n

n

n

"You're asking us to join your guild?

" Foster replied, and the man in front of him quickly nodded his head,

"Of course! If it was just the three of you that managed to slay that beast, then you definitely are incredibly promising candidates.

"

nFoster slowly turned around to look at Lynol and Octer, the latter of which was kneeling inside of the carriage with a look of disbelief.

n

"Erm- What- Did you just say 'Lost Sparrow'...?

" Octer asked, and the man quickly nodded his head with a light smile,

"So you've heard of us, I see.

"

n

"Could I... ask for your name..?

" With a nervous expression, Octer stared back at the man, who laughed slightly in response,

"I apologize, I should have introduced myself earlier. My name is Romeo Karidis.

"

nInside of the carriage, Octer was just sitting there, completely stunned,

"Y-You are Romeo Karidis from the Lost Sparrow guild..? That... I...

" He muttered, although he felt like something was wrong,

"Wait, why would someone like you take on a request like this..?

"

n

"Ah, I'm only here to supervise in case of an emergency. This would have been the first request my sister took on, and it was my role to judge how well she's doing to determine a few things now that she's joining the guild.

" Romeo explained,

"It's why this request was so important to her.

"

n

"I mean, I guess that makes sense?

" Foster replied with a wry smile,

"Erm, just wondering, but where is your guild? Like, in what town?

"

n

"We're in Arcadum, of course. It wouldn't make sense being anywhere else these days.

" Romeo explained immediately, and Foster turned around toward Lynol and Octer. They all looked at each other for a moment, and seemed to all come to the same conclusion.

n

"In that case, we might come by sometime. We're all looking to get work there anyway. Those two are independent adventurers right now, and I'm not an adventurer at all, actually.

"

n

"Hm? What do you mean you're not an adventurer?

" Romeo replied surprised.

n

"Well, I'm just not an 'official' adventurer, rather. I can fight pretty well though, but I just didn't sign up at any guild yet. You know... circumstances?

" Foster said, using the explanation that he came up with together with Lynol and Octer. Having two people that knew he was an otherworlder and that would help him out so that he could seem 'normal' in this world was really incredibly helpful.

n

"Ah, I see! Well, everyone has those, isn't that right? You can take your time for now, it's in no rush. Settle in when you get to Arcadum, and if you're interested, just come to our main office. If you explain the situation, they should help you out there.

" Romeo explained,

"Oh, but first... What are your names? Even if you choose not to join our guild, I would love to see how you strive within Arcadum.

"

nFoster, Lynol and Octer quickly introduced themselves, and even quickly spoke to Romeo about their combat specializations. But after that, Romeo chose that it was just about time for them to leave again. He made his way past the caravan to start speaking to George about the situation, and so that they could figure out a good way to prove that the wolf had been taken care of, while Foster sat back down inside of the carriage.

nHe looked at Octer and Lynol, and the three had a long, thorough conversation about what they were going to do once they reached Arcadum.

n

"You aren't going to stick to your current party?

" Foster asked as he looked at Octer, and he slowly shook his head,

"Nah, they're not really my party in the first place. I just sometimes teamed up with them... I'm a bit loud, so I can look like the party leader, but we're mostly just acquaintances.

"

n

"Lynol, what about you? Did you have any plans when you reached Arcadum?

"

nLynol looked at the ground after hearing Foster's question, and slowly answered,

"Not particularly. I just hoped to reach a place where I could live a new life. Free from my clan's status. A place where I could strive and grow, uninhibited by the red color of my skin.

"

nFoster smiled lightly as he looked down at the small porcelaine mask laying in his hand,

"Then I guess it's settled. We're gonna party up officially, right?

"

n

"Huh?

" Octer replied perplexed,

"I thought we already established that.

"

n---

nFoster woke up in the late afternoon after taking another nap in the carriage. Like usual at this point, he checked on the small porcelaine mask. At this point, he wasn't sure whether or not it was going to turn back to normal anymore.

nIt had stopped shrinking, but after that, nothing else happened anymore either. He was really kind of worried. And he wasn't even able to see any information at all about Aster beyond the fact that it was 'currently in the form of a tiny porcelaine mask'.

nBut for now, Foster probably had some other things to worry about anyway. As he looked out of the back of the carriage, he noticed that there were some fields being worked at. The streets were partially paved, and you could spot some farm buildings scattered around. They were getting closer to a city. They were reaching Arcadum, finally.

nIt had been nearly 7 weeks since they started traveling now. Foster was honestly getting really sick of this carriage's interior. And his back was practically killing him, because he spent most of the time he was asleep in here, on the harsh wooden floor while the carriage was moving around wildly.

nAt the very least he had been nearly fully healed by now. These injuries would have probably usually taken a few months and a lot of extreme effort to heal, but now he was already only left with a few bothersome bruises. Seeing how tought it was for that mage to heal him throughout these few weeks to even this extent made Foster realize just how amazing Thiodrus' healing magic was. It worked basically instantly, after all.

nFoster got his things into his bags and stretched a bit, as the caravan finally came to a halt in front of the city gates. And he swiftly jumped out, followed by Lynol and Octer. The three of them swiftly approached the front of the carriage.

nGeorge was there, handing out different documents so that the adventurers could go collect the reward for this request they took on. And when it was finally the turn of Lynol and Octer, George gave the group of three something else.

nHe gave them an address.

n

"Come here in a couple of days, three or four maybe. We'll see to it that the materials from that annoyin' wolf are sold, and then all of you are gettin' a bonus. You said ya didn't want any of the materials yourselves, right?

" George asked to confirm one more time, and Foster quickly smiled at him,

"Yeah, don't worry about it.

" He said.

nAnd although they probably wouldn't need money for the next little while, considering the amount of money that Foster took from Thiodrus' hut back then, they simply also didn't have a use for the materials. According to Lynol and Octer, the hyde from monsters like that could often be used to make armor, so that would have been something useful, but that wasn't really an option after the wolf's skin had been burnt to a crisp through a dozen Molotov Cocktails.

n

"Alright, you guys can 'ead off now. If any of ya need some work, be sure to come to the Highland Company.

" George said, as Foster Lynol and Octer walked away from the caravan.

nThey slowly approached the thick, towering walls that surrounded the city, and made their way through the large open gate in the front.

n