The merchant city of Fulmoon felt enormous to Nina. With its vastness and the throngs of people coming and going, it might even rival the city of Sickle, but unlike Sickle, many of the roads were in poor repair and few buildings had more than one floor. Another difference was the other species like elves, dwarves, halflings, and beastfolk that she often spotted mingled in with the humans.
“Oof...” Nina groaned. “My poor back.”
The journey for this “bit of sightseeing” they’d been promised had certainly lasted them more than a bit. It had taken three days for the horse-drawn carriage to reach Fulmoon, though that did allow Nina time to befriend the other passengers. Among them was a merchant man who, impressed by her attentiveness, her meals whipped up from preserved foods, and her tea, had asked, “Won’t you come and work for my family?”
Nina had turned him down.
“I was only doing what any maid would...” she explained. “And besides, right now, I want to see the city.”
He was such a pleasant young man and looked so downcast at her refusal that Nina felt a little guilty. But just then, work was what she wanted to get away from. While the journey had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, to her surprise, as the miles had stretched away between her and the capital, she had been swept up by the joy of travel. She found herself longing to visit even more different places.
Everything in Fulmoon was new, from the different species of people, to the foreign goods on display in the street stalls, to the aromas that wafted out from the eateries.
I wonder what that device is for? Cleaning, perhaps?
What beautiful dried fruits! If they taste good, I could serve them to guests.
Even with all this dust, the washing on the lines is spotless. I wonder what keeps it clean?
With a grimace, Nina realized that all her thoughts were about being a maid.
“Even after they cast you out...” she said to herself, feeling a pang of loneliness as the reality of her situation hit her once more.
Nina spent five days wandering about Fulmoon and still didn’t make it to a tenth of the city’s sightseeing spots. But she did learn one thing.
On the outskirts of the city, there was a beautiful and secluded pool of water that welled up from the ground, around which grew a flower that bloomed only in the early days of spring.
“A flower that only blooms at this time of year? I would very much like to see that!” Nina said. The only problem was that monsters were known to appear outside the city. It was best, she was told, to take an adventurer with her for protection. So, Nina went to pay a visit to the adventurers’ guild.
✦ ✦ ✦
“If it ain’t Forever-a-Rookie,” a man called out. “Finally realized you’re not cut out for adventuring? Here’s a silver. Spread your legs for me and I might give it to you.”
The girl he was talking to didn’t grace this with an answer; instead, she shot him a glare with her burning red eyes. She had thick red hair that cascaded down from beneath a mage’s wide-brimmed hat, and held a long staff that further served to mark her as a magic user. For sixteen-year-old Emily was registered at the adventurers’ guild as just that: a mage.
“Get out of my way,” she snapped. “I’m here to look for jobs, not waste my time on layabout adventurers.” Emily had a long, pointed nose that perfectly mirrored her strong personality, and although she was pretty, her frown and general aura made her hard to approach.
“Oooh, scary,” said the man, smirking as he stepped aside for her. In all the wide adventurers’ guild, not one person called him out. As an adventurer, you had to look out for yourself.
Emily scanned the job notices pinned to the wall.
Package Transport (Must be physically strong)
Bodyguard (Minimum 3 party members)
Medicinal Herb Delivery (Herb Collector License required)
Sword Instructor (at least 5 years experience required)
And so on.
The jobs anyone could have done were of course poorly compensated and didn’t require a mage. Then there were the jobs that did ask for a mage:
Introductory Magic Instructor (Third Degree Magic User or Above)
Additional Bodyguards (Third Degree Magic User or Above)
They all came with the proviso that one be able to use at least Third Degree magic. Third Degree had a reputation as real, practical magic—the level where you never again had to worry about where your next meal was coming from.
But the only magic Emily could use was First Degree. In other words, she was on the level of apprentices and beginners.
Anyone who wanted to know could find out straightaway if they had the makings of a mage. They would go to a town hall or church and be told, “You have the potential to wield up to Third Degree magic,” or otherwise, “I’m afraid First Degree is the best you can do.”
But not Emily.
“Y-You... You have the aptitude for Fifth Degree magic?!” The clergyman had been dumbfounded, as were the town functionary who’d been skeptical until he produced the same result, and the worker who measured her aptitude at the adventurers’ guild where she’d gone after the church.
For reference, an aptitude for Fifth Degree magic put her among only a few others in the entire country. Everyone wanted her in their party. But everyone also quickly learned about her problem.
“Awww, are all the jobs too hard for First Degree Emily?” taunted the same male adventurer from before. Emily gritted her teeth.
That was the thing—Emily had the aptitude for magic, but she couldn’t use it. First Degree spells were the best she could do. She could summon enough fire to light a cookfire, and that was it. If she tried to throw fire at a monster, it would just dodge, or at worst get slightly singed.
It was normal for people to be casting spells at the highest level they had aptitude for as early as ten years old, and certainly no later than fifteen. In the beginning, Emily’s fellow adventurers were encouraging—“You’ll get it in no time,” they’d tell her—but as time went by and she stayed stuck on First Degree, their patience ran out, and Emily was expelled from the party.
She’s useless...
She’s a fraud...
Once the rumors spread, no one would have her in their party. But she was still trying. She drilled her spells every day, spent money she didn’t have on expensive tonics, and sought advice from famous mages. Even after all that, she still couldn’t use her magic.
“You’re Forever-a-Rookie, remember? You’re never gonna use anything beyond First Degree magic. But hey, our party will take you. You’re pretty enough—you can do our chores and warm our beds.”
“Shut up,” Emily muttered. “If my stupid reincarnation power-up just worked properly...”
“Huh?”
“I said, shut up!” She turned her back on the man and tried to leave, but he grabbed her arm.
“I’m not gonna take cheek from some broad who can’t even use magic.”
“L-Lemme go!”
“You’re not even an adventurer. You’re nobody!”
“I am an adventurer!”
“Yeah? Then I’ve got a job for you. Gutter cleaning seems right up your alley.”
A few people around them laughed. The man himself was one of the guild’s washouts who had failed most of his jobs. He taunted Emily and called her “Forever-a-Rookie” to stroke his own ego.
There were also some who looked troubled by the confrontation, but no one went so far as to intervene. Adventurers looked out for themselves. Anyone who wasn’t up to snuff didn’t get to complain—and if you didn’t like it, you ought to give up on adventuring altogether.
“I... I am a mage...” Emily insisted. “A mage with aptitude.”
“There ain’t no mages who can only use First Degree magic. I mean, you can’t even do any of the jo—”
Just then, a small figure stepped forward. There, looking entirely out of place among the rough folk of the adventurers’ guild, was a maid.
“In that case,” Nina said with a smile, “I would be honored to employ the services of this mage.”