"So how exactly did you pull that off?"

The moment we got inside the house Richia rented, she posed this question. I suppose she would be the most confused though.

"You wanna know?" I said while grinning, "Check this out!"

I showed her my status, but with everything hidden except my name, and one other.

------------------------------------------------------
Name: Aer

Titles:
[Combat Veteran]
------------------------------------------------------

"[Combat Veteran]? That's not a title I've heard of, and while I'd like to know why you hid it before, it still doesn't answer my question. "

"That's the thing, I didn't hide it. It seems there's more to me than meets the eye because it just showed up when I reached level ten."

"You.... What?"

Richia seemed to be absolutely dumbfounded. Fair enough seeing as all I fought was a few slimes, so combat veteran wasn't really a term that would apply to me.

"I was confused about it too, but there was something weird about the notification. It didn't say I acquired it, it said it was restored. Maybe I've been cursed or sealed in some way?"

At that, Richia shook off her shock and adopted a thinking pose.

"So not only do you have amnesia, but possibly even your skills and titles have disappeared? Sounds like someone really wanted you out of the way. Or you got unlucky and offended someone powerful."

Richia starts theory crafting, and I just make a mental note of her theories in case I need excuses later. I decided to add my own theories as well, seeing as I genuinely don't know why my titles and skills are gone.

"Possibly. It might even be something as bad as divine intervention, or a devil's mischief. Either way, it seems they aren't gone completely, so I'll find my past in no time."

Richia chuckled, then smiled.

"Well, I don't know if I should be helping someone who might be on the bad side of a god, but I hope you get your memories back."

She pets my head as she says this, something she's been doing increasingly often. Initially I fought it heavily, but at this point I've given up, so I let it happen.

"Sadly though, it's about time that I leave. I've been away for far too long as it is."

"I see..."

Richia told me before that her party was in a place that they could barely handle, so there's no way I can go with her. I smiled sadly as I realized our time together had come to an end.

Once she had gotten her things together, we stood at the front of the house as she told me how many days were left on the rental, and recommended an inn for when it ran out. She also left some food, so I should be fine while I get started.

"Well, if you hurry and get strong, you might catch me over at Hanesse. That's the town I'm headed to."

She pets my head again.

"I have some reservations about leaving a child on her own, but I know you'll manage."

"Yeah, I'll be-"

Wait, child?

"I'm not a child. I'm 18."

Richia's hand stopped moving, and she blinked at me.

"N-no way. You couldn't be more than 12 at most."

"Wait, is that why you kept petting my head? 'Cause I look like a child?"

Richia looked dumbfounded for a bit, then suddenly started laughing.

"Ridiculous to the very end, huh? Well, I hope to see you again, Aer."

"Eh? I mean, yeah! Same to you."

And with that, she turned around, and left.

......So what do I do now?

I suppose for now I could make reaching Hanesse my goal. It's the only concrete path I have, seeing as regaining my skills can be done on the way, and I have no idea how to get home.

I turned and locked the door to the house, then headed over to the guild. While it wasn't exactly early, there was still time left in the day and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do in that time.

==========================

Opening the doors to the guild I was greeted with a boisterous atmosphere. Nobody bothered me this time, which was understandable after what happened earlier. In fairly high spirits, I headed over to Nala, who greeted me with a fiendish grin.

"Back so soon? There aren't many quests this late, y'know. Most have already been taken for the day."

Sure enough, the board she pointed to at the side was nearly empty.

"That's fine. Is there some sort of archive? I wanted to find out what kind of monsters were in the area."

"Well, we don't got an archive, but we do have this one book..."

As she says that, she reaches below the counter and pulls out a hefty volume.

"It's the only one I know of, but we try to keep it updated. If ya wanna read it, you can grab a chair over there. Just make sure ya bring it back to me before ya leave."

Nodding my thanks, I head over to the seats she pointed out and opened the book.

It was quite informative, with each entry having details on the the size, shape and behavior of the monster. There were also things about their physiology and common areas they're found in. Some entries have less info than others, but it's to be expected.

I read through the book until evening, then returned it and headed home. Stepping into the house felt kind of lonely, since now I'm the only one here.

"So I suppose my end goal would be finding my way home?"

My initial goal is to reach Hanesse, but my overall goal would still be getting home. I do want to get home after all. My family and friends are back there, and probably wondering what happened to me.

