ISEKAI EXORCIST

The 7-11 chime played and the automatic doors started closing behind me. In my hand was a plastic bag with a bottle of lemon tea, a salmon onigiri, and a lukewarm nikuman. Already the flimsy handles of the bag were digging into my skin.

It was late spring and the air had started warming significantly over the last few days. It was sure to be another sweltering summer this year.

The clap of my sandals against the heels of my feet followed me as I walked up the slope to the street where my house lay. In hindsight, it was still a bit too cold for sandals and bare feet, but I’d been too lazy to put on proper shoes when I left the house, after all, I was only going to be out for a few minutes before I went back to studying.

Although I’d failed this year’s entrance exam, I was determined to study enough that I would ace it next January. Still, that was such a long way away.

I sighed as I pulled open my house door. I’d promised mom that I’d get into a good university, but look where that’d gotten me. Now I was a Rōnin, left to wander the streets of Kyōto until next year, while all my high school friends were having fun with their new classmates.

How long before they forget me?

I pushed the thought from my mind and hung my windbreaker by the door. The plastic bag with my lunch I placed on top of the console table next to the coatrack. It was ugly and its colour didn’t match the walls whatsoever, but mom loved that thing and refused to throw it out.

Before I could take my sandals off, there came a knock from the door.

That’s odd, I thought. I hadn’t seen anyone else outside on the street.

I opened the door and looked outside, but there was no one there.

As I stepped through the doorway to check, I felt my stomach shoot up into my throat as though I suddenly fell through the ground and my vision flickered black several times.

A buffet of summer-warm wind ruffled my hair and I opened my eyes to my surroundings. The street outside my house was gone, its asphalt road and houses replaced with trampled dirt and a bustling marketplace.

Next to me, a woman yelped in alarm and I turned to look, realising quickly that I’d been the cause of her fright.

I suppose that makes sense. I did after all just suddenly appear next to her.

As I looked around, walking a bit aimlessly back-and-forth between the many market stalls, I felt as though I’d stepped through a wormhole to a different time and place. The people near me, all of whom were staring curiously at me I might add, looked distinctly European in their features and wore what could only be described as medieval peasant clothes.

I had to grab my head to stop my mind from reeling.

Am I having a really strange dream right now? Or maybe I’m hallucinating?

It was not yet warm enough for a heatstroke, but maybe this was the side-effect of not hydrating properly?

I pinched my cheek as hard as I could.

“Ow.”

Okay… not a dream.

I crouched and scooped a handful of dirt from the ground, moving it around with my fingers. It felt very real, so hallucination was probably out of the picture too.

Not knowing what else to do, I walked up to one of the stalls. A blonde and tan trinket vendor with sausage fingers covered in rings stared up at me from where he sat.

“Excuse me? Where am I?”

He looked at me like I was stupid, then sighed and said, in perfect Japanese with the same Kansai dialect as me, “This is the city of Lundia. It sits eighty leagues inland from the port of Ochre.”

“Thank you,” I replied and walked away from his spread of jewels, rings, and timepieces. I had no idea what a league was nor why he was perfectly comprehensible to me, despite clearly being of a different nationality.

After walking around the marketplace for fifteen minutes or more, I found a guardsman who was clad in polished platemail and hugged a tall lance. He was standing guard outside a building that might have been a bank or luxury store.

“Excuse me,” I started, but before I had a chance to ask my question, he took one look at my clothes and replied:

“The Adventurers’ Guild is down that street and to the left, you can’t miss it.”

I followed the direction he pointed with his left hand and nodded my thanks before going that way.

I have no idea what I’m doing here, but maybe this Guild can help me?

The Adventurers’ Guild was indeed quite easy to spot, as it towered over the nearby one-storey buildings and was built not of wood, but rather of stone, with green shingles on its roof. Its crimson wooden doors were flung wide open and there seemed quite a throng of people within.

After entering, I saw that half the place was like a tavern, with people drinking and eating around circular tables. Many of the people within, Adventurers I guessed, were dressed in elaborate flowing robes or brutal-looking armour, with their weapons of choice leaning against their chairs or strapped to their waists. Some of them turned and snickered when they saw me enter, but most seemed to purposefully ignore my arrival.

What struck me the most, however, was not their clothes nor weapons, but rather that many of them looked just as out of place as me, with their features showing more than just the European features I’d seen in all the people about town.

Maybe they’re like me? I thought hopefully.

