Luna moved forward on her makeshift crutch, a sturdy branch she had found along the way, while the figure beside her walked in silence, hood drawn low.
The city gate was busier than she had expected for that hour, with a steady trickle of adventurers and merchants passing through under the watchful eyes of the guards posted on either side.
They both stood in line, waiting for their turn.
Luna was bracing herself for the worst when she saw the figure shoot her that intense look again, but she soon found herself surprised by what followed.
She hadn't expected the mysterious person she had met to be an adventurer from another city.
That in itself wasn't a problem. What was strange was that he seemed to be mute.
The whole time, he had simply pointed in the direction of the city to make her understand that he wanted to enter, and once she realized it, he handed her an early-stage F-Rank mana core. It confused her for a moment, but she quickly understood that he didn't have any money on him.
That surprised her, especially since it was clear that the person in front of her didn't lack the means to obtain money, but she decided not to ask questions. She tried to give the core back, saying it was too much and that she would pay for him, but without success. The other party insisted, and in the end she kept it, and now here they were, waiting in line.
As she limped forward, clearly struggling to walk with the improvised crutch, she couldn't help but sneak glances at the figure beside her.
Although the hood hid most of his face, she had managed to see him from up close and had to admit that the person was both handsome and terrifying at the same time.
He had refined features, but his face was unnaturally thin, as if he hadn't eaten in days. His complexion leaned toward pale, and his violet colored eyes sent chills down her spine every time she looked at them.
She had to admit you didn't come across something like that every day. But she decided to keep every question she had to herself.
The line moved slowly, and after a while, it was finally their turn.
One of the guards checking documents seemed to recognize Luna as he greeted her.
"Oh, Luna, you're finally back. I was wondering what had happened to you," he said.
He was a man in his forties, with stubble on his chin and a mature expression. It was clear he had seen his fair share of things in life, and from the natural way he carried himself, Evan could tell he had been a guard for quite a long time.
In terms of strength, the guard was in the early stage of F-Rank, which was to be expected considering his position.
"I had a rough day, as you can see. Nothing different from usual," she said, pointing at her crutch and her bandaged leg.
The guard didn't ask further questions and only seemed to notice Evan at that moment. He looked at him and then asked, "Is this a friend of yours by any chance? I don't think I've seen him before."
"Yes, he just arrived recently. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have made it out of the forest," she said, quickly explaining Evan's situation.
She wanted to avoid unnecessary complications, so she handled the bureaucratic side and helped him get the documents from the guard to enter the city.
The price to pay was one silver coin, not exactly cheap, but not excessive either. An average person could eat for at least a week with that amount of money.
Once that was done, the two of them finally entered the city.
As they walked away, the other guard who had witnessed everything couldn't help but glance at them before turning to the colleague who had welcomed them.
"Sir Luke, wasn't that girl with Nicolas' group? I heard there was an incident and they managed to escape the forest, but someone got left behind. Could that have been her?" he said, almost certain of his guess.
"Yes, I heard about it, and it was her. Tch, those bastards clearly used her to escape safely. Poor girl. She works hard and has a good heart. Shame that these days people like her always end up victims of others' schemes," he said, his eyes filled with compassion as he recalled how, over the past three years, the girl had worked tirelessly to provide for her younger sister.
Luke was a resident of Lirath and had come to know Luna fairly well. He knew her parents had died and that she, as the eldest, had taken responsibility for taking care of her little sister.
He himself was a father and knew how hard it was to take care of someone nowadays, especially for a young girl like her.
Today's incident was just one of the many things that made it impossible for poor people to ever live in peace and safety.
All he could do was shake his head and hope the girl wouldn't end up in Nicolas' sights again.
Evan, who had successfully entered the city, soon found himself alone once more.
He had separated from the girl after she brought him to the Association of the Awakened.
Given her condition, it was clear she needed medical treatment, so she left, leaving him there alone, not that he really cared.
He had already asked a bit about how the place worked, so he didn't waste time and went straight to the association's registration counter.
This was only one branch of the association, whose main headquarters were located in the capital of the kingdom.
Every kingdom had its own adventurers' association, but overall they were all similar, with branches spread across all cities, whether small or large.
This particular branch was one of the smaller ones, but it was sufficient for the amount of work there.
Behind the counter stood a woman in professional attire that did little to hide her figure. She had long blonde hair tied back, a youthful look, most likely in her early twenties, and blue eyes. Despite maintaining a professional demeanor, it was clear her appearance didn't go unnoticed by passing eyes.
Evan, however, paid none of that any attention and simply walked up and set a bag down on the counter.
The woman behind the counter, who had been preparing to greet him and run through the usual routine, found herself momentarily at a loss for words, especially after it became clear the other party had no intention of saying anything.
"Ahm… Is there something I can help you with, sir?"
Silence.
She blinked. Then, just as she was about to try a second time, the figure reached into the bag on the counter and placed several mana cores on the surface, one after another, lining them up in a neat row.
The receptionist stared at them for a moment, then looked up.
"You'd like to sell these?"
The figure nodded silently. It wasn't much of an improvement compared to before, but it was better than nothing.
"I see." She straightened slightly, slipping back into professional mode. "In that case, could I see your adventurer ID to process the transaction?"
The figure paused.
Then, slowly, it shook its head.
The receptionist frowned. "You… don't have one?"
Another slow shake.
She hesitated, unsure how to proceed, then tried another approach.
"If you don't have an ID card, I'm afraid we can't process the sale, Association policy. There are some vendors in the commercial district of the city you could try, though you'd be unlikely to get market price there. If you're interested, you could register with the Association and become an official adventurer, that way you'd be able to sell your hunting gains directly through us," she explained patiently.
Even though his face was covered, she could tell he was younger than her, much younger, in fact.
She assumed he was a newly awakened who had started hunting and hadn't registered yet, so she made sure to give him all the information he needed. That was the most she could do on her end. The rest was up to him.
Evan, who had been on the verge of a dilemma, heard that last part and simply sighed and nodded, making it clear to the receptionist that he wanted to register.
He had known that not being able to speak would cause him some issues, but he had to admit he had underestimated just how much.
'Tch, I hope this gets resolved soon. I can't keep going like this.'