...Come to think of it, what did happen to me?

By that I mean what happened to my body. Did I die? Was I transported entirely, or was it just my soul that was brought? If that's the case, am I just in a coma back on Earth?

....Questions I will probably never have the answer to. Might be best to just let it go.

With those questions lingering in the back of my mind, I decided to head to sleep. 

==========================

...Blood...

...A girl...

...A knife...

 ...A woman...

...She's... speaking...

...A gentle voice...

"Y.. ...e a.t... ....t? T..n ..y .. a.. ..ke .... av..a.., ....yd.. ...s.., ...y? C.. ..u .. ...t ... ...my?"

...What... is she saying...?

...I can't... make it out...

...She's leaving...

...Don't go...

=========================

I woke up with a start the next morning, my face wet with tears.

Well if that wasn't the most cryptic dream I've ever had.

The woman seemed familiar, but I couldn't see her well enough to know for sure. So I have no idea who she is, no idea what she was saying, and no idea what was going on. More questions I have no answers to. And no-one to discuss it with.

I miss Richia already.

Despite my moping, I still had to get ready, so I trudged over to the kitchen to make some breakfast, store some lunch in my inventory, and headed back to the guild.

When I arrived, I found the guild pretty busy. There were three receptionists on duty, and each of them had a line of adventurers in front of them. There were also some people by the request boards, and others waiting at the tables. Was there always this many adventurers here?

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Nala grinning at me.

"Hey kid! Ya got here right on time!"

"Morning... What's with all the adventurers? I don't think there were this many before."

"There weren't. They're here for an emergency quest. Apparently there's a king slime on the loose."

"A king slime?"

In response to my question, Nala motioned for me to follow. She led me over to one of the tables and motioned for me to sit down. Once we were seated, she began explaining.

"Ya see, low level slimes are pretty weak, but they get real powerful real fast once their levels get higher. And when one gets to a high enough level, it starts to absorb weaker slimes around it. King slimes are made when enough of 'em have gathered into one."

"I suppose that would explain why Richia said the slimes were dwindling. So these people are all here for that?"

"Most of 'em, yeah. It's still pretty weak, so the request allows for as low as D-Rank adventurers. You interested?"

She asks me with a grin on her face, to which I respond with a grin of my own.

"Of course!"

====================

And so, now I am here.

"You are just, so, CUTE!"

Being assaulted.

"I just wanna take you home with me! That's fine right? Right?!"

By a ferocious beast.

"Marielle, you're bothering the poor kid. Let her go."

A blonde young man in leather armor reprimanded the beast. He had a bow on his back, and an exasperated look on his face. Hearing his words the beast reluctantly let go of me. It was a humanoid female wearing a purple witch's dress, complete with the hat. Really, you might almost think it was human. I wiped its slobber off my face and turned to the man.

"Thank you for that, though you should really train your pets better."

"How rude! I'm not a pet, I'm Marielle, the beautiful spellcaster of the Windriders!"

"Oh, so it can talk. Rather impressive."

"...Hey Rudi, don't you think she's being mean to me?"

"I think that's your own fault Marielle..."

So this guy and his pet were among the parties at the meetup area for the king slime subjugation. I had barely arrived before this beast grabbed me and started slobbering all over my face. The man apologized for her behavior and introduced himself as Rudille. I noticed a pair of cat ears on his head, so I suppose he's a beastman. The beast apologized as well, and Rudille introduced it as Marielle Holcante. Apparently it likes dressing up like a witch and casting spells to help Rudille. I clapped when I heard that.

"I wasn't aware beasts could learn magic. Very impressive!"

"Mean! You're so mean to me!"

"Um... She did apologize, so maybe let go of the beast thing?"

I smiled and tilted my head.

What's wrong with calling a beast, a beast?

Realizing I was having far too much fun with this, he decided to move on.

"A-anyway, if you're here, I take it you're an adventurer?"

"Of course. First time working with a group though."

"So then that means you're alone, right? How abou-"

"How about you join us!"

Suddenly Rudille is cut off by a beast slobbering in my face. He pushes the beast aside and continues.

"Just temporarily, for the subjugation. Better than being all alone, right?"

"...I suppose a two man team would be good."

"Three! There are three of us, stop being so mean to me!"

And like that, we became a party of three. We talked a bit about some strategies, until the sound of a man called our attention.