Deciding whether someone was cut out to be an adventurer just by looking at them... I didn’t think it was that simple. Take Old Badger, for example. He’d never worn armor. His clothes had been tattered, and his only weapon had been a kukri meant for hiking. At a glance, no one would even guess he was an adventurer. If anything, he’d looked more like some wandering mountain hermit. But he had survived longer than anyone else in this business.
Unlike soldiers, adventurers didn’t have standardized equipment. Adventuring attracted all kinds of specialists who took on very different jobs. Of course, their appearances varied just as much. And since adventurers were free spirits, many were stubborn about their personal styles. So there was absolutely no consistency in what an adventurer should look like. Being big and tall and having expensive weapons and the best armor still didn’t guarantee survival. That was the reality of adventuring.
Even if people had some kind of innate adventurer’s talent, there was no way you could tell just by looking at them. But if I took Chikka’s words at face value, that every adventurer was fundamentally “a failure of a human being,” then maybe there was something to the idea of having “different” eyes. The fiery girl’s jade-green eyes did shine with fierce determination. Not just for today, not just for tomorrow, or even the next day. It felt like she was looking far, far ahead.
Having a vision for the future and looking ahead instead of just at the present wasn’t a flaw. If anything, it was admirable. But... When my eyes met hers, I felt something coarse settle deep in my chest—a vague, uneasy feeling.
“I bought a basket. This one’s fine, right?”
“This shop really sells everything, huh?”
The small girl wearing a mage’s robe draped over her frilly red dress and the taller girl in an oversized hat and loose clothing stepped out of the store, each holding a brand-new basket. The armorer’s shop near the adventurer’s guild didn’t just sell armor. It stocked all sorts of useful tools for adventuring. I had bought my own gathering basket there too.
Must be nice to have money for proper gear from day one. When I first started, I had to make my own basket out of an old jacket and some sticks.
“This place is like an all-purpose shop for adventurers. You can buy stuff and sell anything valuable you have too. You’ll probably end up coming here a lot.” As I explained, I glanced over the baskets the two girls had bought.
The girl with the hat had a pack basket just like mine, but the girl in the robe had a shoulder-slung basket instead. Shoulder baskets were smaller and couldn’t carry as much, but they didn’t get in the way when you tried to draw your weapon. Since I carried my spear on my back, a pack basket could be a hassle. But the robed girl only had a short wand hanging from her belt, so it probably didn’t matter that much to her.
The hat girl was the one with the bigger weapon. It was a rough, solid chunk of iron with a long handle attached. Getting hit by that would probably really hurt. I didn’t know what this weapon was called, but it was like a mace with an extra-long shaft. The whole thing was still shorter than my spear, but if she planted one end on the ground, the other end would reach her chest.
“Hmm.” Something about this felt mismatched. But was it really that big of a deal? Probably not. If they ended up gathering herbs on a regular basis, they could always swap baskets later. “All right, before we head out, there’s something I should mention—”
Wait. Now that I think about it, I have no idea what their names are.
“We never introduced ourselves,” I said. “I’m Kiri. What about you two?”
The robed girl was the first to respond. “Liluetta Magnan. I’m a mage.”
The girl in the oversized hat followed with a bright smile. “I’m Yune Izus. I can use healing spells. Nice to meet you!”
And so, it was official. I ended up forming a party with them.