Chapter 3:
An Isekai City
AFTER RIDING ON Luke to escape the forest, Taichi safely arrived in the nearest city. Inside the gates, the city was bustling with activity. Taichi found himself on the main thoroughfare running through the city the moment he entered, with intersections all over and the most important facilities lining the sides of the main street. His first destination was the Crescent Moon Inn, which the guards had given him directions for.
“This looks like a nice city.”
Its people seemed lively and content, which suggested it would be an easy place to live. The problem was that Luke stuck out like a sore thumb. Despite being half his normal size, he was still close to three feet tall.
I can feel an uncomfortable number of eyes on us.
“The people are charmed by my striking appearance,” Luke said proudly.
That’s a more positive way to put it, I guess. It was true that Luke was striking, though, and his fur was the fluffiest and most inviting that Taichi had ever seen.
“These humans sure have a lot of shops,” Luke noted, glancing around at the shop windows. They were lined with various goods, such as clothing and magical implements. As far as Taichi could tell, they were luxury shops for the wealthy.
“Oh, right, I need to buy a change of clothes,” said Taichi.
“Yes, outfitting you should be our top priority. You need proper equipment.”
“Equipment, huh?” Taichi wasn’t so sure about that. He had no plans of living as an adventurer and using swords or magic to get by, so he didn’t think he needed anything too special. Normal clothing would suffice. “I do want a proper coat, though. It gets pretty cold riding on your back.”
“Indeed. You humans are frail.”
“Aha ha.”
First was finding their inn, then they could go shopping.
At least, that was the original plan, but they soon ran into their first hurdle.
“You can’t keep a tamed monster that large in my inn! Look elsewhere,” snapped the proprietor, motioning for them to leave.
“Yes, sir...”
They were all but thrown out of the Crescent Moon Inn because of Luke’s size. It was a shame, since the place had a nice, quiet atmosphere.
“Well, now what do we do?” Taichi wondered out loud.
“This is ridiculous. Can’t these humans provide a proper place for me to sleep?!”
Every inn they visited thereafter said the same thing as the Crescent Moon Inn proprietor. They soon found themselves aimlessly wandering the city.
I’ll need to find a proper job for the time being.
Taichi would need some more money to start his café. Unfortunately, the funds he had now wouldn’t be enough for that. Luke said he could sell the dragon materials, but they would need to save the meat itself for future meals, so Taichi suspected what little they could sell wouldn’t fetch much.
I’m either going to have to find something temporary or visit the Adventurers’ Guild to see if there are any missions I can take on.
“What’s the matter?” Luke asked when he noticed Taichi lost in silent contemplation.
“Nothing. We just don’t have a lot of financial padding, so—ah!”
“Hm?”
“Over there, that signboard! It says ‘Tamers’ Guild’!” Taichi had spotted the Adventurers’ Guild on their way to the inn. He had no idea there were job guilds as well. He figured that should probably be his first stop before anything else. Maybe they can show me an inn that’ll accommodate Luke! “Let’s swing by! They probably have a lot they can tell us.”
“Very well.”
The Tamers’ Guild was located two streets over from the main thoroughfare of the city. The building was larger than Taichi had expected, with a wide door. This was probably to accommodate members with large monsters similar to Luke’s size. There was also a little yard with a fence around it.
Heart hammering in his chest, Taichi made his way inside, finding only the receptionist. It was a little sad to see how empty the place was, despite its massive size. Oh no, maybe it’s in decline. Sweat poured down his back. It was too late to turn back. Besides, the receptionist was smiling over at him, as if she’d locked on and recognized him as a fellow Tamer.
“Welcome!” she said. “I’m the guild receptionist, Chartelle! Aww, what a huge wolf you’ve got there. I’ve never seen one like him before. Is he a Wolfking?” The expression on Chartelle’s face said everything; fellow Tamers were so rare that she wasn’t about to let him escape, not now that she had him in her clutches.
Chartelle had semi-long aqua colored hair that flared out at the ends, her bangs decorated with several stylish hair accessories. Her eyes were pink, and she had adorable canines that poked out whenever she spoke. She was probably still in her late teens, which made her seem especially young to a guy like Taichi in his late twenties.
“Good afternoon. I’m Taichi, and this is Luke. He’s a Fenrir.”
