First and foremost, he needed food. Shelter too, probably. But without money, both of those things would be hard to come by. So really, what Ronny needed was income. After he got that, his other needs would be met.

That much was obvious. What wasn’t though, was how to get a job. There always the military, but that wasn’t a good fit. Begging was another option, but Ronny had been extremely wealthy for his whole life. His pride wouldn’t let him do it. He wandered around aimlessly for a while, unsure of what to do.

He eventually came the doors of a massive, stone building featuring a semispherical design. In big, red letters, a sign read: ADVENTURE’S GUILD. This was where Ronny’s background came in handy. Thanks to JRPGs and the occasional anime, he needed no further information on the structure. With a little hesitation, he opened the door and entered.

Adventure’s Guilds were the fantasy version of Temporary Employment Agencies. You could take short term ‘missions’ from various employers, which usually consisted of something like killing monsters or collecting herbs. For some reason, creators of fantasy worlds really liked to romanticize these places, so this line of work would probably be a disproportionately easy way for Ronny to get money. I wondered if he realized that, or if he just wanted to be an ‘adventurer’.

The place was lit dimly with torchlight and there were plenty of people sitting around tables, drinking beer and doing whatever else it is that adventurers do. It was crowed, but not busy, and the line to the front desk was empty.

Ronny gulped and made his way over to the desk. The clerk, engrossed a thick stack of paperwork, seemed not to notice his approach. He waited awkwardly, hoping to be addressed. If you or I had been in his shoes, we probably just would have said hello and been done with it, but Ronny possessed below average social skills.

After a minute of standing there, even he was getting impatient. He put on his best smile and spoke quietly, “Uh… hello?”

The clerk looked up with a disinterested expression, “Oh hi. You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“Umm… yes! I’m supposed to talk to you if I want to join the guild, right?” His tone was a little shaky.

“You got that right,” she reached down under her desk and pulled out a sheet of paper, “Can you read?”

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“Yes ma’am.”

“Well alright then, that makes things easy. Fill out this form and give it to me when you’re done. I’ll give you a rank plate when you’re done.” She slid the papers across the desk and Ronny picked it up. He stood there for a while, probably expecting her to say something, “So… are you just going to stand there?”

He blinked, “Sorry!” He rushed over to an empty table, choosing the farthest one from everyone else.

The paper was mostly simple. It asked for his name, age, and place of origin. He answered those questions honestly, baring the one about birthplace. He wrote ‘Barnock’ for that one since that was the name of the city. The last question asked about what skills, magic, or abilities he had. He spent a while thinking but, in the end, Ronny wrote “None relevant” for his answer. It was embarrassing, but he didn’t want to lie.

With that, he finished the application. He went back to the desk and gave it to the clerk.

She took a look at it, presumably checking for mistakes, “You really don’t have any talents? Not one? Why are you even doing this?”

The words stung a little, but at the same time, Ronny almost laughed—he asked himself the same question, “I just need money right now.”

“Okay then, whatever you say. I hope you know what you’re signing yourself up for.” She gave him a polished piece of oak. It had had some strings tied to the ends. “This is your rank plate. I’m putting you in wood as your first rank.” She said ‘wood’ with a tinge of belittlement.

Ronny didn’t notice, happily putting the plate around his neck, “Thank you! Is it possible to take a mission right away?”

“I guess… you must be desperate. Since you seem ignorant, I’ll tell you a bit about what being in wood entails. It’s strictly non-combat work, and you could be tasked with anything from cleaning barracks to taking care of livestock. You should also know that it does not pay well.”

Ronny was ecstatic to hear that it was non-combat and didn’t pay as much attention after that.

“Let’s see here…” She pulled out a binder of papers labeled “WOOD” and flipped through it for a while, “I’m reluctant to send someone like you to anything that actually has stakes, so how about we start you with a mission to help repair the city walls. They’re paying reasonably well right now because they need it before the Demons get here.

“Great! I’ll do that then!”

The clerk examined his chubby, unbuilt figure, “You’ll have to pick up heavy bricks though. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes. Of course!”

“Eagerness is good, I guess.” She held back a chuckle, “The pay is one silver for every five bricks—which is quite generous—and the job will last until the walls are fully fixed, which might take a week or two.”

They spent the next few minutes looking at a map of the city, she told him where the job site was and gave a recommendation for where he could spend the night on an extreme budget.

It was about noon, so there was still time to get some work done before the day was over. Ronny hurried out the door, looking forward to starting his new job.