I walked up to the nearest person: a tall musclebound black man dressed in spike-covered leather armour who was leaning against one of the wooden pillars that supported the tall ceiling to the first floor. His palms were both placed on the pommels of two shortswords that hung from each hip.

Before I could utter a single word, he pointed to a queue of about eight people on the other side of the floor, “Newcomers have to register.”

Puzzled, but assuming this was the way to get answers, I got into the line of people. At the front, a desk with a kind-looking woman dressed in a green blouse and skirt with blonde twin-tails was greeting the people and having them place their hands on a strange glyph-covered black-grey slate. The glyphs glowed a strange frost-blue.

After about twenty minutes, when my legs were starting to get sore from standing, I got to the front of the line.

“Name, please.”

“My name is Temaru Ryūta. I was hoping you could—”

“How do you spell that?” she interrupted.

“Oh, erm, my family-name is the sign for Hand and Circle, with my given-name being the sign for Willow and the one for Fat.”

She looked at me, confused, then showed me what she’d written on her scroll. She was writing in romaji.

“Hmm, I think it’s T-E-M-A-R-U R-Y-U-U-T-A in Roman lettering.”

“Thank you. My name is Caroline, and I will be performing your Adventurer Role Assignment today.”

“My what? I don’t understand what’s going on or why I’m here. Or where ‘here’ is for that matter…”

She nodded, as if this wasn’t news to her. As if my situation here was commonplace…

“I am unfamiliar with the World you are from, but you are currently in Mondus, specifically the western continent of Hallem. This city is called Lundia and is part of the Principality of Arley.”

“Is it… common for people like me to be here?”

Caroline nodded solemnly. “No one knows why, but Otherworlders like yourself appear in Lundia quite frequently. It has actually become the backbone of the Adventurer industry, as most commonfolk would never take on such jobs as what we offer.”

“How do I get back home? I don’t want to be here… my family will be worried!”

“I understand this is hard to digest, Temaru, but there is no way for you to return to your world. My best advice would be to take the Role Assignment and try to make a living in Lundia for a while doing quests for the Guild. Hallem is a fantastic place for explorers and travellers, and many who were in your situation have found a new life here and even seem to thrive.”

I was trying my best not to panic, while parts of my brain were still locked firmly to the belief that I was dreaming. In the end, as the next person in line voiced their frustrations at the delay, I caved in and told her, “I’ll take the Role Assignment.”

“Excellent.”

Caroline brought out the slate I’d seen earlier and bade me place my hand on it. Its black stone was frigid to the touch and the glowing sigils seemed to throb gently as I put my clammy hand on its surface.

I held my hand on it for what might have been a moment, but which felt like hours, especially considering how I got the sense that everyone was staring at me and awaiting the result. As the slate’s glyphs started blinking, she had me lift my hand, before, somehow, interpreting the response of the tablet. It seemed to make as much sense as reading the stains left by tea in a cup to me, but she apparently understood how to read it, because she announced, louder than I felt necessary:

“Exorcist.”

I had half a second to think “Oh man that sounds super cool!”, but then I noticed the responses of the crowded tavern and nearby observers. Some laughed, a few sighed disappointed, but most seemed to just instantly lose interest.

Before I could ask what my Adventurer Role was good for, she handed me a credit-card-sized stone tablet of the same nature as the tablet. Rather than esoteric symbols I had no way of deciphering, the card was covered in legible symbols. I once again had to wonder why everyone spoke Japanese and why the card was covered in Japanese text, when they clearly did not use the language.

Caroline cleared her throat and told me, “This is your Adventurers’ Guild Card. Your first one is free, but, if you lose it, a replacement will cost three gold crowns. You can use this card to see your Status, Abilities, and Guild Rank. Make sure to always keep this on you, because it’s required when accepting and turning in quests.”

“Thank you,” I said, because I didn’t know what else to respond. Things were already completely beyond my control. “Erm, how am I supposed to learn about my Role, this world, and, you know… everything?”

“I understand that you must have a lot of questions, Temaru. You can learn the answers to many of them by speaking to the Genius in the library on the second floor or from your fellow Adventurers. I would also recommend looking at what kind of groups have openings for new members, although…”

“Although?”

“I’m sorry to say this, but your assigned Role is very specialised and does not have a lot of synergy in groups. It’s generally a solo Role that takes on very difficult quests which no other Roles are capable of dealing with.”

“Are you kidding me?” I almost blurted out, but instead I managed to keep my calm and simply asked, “Can I change my Role then?”

