If I wanted to join Mary’s acting troupe, I would need to get my act together. I left the Inn the following day. I walked back towards the giant lake, smelling the salt flowing into the beachside. The way it looked now, it would almost be like an ocean. There were a few food stalls selling fish on the coastline, and I moved up to one of them. 

“Good mornin’, Missy. Somethin’ I can do you for?” The man behind the stall asked. He had a dark tan, and his arms were toned. The linen garments covered most of his skin. 

“Good morning,” I said. “Actually, I was wondering what kind of fish that is.” 

“This here is sea carp. All of ‘ems caught by me.” 

“How much for one of them?” I asked. 

“I reckon it’s four copper for one. Can give ya three for a silver, though.” 

“Great, then I’ll take three,” I said, pulling a silver from my inventory. I had no idea how many copper coins made a silver, but he didn’t look like the type of person that would rip me off.

“Aye,” he said and handed me the fish. “If ya need something to carry it—”

“Don’t bother,” I said as I put it in my inventory. 

I found out quickly that I could segregate things in my inventory. If I didn’t want them to spoil, I would just place them in other inventory compartments. This world really was handy. How many things had I even put in there? I remembered there were all types of plants, but you tend to forget about stuff after a thousand years unless something reminds you. 

“Speaking of forgetting stuff,” I said as I bit into one of the carp. “Oh, it’s so good!” I quickly devoured the rest of it. “Hmm, now what?”

I didn’t have much to do before taking off with the acting troupe. Maybe there was a place where you could buy books or learn alchemy? Thinking like that, there was only one person in this town I could ask. But before I could leave, the food-stand man called out to me. 

“Ya just gonna sit there talkin’?” He asked before rubbing his beard. “That is some odd skill ya have there, Missy. Say, did ya happen to notice ‘em tremors yesterday?”

“Of course I noticed them! Do you know something about them?”

He smirked. “Aye, well, it’s my job to know of things. But it’s gonna cost ya.”

“How much?”

“Just a silver.”

“Fine,” I said as I pulled out a silver coin. Just like that, my five silver went to two silver. 

“Ya see, the word is there’s gonna be a heroes summonin’. That ‘r it’s already happened. The Goddess Freah must be lookin’ out fir us. If ya be needin’ their protection, head on ta the capital. That’s where it’s goin’ down.” 

“Maybe that’s why the acting troupe is going there?” It all made sense now. They wanted the protection of the summoned heroes. If the heroes traveled, it would make sense for them to be accompanied by actors to entertain them. This was even more good news for my bright future!

I thanked the man and immediately headed to the guild. I was happy to see Mary standing behind the desk. It’d be wrong if they left without me. Though, I realized I had never even asked them to join. Would they even accept an up-and-coming actor? Let alone an actor witch. I slapped my cheeks and shook those thoughts from my head as I walked to the desk. 

“Good morning, Eerie. Are you taking a request today? Nothing crazy, I hope.” Mary presented her best smile. 

“I was going to ask you if the escort request was already made.”

“I put it out this morning. It seems that three of the spots are already filled. Wood jumped at the opportunity.” She stared sternly at my face. “Don’t tell me you—?”

“I am going, of course. I might be up-and-coming, but I will prove myself to the acting—”

“We aren’t an acting troupe.” She sighed. “I don’t even know why you have that idea.”

“More importantly, can you process the request for me to join?” I asked. 

She held her temples as she stared at me. I could sympathize with that. I had seen customer service workers in my past life dealing with all sorts of eccentric or weird people. Mary must have had a long day. I ground my teeth together. It wasn’t fair for those ruffian adventurers to bully a receptionist—let alone an actress. But when I looked back up at her, she was all smiles.

“You know what, Eerie,” she said, “I would love for you to tag along!” 

“You really mean it, Mary?”

“Actually, it’s Marcy, and of course, I really mean it. You said you wanted to join our acting troupe, right? I might need you for protection against those her—I mean, I might need the heroes’ protection just for you!” 

“Awe, you are so thoughtful.” Mary really was such a kind and thoughtful person. She would go out of her way to bring me along, and I’d even get the protection of the heroes.

“Not to mention, you can store some of my stuff, Eerie. I will process the request right away. We will leave from the southeast entrance in six days.” She took my guild card and started processing the request. 

Starting as the bag carrier felt awkward, but that would probably be normal among actors. They’d have to carry the lights and other acting equipment to get on stage. I was happy, though. I wasn’t following along with god's plans. Instead of leveling up my status, I’d level up my acting career. 

“There,” Mary said, handing back my guild card, “you are all set. Remember, Eerie, six days from now. I repeat, six days from now at the southeast entrance.” 

“Okay, you don’t have to tell me twice!”

“I wonder about that.”