The city is much livelier than I imagined.
Compared to the grim view I had of humans, when I entered the city I realized that they were only aggressive towards monsters.
Inside the city, where they only dealt with other humans, elves, or dwarves, they were much friendlier.
Sure, that didn't make me start liking them, especially after seeing how they tied up some humanoid monsters and sold them as slaves.
Even small female goblins didn't escape the hands of the merchants and were treated as exotic sex commodities.
"What do you recommend we do, Varen?" I asked.
Although I had an idea of my goals, getting the opinion of a local would be a wise choice, especially since I had no concrete knowledge of the place.
"Normally I would just go to the tavern to try to sing and get some money, but considering my new situation... I think signing up as a group of adventurers might be a good idea, master."
He said as he shifted his gaze to a strange building with a sword and a staff at the entrance. "As adventurers, we'll have access to quests to kill monsters, which will help us a lot with money and getting stronger."
Looking up at the sky and seeing that it was still around noon, I realized that there was still time to try to complete a quest before the end of the day.
Especially considering that I have no money, and Varen was robbed of all the money he had before he died.
"Then let's do it." I nodded and we went to the adventurers' guild.
The place was very lively, with warriors, mages, rangers, and various other classes gathered at different tables.
When we opened the door, many eyes turned to us, but most chose to ignore us and go back to what they were doing.
Of all the people here, there was no other race besides humans. The dwarves and elves I thought I would find were nowhere to be seen.
Curious, I asked Varen. "Only humans can become adventurers?"
Varen shook his head and explained. "Any race can become an adventurer, but although humans, dwarves, and elves have an alliance, the races rarely leave their territories. Humans remain in human territories, dwarves in dwarf territories, and elves in elf territories."
Nodding, we approached the counter, where a young human woman with light brown hair and waitress attire looked at us with a polite smile, becoming even more excited after looking at me more closely and noticing my features under my hood.
"Good afternoon, I don't remember you here... would you like to issue a mission or become adventurers?" She asked as she looked between me and Varen.
"We want to become adventurers," I said in a calm voice.
Nodding, she took two scrolls and handed them to us. "Please fill in your details on these scrolls first."
Looking at the scroll, I realized that I had no idea how to read the common language of this world, even though I could speak it.
Handing my scroll to Varen to fill out, the girl looked at me a little surprised, perhaps wondering if I was really illiterate or an arrogant noble, but I didn't care.
Using a little Mana in my voice and activating [Devil Whisper], I asked her in a low, calm tone. "Considering that we are complete novices as adventurers with decent strength, what advice could you give us to start our journey in the best way possible?"
As soon as I opened my mouth, the girl's attention focused on my lips, listening intently to everything I was saying, until after three seconds I finished speaking, she came back to her senses, explaining what I had asked.
"As novice adventurers, you can only receive E-rank or D-rank missions. Considering that you already have decent strength, I would recommend a D-rank mission to kill some wolves in the forest. The reward, even if split between the two of you, would still be enough to pay for some good meals and a comfortable night's sleep."
She said as she turned to grab the mission paper, placing it on the counter just as Varen finished filling out the two forms.
"Thank you very much for the recommendation, milady." Varen smiled gallantly as he looked at the mission paper, more specifically at where the reward was written, with a smile on his face.
The girl gave us a polite smile, picking up the forms. "Please wait a few minutes while I register your information on your adventurer bracelets."
Nodding, I turned to the tavern and watched the movement while talking to Varen. "I need to learn to read and write urgently."
Varen nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, master. Although books are expensive, literacy books are much cheaper than normal, and with a few mission rewards we'll be able to save enough to buy a book like that."
"How valuable is the reward for the mission she recommended?" I asked curiously.
Varen smiled. "A total of 50 copper coins. Considering that a good meal costs an average of 10 copper coins, and a room at an inn costs 20 to 30 copper coins per night, we'll get enough for our last meal of the day and can split a room for the night. Tomorrow, with more time, we can take on more than one mission, which will increase our daily profit."
Hearing this, I nodded.
With our strength, completing a few D-rank missions would be no problem.
Even though I could recreate money with my magic, considering that the money would be temporary and disappear after some time, I didn't want to do something like that and raise suspicion about myself.
It was better to keep a low profile and blend in with the humans first before doing something risky like that.
As I looked around the guild, a strange feeling kept tingling inside me.
After 5 minutes, the girl returned with two bronze bracelets, handing one to me and the other to Varen.
"These are your adventurer bracelets, showing your rank as E Rank Adventurers, represented by the color bronze. To move up in rank, you will need to complete 50 E Rank missions or 5 D Rank missions. Would you like to register this wolf hunt as your first mission?" she asked.
Nodding to her, I agreed. "Yes, please."
Hearing my polite tone, she raised her eyebrows slightly and her smile grew a little wider.
"Okay, whoever issued this mission specifically requested the wolves' fangs, so your goal will be to hunt 5 gray wolves and bring back all the fangs you can find, as well as their 5 left ears to prove that you killed all 5 wolves as requested. Also, if you bring back more loot, we can pay you extra for it." She explained patiently.
Nodding, I put my bracelet on my left arm and started to leave.
Varen smiled at her before quickly following me.
Strangely, as I walked out of the guild, I felt some strange looks on me, making the weird feeling I had even stronger.
'Did someone find out that I'm a monster?' I was worried, before shaking my head in denial. 'That's impossible, I didn't show any signs of being a Devil... maybe my clothes are attracting too much attention?' I asked mysekf, confused.
Since we entered, I noticed that the quality of the other warriors' armor was clearly inferior to mine, at least aesthetically.
They had no idea that my armor was purely aesthetic, serving almost no purpose as defense, since it was made of Mana.
Sharpening my Middle-Class Devil senses, I paid attention to our surroundings and noticed that a group of four adventurers left the guild a few seconds after we did, and 'coincidentally' they were walking a few meters behind us the whole time.
"We're being followed," I said to Varen, who stopped strumming his lute happily and took on a serious and confused expression.
"By whom?" he asked.
"Four adventurers who haven't taken their eyes off us since we entered the guild," I said in a somber voice.
"Damn, that's pretty normal in smaller towns like Ironvale..." He sighed. "They probably won't do anything while we're in town, but in the woods where there's no supervision is where they'll try to attack."
"That makes sense..." I replied. "Considering that we're two strangers and I practically acted like a noble there, plus the clothes I'm wearing, they must see me as a noble who ran away from home and has more money than he deserves to carry."
Varen looked me up and down, surprised by my analysis. "Your insight... was very accurate, master. It doesn't even seem like you've ever had contact with humans before."
I didn't answer, but thinking about the shit I went through after discovering cancer in my previous life and how much dark media I consumed while I was in the hospital, it wasn't hard to imagine something like that.
The somber mood lasted only a few seconds before Varen resumed his merrily strumming his fight, but now with a low voice that only I could hear what he was singing.
🎼🎶
"Though thieves may creep with blades to mar,
They know not the might we hold afar.
A power unseen, a twist so grand,
They'll find the prey takes the hunter's stand.
By day's last light, the tale will sway,
The forest might claim the bold astray!"
🎼🎶
"Well sung, Varen." I smiled as I listened to the song he improvised on the spot, lifting my spirits.
This seemed to motivate Varen even more, causing him to sing with greater joy, but taking care that our attackers did not hear the song.