if I keep quiet and don’t report him, I have a good chance of getting fired, even punished if I get caught doing business with a client.
…
More importantly, I could pay off the debt of the merchant education right away instead of paying it off for a decade if I act as a broker between him and the other merchants at the very least.
Raised from a delicate age when the mind starts to develop acute abstract thoughts, Ayleth couldn’t keep her inner merchant spirit from making a risk for an gigantic payoff.
----------------------------------------
This girl, um, I should ask her name but that pondering face is terrifying like a snake looking down on its prey…
“Umm, by the way, what’s your name? I’m not too good with communicating. Heh, are you ok-”
“My name is Ayleth of Raft; I’ll be honest and tell you I want to create a business relationship with you as your future broker.”
“Wha… I have not even begun any business. Why are interested in a newbie like me?”
Damn, I honestly should have accumulated more knowledge before coming here.
I feel like I am in a snake’s den now that given such important information away, I need -
“To escape to the nearest city or perhaps town? I wouldn’t want to place a potential partner at risk of failure if possible. Here, as a show trust.”
Ayleth slide across the simple yellow guild card title Maerchant ‘s Guilde with the same relaxed smile.
=============================
Name: Gale Race: Humè Sex: ♂
LVL 3 ≪Job≫ None Guild Rank: Iron
=============================
“This guild card is the number one tool that every merchant no matter how wealthy or noble. Even dukes are obligated to have this card to act as a trade records to prevent tax evasions. Which is why it is imperative to record any of your business transactions this of course excludes personal non business purchases.”
“Why did you fabricate a guild card for me? That can't be within the rules of the guild.”
“Simple, you are a far greater asset than this guild could provide for me. Which is precisely I made a show of trust. If this information of status embezzling of someone as amazing as you caught the attention of the guild executives I’d fire at best and fired at, at worst.”
How can she say something so serious with that smile? Welp, it seems nothing good would come out of refusing, but I should clear the fog if possible.
“What’s the main profit of your interest of me? As you know, I’m a victim of amnesia and have little common sense of the world but I still won’t be so foolish as to directly and knowingly harming myself by giving someone the capability to do it.”
Despite me already doing so… I hope she gets my meaning though.
“Absolutely, any harm done to you will indirectly harm me anyways. If you seek my destruction then I then same for you. However, I simply wish to become involved with you as a business partner. You benefit then most don’t you? Seeing your relief at mention the umm, first time tradition makes me believe you lack funding, connections, and knowledge. All things I can provide for you at the small price of being a part of your venture into the economy.”
… This seems very unlawful and dangerous for a receptionist that needs to act merely as the mediator for the guild. If light novel clique serves me right.
“Of course it is not lawful and dangerous for my career as a receptionist to do this, but that is your insurance against me, is it not?”
How is she reading my mind?
“Hahaha, your poker face is lacking. I will teach you some basic skills in the future regarding the act of a merchant.”
“Hah… Sure, I will consider you as a person align with my interests. Before any discussion of business could you explain what the ranking Iron means?”
After finishing the small lecture of five minutes my mind felt as though an eternity passed. The lecture did give me some of the basic information of what a merchant is and how the ranking defines any merchant to a category.
The ranking is loose in definition as the the ranking raises but what Ayleth explained the Maerchant’s Guilde is an organisation beyond the influence of the Empire. There are only five ranks given to those of the guild:
Iron rank -> Travelling merchant, merchandise/food stands (People with a public storefront)
Bronze rank -> Private shop (Typically produce or establishment type of private stores in the city)
Silver rank -> Small-sized company (A reasonably big company in the city, )
Gold rank -> Middle-sized company (A company that owns a few branches)
Mithril rank -> Large-sized company (A firm that owns many branches that is solely reliable for their actions within the regulations and rules of the Guide that spans a kingdom in size)
The registration fee, annual fees and taxes are different depending on rank.
Iron rank -> Registration 5 silver coins -> Annual fees 1 gold coin -> Taxes 2 gold coins
Bronze rank -> RF: 1 gold coin -> AF: 2 gold coins -> T: 4 gold coins
Silver rank -> RF: 2 gold coins -> AF: 5 gold coins -> T: 10 gold coins
Gold rank -> RF: 4 gold coins -> AF:[Relation to no. of stores] (RTNOS) -> T: RTNOS
Mithril rank -> RF: 8 gold coins -> AF: RTNOS -> T: RTNOS
The annual fees and taxes have to be paid for within a year from entering the guild.
Using the day of registration as the reference, membership can be renewed annually. If the annual fees or taxes are not paid for, renewal cannot be done.
The responsibility for the collection of taxes is on the merchant guilds in each country.
In the scenario where the guild card is lost, a commission fee that varies according to rank will be required for the reissuing of the card.
Members involved in illegal business dealings can be expelled as punishment.
It is possible for people who joined as an Iron rank to progressively advance in rank. Albeit varying in difficulty on multiple matters. Nobility, commonalty, and personal connections factor heavy on the success of a new company. However, only without regard to the most important factor, the leadership of the individual who establishes the company in the first place,
Sleeping and slipping out of consciousness I realized Ayleth had her hand stretch out with two silver in hand.
“This is enough for two days in a cheap inn with a meal a day provided. I recommend the Wooden Imp, only a couple blocks south of the square. See you tomorrow!”
Thinking about how this person could probably kill with a smile after witness the magnificent smile Ayleth wore made me wake up a little.
Saying my thanks, I left tottering and stretching towards the city plaza realising the fountain also served as a compass for direction. Oddly enough, the fountain compass indicated north, south, east and west concerning the guilds locations and a significant looking building.
Unable to waste too much energy after running the majority of the way to the city and exploring what was a new world to me, I pushed whatever conspiracies aside and proceeded to the inn with a full moon’s light illuminating the way.