Ugh, it’s annoying. It feels like I have so many stuff on my mental to-do list, but it seems impossible to make progress. I can’t get an Identification Card. I can’t register as an Adventurer. I need to learn more about vampires. And I want to learn magic.

I think for now I am just going to aimlessly exploring the city to clear my mind. Maybe I find a bookstore or a library, where I can work on the last two points on my to-do list.

The beginning of my exploring leads me to the harbor. There seem to be a lot of fisher boats out there. I really like the view and the smell of the ocean. Besides that, there are a lot of stalls selling fish. I realize that it’s almost lunchtime, so I stop at one stall and buy a fish sandwich.

After I finish eating, I leave the harbor and explore other parts of the city. It seems like a nice place. I continue to walk through the city for a few hours, when I finally see small bookstore, so I enter to look at the books.

“Welcome.” Upon entering there is a grandma sitting at the counter, reading a book.

“Hello, I was wondering if you maybe have books about basics of magic or about the monsters that can be found in this country.” I try asking, hopefully.

“Oh, are you an Adventurer? I rarely get Adventurers as customers. I have nothing about magic here, but there is a book about monsters.” She immediately gets up from the counter, looking for the book she mentioned.

“Ah, no. I am not registered with the Guild for some personal circumstances. So I think I would call myself a monster hunter.” The grandma has a curious look on her face, but doesn’t ask further questions. She shows me the book and after getting permission, I look at a few pages. It is nicely structured and shows detailed information about the monsters, including their habitat, a list of materials that can be gained and also their considered guild rank. That book could be really handy, so I ask for the price.

“That would be 1 silver coin.” When I hear that, I must have had a shocked look on my face, because she adds, “by the way, books about magic are even more expensive.”

“I see. I thought it would be not cheap, but it is even more expensive than I thought.” I say with a laugh. I think I currently have about 6 Big Bronze Coins left, at the moment. “In that case, I have to save up more. Because that book would definitely help me a lot.” I put the book back on the counter. We continue to talk a bit until I decide to leave and walk back to my inn. She is a really nice old lady.

The next day, I leave the city at the northern gate to explore the area and kill a few monsters. But of course before that I get caught up at the gate again because of my lack of an Identification Card. But after touching the crystal, I can leave the city without further problems. I also don’t have to pay a toll, since I only need to pay for entering the city.

I hunt monsters for a few hours, but sadly there is no level up or any other change since all monsters are low level. But I am really glad about my heightened senses. It made my hunting trip really efficient. I got a few horned rabbits, about a dozen goblins and half a dozen wolves, when I look at the position of the sun and realize that it is almost evening. Because of that, I finish my hunting trip and go back to the city to sell my spoils at the Guild.

Of course, I got stopped at the gate again. It is really annoying to not have an Identification Card. When I arrive at the guild there are a hell lot of Adventurers lining up at the counter. It seems I arrived during the evening prime time. I ponder a bit about what to do, but decide to sell my stuff the next day.

Like that, a week went by. During that week, I finally got another level up, so I am Level 16 now. I even got the Katana proficiency for my swordsmanship skill.

I also bought the book about monsters from the grandma’s book store and study it every evening. I also skimmed through the book on the first day to get an overview of the contents. Unfortunately, there is no information about vampires. Or maybe I should consider it lucky, since they do not consider vampires as monsters? But I still have to be careful.

The next thing I learned during this time is that there is the Royal Library at the capital. And even if it is called Royal Library, there is a public area. So I decided I would leave for the capital soon. But before departing, I want to save up to 4 silver coins. That should cover my living expenses for about a month, including the library fee, maybe even a bit longer. But reaching that amount of money would still take some time. Right now I am back at 1 silver coin. So it would still take two to three weeks before I leave.

By the way, I still get caught up at the gate, but since most of the guards at the northern gate already seem to know me, it is just for form’s sake. So I can go through the gate after touching the crystal, without explaining every time. It’s sad to think that my circumstances already became a routine for the guards. I think they are still suspicious of me, but it’s not as bad as in the beginning.

Right now it is again early afternoon and I am on my way to the guild to sell my stuff. After the first day of hunting, I shortened my hunting time to avoid the evening prime time.

“Hi Benji, again selling monster parts?” I get immediately greeted by the cat-eared receptionist when I walked to the counter.

“Hi Aya, of course. The same as every day.” I answer with a laugh and put my spoils on the counter.

“I am again amazed by the amount of monsters you hunted.” It seems that I hunt more than other adventurers, even if they are just weak monsters. But of course I can’t tell her the real reason.

“Well, I think I am good at tracking down…” I start to say, but I get interrupted before I could finish my sentence.

“Out of my way, commoner!”