My situation right now is dire. Like how the situation of this kingdom is dire in the past few days, that dire situation somehow transferred to me.

Like a cicada that desires the sap of a flower to live, a human too needs food to live.

Well, I’m broke. So what now?

I could steal someone’s wallet and leave it at that after miraculously escaping but that kind of method is definitely something I will never resort to. I have standards and I will not allow myself to go to such petty acts like that!

What’s that? Since me, an adventurer and having to master every basic spell should find a quest and live off from that?

Why though? Why would I waste my energy on something tiring as that? Finding comrades is, as what I like to view it as, an investment. An investment so that I will never break a sweat in my road to becoming rich! Plus, I’d rather use my spells to impress rather than to use in combat. It’s a sacred thing, I’d like to call it.

But of course I may have not found any teammates in these past couple of days and had only received cold and harsh refusals, I still possess the necessary things to convince someone to join with me. Well this should be for myself but I can’t be picky right now. The last remaining potion that I’ve bought for a ridiculously high price of 30 silver, which is actually worth 25 in the current market so I was scammed 15 silver when I bought them, my speech and of course my plan to give a grand entrance when I make my move.

Saving someone’s life is the fastest way to a person’s heart. I did it like once so I may as well be called an expert when I manage to pull this off.

Regarding what I’ve been doing recently…? Asking people to join me of course but like I said it only lead to harsh and cold refusals. Whatever. I don’t like them either. Bleh to you people.

I’ll only use this kind of method when I am absolutely desperate, which I am.

So since this is the place where adventurers usually start their journey, I think I can spot noobs trying to fight a wolf all by themselves or more fortunately, a group of noobs.

But before that, I need to check up on someone really quick.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

The smell of dried wood floats around the vicinity. Freshly cut grass as well. Such a combination, it makes me have a headache.

Damp and moist, that is what the ground I’m stepping on currently feels. Like the ground is made of slime, it occasionally tries and devour my shoes.

When I turned the nob, a crack and creak, as well as the familiar sound of a wood breaking could be heard. When I touched the door which normally gives me a splinter, now gave a more horrendous scratch as the tiny bits of pieces of wood seemingly, as if they’re waiting for me to touch them, cut a small portion of the skin of my index finger.

Ominous sound could be heard when you entered the house. You might even hear the sound of a cry deep within the house.

Such a house with this kind of condition, normally people would straight up avoid entering such a house.

But not me as this house is my old one. I inherited it from my father and lived here ever since. Since this is an incredibly old house and we can’t afford to restore any parts of it so unfortunately, we have leave it as it is.

And I can’t just move out. I inherited it and I should take good care of it, even though I did absolutely nothing to even improve the house.

Even if I do want to move out, I don’t even have any money to feed myself and my pet.

Yes. My pet.

I do have a pet. A mighty dragon at that!

What’s a magician without a rare and magical beast as a companion!?

Those who don’t possess such intricacies is a lot poorer than me.

And like its mother had just arrived from a hunting trip, he flew towards me with joy.

In just a few short flaps, it eventually ceased to fatigue and fell down, gliding towards the ground.

“I got you.”

Lighter than I remembered…

Haah….

To why he chose someone as irresponsible as me as a parent, I have no idea why.

Actually I do. It’s because he saw me when he hatched from his egg and did something called imprinting but that’s beside the point.

For the reason why he chose to stay with me and treat me as a parent is because of love!

Yes love, a bound that two living creatures made with each other through trust. A bound that is stronger than the strongest of steels!

Though some bounds may waver but not ours! As ours are crafted through the relationship of a parent and a child.

Such a thing, we have that kind of bound!

I embraced his tiny body. The beautiful scales the he once had had turned grey and are about to fall off like a brown leaf unable to be with the branch that it formerly resided on.

But such a thing is natural for a scale or a leaf to do. Like a child with its parents, it will eventually mature and become independent, leading to the separation of the parent and child as the child will soon have their own family. Natural. The way of life.

Until the day that this child is going to separate from me, I shall give him my every drop of affection and love!

Or until he dies…

…

Let’s move on. Yes?

(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)

Soon after that, I left the house. Leaving behind the wailing baby dragon that had went to the point that he can no longer shed any tears but could only make the familiar sound of sorrow.

Since my house is at the very outskirts of the kingdom, my trek towards the forest is very just a few walks away… that is to say if there’s no wall around the Kingdom.

Eventually, after my treacherous journey to cross the streets full of “Oh look, a dishonest adventurer” looks, I managed to reach the back gate and made my way to the forest.

The forest is, for the most part, an ordinary forest.

Filled with trees and has its own ecosystem. Mostly filled with mostly harmless creatures. But if you venture deeper into it, you’ll find a large village of goblins.

Now there’s a rule against directly harming the village but some troublesome goblins occasionally, which actually happens every day or so, cause a disturbance in the forest and if that happens, a request to eliminate the rogue goblin(s) will be put on the quest board. A beginner level quest I must say and gives a fair amount of coins as a reward.

If a quest is taken, the involved adventurers’ stones would automatically notify the adventurer’s guild regarding the completion of the quest. Quite a convenient system.

Obviously, if the time limit is hit then the adventurers’ who took the quest would be automatically notified and is required to go back and pay the penalty fee in a set period of time.

That’s basically how it works.

I checked the adventurer’s guild’s quest board if there are any goblin quests to do and there’s none so beginner adventurers must’ve took them and is now doing them.

Now my plan is to find those adventurers and save them from their “deaths”!

Obviously, beginners won’t be able to handle something like that without prior knowledge so I’m pretty confident right now,

Like a tiger seeking a prey, I hid in the bushes and looked for signs of a trace that may lead me them.

And just like that, I’ve spotted my first prey!

