Another restless night. I yawn heavily and stand up but as I step forward my vision suddenly blurries.
Luckily for me, this alley is narrow. I easily support myself on the wall and don’t fell to the ground.
“If this continues I may seriously die”
I really wanted to take my time and enjoy my new life but I cannot live like this any longer. I need a place to stay, I need food, I cannot sleep in the street. I need money.
Again, I walk the streets of the village. This time I enter every store I see and ask if they are hiring.
There are all kind of stores in this village. Some sell weird herbs and potions that I assume are ingredients for alchemy. The one I visited yesterday sells weapons and armor that looks too plain to even be considered starting gear. A run down house sells used books but none of them seem to be magic tomes. There is also a jewelry shop that sells rings and stones but they don’t look enchanted to me. They all say no to me rather coldly. Most elves don’t even let me finish explaining my situation.
“Of course it was not going to be that easy” Having wasted most of my life as a retail clerk, I assumed I could put those skills to work in this world. As much as I hated that job, I often daydreamed about selling mystical artifacts and cursed weapons to my costumers. Getting to live that dream sounded exiting at first. Especially if it was just a temporary thing and I could use the money to set off in an adventure to explore a fantasy world. I may have overlooked how hard it was to get a real job.
I make it back to the inn. This place is as crowded as yesterday. I try to talk to the waitresses but they all ignore me. After standing in place for a few seconds wondering what to do I walk to the counter and start waving my hand to call the bartender. It again takes some time but he finally notices me.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you behind the counter” He says in a mocking tone, “What can I do for you today?”
This upsets me a little but I try my best to hide it.
“I am actually looking for a place to work. My name is Lily. I’ve been living in the streets since my family got attacked by bandits and I would like to make some money so I can survive on my own” I try to explain the sad backstory I came up with in the hopes it would help me get a job.
“Sorry, but we don’t need more staff” He answers with a fake, business like, smile.
Seeing all the slaves running around I decide that’s for the best and exit the place. The words “Another failure” escape my mouth.
Looking down, I continue to walk the main street until I find an open air market. Maybe calling it that is a bit too generous, it is just a bunch of stands and carpets laying in the middle of the street. The vendors here sell all kinds of meat and vegetables. Some also have handmade crafts. I approach one of them, a young human boy sitting on the ground looking bored.
“Sorry to bother you, but I am looking for a place to work. My name is Lily. I’ve been living in the streets since my family got attacked by bandits and I would like to make some money so I can survive on my own” I lost count on how many times I repeated the same story today.
“Sorry miss, but I am not hiring. As you can see, this is not the kind of fancy store that requires multiple people.” With a big smile and open arms he points to the vases laying on the carpet between us.
“I see…” Another failure. Seriously, what’s wrong with this village? Why won’t anyone hire me? Is something wrong with me?
“Don’t make that face, making it in this village is hard. Have you tried going to other places?” They are not hiring but at least he is a little more talkative than the shop clerks I deal with all morning.
“I have. I have been running around the village all day but I had no luck. You think any of the vendors in this street would hire me?”
With a troubled face he makes a pause before answering. “I don’t think so. You can try but stands here are run by families. For someone like…you to get hired would be pretty difficult. This is a small village, you see?”
“Really? This place is filled with people” I look around me and see all kind of people walking around. The main street is as crowded as ever.
“No no no, most of the people here will leave before the end of the week.” I follow the finger he raised and see an elf with a spear buying meat in the stall across the street. “No way the likes of him would live in this place. This is a small village on the side of the road and there is nothing really popular or important about it. If it weren’t a stop on the road between two nearby human towns no one would come here. Most of the people walking around are travelers, the actual population of the village is very small.”
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I look around one more time. The marketplace is certainly busy but looking closely I notice something weird. There is no uniformity to the crowd. The way they talk, the way they walk and even the way they dress is different. Too different for all these people to belong here. I look at my clothes. The only ones wearing plain clothes like mine are the vendors, the few housewives buying ingredients and the kids running around. Most of the people walking the street have stylish armor and weapons on them. The kind I have not seen in any store in this village. Even those who don’t are wearing fancy clothes that don’t fit their surroundings.
“I see…then what should I do? Is there another way I can make money around here?” Even if I can not work on a shop I still need money. As much as I want to explore, without money to buy food and armor I cannot start my journey.
“A young girl like you should not make that kind of question so innocently. You may attract the wrong people”
“T-That’s not what I meant! I am asking if there are other jobs I can do! I was thinking maybe I should become an adventurer, is there a Guild or something like that?”