She gaped at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, “Aha ha, what a jokester you are. No one’s seen a Fenrir in several centuries. It’s a monster of legend by this point!”
It is?! Now it was Taichi’s turn to be astounded. His smile faltered. Now that I think of it, the guards at the gate assumed he was some kind of wolf rather than a Fenrir. Taichi hadn’t intended to hide Luke’s species, but if Fenrir was a monster of legend as Chartelle suggested, Taichi might be better off telling people he was a Wolfking instead. It has the word “king” in it, so I have to assume it’s a high-ranking monster of the wolf variety.
Now his heart was absolutely thundering with this new information.
“Aha...ha ha,” Taichi laughed awkwardly. “I come from the sticks, so I thought a little joke would make for a good icebreaker.” Best to play it off, he figured. “And that’s why I have no personal identification, either.”
“Oh, interesting! Well, if you register with the Tamers’ Guild, you can use your registration in place of other forms of identification.”
Great! She bought it! Even better, she offered him a way to secure ID. Taichi was still a bit nervous at how deserted the place was, but it wasn’t as bad as becoming an adventurer and having to fight to earn a living. He could do this.
“I’d like to register, then,” he said.
“Of course! Let’s start the process.” Chartelle pulled out a registration form and slid it across the counter. “Please fill this out.”
He examined the document, which had blank spaces for his name, age, tamed pets, skills, and any personal notes he wanted to make. It was far simpler than he’d expected it would be. “Okay, my name and age... For tamed pets, I have a Wolfking: Luke. As for my skills and extra comments...” Taichi was smoothly filling out every required field when Luke jammed his snout against Taichi’s waist, very insistently. “Whoa! What’s this about?” He whipped around.
Luke wrinkled his snout. “How ridiculous. Me? A Wolfking?! Don’t mistake me for those weak pups! I am a proud Fenrir!”
Dropping his voice, Taichi calmly returned, “I don’t have any other choice, do I? You’re more legend than reality to the modern folks here.” Sure, the receptionist might accept Luke as a Fenrir if he returned to his original size and displayed the full extent of his power, but such a discovery could send shockwaves through the local community, and perhaps even further.
“Hmph,” snorted Luke. “I suppose you are right to call a creature as majestic as me legendary.” His tail whipped back and forth, pleased at the compliment.
You are such a sucker for flattery!
Chartelle watched the two interact with a grin on her face. She pointed a finger to the remaining field that Taichi had yet to fill in. “Listing your skills is optional. We don’t require you to disclose that information, as many people prefer to keep it secret. For comments, you can share what kind of work you’re looking to do or anything else you want the guild to know. In general, most missions we offer involve you fighting monsters together with your tamed beast.”
“All right.”
She went on to explain that if he did list his skills, the guild could offer missions more tailored to his particular skillset.
Since I have the skill Prepare Meal, I could write that down. Would that mean I’d get cooking missions? On one hand, most Tamers probably had the skill, but on the other, anyone who wasn’t a Tamer wouldn’t have or need it. Perhaps there was demand for it. Taichi’s personal skills, however, were clearly cheat abilities, so he didn’t want to note them.
“Oh, I guess I should mention these.”
He scribbled down his Heal and Cure skills, so he could help anyone in need. In the comments category, he noted his plans to open a fluffy café, in hopes that would dissuade the guild from offering him any adventuring quests.
“Oh, you have rejuvenation skills! Not many people have those, so that’s a real boon!” said Chartelle.
Taichi had assumed those skills were common, but her comment made it plain they weren’t. Oh well. I already wrote them down.
Chartelle looked over the form, pausing at one point and tilting her head. “And you mention a café?”
“Yes!” Taichi answered eagerly. “I don’t care for battle or any kind of violent work. I want to open my own café—but not just any café! I want it to be a place where customers can pet all sorts of cute and fluffy monsters.”
“Fluffy, huh?”
Taichi had launched into a gushing rant about his plans, but it didn’t seem to make much sense to Chartelle. I suppose that means this world doesn’t have cat cafés or the like. Getting his café up and running might be more challenging than he first imagined. Then again, it wasn’t like he planned to break his back making it successful. He would be content making just enough to lead a comfortable life.