Considering the prey is the goblins and the predator is the adventurers, then this is a scene scraps that idea! The predator becomes the prey! And like that, the predator now has two predators! Me and the goblins.

That doesn’t sound smart but whatever.

Like I expected, they can’t handle the goblin.

Though from before, I’ve fended off lesser goblins for my former comrades but this time, they are full fledge goblins that actually use a reasonable weapon. Which in this case, clubs.

Tricky but I can manage.

When they get knocked down or put to a bad stop by the goblins then I’ll come in like a saviour and use a combination of earth and wind elemental magic. With that, the goblins will be put into a critical condition and the adventurers would be able to kill them with ease!

A simple yet magnificent plan, I must say. Though may change depending on the situation.

To act as a hero in front of others, it is to be expected that they will treat you as their benefactor.

Looks like these two are both warriors. Like, why is there such a large numbers of warriors?

“How do we do this!?”

“You block, I attack. Let’s go with that!”

“Idiot! I don’t have a shield!”

While they were busy arguing, the goblin had closed the distance and begun their attack. There’s 3 goblins so with just 2 adventurers so they’re technically outnumbered. Of course since they are goblins, a beginning adventurer will always be much stronger than a goblin. Obviously, these two doesn’t know that because they have muscles as brains. Even a single beginning adventurer can take on 3 goblins at once if they know how to fight them.

Unlike me, they didn’t do their research before diving in the adventurer’s life.

“Argh! H-hurts!”

“Dodge the attacks, you moron!”

I continued to watch them struggle on fighting with these goblins until their faces shows a desperate one. Amusing.

Well, I can’t let them die now, can’t I? Or else the performance that I’ve practiced inside my head will be a waste.

And like the lead of the play, I swoop in with my performance.

I fired a wind and earth elemental spell combination and, thanks to the earth part, it made the knockback more effective and made them hit a nearby tree.

“Your desperate eyes suggest that you need help?”

They looked at me with confusion and relief.

“I’ll hold them off while you guys take them out. I assume that you still have a quest to finish, yes?”

After hearing my statement, they nodded obediently and raised their rusty swords.

To hinder the goblins’ movement, I used a combination of water and earth elemental spell and made the ground they’re standing on soft and ate their feet like a quicksand.

Having their targets immobile, the two warriors landed their blows directly on the goblins’ heads. A fatal strike… if their equipment is actually not rusty.

How unfortunate. I did the strategy a second time and then they finally took down the goblins. With a ding, their adventurer stones glew and notified them telepathically that the quest is finished and that the reward for their efforts will be waiting in the Adventurer’s guild.

“Thank you very much, sir magician! We would have been killed if it weren’t for you!”

“Yes, for you to come up in such a convenient time too! You’ve saved mine and this idiot’s lives!”

“Hey! Who are you calling idiot!?”

I like their demeanour. I’m sure they would make a fine work force hehe.

“Since I’ve saved your lives, could I at least get a favour from you too?”

“Well of course! Why wouldn’t we?”

They smiled gently at me whilst giving me a thumbs up.

And that’s how you get a favour from people! Wait for them to be on the verge of death and miraculously save them with your unnaturally convenient timing! I have done it twice now so I am proud to say that I’ve became an expert on it now. Hmm!

Nodding to myself, I state my demands:

“I won’t ask much. Just a free meal and an invite to your party. With a magician in your party, I’m sure it’ll make your lives easier. Not to brag but, I have mastered a lot of spells, from basic to advanced and as you can see, my hat is very dark. The mark of an experienced magician.”

“For an experienced magician such as yourself to ask us to be in the same party as you, how can we refuse?! Just tell us your name and we’ll send and invite immediately.”

“It’s Isaac.”

“…” X2

“What’s wrong?”

“Did we hear you right? Your name is Isaac?”

“Yes. What’s the problem?”

“How should we do this?’

The other one whispered to his comrade.

“Idiot, don’t be so loud!”

“Eh? Aren’t you the one shouting?”

“What’s seems to be the problem?”

“Eh? I-It’s just that… we have important business to attend to.”

“Yeah! Important business.”

“So could you wait for us in the tavern, we’ll be there in a moment so wait for us, alright? Uhm… wait for us there and don’t look for us because we’ll be there. Yeah.”

And they awkwardly brisk walk towards the Kingdom.

ಠ╭╮ಠ

So… I’ve waited in the tavern. Like always, the gazes of the people here landed on me like it was odd for me to go here.

Right… after waiting for an hour, they didn’t came. I think I know why.

That blasted stain in my reputation!

It not only cost me a free meal and potential party members but it also made people look at me judgemental eyes!

Even though at first it didn’t bug me but when time goes on, it take a toll on someone psyche, you know?

I feel like I want to cry…

No, it’s not my fault! I refuse to take the blame! It’s all because those two screwed me over and made me do something as ridiculous as casting an illusionary storm spell in the middle of the kingdom. Yes that’s it! It’s all their fault!

Hu hu~

Who am I kidding?

I exited the tavern and went to back of the building.

And at that moment, I’ve thrown away my standards and dignity. In a last ditch effort to survive, I found myself eating on the leftovers of the customers. To say it bluntly, I’m eating trash.

To become as low as a scavenger like a vulture… Pathetic.

But I can’t just give up on my goal so easily…!

I can’t… I need to do it…

Rustle, Rustle…

I searched the trash bin for something slightly edible.

… Is the mushrooms growing on the walls of my house be edible?

OH! Jackpot! A muffin!

Ahhh… I can already taste its sweetness…

How long has it been when I last ate a muffin? Probably a month or two when I last worked in that bakery.

As I was about to claim the gift sent by the gods, I hand snatched it away.

…A hand?

I looked forward and to my surprise, it’s a girl dressed in the attire of a common archer.

Most importantly, my precious muffin is taken from me!