“Unfortunately, that is not a possibility. Although if you make it to a higher rank you will be able to specialise in an Advanced Role with more group utility.”

“…If?”

Caroline suddenly blushed, realising she had let that one slip in.

Great… Not only am I in a completely foreign land with apparently no way of getting home, but I had the misfortune of being assigned a Role that sounds like a death sentence…

“Thank you for your help,” I told her. She was not to blame for my circumstances, so I couldn’t exactly fault her for it.

I finally took the Guild Card from her hands, before leaving the line. There weren’t a lot of people waiting in the queue for registration, but it had definitely grown while I was at the front of it, which made me feel rather guilty and embarrassed.

As I moved closer to the tavern section of the Guild Hall, where large boards were plastered with quest scrolls of varying types, as well as group posters, I looked down at the card in my hand and saw how I had been reduced to a bunch of very clinical estimates:

Two E’s and F’s…

I didn’t really know what each of the eight attributes represented, but I guessed that my Role was determined from all of these combined. Considering the brief description of the sort of jobs I could expect, maybe an F-rating in Luck was mandatory to become an Exorcist?

The E in Strength and Dexterity seemed pretty accurate to my real-life physical condition, as I had been one of the slowest and weakest boys in my high school class. As for Vitality, I had no idea what that represented, though it could possibly be my physical endurance, given that I tired easily from just a brisk jog.

Soul, Pact, and Acumen were not immediately clear to me. I had never been much of a gamer, so while I could recognise some game elements from this place and setting, my understanding was so shallow that I had no idea if it applied here nor how it could be applied…

Renji would’ve known what to do if he was here… I complained internally. He had always been the smartest of my friends, somehow managing to attain the highest grades in every field, while also maintaining an all-consuming Gaming Otaku lifestyle. I’d watched him play hundreds of games, and listened to his long exposés of how to do this and how to do that, though now I wish I’d been paying more attention, as it was clear that his wisdom had been wasted on me.

I bit my lower lip in consternation. My string of misfortune had only continued, even though I had done my best to improve. Failing to get into university had been a wake-up call for me to take life more seriously and do something about my many shortcomings. I had even managed to build up the courage to confess to my high school classmate Inoue Kumi, who, instead of flat-out rejecting me, had said she would think about it and let me know her answer during the summer, though now I would never hear what answer she had.

While I seared the image of the colourful little graph that was supposed to represent me as a person into my retinas, I felt an overwhelming wave of despondency settle on me like a weighted blanket.

What will mom say when she gets home and sees I’m no longer there? Will she be relieved that her failure of a son is gone? Or will she be sad and report me missing?

Given how our last argument had gone, I couldn’t truly say I knew. I still remembered her accusations that I had wasted all the money she had spent on getting me into a private high school and prestigious cram schools. I had never wanted to be a doctor like she desired of me and perhaps, as a kind of rebellion against her will, I had failed the entrance exam intentionally. I hadn’t been a bad student in high school, so perhaps my failure was a deliberate self-sabotage that I could never admit to myself?

The last time I had seen Renji before the summer, he had clapped me on the back and told me things were going to be alright. I had honestly believed him.

…but look at me now.

After shouldering my way to the Quest Boards and perusing the options for a while, I found a quest for an Exorcist of Novitiate Rank like me. From looking at the many other quests, I knew that those that asked for a specific Adventurer Role were extremely rare, and, besides Exorcist, the only other ones I saw on display were Priest and Hunter, the former for its apparent ability to ‘heal’, and the latter for its tracking and animal handling. I had also gathered that, besides the Rank requirement, each quest had a difficulty/complexity scale, which ranged from Simple to Perilous. Unsurprisingly, the only Exorcist Quest on offer was ranked the highest difficulty…

If I were to actually take a quest from the board, I knew I’d go with the Simple-rated Gathering or Delivery types, which, although not having much of a reward, at least offered a steady income, although I didn’t really understand the currency here nor its value. Granted, if I were to actually take the Exorcism Quest and complete it, the reward was one gold and forty silver crowns, while the Simple everyone-can-do-it types only offered a few dozen copper crowns.

I seriously doubted I’d commit to the dangerous Adventurers’ Guild work though, and besides, no one had said I couldn’t just find a job in the town of Lundia. After all, I was okay with my hands when it came to repairing electronics and making things, plus I had some experience from my part-time job at a Yakitori restaurant, so I could make some simple meals and wait on customers.

