And yet I was sure it was this way…

Violet had left early that morning, heading with determination toward the center of the city.

After leaving the slums behind, she had crossed the bridge leading to the more central districts of the town, aiming for the guild headquarters.

She had walked quite a lot, pacing back and forth through the main streets with a certain agitation.

Her objective was clear: today she would finally register at the guild!

Seventeen years old, just under one meter sixty, with deep violet eyes and hair, she wore a simple black robe and held a worn staff tightly in her right hand—something she had bought from one of the secondhand shops in the city.

Violet had no family and had grown up in the slums’ orphanage along with many other children, but by now none of the kids her age were left—except for her.

Many had been adopted; others, once they reached adulthood, had simply left, abandoning that life without ever returning.

Over time, the orphanage had filled once again with new orphans, and since Violet was still too young to leave, she found herself helping Mama Célene take care of them.

Damn it! And yet it should’ve been this way!

Violet stopped and looked around.

She had crossed the temple district, then turned right toward the guild headquarters not far away, but somehow, she had ended up on the opposite side of the city, in the market district.

Around her, stalls displayed all sorts of goods while customers crowded around them, haggling loudly.

No way… How did I end up here???

Overwhelmed by the noise of the crowd, she took a moment to think.

She had passed her destination long ago. Probably, lost in her thoughts, she had gotten distracted and wandered into the wrong place.

Well, nothing to do about it now…

Violet turned around to retrace her steps.

Crossing the square again and weaving through the crowd, she reached its edge, taking one of the side streets and walking straight ahead.

There were many shops along the road: jewelers, sellers of clothes and fabrics, and other small stores from which intense, fragrant smells of freshly baked sweets drifted out.

The people around her were almost all well-dressed, and many of them gave her harsh, disapproving looks as she walked by.

Violet was used to those looks and simply kept walking without paying them any mind.

A little farther ahead, a few therianthrope children were struggling to unload some heavy sacks from a cart stopped at the side of the road.

Giltown was a wealthy, mostly human city located in the central part of the continent—a place of thriving trade, filled with well-kept ancient buildings and surrounded by high walls.

In Giltown, humans held all the most important positions in the city, leaving the other races at the margins. Elves, dwarves, and therianthropes were not viewed favorably and ended up scorned and pushed into the outer districts.

Violet was human, but she came from the wrong side of town—the poorer, humbler area beyond the river that split the city in two. To those people, there was no difference between her and a half-human.

Not that she cared much, really. Violet had grown up among children of every species and race, and she had never bothered with the differences between humans and non-humans.

Farther ahead, more people greeted her with the usual look of disapproval.

For the wealthy inhabitants of the upper districts, merely seeing someone who was different from them was reason enough for disgust, and they never hesitated to make their discomfort known whenever someone “unlike them” walked by.

Idiots…

Shaking off those hostile stares, she made her way forward until she reached a wide open space.

It was the temple district.

I’m here again? How did I manage that?

The square was broad and surrounded by tall stone buildings.

At its far end stood the great temple dedicated to the gods—a structure with steep, sharp spires, adorned with statues of deities and anthropomorphic beings, all with threatening gazes.

Violet stopped and looked around, surprised. She had taken the wrong path… again.

Ugh!

She resumed walking toward the opposite side of the square with heavier steps.

Ever since she was a child, she had always had some trouble with roads and directions—or at least that’s what everyone kept telling her.

She often got lost, and even short distances could become a real challenge for her at times.

Everyone always said she had no sense of direction.

“I do NOT have any problem with directions!”

That was Violet’s usual reply whenever someone pointed out her struggles with roads and maps.
To her, things were much simpler: sometimes she just got distracted, lost in her thoughts, and ended up somewhere other than where she intended to go. That was all.

Taking a new side street, she threw herself into it with determination, passing through it without paying much attention to where she was actually heading.

The street was quiet and empty.
Around her, the closed doors of the houses and the sound of her own footsteps echoed, bouncing off the walls.

Another sound came from her pocket—the clinking of coins rubbing against each other.

She had earned them by doing various odd jobs around the city and saving them carefully. A difficult task. It had taken a long time to gather them all, working in shops and warehouses.

