Below the blue sky were two rows of blossoming cherry trees. The road between those two rows led to a towering wall surrounding a large area of land that seems to be endless to the naked eyes. The gigantic stone gatepost in the east was inscribed with the words “Nastia City”.
William trying to go through the gate, but stopped by a muscular man with set of armor. The shoulders are rounded, short and small in size. They're decorated with shield and two swords on each side which crossing each other.
The upper arms are protected by rounded braces under the shoulder plates. The lower arms have rows of small metal pieces. The breastplate is made from layers of metal, It covers almost everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, but the sides are only covered near the bottom.
As for the upper legs are covered by a skirt of several layered metal sheets reaching down to the knee while the lower legs are protected by greaves which have a row of short but somewhat curved spikes on the outer sides, the armored man block his way and said.
“Show me your city permit.”
“What? Permit?”
“You can’t enter the city without permit.”
“I lost my permit.”
“.....”
“Alright, I forget to bring it with me.”
“.....”
“Ah! I remember, I left it at my house, let me in so I can get my permit.”
“.....”
“Someone stole my permit?”
“Max, throw him to the dungeon! He’s clearly very suspicious, not to mention that weird clothes.. definitely a spy from Lionel Kingdom!” the other armored man behind the gate bellow to Max, the armored man who block me outside the gate.
“That’s it! you come with me!”
“What?! How come? I’m innocent, definitely not a spy! You can’t do this!”
“Innocent my ass!” The guard grasp and pull William hand to arrest him, william necklace swaying in the air, and when the armored man saw the necklace on william neck, he freeze on the spot unmoving, his face pale drained of any color.
The necklace had a dragon head with golden crown atop it’s head, it has an abundance of gems decorate the outer sides, and there are seven star surrounding it, glittering in the light.
“Ah! I apologize for my rudeness! I really didn’t know that you are ‘The Last Ranker.” The armored man bowed his head to William in exaggerated manner which draw many attention from the other guards.
‘Eh, What? Ranker? Last?’ William was confused in his mind.
“Y-yeah, don’t worry about it, I’ll forgive you but do you think a mere apology is enough? You even planning to arrest me!”
“Forgive me! And here as a token of my apology, please accept it.” the armored man sweating profusely as he handed William a leather pouch. He open it and there are ten gold coins inside.
“What is this?” William ask with question mark atop his head.
“Uhh, still not enough? Here, this is my saving for this month salary. This is all the money I have. You can ask my buddy there if you don’t believe me!”
The armored man handed one more pouch to william, but more heavy this time, no doubt it’s content is different from the previous pouch. As william open the pouch, there are twenty gold coins inside.
“Y-yeah.” The other armored man on the other side of the gate twitched his eyebrow, and muttered a torrent of cursed then nodded his head furiously with nervous expression hanging on his face because he’s the one who declare that william is a spy and turn his body, planning to leave the gate. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to get involved with his buddy misfortune.
Now William has 30 gold coins on his possesion, the two pouchs are somewhat light, It's about 70 grams. They are misunderstanding something, but since william is somewhat lazy in nature, and this is the best possible outcome, so he didn’t bother to explain it.
“They think that I am the Last Ranker because of this necklace? I found it on the pile of bones so I guess this so called Last Ranker was killed by that mad lion inside the cave.”
“Last Ranker... I better ask around for more information about it, I don’t want to get involved in more troublesome thing. This whole crap is already make me tired, I was planning to ask for police help to find Raisha but considering my current situation now its not possible.”
“Have you seen a cute woman with silver hair and blue eyes?”
“... No kid-I mean, no my lord.”
“Hah... as expected. if you saw that woman come to this place, tell her that William is looking for her.”
“Yes Kid-I mean, yes my lord!”
“.....”
Flower beds decorated both sides of the path as it extended directly forward. The city itself looks elegant. With beautifully built building, stores, stone walls and rainbow of different flowers, Nastia City has a cheerful atmosphere.
Many stalls grilled their delicacy, spreading the thick and tasty aroma of tender and juicy meat that melting down the lips of the costumers that stood enjoying their meal.
“Let's look for a change of clothes while strolling the street for now, it's very uncomfortable to only wear one set of clothes for week, and I also want to take a bath before changing clothes..."
William stroll the street and ten minutes later, in front he could see a fountain square. On the left of the fountain square was a brick built western-styled huge building with a sharp tower that seem to reach the sky. The classic brick structure carved with strange words, “Ranker Guild”.
“I can talk but cannot read letters…”
“What’s wrong kid?”
“Ah, nothing. Do you know a good hotel around here?”
“Hotel?”
“Um, a place to sleep.”
“Ah! you can see that building with bear on the signboard next to the Ranker Guild, that is the best Inn the Nastia City have, though they somewhat expensive, but their food is very good and the bedding is soft and fluffy. Be sure to stay there, my daughter run the Inn.”
