“So that’s what adventurers are really like. If things don’t work out at the shop you’re taking me to, maybe I could become one.”
If adventurers do all kinds of work, then there must be something that even I can handle. Or so I thought, but the reality wasn’t so simple.
“I’m afraid not.” Uncle Lehmar shook his head. “You’re still nine, aren’t you? Most guilds don’t take applications from anyone younger than twelve. I don’t think the adventurer’s guild is any different.”
Why can’t I just be grown-up already?
“Well, the first thing is to get yourself trained up at the shop. You’re a good lad, Kiri,” Uncle Lehmar reassured me. “I’m sure they’ll take you on. Anyway, aren’t you getting tired? We can rest if you’d like.”
“No, I’m fine,” I insisted. “I can keep going.”
According to Uncle Lehmar, if conditions were good, he’d normally arrive in town on the morning of the third day after leaving my village. But this time, he’d slowed down so I could keep up. He still seemed sure that we’d make it before sundown, but I felt a little guilty all the same. Ah, why couldn’t I just be grown-up already? Or at least old enough to walk a little faster.
“This shop we’re going to, what do they sell there?” I asked.
“Hmm? Ah, well...” Uncle Lehmar stroked his chin thoughtfully and glanced up at the sky. “Take a guess. See if you can get it right.”
“Oh. Um...”
I began to think it over. The owner of the shop knows Uncle Lehmar, so maybe the shop sells the same kinds of things Uncle Lehmar brings to the village. Tools and pots and such would probably come from a smith rather than a shop, though, so that leaves...
“I got it! Salt! They sell salt, right?”
Uncle Lehmar nodded with a broad smile as I gave my answer. “Oh, well done, Kiri. Got it on your first try.”
Well, it had to be salt. Still, I was happy I got it right. So, I’m going to work at a salt shop. I felt my chest tighten a little with emotion at the thought. Then I noticed a faint but odd smell wafting by on the breeze. One I’d never smelled before. I sniffed at the warm air. There it was again. It wasn’t a bad smell, but it wasn’t pleasant either.
“That’s the smell of the sea. Not far now,” Uncle Lehmar remarked.
My eyes grew wide with wonder at his words. Until that moment, the sea had been something I’d only heard of.
“Really?! I wanna see it!” I was so excited, I could have leaped into the air. Well, actually, I did just that.
“Just a little farther,” replied Uncle Lehmar. “You’ll get a look at it on our way into town.”
I couldn’t wait. “C’mon, let’s hurry!” I urged.
“You really are still full of energy, aren’t you?”
Once I had set my eyes on the sea for the first time, it took me a while before I could look away. It was so wide and so perfectly flat across the horizon. Uncle Lehmar was saying something to me, but all I could do was plod along silently with my eyes glued to the water. I was just so amazed it left me speechless.
Before I knew it, we’d reached the town. Uncle Lehmar had grabbed my hand at some point to keep us from getting separated, but I didn’t even notice until I could no longer see the sea past all the buildings now blocking my view. That was when I realized there were people all around us. I’d never seen so many people in my life. Voices shouted back and forth from every direction. And it was evening now—the sky above us had turned crimson, and shops were getting ready to close up for the day. Vendors were cutting prices to try to clear out the last of their stock, Uncle Lehmar explained, but his voice sounded like it was coming from far away and his words were just vaguely drifting into my head.
The sea had been amazing. This town was amazing too. Amazing and scary.
“So this is a town,” I murmured.
There were so many people. Too many to count. And I didn’t recognize a single one of them.
I think that was when I finally understood why everyone in the village had been worried about me. No, I’d understood before, but now I really felt it. There were no strangers in my village. I knew not just everyone’s faces, but their names and where they all lived too. I’d greet every person I met, because that was just what you did. There were a few grumps who never replied, but most always said hello back. But here? There was a whole sea of faces around me, but I knew no one. I’d never been in a situation like this before, and it felt scary and horribly, horribly lonely. I gripped Uncle Lehmar’s hand tighter. With my other hand, I stroked the donkey’s fur. Its ears twitched, and it looked back at me with kind eyes.
Once, a long time ago, I’d gotten lost in the forest. Back then, I’d cried because I was all alone. Now I wanted to cry because there were so many people all around me. But leaving the village had been my decision. I’d convinced my family, turned down the priest’s kindness—everyone in the village had come out to see me off. I can’t get cold feet now. I’m going to get a job and live here from now on. That’s what I came here to do.
“Well, here we are, Kiri. This is where you’re going to work from now on.”
When I heard Uncle Lehmar’s voice, I suddenly realized I’d just been staring down at the ground. There must have been interesting new sights all around me, but I spent all this time looking at paving stones. To be fair, there were no paving stones in my village, so they were interesting enough in their own way.
I looked up. A building many times the size of the village chief’s house loomed over me, almost like it had been waiting...
“Right, in we go. Be a good lad and keep quiet while I talk to the owner, will you?” Uncle Lehmar smiled and gently pulled my hand.
At the same time, something else caught my attention. It was the tiny shop sign—much too tiny for a building this size, almost as if it weren’t supposed to be seen. If I was reading it right, it said...Zelmar Slavers.
“This shop we’re going to, what do they sell there?”
“Hmm? Ah, well...”
A chill ran down my spine. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but there was something very strange about the way Uncle Lehmar had dodged my question back then. Terror surged through me as I felt his large, firm hand gripping mine, and I wrenched my hand free. Something wasn’t right. This was no salt shop.
“Kiri? What’s the matter?” Uncle Lehmar looked at me in surprise as I leaped away from him. He was the same old merchant I’d always known, and yet I suddenly felt like I was looking at a complete stranger. “Something frighten you?” he asked, this time with a puzzled expression. After a few moments, he seemed to notice what I was looking at. He tilted his head as he turned around to face the little shop sign. “Don’t tell me you can—”
I ran.
Into the dark streets of that town where I knew no one, I ran. I had to get away from that man. I ran as fast and as far as my legs would carry me, without a clue where I was going, until I found myself in a pitch-black alley. I crouched down, trembling like a leaf, even though the nights were still warm this time of year. That was when I realized a kid like me had only gotten away from Uncle Lehmar because of the donkey and the load of merchandise it pulled. He couldn’t risk leaving them behind to chase me. My heart was still pounding, I couldn’t stop shaking, and my teeth chattered so loudly I was terrified that he’d find me by the sound.
The priest had taught me how to read. He had me copy some faded scriptures, which were so faded the letters were almost invisible, and then he bought the copies from me and kept them in the village church. Everyone back home knew I could read, but Uncle Lehmar was an outsider. The possibility probably never even crossed his mind. After all, no one else in the village knew how. Some people even made fun of me for my “useless” skill. Well, who’s laughing now? It’s a darn good thing I know how to read, isn’t it?
I sat huddled in the dark alleyway with my teeth still clacking together and let out an odd little birdlike squeak. It was supposed to be a laugh, but my voice had hitched and it had come out funny. In the darkness and quiet of the alley, the sounds of my own trembling seemed ridiculously loud, and I was starting to feel cold from all the sweat I was covered in after my desperate run. I was so scared, and I had no idea what I was going to do next. For now, all I could do was curl my body up small and tight so that no one would find me before sunrise.