The Boar's Hat

The calm and cool breeze brushed softly against my face as I stood in front of the city gates. The stroll here had been delightful and calming, especially after the fight with those bandits.

The city walls and gates were almost fifteen feet tall. Yet, the walls were smooth and even throughout, with no irregularity or crevice anywhere, while the gates had strange but beautiful designs engraved on them.

"Show me your ID!" commanded the voice of a middle-aged man in front of me.

The man was short in height and had a fit physique. He wore a dark blue shirt and gloves with brown pants. Both his shirt and pants looked like they were made of high-quality leather. His body was covered in silver metallic armour pieces, and although not very visible, he wore chainmail armour beneath his shirt.

An embellished insignia of a dragon was engraved on the centre of his chest plate and various other places on his armour. Most probably, this was the armour that the guards wore.

"ID?" I asked.

"You don't know what it is?" he questioned.

Is he dumb? I just finished the tutorial; how would I even know what an ID is?

"I just finished the tutorial," I replied calmly.

The man looked behind me and asked, "It's too late at night. Some newbies did arrive in the evening, are you with them?"

Was he referring to the people who passed the tutorial with me?

"Yes," I replied.

After spending some moments in his thoughts, he exclaimed, "Aha! You are the one they were talking about!"

What?

"I don't understand," I stated.

"Three people created a ruckus in front of the city gates that their friend was nowhere to be seen. I must say, you have good friends. But, where were you till now?" He asked.

Did he mean Elizabeth, Liam, and Ignis were creating a ruckus because I was nowhere to be seen? That warms my heart; How soothing.

But will telling this guard I received a special gift from the administrator cause any problems? Even if it won't, I should avoid it.

"I was lost in the forest, it's a really huge forest after all," I replied. Well, it was the only excuse that made any sense.

After a short silence, another guard rapidly approached me and inquired, "You! Where did you get that cloak!"

The stealth cloak? Most of the bandits in the forest were wearing this. So, I guess wearing this may give people the idea that I was one of them. Although I didn't put the hood over my face, maybe picking this up wasn't the best thing to do.

"I found it lying around, on my way here," I answered.

The man stared at me, examining me thoroughly.

"Dan, he just finished tutorial; doesn't even have an ID yet," informed the guard who had addressed me before. So his name was Dan, I see.

"I guess I might as well use my detection skill to confirm it," said Dan, who was still wary of my presence.

[A Player has used the skill 'Level confirmation(C)' on you]

Level confirmation!? Since it was a C-rank detection skill, it was much weaker than my detection skill. But, getting to know that something like this exists was genuinely fascinating.

<Well, this can be troublesome. No newbie is level ten. Looks like your benevolent guide must interfere, Noxie boy!>

Caligo?

<Who else would it be? Usually, 'Librarian's Eyes' would block out any detection skill that is used on you; But since your proficiency in it is almost zero, so…>

"Looks like a newbie to me. Only a level three," commented the guard.

How did you even do that, Caligo?

<Well, did you think that guides are just for fun? But, I will explain it to you some other time. So long, Noxie boy…>

It didn't make any sense! How could Caligo just interfere with someone's skill?

But it made sense that I would have to go through some unnecessary hassle if they saw that my level was higher than the newbies.

"You need to be more careful, kid; walking around alone so late at night. We recently got information that there were some bandits prowling in the forest. You should thank your lucky stars that they didn't notice you," said the man.

"What! Bandits? I guess I am a very lucky man to not have encountered them," I answered, trying my best to act surprised.

"Don't worry too much kid. We will take care of those bandits for you soon! After all, we are the mighty soldiers of Midland," Dan exclaimed, flexing his huge body's muscles.

"Sorry for the trouble, kid. My name is Givrold," said the short man.

"Since Midland is a town where people who just finished the tutorial come and go, we don't always ask for ID. But, since it's so late at night and you are not with a group, we had to stop you," Givrold informed me.

Well, it was understandable. However, I was drained, so it would be best to end this conversation here.

"No problem, sir," I replied.

"Well, it would be best if you don't roam around the city too much, this late at night. But, if you follow this road and take the first left, you will see a building there, which is pretty hard to miss. It's the 'Boar Hat Inn'; almost all the newbies stay there for the first few days here," Givrold said as he pointed to the straight road from the city gate.

For some reason, Dan was still performing different poses, trying to show off his muscles. I almost wanted to inform him that his muscles weren't evident from underneath all that leather and armour, but I thought it best to leave him alone.

Thanking Givrold, I followed the directions he gave me.

The entire street was filled with huge and tiny buildings on either side. The road felt strangely soft like I was walking on lush grass fields. The smell of pleasant oak trees, wet mud, and a delicious meal being cooked filled my nose.

The sound of nothing, except the occasional opening and closing of doors, was very calming.

Even though it was night, the street was well illuminated by the orbs that were afloat in the air. I guess the orbs were equivalent to streetlights in this world.

Soon, after a ten-minute walk, I was standing in front of a moderate-sized building. Even though all the buildings were well illuminated, it seemed like this building emitted its own light.

A vast glowing sign hung over the building; it read: BOAR'S HAT INN! A place for rookies and veterans alike!

Even though the building itself wasn't huge, its roof was shaped like a hat, dwarfing all the gigantic buildings around it. The walls were white, and the top was layered with bricks. It had a single green door as its entrance and a window on either side.

Although this place was too small to be an inn, it somehow gave off a pleasant, welcoming feeling.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside the inn.