It felt a little weird to be back so soon, to be honest. I mean, after all of the crap that happened here yesterday, these otherwise perfectly ordinary streets felt a little... Melancholic? No, that's not quite it... Well, something like that, anyways.

Regardless, I took another bite of my sandwich wrap thingy as we walked the streets of Starsford, taking note of the seemingly increasing amount of guards on patrol, while we made our way to the guild hall. 

I could have just put us near the guild hall, but I figured it'd probably have been awkward if I walked in there munchin' on a sandwich. 

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it's probably gonna be pretty awkward no matter what. 'Hey, it's me, the guy who was getting treated for injuries that would undoubtedly qualify as medical mysteries yesterday. Got anything for me to slaughter and probably dismember for pocket change? Also, please do bear in mind there is an 8 year old child in fishing gear who will be accompanying me.'

Well, hopefully I won't actually have to kill or dismember anything. S and I did that gathering quest that one time, right? With the trees? Hopefully I can find something like that. Ideally without the murder trees, though. I'll just have to check out the stuff that's on the board and-

Ah, crap, still can't read. And I can't rely on S, either... 

I wonder how he's doing right now? I hope he's eaten something. What would he even be able to find, up there in the mountains, anyways? Should I bring him a packed lunch? Or would that be disruptive...

No, no, S will be fine without my meddling. I shouldn't interfere. I have my own business to be concerned about. 

"Hey, uh, weird question," I began. "Can you read in this world?" I asked... Uh... Oh, shoot, I don't know their name, do I? Huh. I asked the immortal walking with me to me.

"Oh yeah, you're illiterate. Heh." They replied. "Yeah, I can read just fine over here. Fine enough, anyways. I have a basic grasp of dozens of languages from several existences." 

"Oh. Cool." I said. "That's a lot." I doubt I could even name a dozen languages, to be honest.

"Eh, I've had a lot of free time. A little over 70,000 hours of it, actually." 

"Wow." I said. To be honest, I have no idea how much time that is in reality. Sure sounds like a lot, though. "Sounds fun."

"Sometimes. Does get pretty boring, though."

"Oh, yeah, I can see that."

I took another bite of my sandwich thingy. 

It wasn't until we got to the guild hall that I realized I forgot to ask her name.

I quickly scarfed down the few bites worth of sandwich that remained before we headed inside.

As I pulled the door open (after initially trying to push), a terrifying thought began to race through my head at a blistering rate.

How should I act, after what happened yesterday? Like, should I should I greet the guild lady casually? Like an acquaintance? Or, because that was purely a matter of circumstance, should I just act the same as usual? Am I obligated to thank them? I mean, S paid the doc, (I didn't quite catch how much, but she seemed quite excited about it.) but should I have, like, brought a gift, or something? Or money? Oh, a gift card! Yes! Wait, does this world have gift cards? I mean, there's chain fast food and frozen pizza, so I don't think that'd be too farfetched. Man, I cant help but wonder, how far do modern conveniences like that go in this world? Do they have, like, airplanes and stuff? Oh man, what about airships! That'd be soooo cool! I wanna ride an airship! Or a dragon! Dragons are sick! I hope I get to see a real life dragon at some point soon! I wonder what they're like? 'Cus, in some stories, y'know, they're more intelligent, able to communicate and stuff, using their age old wisdom to guide themselves and those who seek them, but others they're, like, hulking forces of nature and destruction, flying just below the clouds and raining death from above, only able to be brought down by the mightiest of heroes! Either way, it's sooo exciting! And I wanna ride one! 

By the time I had actually gotten the door open, I had completely forgotten whatever it was I was thinking about. 

I didn't recognize the people manning the desks today. Guess the usual lady I'm used to seeing had the day off. 

There were a couple other people in the guild hall, other than us. They all seemed to be quite seasoned adventure-y types, with seemingly high quality, yet well used, armor and equipment. There was a group of 4 chatting with the attendant at the desk on the right, two dudes in chain mail, a smug, scholarly lookin' guy in robes, and a tall guy in street clothes who seemed a little dejected. The other group, a group of 3, featured a seemingly excited yet dangerous looking girl in shadowed leathers, a tough looking dude with several weird gadgets on his peculiar looking armor, and a heavily armored brutish looking fellow talking to a rat on their shoulder, all inspecting stuff on the job board. 

They all look quite capable, and they really nail the whole 'adventurer' aesthetic very well. Good stuff. Definite thumbs up.

Not that we don't look good as well, mind you.

...

Well, I look good, anyways. The fishing gear is a little out of place, to be honest. But tattered robes as black as night, plus with this gaze of mine? Fresh as heck. I rock this. Very cool. 

"Why are you standing there, grinning like an idiot?" The immortal asked. 

"Oh, uh, nothing." I said, taking care to make a straight face. 

We walked up to the job board, staying a short distance away from the other group that was up there. They glanced at us for a moment, before turning back to their own business. The tough guy showed a look of concern, very briefly. I guess he probably doesn't think that kids should be doing stuff like this. I'm inclined to agree, honestly, but, we have superpowers, and I need money. Common sense be damned!

I looked over at the sheets of paper. I couldn't quite read what they said, but I could look at the pictures, when they were available, and I can try to decipher a thing or two. Like that one, there, with a drawing of a deer, with a human next to it for scale. The deer seems quite large, and the page features 3 red skulls. This implies that the goal is, presumably, to slay a particularly large and dangerous deer.

And, thanks to that information, I know that that one isn't even worth considering. Nice.

I made sure to mainly look at the ones with a single red skull on them. Sure, they generally paid less, but they were much safer. I don't need to walk out of here a rich man, I just need pocket change, basically. Not like I got rent to pay, or anything. 

Hmm... A lot of these don't have any drawings. The only thing I can understand is the number of coins we'd get. 

Oh, speaking of, apparently the numbers in this world (or at least, the texts of this place), are basically the same as what I'm used to in my previous world, but with a few squiggly lines added here and there. I figured that out when I was here yesterday, getting healed. To be entirely honest, I was both shocked and disappointed in myself when I realized that it took me this long to realize this. In my defense, it's been an eventful few days. 

Okay, okay, let's see here... 

That ones got some flowers... That one's got some mushrooms... Uh... 

"Find anything good?" The immortal asked. 

"Think so." I replied, as I pointed at the ones I was looking at. 

"Hmmm... Gathering herbs and crap. Not a lot of money, but I guess if we did a few at once-" She abruptly paused, as she looked up at the upper left corner of the board. She squinted for a moment, before jumping up and grabbing an old sheet. The page was a bit behind a couple others, and, in her haste, they fell off the board. I guess whatever caught her eye has probably been up there for some time. As her eyes darted across the sheet she grabbed, I picked up the ones that fell and stuck them back on. 

"Let's do this one!" The immortal said, holding up the page to my face, despite the fact that I can't read it, and seeming excited for the first time since I'd met them. 

"K." I replied. I wasn't about to argue. I mean, that reward's pretty spicy, a solid 15 coin! My only concern is that there's a lotta text. Well, I'm sure it'll be fine. It is just 1 skull, after all. 

"Yeah!" She said, excitedly. 

Next thing I knew, she dashed out of the guild hall, and I quickly followed her as we made our way to the nearby conveniently placed alley. 

"Uh, what are we gonna be doing, exactly?" I asked as we arrived.

"Fishing!" She said, excitedly, her eyes seeming to sparkle.