Horns, damn it. They were small, and I had gotten used to them over time, so I forgot they even existed. I met the guard’s narrowed, suspicious eyes and froze. I couldn’t exactly tell him I was the next demon lord. Then Midori gently placed a hand on my shoulder and stepped forward with confidence.

  “He’s a mountain goat,” she said, all casual.

  The man’s face twisted. So did mine. He frowned, glared furiously at Midori, then at me, and I could practically see his blood pressure spiking.

  “Then I’m a grizzly bear!” he muttered.

  “Really?” I asked, totally off guard.

  “No!” he barked, “Are you mocking me?!”

  “No, uh, she’s right,” I said, turning to glare sharply at Midori. That look said, we’ll discuss this in detail later. Then I turned back, “I’m a demi-human. I mean, demi-goat, or whatever you call it.”

  “Why didn’t you say that from the start?” he scolded. “But,” he added, narrowing his eyes again, “you look more human than demi-human. If we ignore those tiny horns of yours—”

  “Ah, yes, uh… that, well—”

  “He was born at six months and never fully developed,” Aoi jumped in.

  I just stood there, confused, probably insulted, and somehow amazed by the creativity of the two of them. I couldn’t tell if they were rescuing me or digging me into an even deeper hole. Somehow, the guard believed us. His tense muscles relaxed, and his anger melted into a painfully obvious pity.

  “Hmm, so that’s why he looks so fragile and scrawny…”

  “Wha—”

  “Very well,” he said, glancing at Midori and Aoi one last time. “I suppose you two are human.”

  He turned and walked away, and I stared at my body, confused and deflated. But he had a point. He was a bulky man, built to wrestle bears with his bare hands, and I was just… normal. Not scrawny. Definitely not. I refused to admit it.

  “After you finish their security check, issue their cards,” he told the guy inside.

  Standing there, bored, I started looking around as we waited. Everything smelled of the Middle Ages, from the stone roads underfoot to the uneven rooftops above. It felt alive and original, nothing like the flat walls and tasteless buildings of my time.

  Soon a young guard came out from inside, carrying something. He gave us a dumb look, checked the cards, looked at us again, and handed them over.

  “25 copper each, 75 total,” he said, holding out his hand.

  I grabbed the cards, inspected them, and looked at him. “Uh… we don’t have any money, not even a single coin. We just got to this city and—”

  He snatched the cards back and went inside, expression blank. “They say they have no money.”

  “No security records either. They’re probably foreigners. Mark it as debt.”

  After discussing inside for a while, he came back and handed the cards over again.

  “Here are your cards. If you don’t pay your debt within a month, the kingdom guards will arrest you, and you won’t be allowed to leave the city during that time,” he said in a bored tone, then went inside, taking all our life energy with him.

  As we walked into the city, I glanced at my card. For its time, it looked insanely advanced. It wasn't plastic, but some kind of translucent material, sleek and clearly ahead of its age. I pocketed it and looked over at Midori.

  “Mountain goat, huh? Seriously?!”

  “What? I couldn't just tell him you're a demon—”

  “Shh! Quiet.” I hissed, panicking.

  “It was the closest thing I could think of,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes at me, all serious. “And… you kind of look like one anyway.”

  “What?!”

  “Don’t listen to that bug, my lord,” Aoi said, looping her arm through mine. “Her simple peasant mind can only handle this much—”

  “You don’t even talk!” I snapped, yanking my arm free from her grip. “What do you mean I was born early and never fully developed?”

  “It’s just, um… an innocent lie to convince the guard—” she stammered, avoiding my gaze.

  “Whatever,” I muttered, waving it off. “We got inside somehow. That’s done. So where to now?”

  “We need to find a place where we can sell the flower.” Midori said, adjusting her bag.

  “But,” I said, trying to recall her words, “you said you can't just buy it at any shop. So where exactly are we selling it?”

  “I don’t know. We're already in debt, and we need a place to stay tonight.” She looked at me, then away. “Unless you want to sleep outside… not that it matters to me—”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Of course it doesn’t, you peasant,” Aoi snapped. “But I’m not planning to sleep on the pavement. So let’s figure out how to sell this stupid flower as fast as possible.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said, cutting it short before their banter went somewhere ugly. "We'll find a way, I guess..."

  We walked up a long, flat ramp that kept rising, like we were climbing a giant hill. Most of the crowd was human, but every now and then I spotted a demi-human or two. Not many, but enough to feel normal. This was a human realm, after all.

  Then the road opened into a massive circular plaza. A towering wall stood right in front of us, with the rest of the city stretching above it. And right at the base of that wall was a large, imposing building. A giant sword and shield were carved above its entrance, along with a huge sign that read: Adventurers Guild.

  We looked at each other, then shrugged and walked toward the building. Right at the door, a man was coming out with a kid sitting on his shoulders. The kid was waving a colorful piece of paper like it was treasure, his face stretched into a huge grin.

  “I’m an adventurer now! G-tier!” he shouted.

  We stepped inside. The smell of beer mixed with old sweat hit us first. A warm, sticky welcome. Then, just like I expected, every head turned. Men and women. All eyes locked onto us. Well, mostly onto Midori and Aoi.

  I did my best to ignore the drooling stares and walked up to the reception desk. I was ready for the usual scene. A young, energetic, smiling girl with a nice body. Instead, I got a short old woman with curly white hair, glasses, a wrinkled face, and the charm of a damp towel. I had no idea if she was ever young, but beautiful she clearly wasn't.

  “Ah, hello, good day,” I said, but the woman didn’t even glance at me.

  “Uh… hello?" I raised my voice a little.

