When we got to the gates of Kronshire, the two soldiers escorting me brought me right up to the captain of the guard, ignoring the long line of people queueing up to gain entry into the city. Once the captain had read the letter, he quickly bowed his head to me in respect and prepared two documents for me – the first, an identification paper stating my name and class. The second, a visa that permitted me free entry and exit into Kronshire for thirty days. Both these documents were sealed with the captain’s wax stamp.

As I was being ushered into the city, I noted that a good number of people in the queue were glaring at me with hostility. Well, in all fairness, I could understand their irritation. I, too, would be considerably annoyed if I had to queue up for a long time, only to see someone skip the queue entirely.

…I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this either. If you want this privilege, then work hard and become a magnificent Valkyrie. You don’t get these kinds of privileges without putting in a lot of effort, you know.

That said, I got the class for free and without effort, but that’s not relevant to this situation. If I say it’s not relevant then it’s not relevant. Yup.

The two soldiers bid me farewell once I was safely within the city walls and went back out onto the road, resuming their patrol without even taking a break. How admirable.

First order of business: find an inn.

After a bit of asking around, I managed to get directions to [The Red Raven], an inn that was apparently famous for having good service and a comfortable environment at a reasonable price.

The innkeeper was a young woman, probably around my age. She raised her head as I walked through the door and smiled as a greeting.

“Good afternoon. Are you looking for a room?

I walked up to the counter.

“Yes. What are the rates?”

“It’s 5 silver per night, 7 if you’d like meals included. Usage of our stables and storage spaces are available at 5 silver per day per lot – a lot is 2-and-a-half meters high and 5-by-5 meters large.”

“Uh, I’ll have a room and meals. 3 nights.”

“Very well. That will be 21 silver. Do you have any form of identification?”

“Ah, yes, here.”

I handed her my papers. Her eyes widened when she saw my class, but she quickly regained her composure. She consulted a ledger and wrote my name in an empty space, before retrieving a set of keys from a drawer.

I reached into my bag, but then realised that I only had gold coins, and I had no idea how the conversion worked. I tentatively retrieved 3 coins, assuming that 1 gold was equivalent to 10 silver, and placed it on the counter. The innkeeper smiled and shook her head, returning one of the gold coins to me.

“Lady Valkyrie, 1 gold coin is equivalent to 20 silvers, not 10.”

With that, she collected the remaining 2 coins and returned me 19 silver coins as change. I placed them into my bag, and noted that they occupied a different slot from the gold coins. I felt my face heat up, embarrassed by my error. The innkeeper seemed to notice my discomfort, but laughed and consoled me.

“Don’t worry, Lady Valkyrie. It’s not unusual for you to be unfamiliar with the currencies of us humans. I’ve heard it’s a common trend among those of your station to accidentally overpay.”

I’m a human too, though. Even though I have this Valkyrie class. Does that mean that Valkyries tend to be non-human? What kind of super-rare class is this?!

“These are the keys to your room. You’ll find it on the second floor, all the way to the back. Meals are served every morning and night. Please go to our restaurant to take your meals – it’s in the room to your right.” She gestured toward a door in the side of the room. “Just show your key at the entrance to the restaurant, and you’ll be guided to a seat.”

I gratefully accepted the coins and the keys. I briefly considered going to the room to put my luggage down, but then I realised I didn’t have any luggage. So instead I asked the innkeeper another question.

“Um, is there any way I could get a map of the city? I’m afraid of getting lost.”

“Certainly. Are you hoping to see anything in particular?”

Even if you ask me that, I don’t know anything about this world. I wouldn’t know where to start.

“Uh, just something that showed the main buildings and landmarks would suffice.”

The innkeeper nodded knowingly.

“Ah, I see. Your Ladyship wishes to see how we humans live our lives, to see if we are worthy of salvation.”

For some reason, revealing that I’m a human after coming this far feels like it would be a defeat. So let’s just play along.

“Indeed. I wish to see the beauty of the humans’ way of life.”

I sound so self-important holy shit.

The innkeeper ducked beneath the table and pulled out a map, placing it before me and unfurling it. It was a map of the town, with important facilities marked out, their names written on the map in the language of this world.

Incidentally, it was the same case with the other maps, but even though the words were written in a foreign language, somehow I understood what they meant in Japanese when I read them.

Probably another feature of the whole alternate-world package. I’d given up on caring about how it worked.

Anyway, the map listed several locations, including the [Mayor’s Residence] and the [Magic Academy]. What caught my attention, however, was a large building in the middle of the town, labelled [Adventurer’s Guild].

So adventurers did exist in this world.

In novels and games, the expected development now would be for me to go to the [Adventurer’s Guild] and register as an adventurer so I could make a living. I wasn’t sure if I was going to follow that template exactly, but it was still probably a good idea to head over there and find out more about the world I was in. And if I happened to get scouted to be an adventurer, and if I happened to agree due to seeing others in help and happened to register with the Guild as a matter of course, then so be it.

It’s not like I’d secretly always harboured dreams of becoming an adventurer in a fantasy world or anything juvenile like that. It’s not like just the idea of there being an Adventurer’s Guild was enough for me to get excited. I’m not childish like that.

If I say I’m not then I’m not.

“Could I purchase this map? It would be useful for navigating around this city.”

The innkeeper shook her head frantically in response to my question.

“Oh, no, Lady Valkyrie. Please, bring it with you. No need to pay. Consider it a gift, as thanks for working to protect this world.”

Please don’t place those kinds of expectations on me. I’m only level 4.

…Actually, wouldn’t this technically be a kind of bribery? Is that really okay?

No, I should probably pay. What if whoever Valkyries are supposed to work for punishes me for taking a bribe? That would be a pain. I shook my head and spoke to the innkeeper.

“Nay, it is the way of the world. If I take something, I must pay. Please, do not show me preferential treatment on account of my station – here, I am only another customer.”

Hm? What’s that? I’d already abused my station to get into the city easily?

That was that, this is this. Hypocrisy is just a matter of perspective.

The innkeeper frowned, then nodded with a resigned sigh.

“Very well. 3 silvers, please. It’s how much we normally charge for such maps.”

I placed 3 silver coins on the table and took the map. A system prompt appeared, informing me that I had acquired a [Kronshire Map]. Very helpful. I began making my way toward the [Adventurer’s Guild], my heart racing in anticipation.