Chapter 2: This Witch Should be a Herb Collector
In the Demon King’s castle
The Demon King sat on his throne as one of his generals spoke to him.
“My lord, it seems the calamity which caused those quakes two hundred years ago has left her cave again! What shall we do?” The Fire Demon General of Wrath asked.
The Demon King maintained his composure on the outside, but inside he was freaking out. Don’t you all look at me like that? What the hell do you expect me to do? Her single yell two hundred years ago quaked this whole continent! I merely inherited this position!
Deep down inside, he wanted to cry. “Umu, umu, a worthy foe has finally shown herself. Prepare all the defenses if the calamity flies this way, but do not aggravate her,” The Demon King said and looked at his succubus General of Lust. “Well, where is she?”
“It seems she headed to the East instead,” Lust said.
The sweat from The Demon King’s forehead had all but vanished as he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Stay on guard until she at least reaches the other continent.”
The thousands of soldiers responded in tandem, “YES, MY LORD!”
I was able to fly across the lake with my eyes closed. It was still daylight by the time I reached the beach town. A sign at the docks presented its name: Startour Port. I made myself as small and invisible as possible, landing in the center of the town. Obviously, I didn’t have a passport or anything!
The town was small, with primarily wooden log buildings and thatched roofs towards the beach. The buildings were all slightly raised as well. I had heard about this sometime in my last life. “What was it? Hurricanes?”
“Miss?”
“But there were also typhoons and a place called New Orleans.”
“Miss!?”
My attention snapped towards the voice, and I squealed. Darn, I should have kept my presence hidden for longer. Well, I still had most of my presence hidden in case monsters were nearby. However, there were no red blips on my radar in the proximity.
“Miss? Are you alright? I asked who you are,” the man said. I looked over him, and he was wearing leather armor and standing in front of a building with Adventurers Guild in large letters. “I haven’t seen you before.”
“My name!? Right, my name. Of course, I know my name!” What was my name? I stared blankly at the man, trying desperately to remember my name, but nothing came to mind. I looked back towards the large lake. “Hmm? Large lake? Oh, right, my name is Eerie!”
“Eerie?”
“That’s right! Eerie von…” I looked at my attire this time. I definitely looked like a von Something, but what thing? I looked at my broom that was still in my hand. Perhaps that’s why he was looking at me weird? I was still holding my broom. I quickly stowed away the broom and heard him gasp. I looked at the wand I had before. “No, that’s not quite right.”
“Ma’am—”
“Hold on! I am remembering,” I said. I finally gripped the brim of my pointy hat. Of course! That was my name! Yes. “My name is Eerie von Witchhat!”
“Eerie von Witchhat?”
“Yes!”
“Right, well, I am Wood Beach,” he said.
I nodded. There was no way that was his real name. Well, it’s not like I would complain just because someone uses an alias. I was lucky to finally be speaking with a person! “Nice to meet you, Wood Beach.”
“Likewise, you aren’t from here, are you?” He asked. My eyes went wide, but he continued anyway. “I mean, this is a small place. Everyone knows everyone. Not to mention—”
“What!?”
“That attire is…”
“Cute, right?”
He breathed out a long sigh. “Right. More importantly, what are you doing here? Do you have business with the guild?”
“The guild?” I asked. It was one of those things, right? Oh, but wasn’t this perfect? The guild would be the right place if I wanted to meet new people and adventure. Yep! I had made my decision. “I am here to join the guild!”
“Miss Witchhat,” he said, “you can’t just join the guild willy-nilly. Nobody has even heard of a Miss Witchhat. Though…” He looked over my clothes once more. “You are from a prominent family, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“I mean, it’s so obvious, isn’t it?” He asked. “Those are not standard robes. Even I can tell that as a C rank. Tell me, what creature did they come from? How could you afford them if you aren’t a noble?”
Huh? All of his questions made no sense to me. Obviously, I picked the materials from the skin of a monster. Could it be? Was the beast that shed them some legendary creature? He said he was C rank, so it could be an averagely strong monster. However, I had not learned if I came from a prominent family. I came from Earth, so if I considered it…. “My family is prominently out of this world.”
If his face wasn’t surprised before, it definitely was now. I did basically drop the bombshell on him. Now, he would surely think I was from another faraway planet. “Oh, but please don’t tell anyone! I don’t want them all to know,” I said.
“Don’t worry, the guild upholds anonymity if you desire it, but that attire is—”
“Cute, I know!”
“Right,” Wood Beach said, “Um, you should come inside the guild. You said you wanted to register, right?”
“Yes!”
“Good, follow me,” he said.
I followed him into the guild, and the moment we entered the place, it became silent. The gazes all focused on us. It was like Wood Beach was well known. Perhaps, a C-rank adventurer was more substantial than I thought? Well, probably everyone in there was stronger than me, though.
There was a quest board to the right side of the long desk at the back. They did all sorts of jobs here. Even from the entrance, I could see herb-gathering jobs. Those would definitely be the best for me, until I could become stronger. Once we reached the desk, Wood Beach spoke to the cute female receptionist behind it. She wore her best customer service smile, and I felt terrible for her. If customer service here was like on Earth, she would have it rough. Poor girl.
“Would you please bring her to the guild master?” He asked. “She said she wants to join the guild.” Wood Beach gestured to me.
“That’s right! I want to join the guild.”
And that’s how I became an E-rank adventurer. I’d tell you what happened in the office, but there were a lot of words I didn’t understand. I mostly tuned out the explanations. And I think they didn’t want to give them either. They seemed exasperated by the time they were done. I didn’t care about any of that as I could get stronger here and primarily just collect herbs. I didn’t want to fight monsters anyway! Yep, being a herb-collecting witch was the safest job for me and others.