  She lifted her head slightly, like a dead fish acknowledging my existence. In a cold, slow tone, she said, “Yeees.”

  All the men in the guild were looking at us, eyes wide, nudging each other and pointing at Midori and Aoi. I was starting to get seriously tense. The urge to get out of this place seeped into my soul, and I forced myself to ignore them.

  “So what? Do you want to join the guild?” the woman asked, looking at me over her glasses.

  “Y-yes, I guess so.” I said.

  

  She slammed three forms onto the table, the sound echoing through the room. Then she pointed at the chained pen and muttered, barely audible, “Fill these out first.”

  The forms were simple, basic personal info and a note saying the guild wasn’t responsible for any stupid or life-threatening things we might do. I finished mine quickly, then filled out Midori and Aoi’s papers too, guessing some of the info. Who cared, anyway? The old woman wasn’t paying attention. Finally, I signed for them as well.

  “Here,” I said, handing the papers over.

  She adjusted her glasses, glanced at them quickly, and tossed them on the pile beside her, exactly as I expected, completely uncaring. Then she got up, grabbed a white sphere from the table behind her, and placed it on the stand in front of us.

  “Put your hand on it,” she said in that half-dead voice.

  “Okay… but what is this for?”

  She pointed to a framed sheet on the wall. Colors and letters ran from top to bottom; dark red, red, orange, yellow, green… SSS-tier at the top, F-tier at the bottom. It looked like some kind of level chart. I shrugged and placed my hand on the sphere. Nothing happened. The white orb just stayed there, maybe a little whiter.

  “Uh, this isn’t working—”

  The woman grabbed my hand and pressed it firmly onto the orb again. Still nothing.

  “You were working a second ago, damn thing,” she muttered, shaking the orb. Then she turned to Midori. “You try, girl.”

  Midori stepped up beside me, nudged me lightly, and placed her hand on the orb. It started yellow, shifted to orange fast, and finally deep red, stopping at a dark red. The old woman’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, her glasses trembling.

  “Whoa!” the crowd shouted. “The green chick’s SSS-tier?”

  

  “Silence!” the old woman bellowed, pounding the wooden mallet in her hand. Suddenly and awkwardly, the crowd went dead quiet.

  “You,” she said, fixing her glasses and raising an eyebrow at me, “try again.”

  I reached for the orb. Still, nothing. I stared at it. It stared back. I was starting to think the damn thing just hated me.

  “You,” she said, turning to Aoi. “Try it.”

  Aoi stepped up, placed her hand on the orb, and went through the same cycle as Midori, ending in a dark red. The crowd was about to shout in shock again when the old woman leaned forward and glared at them over her glasses. I was certain now that everyone here was terrified as hell of this soul-sucking old woman. Then she turned to me, eyes sharp and suspicious.

  “You, boy,” she said. “Try again. One last time.”

  I tried again, though all hope was gone. I was just doing what I was told. And, of course, nothing happened. I looked at her, utterly fed up.

  “Is there maybe something wrong with this thing?”

  “The orb is fine,” she said flatly. “You’re the problem. How old are you?”

  “Sixteen… sixteen and a half, actually.”

  “Don’t lie to me, you look way too small for your age!” she raised an eyebrow.

  “No. Why would I? And what does age have to do with it?”

  “Then why does the orb sense nothing from you?” she asked. “Every fifteen-year-old should have a fully developed mana source.” She squinted at me. “Are you… sick? You look weak.”

  “No! I don’t know,” I said, “and I'm not—”

  “Yes, um, he was born too early and never fully developed.” Aoi interrupted.

  “Oh, so that’s it, then,” she said, convinced far too quickly. She turned to me. “I can’t register you. The other two ladies, your procedures are done.” She pointed to the huge board on the wall behind us. “You can pick your first quest from there, if you want.”

  Midori had already turned and was staring at the board.

  “Wait... how can you not register me?” I pressed.

  “The orb didn’t recognize you, so your tier is unknown. Quests are assigned based on tier. Try again next year if your body develops late.”

  “But that's not even why—”

  She looked at me with cold, exasperated eyes, and I swallowed the rest of my sentence. Then she rifled through her drawer, pulled out a paper card, and handed it to me.

  “If you really want it, take this.”

  I took the card. It was way too colorful and ridiculously cute. It showed landscapes and harmless animals, all overly decorated. Across the front, big and clear, it read: G-tier. Adventurer of the Future.

  “…Huh?! What is this?” I shouted, my voice rising out of control. “This G-tier thing isn’t even on the list over there! And… what’s this ‘Adventurer of the Future’ thing supposed to mean?”

  “Hahaha,” a rude, horrible laugh echoed through the crowd. “Did she really give the brat a future adventurer card?” someone shouted, still laughing.

  “It’s…” she said in her casual tired voice, rolling her eyes, “just a symbolic card we give to eager kids like you.”

  “I’m not a kid!” I slammed my fist on the table. I was already done and the crowd’s mocking laughter was starting to grind on my nerves.

  “Not a kid, huh?” someone jeered.

  “Probably one of those spoiled noble brats,” said another.

  “Yeah, right,” a third one sneered. “Otherwise, why would two chicks with melons like those hang around a G-tier kid, huh?”

  “Probably his babysitters. Hahaha!”

  The moment we heard it, both Aoi and I turned toward the guy. A palm sized sphere of water was already spinning in Aoi’s hand. I grabbed her arm. When she saw the rage in my eyes, the water vanished at once. She noticed right away, crossed her arms with a smug look, and stepped back, ready to enjoy the show.

  Midori charged toward me, but it was too late. I had already gone berserk. My eyes locked on the man when I was walking straight at him, wondering what sound his empty head would make when it smashed into the table.