After leaving Greenville and arriving in Backwater City, I followed the instructions Equidna had given for the recruitnt. And in the short ti I had already been in the city, I had already co to regret listening to her.
The city itself was not bad, and much of it was well built. Its streets were made of stone, unlike the places I had visited before, where the roads were made of packed dirt. Shops selling objects I had never seen before were abundant here, and the clothing of the people who visited them was far more distinct than in Valleria.
But that was in the city center, not the place Equidna had sent to. She had sent to the outskirts of the city, and the outskirts were nowhere near the brilliance of the center. The street I entered through was narrow and dark, closed off as if to block the sunlight from entering.
The people walking around there were certainly dressed worse than those in the center, but their clothes looked dirtier than those of people from the countryside. As I passed by, I felt threatening gazes, so frightened by the sword I carried in its sheath, and even—
"Hey, cutie, would you like to—" I did not stay to listen, but it was certainly a young woman offering her services.
It was not as if I did not find won beautiful, but I was saving myself for one woman and one woman only. So I simply ignored those distractions and moved on. I forced my mind to change topics as quickly as possible.
Imdiately, my thoughts returned to my old party. I still felt sowhat guilty for leaving without speaking to them one last ti, but I could not face them after our last fight together.
’If it hadn’t been for Rick, the three of us would have died. How can I call myself a leader if I can’t even protect my own?’ I thought inwardly. ’They must certainly be fine without .’
My daydream ca to a stop right in front of a small establishnt, or what seed to have been an establishnt so ti ago. The sign with the faded na seed to have co loose and was swaying in the wind, with only an old chain keeping it hanging.
This place was awful, and I knew that, but my hopes had already run dry. My efforts had not been enough to take where I wanted to go, and now all I had left was to seek training in a place that could forge that strength into . If I had not been truly desperate, I would not have gone down the stairs that led to the entrance below ground.
I knocked on the old wooden door in front of the way Equidna had told to: three knocks, a pause, two knocks, a pause, and three knocks again. As soon as I completed the sequence, the door opened with a creak. It remained half open, still held by an iron chain blocking the way.
On the other side was a petite woman with soft lavender-colored hair tied into twintails, and she stared at with her violet-toned eyes. She wore a cute white shirt and a purple plaid skirt that matched the color of her eyes.
"How may I help you?" she said to in a serious tone.
I did not waste any ti and gave her Equidna’s letter of recomndation. She had said that all I needed to do was show the envelope with the seal intact, and there would be no problems. I had no idea what the contents of the letter were.
The young woman placed one of her hands on top of the envelope, closed her eyes, and began murmuring sothing that did not seem to be in my language. A purple glow was emitted from the young woman’s hand and illuminated the seal, which slowly lost its color and disintegrated until it turned to dust.
Equidna’s credibility reignited in front of . After all, a letter protected with magic certainly had to be of military-level importance. But I still had my doubts.
Equidna had been very kind to and had listened to everything I had to say, but the fact remained that I had only just t her, and everything here seed very strange.
"Excuse ," I said to the young woman.
"Yes?"
"Is this really a recruitnt point for Silver Fang?"
"It is. Why do you ask?" she said to , without taking her eyes off the letter.
"Don’t take this the wrong way, but why..."
"Does Silver Fang do its recruitnt in this pigsty?" she said to , glancing at from the corner of her eye.
"N-No, that’s not what I ant..."
"Don’t worry," she said in an uninterested tone. "Unfortunately, due to the nature of the work we do here, we cannot be near the Silver Fang battalion."
Silver Fang really did have a battalion in Backwater City, beautiful and imposing. I passed nearby to take a look, but I did not go inside. Equidna had said they would not let in, that they would throw out by force and never let enter again.
"Do you want to show you my dallion to prove it?" the young woman said, as if reading my thoughts.
"N-No, that won’t be necessary," I said to her, sowhat embarrassed. "So, about the letter..."
The young woman, who could not have been more than 1.60m (5’3’’), sighed deeply. "Your na is Leo, isn’t it?"
"Yes, that’s my na."
"Did you know, Leo, that won hate impatient n?"
I could not help but furrow my brows at that purple shrimp. She finally finished reading the letter.
"Equidna seems to have taken quite a liking to you," she told .
"So I’ll be able to enter, eh..." I was about to call her by her na, but I still did not know what it was. "Miss..."
"Margott." She gave her na without ceremony. "That ans you have permission to be tested by our examiner."
Margott shut the door in my face, removed the bolt holding it shut, and opened it again.
"You may co in. I’ll show you the way," she said to , in a tone that was not friendly in the slightest. Without thinking twice, I stepped inside.
The place was not as poorly kept as the outside, being strangely clean on the inside. The room right after the entrance was simple, with a reception counter that must have been where Margott waited for visitors, if there ever were any. There was no sunlight there, and it was lit only by the lanterns inside.
"This way," she said to , pointing towards the only door there. She opened the door, and the scene inside beca visible.
"Hey, hey, if you’re that naughty, forget about your dinner!!" I saw a man struggling against a beast.
"Woof, woof, woof!" The creature barked fiercely towards the man dressed in a white lab coat. Fortunately for him, the iron bars that kept the monster inside the cage were sturdy enough to contain its fury.
I say creature because the monster’s form puzzled . Its head looked like a wolf’s, but the thickness of its torso and the way it could stand upright seed more like a bear’s. I had never seen a monster like that before, and the sight of it left frozen, my eyes focusing on the scar over its useless left eye.
"Mr. Byron, we have a candidate for examination," Margott said to the man, who was catching his breath.
"What... ah, aah," the man panted, holding a bucket with so raw at inside. "A candidate... ah."
"That’s right."
The man ca towards abruptly, staring at through his round glasses. "This young man?"
The man called Byron was my height, around 1.85m (6’1’’), but he was thinner than . He did not seem like the type to do physical exercise, so I could not even imagine him trying his luck against a beast like that, even if it was caged.
His clothes underneath the white lab coat were nice, a pair of pants and a shirt that could have been sold in the city center. I wondered for a mont whether that man might be a noble, or whether the pay for his services was really that good.
But what caught my attention the most about his appearance was his hairstyle. Straight, smooth hair, cut into short bangs all around his head.
"That’s him," Margott said, handing him the letter. "Recomndation from Equidna."
Byron stared at Margott, his face showing clear discomfort at hearing Equidna’s na. "What a surprise for her to send soone around these parts."
Byron took the letter and read it, his eyes running over it quickly. I never thought I would see soone read so fast, but in just a few seconds, he lifted his gaze towards .
"Ooh," he said, surprised. "Looks like she found soone interesting this ti."
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