Before really deciding on what I’d do, I wanted to speak to the ‘Genius’ on the second floor. I had yet to talk to any of the established Adventurers that lounged in the tavern and near the Quest Boards, but I was hardly the only Novitiate that found them imposing and intimidating. Although, when a person was announced as having the Priest Role, many of the lounging Adventurers had swarmed the guy, eager to acquire him for their group. Even Roles like Vanguard, Brawler, Ranger, and Spellhand had all found modest interest from groups. Unsurprisingly, female Novitiates were all given a lot of attention, which made me wonder how the mass of Adventurers would react to a Girl Exorcist.

As I began climbing the staircase to the next floor, I realised how ridiculous I must look, given how I was still wearing my sandals, as well as comfortable pyjama-esque pants and a threadbare t-shirt with a panda print on the front that said “I hate morning people” in English text. I doubted my bedhead hair and sullen eyes were much to write home about either. Not for the first time in my life, I felt envious of Renji, who had somehow gotten the S-tier package deal: he was handsome, smart, funny, and charming. The fact that he had been my friend since middle school was one of my proudest accomplishments, although it had been tough constantly being the go-between for the girls who wanted to ask him out, but I had treasured my friendship with him nonetheless.

I let out a sigh as I reached the first-floor landing and didn’t pay much attention to the floor before ascending to the second. With every step came the awful slap of the squishy plastic sandals against the soles of my feet. If not for the fact that there was dust, dirt, and errant stones everywhere in the building, I would’ve taken the sandals off. If someone came to this world and brought the invention of the vacuum cleaner with them, they would become an instant billionaire, I was sure. No sooner had the thought hit me than I remembered that I had left my house with my phone and wallet in my pockets.

Stopping halfway up to the second floor, I began patting down my deep trouser pockets, but found nothing within except my new Card and some balls of lint…

So much for wowing the general populace with my hyper-advanced technology…

Then again, if they have magic here, maybe they already have some equivalent to the smartphone? I thought, thinking back to the stone tablet. And I could hardly be the only person here who had the thought of bringing technology with me. Perhaps the people of this world were reticent to change or maybe they just didn’t trust people like me who randomly showed up?

As I reached the second-floor landing, I was greeted by tall bookcases that created a maze of sorts. Each shelf was half-a-metre deep, as there were as many scrolls packed in as books, but, just looking at it, I highly doubted I was meant to rifle through stuff and find the answers that way. The Guild Representative had mentioned a ‘Genius’, which I was mostly certain was a title for a person, though, as I began my foray into the bookcase-maze, I started to doubt myself. I began to double back, when I suddenly noticed a path that led deeper into the centre of the floor, and, as I rounded a corner, I entered into an office of sorts.

Three large desks surrounded a figure sitting cross-legged atop a wooden swivel stool, each of which was piled high with wobbling stacks of books and pyramids of scrolls. The figure was holding one end of a scroll high above his head, while using his free hand to scratch his chin as he studied the contents.

“Erm, pardon the intrusion, but…”

The man moved the hand holding the scroll slightly, so that he could see me. Round thick-lensed spectacles sat atop his nose and his long unkempt dark-grey hair fell down across his face and back. He went barefooted and only wore a lab-coat-esque garment with wide overlong sleeves and deep pockets on the side.

“You’re the new Exorcist.”

“Erm, yes, that’s me. Wait… how’d you know?” I definitely hadn’t seen this guy in the hall and it seemed like he might have been in this place for days, given that there was something like a sleeping bag on the floor, as well as the leftover dirty trays from at least a dozen meals.

“I expect you’re looking for answers to your many questions?” he asked, not answering my question.

“Well, yes.”

The Genius, or at least I assumed that’s who this guy was, nodded sagely, then said, “You can’t go home. Yes, you’re stuck with your assigned Role. You could try to find work outside the Guild, but the native population of Lundia despises Adventurers and actively prevent them from finding honest work, meaning you’d no doubt end up in something shady and illegal if you were to find employment.”

“What about my friends and family?”

The Genius tilted his head slightly, as though not following.

“Aren’t people going to question my disappearance from the real world?”

He replied with a shrug, before adding, “No one knows, because, you see, none of us can go home to check.”

“Are you an Adventurer yourself?”

“Of a sort, I suppose. I was assigned the Role of Librarian, then later specialised as a Genius. It’s a comfy job if you like reading and organising information, but I don’t do a lot of Adventuring.”

“Can I see your Guild Card?”

