Vaan ran without looking back. No longer caring for whether there might be any dangers up ahead, mostly because there was one that would end his life ten times over behind him, he ran at a breakneck speed, using every bit of strength and speed his body could provide.

Fortunately for him, the forest quickly began to thin. And then, just as the sky began to turn violet from the sun sinking beneath the horizon, Vaan burst out into an open field.

The sudden change in scenery caused him to stumble, collapsing into the ground. Lying there and staring at the sky, he heaved in gulps of air, trying to catch his breath and recover.

Off in the distance, he could still hear the faint sounds of that weird dragon roar and combat. But it was soft enough to be barely audible beneath the wind.

With a sigh, Vaan pushed himself to his feet. Untying the water satchel he had on his waist, he took a swig and then looked around.

Behind him was the forest he had just left, with flashes of light and what looked like magical glyphs bursting through the canopy, as well as bursts of flames.

Opposite of where he broke through, there was a grassy field, like he saw. And there was also a path nearby leading to town in the distance. While he couldn’t make it out completely, the place looked more than a country-side village at least and had a building that seemed to jut into the sky.

Brushing off his clothes… well, the tattered remains of his clothes after they were scorched from the heat and ripped by branches on his mad dash out, he decided to make his way over to the town.

Since the immediate priority of ‘not dying’ seemed to be resolved for the time being, he could finally get started on the second goal, which was figuring out who he was and why he was in that cave.

Those warriors… guards? People, that ran to fight the dragon mentioned rookie adventurers going to deep into the forest. Maybe that was him?

Vaan hoped that there would be at least one person in the town who either recognized him or could help point out where to go.

Or would it be better to just become an adventurer and then wait it out? Surely there would be people looking for him then… Unless he was an orphan or something?

…

Vaan sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Amnesia was definitely annoying.

Making his way across the grassland towards the town, Vaan pulled out his journal to make a checklist of what he had to do.

First off… Get clothes and a place to stay.

…Wait. He didn’t know the current prices or currency.

Frowning, he scratched that off and wrote down ‘get money.’

Thankfully, he had a few gemstones from his experimenting. Even though he didn’t know how much they would go for, he was certain that he could get something. At least enough to eat and rest.

Priority number two: Start gathering information.

Where he was, confirming whether the adventurers he had in mind were the same as the ones those people mentioned… In short, figure out as much as he could and hope that his memory came back.

So far, he managed to get flashes of information in his head from certain triggers. Hopefully if he learned enough, it would glue the missing fragments together or fill up the gaps to bring everything back.

That was how amnesia worked. Right?

‘Amnesia. A memory condition resulting from head trauma, psychological trauma, or some other form of interference in the memory recollection process. Can be induced by monsters through curses, poisons, or spells as well.’

After getting that flash of information, Vaan sighed and snapped his book shut before tucking it into his makeshift bag.

“Of course I would remember the useless bits of information…”

Well, it wasn’t completely useless. Still, rather than knowledge that seemed fit for a book, he would have preferred some personal memories, you know? Like if he had a family, friends, what he did for a living, how old he was…

Heck, he still didn’t know what he looked like. From the faint strands of hair he saw flying around sometimes, it seemed like he was blonde, but everything else…

Silence, quiet trudging across the grasslands and the sound of his own thoughts whirring in his head.

After being stuck with that for a few hours, Vaan finally arrived at the town… or rather, the sprawling city that he saw in the distance.

The first thing he noticed was that the city was huge. Giant stone walls, thicker than ten men stacked on end, towered around the entire area, enclosing it. But while Vaan could tell that it connected, he couldn’t begin to see the end of the walls, stretching beyond his vision.

The second thing he noticed was that the structure he saw in the distance turned out to be a giant tower. Bathed in the light of the setting sun, it glowed orange, but it seemed to be made of a pure white material. Not only that, but like with the walls, he couldn’t make out the end, only that it jutted up so high it eventually blended in with the sky.

The third was that, through the open gateway, there were a mishmash of buildings crammed close together. Wooden huts, brick buildings, some strange architecture with slanted roofs and tiles… a chaotic mess that made the city look hastily slapped together than planned out and organized.

The fourth and last thing Vaan noticed was that the gateway was guarded by a single man.

He was middle-aged, gruff with slight scars on his face. His expression was stern, and his dark brown hair was kept beneath a rimmed steel helmet that shrouded his eyes. With polished steel platemail that had dings in it from use, a long sword sheathed at his left side and a spear in his right, he seemed like a man that wouldn’t be wise to cross.

And as Vaan approached the gateway, the man immediately turned to look at him.

Vaan tensed, his mind racing. Would he be let inside? He didn’t have any sort of identification on him, and the guy didn’t look like one that could be bribed. In fact, Vaan had the feeling that he would be cut down where he stood if he even brought that up. The atmosphere around the guard was that tense.

Then should he try to sneak in?

He was tempted, but then he remembered that the people who appeared to fight the dragon likely came from the city in front of him. And those guys had mentioned a Guildmaster, someone that had to be even stronger.

So sneaking would be a bad idea. After all, the city took security seriously enough to have those giant walls and such an intimidating guard.

Then…

Vaan glanced at the guard.

The guard stared back, unmoving.

In the end… Vaan decided to just keep walking.

Maybe it was a formality? He could see some other people walking around just past the gateway, so maybe it wouldn’t be a problem.

With that faint hope, he kept his back straight and pretended that he had the right to be there. Walking straight ahead, ignoring the guard…

Silence, with only the evening wind and the sounds of his footsteps.

Then, as he walked next to the guard-

“You there. Wait one moment.”

-He was called out.