“A Guild? What are you talking about?” He asks me with a very confused look on his face.
“A Guild, you know? An Adventurer Guild. Those places where adventurers receive quests and stuff” Adventurer guilds are a staple of fantasy worlds. Joining one would be a fun way of earning fame and money in this world.
“Sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about”
“Then what about all these travelers? How do they make money?”
“Most of the people here are pilgrims. They work for one of the churches”
“What kind of work?”
“Don’t even bother. You are not human, right? Those elves would never let you join them. They like humans but they despise all other races. You would be safer staying away from them”
“A-Are they dangerous?” I quickly put on the hood of my cloak to hide my face.
“No, not really…Well maybe for someone like you they are. It is not like they actively hunt down your kind but you never know. There are some freaks among them and they all have access to that weird magic”
The mention of magic piqued my interest. I remember the ritual that brought me here and the magic battle I witness the day I arrived.
“Could you tell me more about that? How does magic work in this world?” Even in my past life I was always obsessed with the occult. I considered myself a skeptic but I always dreamed of becoming a wizard, contacting an ufo or discovering a hidden city. Now that I know magic is real I want to try it out.
“You make some weird questions” He looks at me like I am a kid that made a really stupid question. “Sorry but I don’t know much about it. My family is affiliated with the 18th Church but only because we have this shop, I never bothered studying the sacred texts. I can’t really use the…How was it called again? Oh yes, the Hero’s Magick”
“Hero’s Magick? That sounds cool!”
“You think?”
“Yes! What does Hero’s Magick do?”
As if having trouble remembering something he never bother to memorize he starts counting with his fingers as he enumerates. “The XVIII Magick of my 18th Church controls water. The VII Magick of the guards cancels other magic. The IV Magick of the hunters moves objects or something like that. The-”
“Guards? Hunters?”
“The guards are the people you see walking around in silver armor. Their 7th Church is in charge of keeping the peace in the empire. The 4th Church is in charge of hunting monsters, most of the meat and some of the greens you see here come from monsters. The 18th Church is in charge of commerce and travel”
“Do these churches control everything here?”
“Yes. It is as big a pain as it sounds, we can only buy monster parts from the 4th Church’s certified hunters and only the 18th Church’s certified vendors can sell it. All the other ones work similarly as far as I know”
“Interesting…” I look around examining the small houses and dirt streets. Vague memories of a history class about the Dark Ages fill my mind.
“You should stay away from them. No matter how interesting it sounds, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of one of their weird spells, right?”
“But I would love to learn more about it. You know someone who can teach me?”
“You really shouldn’t. Hero Magick is not really rare. Some go as far as to say most people use it, even if they don’t know it. I don’t buy that. To me, anyone who is deep enough into the church’s teachings to learn how to use it is definitely someone you don’t want to meet”
“Do they really hate non humans that much?”
“They hate non elves, humans are just an exception. As you can imagine, all the different churches have different beliefs but the one thing they all have in common is that they praise elves above everything else. This is an elven empire after all”
“I-I see…Maybe I should give up on it”
“Yes, you should. Just focus on getting a job. I am sure you will be fine as long as you don’t cause problems.”
“Y-Yeah, but hearing all of this I am starting to worry it may be more difficult than I thought”
“Good luck!” With a big smile he ends the conversation. Standing next to me I see a man in green robes. It seems now that he has a costumer he no longer has time for me. I say goodbye and leave the marketplace.
My future doesn’t look promising. The most urgent matter right now is money. “The social stigma against non humans may have played a part in me not finding a job today but I can’t give up” I need to be able to buy food. Once that’s settled I need a place to stay. I walk looking at the sky. “I know I said I would give up but I really want to learn about magic.” Walking around lost in my thoughts I stumble into a guard with scary eyes and a giant sword.
“We received reports of a weird monster girl walking around town harassing vendors” The guard takes off the weird silver and gold helmet with a crab looking insignia on it and reveals her face to me. Blue eyes and short black hair with long bangs. If she weren’t so intimidating I would even call her beautiful. Or maybe handsome would fit her better. Her cold gaze pierces right through me.
Unsure if I committed I crime I run away. Only after the fact did I realize how stupid this was. For the moment I just wander around until I no longer see her. Once the sun starts setting I go back to my spot on the alley.
I wrap myself on my cloak and hug my legs. The night is as cold as ever. Alone with my thoughts, I can’t help but feel paranoid.
“I need to be careful or the Church is going to catch me”
The fear and lack of sleep starts to pile up.
But I don’t sleep that night.