She had scrubbed floors, unloaded carts that supplied the shops, brushed and cleaned the stables of nobles. But no matter how much those tasks had tested her, she had never lost heart, saving every single coin patiently while waiting for this day.

Even the robe she wore and the staff she held in her hands had been bought with her own money. She had gotten the black robe from a small shop in her district, while the staff was something she’d found in a magical goods store with very convenient prices.

Both were simple, but functional.

And she had even allowed herself a small gift. On her head rested a small laurel crown with golden reflections.

She had seen it some time before, displayed on a market stall, and had fallen in love with it instantly.

The woman who sold it to her had told her that in ancient times those crowns were worn by great queens and important figures of society—and that alone was enough for Violet to convince herself to buy it without worrying about the cost.

A whole silver coin… damn…

“It makes you look like a real heroine!”

That’s what the woman had told her after pocketing the money and placing the little crown on the head of an embarrassed Violet.

For Violet, that was more than enough.

After buying it, she had polished it and cleaned it thoroughly. She had even had to file down a few sharp leaves to keep them from poking her scalp and cutting her.

Hey, wait!

Stopping abruptly, she realized that to her right, across the street, stood a familiar building.

…The guild!

The building was tall, with a solemn and imposing appearance.
Like the other structures in the district, it was made of polished stone and wood, adorned with large glass windows.

Hanging from its exterior walls were heavy banners.

On them were depicted a sword and a staff crossed over a deep red background.

The emblem of the Giltown guild.

“Finally…”

Violet took a step toward the other side of the street, feeling an unexpected knot tighten in the pit of her stomach.

No! I can’t back out now…

Taking a deep breath and straightening her clothes, Violet mustered her courage and crossed the street, heading for the heavy wooden door. She pushed it open and stepped inside.

The moment she entered, Violet found herself swallowed by a confused uproar.

The hall was spacious, filled with long tables, notice boards, and a large number of people moving around noisily inside the guild.

Violet stopped, overwhelmed, and watched them.

At the tables, she could see groups of people—large and small—surely bands of adventurers. Many of them, in addition to their clothes and armor, wore symbols and colors that distinguished them from the others. Observing them, she realized these must be the so-called adventurer companies.

From what she knew, many of these companies had a name of their own and could count many members within their ranks.

They all looked well-prepared and serious. The armors Violet saw were all well-made, and the weapons seemed high-quality too.

Swords, bows, war hammers. Even the staffs carried by many of the mages had an intimidating look. And in that hall, with only a few rare exceptions, almost everyone was human.

Violet, distracted while watching the adventurers, snapped back to reality and looked around, searching for the registration counter.

Once she found it, she noticed a young, attractive girl reading documents laid out on the desk in front of her.

When Violet approached, she bowed politely.

“Good morning…”

The girl behind the counter lifted her gaze from the papers when she heard Violet’s voice.

“Oh, welcome. I’m Camelia, how can I… help you…?”

The young woman speaking to Violet was beautiful, with flowing copper hair and deep green eyes.

But the spontaneous smile Camelia had greeted her with suddenly faded, replaced by a puzzled stare.

Camelia looked at her face for a moment, then eyed her up and down, visibly confused.

“Yes, well, I… I’m here to register.”

The girl examined her carefully from head to toe, taking in the robe and the staff Violet held. Her expression grew dismissive.

“You… have the money for the registration fee?”

The guild clerk looked at Violet with a fake, visibly forced smile.

Noticing the clerk’s expression and sighing, Violet reached into her robe, pulled out the coins, and slapped them onto the counter.

The girl’s attitude wasn’t new to Violet, but it still annoyed her deeply.

“They should be enough!”

Camelia flinched at the sound, looking at the dull coins in front of her.

Reaching out, Camelia picked them up and weighed them in her hand, as if expecting them to be counterfeit.

“Two silver coins… fine…” Camelia muttered, visibly displeased, before making the coins disappear under the counter and continuing to speak.

“Alright, let’s get your registration forms ready…”

The guild clerk opened a few drawers beneath the counter and pulled out some parchment sheets, placing them before her. Her movements were slow and deliberately mechanical.

Violet raised an annoyed eyebrow, trying hard to restrain herself.

She knew Giltown and its people well, and Camelia’s behavior was typical of those who, unable to openly criticize you, used their position to slow you down and put obstacles in your way.

Nothing new.