‘Even if i locate the signboard I can’t read it… Well at least there is bear stick to the signboard.’
“I see, thank you.”
William come inside the place with bear waving it’s paw ouside the door, it’s also have a bar inside, Inn and a bar? There are many young man filled the space, toasting their wine and chattering nonstop providing the place with somewhat warm and lively mood.
"It's a customer? you don’t have any luggage, are you really a guest?" A beautiful woman in her 21 with a slim body came out of the bars counter.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Her curved body is really feast to the eyes, but her expression clearly show that she’s not interested in williams pretty face. Must be a woman that have a thing for older and muscular man.
"Uh, I lost my luggage in the forest when wolves attacked me, fortunately my money is safe.”
"Oh my, it’s good that you did not lose yours money.”
“Aren’t you supposed to worry about the person first before worry about the money?”
“You can’t stay here without money, so it’s important you see.”
“Yeah whatever.”
“Our inn charges 10 copper coins for one night, including meal that served at this bar twice a day.”
William didn't know how the currency here works, so he paying with one gold coin. “How many days I can get with this?
“90 days, are you sure?”
“Yeah..”
‘So many?!’
"I'm writing the guest book for you so can you give me your name?"
“It's William.”
"Your occupation and age please." She fills the guestbook slowly.
“Uh, Hunter, 20 years old.”
“...”
‘D-did I made a mistake? I somewhat blurt out hunter as my occupation. is there no hunter job in this place?!’
“There’s no need to lie, you definitely not even 17 yet.”
While shaking, William feels irritated. Certainly the girl in front of him has a grown up atmosphere, but she should be about the same age as him. And yet...
“I may not look like this, but I’m 20 years old and will be 21 soon. Well, I’m often told that my face looks childish, but..”
“...”
“Could I have my meal now?!”
"...What do you want?”
“Anything, as long as it’s meat.”
"We only have black chilled pork?"
“That will do.”
“I'll bring it immediately, so just sit there.”
"Wait beautiful miss, I intend to buy some change of clothes, do you know any good places?"
There are too many stores in this city with sign written in a strange language that does not consist of alphabet, so william can’t find what he’s looking for.
“...”
“Beautiful miss?”
“I’m not interested in kid you know.”
‘K-Kid.. kid, doesn’t she care about what someone told her!?’
“Did you even listen to what I say? I’m not a kid.”
”What are you looking for? something cheap or expensive one?”
‘Kuh..she ignore me.’
“Money is not a problem for me.”
Since william can stay for 90 days including meal just for 1 gold coin, then he assumes 29 gold coin can be used on various things and still have some left. Even if he used all of them, he can collect some again using his good luck charm (necklace). But he was planning to try earn some money first, afterall it’s not good to use an unknown object nonchalantly without understanding it’s value and effect.
"The store on the city center would be the best choice, very expensive but they are using high quality material, and only nobles that go there.”
“I see, what about groceries?”
“You can find the General stores in the market.”
“Thank you. ah, do you perhaps know anything about Last Ranker?”
The beautiful girl glanced at william with strange expression. “You don’t know? Even five years old brat knows about ranker.”
“Y-yeah.” William replied while scratching his head.
“What an ignorant kid. Listen, Ranker is a title for those that hunt and exterminate dangerous magical beast that plague this continent, many aspire to be a ranker especially young man. They explore the vast world, fighting magical beast, and kill a dragon and finally become the Last Ranker.
“Last Ranker..”
“Yeah, Last Ranker is the highest rank that one could obtain after subjugating a dragon. the lowest of them is one star Ranker, then followed by two star, three star, four, five, six, and finally seven star Ranker or known as The Last Ranker.”
“Dragon.. is it strong?”
“Hah? Of couse. They are a nighmare for a city and it’s people if dragon come to attack. Dragon even can destroy a city in a single night if there are not enough 5 Star Ranker and above available to defend the city. Even so they can only drive away the dragon, only The Last Ranker able to kill a dragon. That’s why almost all city have it’s own Ranker Guild, not only to avoid annihilation due the dragon attack but also to protect the city from the magical beast that getting too close.”
“I see, That was very educating. well then I’ll be going to buy some clothes. You can prepare the meat first, I hate waiting.”
Thanks to the beautiful miss william able to reach his destination in no time. He go into the store’s interior and a store clerk greet him.
“Welcome, what are you looking for?”
“Can you show me clothes that would suit me?”
The clerk lead william into the dressing room and pushed him into it. And then 2 minutes later several clothes were brought. William take off his vest, remove the necktie and take off his shirt.
William sharpen his senses while looking around in the vicinity.
‘Was it my imagination? It felt like there was someone watching me...
“Seems it was my imagination.” William bid farewell to the clerk, paying 2 gold coins for a set of clothes and he go out back to the Inn.