With many locals' help, he followed their directions until the only direction he had to go was forward, the last leg of the journey.
Damn, look at all these medieval buildings.
His head swiveled, his gaze shifting from one building to the next, each left him awestruck.
Finally seeing these buildings and how they were used is just... breathtaking, man.
His captivation was interrupted by a man's bellow in the distance.
"OI! I AIN'T SELLIN' TO YA'!"
What the heck?
Walking farther, he spotted people casting disregarding glances toward the source before going about their business. He spotted an extremely thin raccoon-eared man, the sleeves of his shirt and pants torn, extending a small pouch toward a burly, bearded fruit vendor.
"But m-mister, my kids. They haven't eaten in—"
The burly fruit vendor slapped the hand holding the coin sack. It hit the ground with a crescendo of metallic clanks. "I AIN'T SAYIN' IT TWICE, SCRAM BEFORE I MAKE YA!"
The raccoon-eared man nodded excessively. "Y-Y-Yes sir." He bent down, picking up the fourteen copper coins for the apples—one by one, putting them back in the sack. After picking up the coins, the raccoon demi-human walked in his direction—hunched-over, raccoon ears touching his hair.
And a tear streak shining his poor face, man. Fuck! Even this world isn't safe from racism.
His hand—hidden in his cloak—balled into a fist. I want to teach that vendor a lesson but... I don't know if I should give vigilante justice when I just arrived. Argh! So frustrating.
Passing Oswald by, his arm shot from within his cloak, grabbing the raccoon demi-human's shoulder. His body jolted from the suddenness of the cloaked-stranger's grab. Oswald matched his bafflement, his body had reacted before his mind.
"I uh..." Whoa! I feel his bones.
The raccoon demi-human looked at Oswald, wide-eyed with his mouth agape.
"Ahem. T-There's a uh, fruit vendor down the road I came from. She was nice to me and I uh... hope she extends that same nicety with you. Ugh! Why am I talking in complicated vocabulary. Look, I hope the fruit vendor, who was nice to me, will sell the fruits to you."
He scratched his chin, gazing upwards. "I overheard her name is Ms. Applegate and I believe she wore maroon with... green head coveri—Wait a minute, she was dressed like an apple."
He began chuckling—his chuckle lifted an invisible weight from the raccoon-eared man, straightening his posture a bit. "Ms. Applegate is dressed like an apple. How am I noticing it now? Heh. Anyways, maroon with green head-covering, the name's Ms. Applegate. The fruit stand is by an alleyway. You can't miss it... Unless I am bad at giving directions."
He freed him from his grasp. The raccoon demi-human stared at him with astonishment for a few seconds. His grip tightened around his coin sack, gaze shifting to his bare feet.
"Huh... there was hope in this kingdom after all. I must tell my littles to send their prayers."
The raccoon demi-human bowed. "Thank you, I will head there right away."
Oswald raised a thumbs-up. "Exchellent! See you later!"
They parted ways, walking in opposite directions.
Why did I say 'Excellent' like Lee from Tekken?
* * *
"Huh." He tilted his head, scratching his chin. "So this is what a guildhouse looks like."
He stood before a two-story timber-framed building that looked like it had weathered a few centuries. The air around it smelled of sawdust, sweat, and something metallic. Two faded green banners, each bearing a knight's yellow helmet, hung limply from either side of the heavy oak door.
If I recall correctly, the lowest I can take are F- or E-rank missions—mundane tasks like cleaning the feces of a farmer's animal, hauling crates, etc. But hey! Money is money. Also... will they let me do anything without combat experience? I mean, mundane tasks won't need me swinging a weapon. Do they need some sort of certification to verify my capability, even for the low-ranked quests?
Haaah. Well, deliberating won't get me anywhere. I'm gonna go in and ask them mysel—
"Ya lookin' to join the guild?"
A raspy voice, accompanied by a faint, musky scent, came from his left. He turned to find a green lizard beastman looking him up and down. Its slitted pupils narrowed in appraisal.
"Never seen someone starin' with such intent. Ya face screams 'I wanna join but don't know if they let a nobody like m'self in'."
So reptilians do exist on Earth.
"Yep, you got me. So, can you point me to where they train swordsmanship... and swords'animal'ship, if you will?"
"Ha! Already chosen ya path, eh? I will be there m'self later. From here, ya head straight behind me then..."
The lizard gave him directions to the kingdom's swordsman school, and with a wave, they went their separate ways.
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