He squinted slightly suspiciously.

“If you’re willing to trade,” he replied. That made me pause. After all, if he destroyed it or decided to not return it, getting a new one issue would take a lot of money. Money that I definitely did not have. But did it really matter either way? I was fairly sure I wouldn’t do any Guild quests.

“You’re thinking that replacing a Guild Card will cost a fortune, but that you don’t mind losing the Card regardless.”

“Does your Genius Role include mind-reading?”

The man shrugged.

I ended up handing him my Card and he handed me his in exchange. Before I could even take a look at his Status and Abilities, I heard him chuckle and say, “…Two F-tiers.”

I couldn’t help but blush. Showing someone else my status was surprisingly embarrassing. After all, it was like giving them a report card of all my grades from my finals exams. I looked down to the Card in my hand and frowned at what I saw.

C in everything except Intelligence, which is S-tier…

“How come you don’t have a lot of abilities?” I asked. I couldn’t tell if this was the norm or not, but I’d assumed that someone at his Rank would’ve had more. I almost asked what the ‘Nightmare Feeder’ skill was, but was honestly too scared by the title to ask.

“As I say, I stay mostly cooped up with my books, but my Librarian Skill Set allows me to create scrolls that mimic other Roles’ abilities, so long as I have the attributes to match. And before you ask, no, I cannot use any Exorcist abilities. They all require an S-tier in Soul.”

We swapped back Cards and I took a moment to look at my own abilities. Omniglot was self-explanatory, as it simply meant that I could understand all languages, hence why everything sounded and looked like Japanese to me, except for times like when the Guild Representative had written out my name or when I looked at the Genius’ unique name.

“What does ‘Exorcist I’ mean?”

“Each Role has something like it, but it’s your basic Skill Set that includes the abilities of your Role. To view them, you just have to tap it with your finger and it expands.”

I did as he said and tapped the ability name, which caused the list to expand and become a continuously-scrolling list, as it was too long to encompass all the elements within the frame of the card. Before I could really get a good look at all the abilities available to me, Æmos continued:

“Skills come in five levels, and with things like your Role Skill Set, the entire thing will reach level two after you train at least half the abilities within to that level. Think of it as different levels of math, with the first level being simple things like subtraction and addition, and the final being like quantum physics. Some abilities are easier to level than others, but I’ve heard it compared to training certain muscle groups, where some are quick to bulk up and grow stronger with hardly any effort, and others take more concentrated and specific training to accomplish the same results.”

I nodded slowly. It seemed quite an extreme comparison, but perhaps there was such an extreme difference in the Abilities and their power? After a few cycles of the scrolling text, I had a grasp on the abilities included in ‘Exorcist I’. They were as follows:

“Could you explain some of the Attributes to me as well? Like, what does Soul, Acumen, and Pact mean?”

The Genius nodded curtly. “Of course. Soul is the counterpart to Vitality and represents your spiritual endurance and defences, governing how many spells you might use before exhausting yourself and how much resistance you have against spells that affect your spirit and mind directly, such as Possession, Sleep, Madness, and so forth. Some people equate Soul to the term ‘Mana’, but that excludes the defensive element, which is very important against many of the challenges and monsters Adventurers face. Particularly Exorcists who have to deal with wraiths, demons, and the like.

“Acumen is something like innate wisdom, but seems to affect accuracy and tinkering as well. A low Acumen is generally seen as impulsive and lacking forethought, as well as being clumsy with spells and ranged weapons. It’s probably the hardest of the Attributes to define, but you don’t have to think too much about it. Pact is one that is however quite easy to define, as it governs your ability to deal with anything like a ritual or summoning, but it also affects how easily you might form bonds with familiars and pets, hence why it is a B-tier requirement for Hunters, who have the ability to tame wild animals.”

“So the Roles we’re assigned is based on meeting requirements then?”

“As far as we understand it, yes. Amusingly, Exorcist is the only Role I am aware of which requires an F-tier in an Attribute.”

I frowned. It wasn’t really that amusing to me.

“Listen, Ryūta, this situation that you’re in is definitely bad luck. It’s very few people who would actively wish to be taken away from their world and be faced with perilous quests by an uncaring world that honestly despises them for their very nature. No one knows why all of us are here, nor why only we ‘Otherworlders’ have access to all these powers, but you’re going to have to accept your new Role. There is no room for mistakes and half-heartedness when it comes to being an Adventurer, especially not with a Role as difficult and complex as yours.”

