Chapter 3

As cherry blossom petals danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Leamer had a donkey and some cargo. The reason the child could escape, even with short legs, was that he couldn't leave the cargo behind. It wasn't until he was exhausted, having run through unknown alleys in the dark, that he realized this.

It wasn't cold because it was a warm season, but he was shivering. His heart was pounding, and the chattering of his teeth made him fear that Leamer would find him.

He had learned to read from the priest. He had even copied a very thin version of the holy book and sold it to the priest, which is still placed in the village church.

Everyone in the village knew that he could read, but Leamer wasn't from the village and didn't know. Probably, he never even thought about it. The villagers knew so little about reading that they would mock anyone who could read, thinking it was useless.

Look, knowing how to read was a good thing.

While his teeth chattered, he crouched in the alley, hugging his shoulders, and made a strange bird-like sound. He had tried to laugh, but it came out as a twitch.

It was dark and quiet, and the sound of his shivering was very loud. The sweat from running had started to chill.

Not knowing what would happen next, he was scared and huddled, shrinking until the sky turned white.

"…Ah."

He woke up. He could smell the earth.

He slowly got up. He saw a wall. The bricks were old and faded, with cracks in some places. It was the wall of a building in the alley.

The sun was high in the sky. His head felt fuzzy. When he rubbed his cheek with his sleeve, he felt the texture of the dirt.

"…I must have fallen asleep."

Right, he had come to the port town.

Leamer had tried to take him to a slave trader, and he had run away, hiding in this alley until morning.

It would have been nice if it had all been a dream.

His head wasn't working. He sat down, leaning against the old brick wall, and looked up at the sky, feeling drained.

He didn't want to move. Even moving a finger felt like a chore, and he didn't know what to do, so he didn't want to think about anything.

"Leamer… he’s probably not looking for me anymore, right?"

Time had passed, so it was probably okay. He felt relieved, but then he felt lonely. He really had no one left.

What should he do now?

Tears welled up as he looked at the sky, but before they could fall, his stomach growled.

"…I’m hungry."

He hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday. Realizing how hungry he was, his throat felt dry, and he felt a bit dazed.

He stood up. He could stand. He started walking. He could walk.

He didn’t really want to do anything, but sitting there wouldn’t help, so he walked with a blank mind.

He somehow ended up on a big road, but even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, he hid behind a wall. Looking around cautiously, he saw many two-story buildings lining the street.

In his village, all the buildings were one-story, so he only knew about two-story buildings from the priest’s stories. This town was amazing.

He felt a bit scared walking in the middle of the road, so he walked on the side. There were a few other people walking, and someone was selling flowers from a stall, but no one paid him any attention.

He walked, trembling at the imposing two-story buildings.

Bookstore. Locksmith. Apothecary. As he walked, he read the signs. Pottery shop? Stone shop? Fabric shop? There were some words he couldn’t read, but he could see what was being sold inside the open shops. Inn. Blacksmith. Leather goods shop.

Dining place.

"…I need money, don’t I?"

He had nothing, not even money. He was wearing clothes, but that was it.

A good smell came from inside the shop, and he stopped for a moment in front of the sign, then continued walking. He was hungry, but he couldn’t eat there.

He pressed his growling stomach and walked past, reading the next sign he saw.

Adventurer’s shop.

He stopped, stood still, and stared at the sign.

There was a name of the shop, but it was written in a stylized script he couldn’t read. It might be a word he didn’t know.

He turned his head to look at the shop. It was large, with two floors, and the wooden windows were reinforced with black iron frames. A crest of a horse with fish-like hind legs was displayed.

His feet moved involuntarily. His mind was blank, and his steps were unsteady. He reached out to the door, hesitated once, and pulled his hand back, but he couldn’t back away. He swallowed hard.

He slowly pushed the door open. The hinges creaked unpleasantly.

The inside of the shop was dim. It seemed to double as a dining place, and a few people in strange outfits were eating. …He had only seen metal armor in the village chief’s house, covered in dust. The person sitting across from him was wearing a pointed hat like a wizard from a book. There were a few more people in the back.

He trembled as he moved forward. There was a counter separated from the dining area, and a large, stern-faced man was sitting there. He seemed to be reading a book but looked up when he noticed him.

"…Welcome. Are you here for a job?"

He asked with a suspicious look. It was a deep, resonant voice, the lowest he had ever heard, echoing in his empty stomach.

He almost turned around and left, but he had nowhere to go, so he clenched his hands.

He couldn’t think of any other way to survive in this unfamiliar town.

"I… I want to become an adventurer."

His voice was small and trembling.

—He would often recall this moment in the future.