I had a grim thought that I blurted out. “What’s the mortality rate for Exorcists?”

Æmos didn’t say anything for a moment, surprised by the question. “I don’t think you’d gain anything by me telling you that.”

“I’d still like to know.”

He unfolded his legs and rolled-up the scroll in his hand, before adding it to a pyramid stack on one of the desks. As he swivelled back to face me, he said, “For the first Exorcism Quest, the mortality rate is ninety-six percent. That means only one in twenty-five make it out of their first exorcism alive.”

My frown deepened. Now I understood the pitying glances I’d gotten and the unsaid warning in Caroline’s voice. “And what’s the general mortality rate?”

“Exorcist is the only Role that faces Perilous Quests right off the bat, but if you were to say within the first month of work, which might include Simple Gathering and Delivery, as well as Bounty and Extermination Quests, then it’s about forty percent on average. Those who make it past the first month of being an Adventurer generally only face a twelve percent mortality rate though. There’s a sudden spike when Adventurers reach the ‘Eminent’ Guild Rank though, since all available quests around that Rank end up ‘Dangerous’ or higher in difficulty.”

“I see,” was all I could reply. Having my expected lifespan and that of my cohort reduced to simple statistics was a demoralising thing.

“In case you were wondering, the Guild Ranks are as follows: Novitiate; Initiate; Seeker; Eminent; Savant; & Master. The deciding factors for going up in Rank is whether or not you are deemed capable of handling the responsibility that each Rank bears within the Guild, as well as how you’d deal with the kinds of quests you’ll face. Given that Exorcists usually always deal with quests of Dangerous or Perilous difficulty, they usually go up in rank quite quickly. In fact, I think it’s almost tradition to receive a promotion to Seeker upon completing your first Exorcism Quest, as it shows overwhelming talent.”

I nodded lamely. It was already too much information to bear and too much responsibility to deal with. A seventeen-year-old like me wouldn’t have been expected to face such overwhelming adversity in the real world, but here it sounded like people like me who were stolen away from our worlds were just cast directly into the meat-grinder, with those few who came out the other end perhaps finding some purpose in life, though who could say for sure.

“That look on your face is one I’ve seen a lot before, but I will give you the same advice that I’ve given all the Exorcists before you: take your time to learn your abilities and rely on easy quests to make a living for a few weeks, before attempting to take on an Exorcism Quest. And also, try to find an established Exorcist to become your mentor.”

I nodded again, slightly more energy this time, though it was mostly faux. Suddenly a coin was shoved into my right hand. It was cold against my skin. I looked up, realising I’d been staring at my sandalled feet for a while, then I lifted the coin up and saw that it was of a silvery metal and had the engraved letters for “ten” on its face, alongside a stylised crown above a half-moon crescent.

“I’m giving you this money out of my own pocket, Ryūta, because I believe that you’ll be able to beat the stats that promise only failure. Use this to find a place to stay for the next week as you settle in. Don’t forget to check out our For-Rent Armoury on the first floor that you no doubt saw coming up here, but keep in mind that your equipment won’t magically make you better than you are. I recommend starting off with just some basic clothes to replace what you’re wearing, as well as a good pair of boots and a backpack of some kind. You’ll end up walking a lot for the Delivery Quests and you’ll need a way to carry stuff for Gathering Quests.”

I quickly put the coin in my pocket, then looked intently at Æmos, before bowing deeply. “Thank you so much! I will aspire to live up to your expectations of me!”

“It’s not like this is goodbye or anything. I’m here more often than not, so come back anytime you have questions or… you know… if you just feel like talking.” He said the latter with an awkward kind of hesitation, which made me think that he probably rarely got to just talk to people without the expectation of giving answers and advice.

“I will,” I told him and bowed deeply again, before leaving the maze of bookcases.

I went down the stairs, not bothering to check the first floor yet, and then left the Guild Hall out the open front doors as well.

I was greeted by a dark early-evening sky, though was fairly sure it was no more than five in the evening, which made me wonder what kind of night-and-day cycle this continent of Hallem had. Without any reference to the rest of the world of Mondus, it was hard to tell exactly how close I was to either of the two poles of this world, but if it followed the same pattern as Earth, then I assumed I was somewhere semi-tropical, given that it was still quite warm, though not as much as summer-time Kyōto.

Letting out a sigh, I pushed the pointless speculations from my mind and began looking for a place I could stay for the night and get a meal for my growling stomach.