4 Opportunities From A Fateful Encounter

"Hi my name is Kazuo. What a wonderful weather we're having today huh?"

I stood up and introduced myself to the young man before me.

"Kazuo I see. You can just call me Leon. Indeed the weather is quite wonderful today. Usually, not many people would bother buying from me but the weather is perfect for it"

"Oh? What are you selling?"

"Nothing too fancy. It's chilled lycreh honey. When it's chilled and mixed with spring water, not only is it refreshing but the flavour is quite subdued compared to concentrated sweetness of lycreh honey"

"Hoho.. No wonder you have so many customers today hahaha"

"I'm quite blessed hahaha"

Hmm I wonder how much for one of these drinks?

"By the way.."

"Hmm?"

"Why did you jump down from the rooftops naked?"

Right.

"Long story short, an enraged guard was chasing after me and that's why I hid here"

"Ah I understand.. Wait! That doesn't explain why you're naked though!"

He sighed and reached to a crate underneath his stall.

"Here, put these clothes on"

"Ohhh thank you!"

I immediately put the clothes on. It was a simple commoners garb which lets me breath and walk with much ease. The top was made from black linen while the bottoms are grey slacks. He also gave me a pair of dark brown boots that goes perfectly well with the outfit.

(*)

"And so that's my situation ahaha.."

After finishing being clothed and losing the guard, I could finally relax. Soon after, I started to become more acquainted with this young fellow named Leon. I told him my current situation about how I've only recently arrived in this city and I have zero knowledge concerning this place. Of course, I withhold the information about my reincarnation. The only thing that I mentioned was that on my travels, I was robbed by bandits and was stripped of everything in my possession including my clothes.

"So you don't have any money, no clue as to where you are and you didn't even have clothes"

"That about sums it up"

He looked at me weirdly before sighing once more.

"In that case, how about working for me for today? This way, you should have enough money to pay for food and an inn for roughly three days"

"Ehh.. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm quite grateful and that would definitely help me out a lot but if a random naked man approached me, I would be quite wary"

"Well you're suspicious that's for sure but you seem very easy to get along with. Not only that, you could call this a fateful encounter as well. My father always told me to follow my guts and so I don't see what's wrong with it"

"In that case, I won't hold back"

I smiled at him warmly. I'm glad that I managed to become acquainted with someone nice.

"What do I have to do?"

"Are you well versed in fighting?"

"I've held a sword or two before"

"In that case, you can just guard me when I go visit the forest. If the enemies are too hard for you to handle then no worries. I have two other guards with me so you can just help me carry things"

"Ok"

After Leon spent an hour to sell his drinks, the last remaining was finally sold and he started to prepare for the journey.

"Ok Kazuo. Let's head to the outskirts of the city gates and meet up with the two others that I hired as guards"

"Got it"

We walked through the busy streets of the city and I couldn't help but marvel at the scenery once more.

"Is the city that fascinating?"

Leon asked me.

"Of course it is! I've never seen anything like it before. The bustling streets, the colorful palate, everything is all new to me"

"You must have lived in a rural area before. This city is fairly small actually but even so, I'm also quite new here as well"

"Really? I thought that you've lived here all your life"

"Nope. I'm a travelling merchant so I don't really have a home. After I finish my business in the forest, I plan on heading out once more. So in a sense, we are of kindred spirit haha. Both of us travelling the world to see where the wind will take us"

Hmm..

"For your age, that's quite the carefree life"

"You're one to talk.. You're about the same age as me yet you're already travelling the world as well. As for me, I have my reasons.."

A bitter expression helplessly showed on his countenance. He probably have his own reasons but I'm not untactful enough to ask.

Hmm, same age as him?

"Can I see that drink of yours?"

"Go ahead"

He handed me a wooden cup filled he was selling earlier. As I stare into my reflection, I could see the countenance of a young man. An incredibly ordinary face that sparkled as smooth as a baby's bottom, black eyes and an incredibly long black hair that reached all the way to the hips.

What the heck.. It looks like I was reincarnated back to the age of 18. When I died, I believe that I was in my mid twenties.

I spent an incredibly long time in that world huh.. Well, it's all in the past now so there's no point in thinking about it.

I drank the refreshing drink he handed me while I felt slightly nostalgic. What should I do now? Where should I go? For what purpose did I gain a second chance..

"Oy who said that you could drink that"

Pfft

I coughed out the drink after he said those words.

"Uhh.."

"I was simply jesting haha. Go ahead, drink it. The more people that becomes acquainted with my drink, the better"

(*)

After talking to him for some more, we became fairly acquainted with one another to becoming friends. About ten minute has passed and we reached the city gates. Beyond the passage that separates the outside world and the city, a girl about the same age as me as well as an older man with a visible frown on his countenance stood there not too far apart from each other while staring at Leon and I.

Hmm?

Upon closer look, I couldn't help but become slightly more inclined to stare at the girl. Her long, sharp scarlet hair fluttered wildly in the wind as she clutches onto a silver scabbard adorned with golden jewelry. Her countenance was unwavering as she stares into the distance with her glistening aquamarine eyes. As she stands there, I couldn't help but feel as if she was standing amidst a tundra, standing her ground without wavering which is a stark contrast with her radiating scarlet hair. The way she stands proudly is akin to a large wall that could withstand even the most treacherous and vile weather. She was wearing a long dark brown coat that fitted her upper body perfectly while flowing down comfortably all the way to her ankles. Underneath, she wore a black shirt that didn't look out of place with her coat as well as black gloves. Below, she was wearing black linen pants tucked underneath with dark brown leather boots.

However, what really caught my attention was the scarlet feline like ears on her head as well as the soft fluffy crimson tail on her back. From her appearance, I suppose that she's supposed to be a part of a half beast race.

"Let me introduce you Kazuo. The one on the left is Reika. She's a proud warrior of the wolf tribe and her skills with the sword is quite terrifying. The one on the right is Gorko. He's a level 6 mage from the adventurer's association"

Mage? Right.. This is a different world after all so I should accustom myself. It's not like this is my first time being sent to a completely different world so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I wonder if it's possible for me to learn magic? I'll ask around later on to understand it better assuming that a mage means someone who can use magic.

What really bothers me however is that I can't feel the flow of flana. Although I have just been reborn and my flana gates have yet to awaken, I should be able to at least feel the trace of flana lingering on the residents of this city.

No matter. This is my first day here and I'll have plenty of opportunities later on to figure out the situation.

"What the hell took you so long and who the hell is this?"

The man named Gorko said so angrily in an arrogant manner.

"Relax. There's still five minutes before the time I asked for us to meet up. As for Kazuo, I've also hired him"

"Haaah? This scrawny looking kid is supposed to be a guard? Are you messing around?"

I'm not that scrawny.. Ok maybe I am.

"Gorko, enough. You'll still get the same pay no matter what"

"Tch. Just don't hold me back you hear? If I didn't need the money now, I wouldn't be even doing this sh*t"

I simply stood there with an awkward smile on my face.

(*)

"Piss off you vile beasts!"

Whoosh

The man named Gorko started to weave his hands in a weird manner. After five seconds, a dimly lit ball of flames appeared on his left hand. He threw it at the dark wolf nearly one and half meters tall.

Awoo

The wolf cried in pain before finally dying.

To the side, the wolf girl was facing off against two wolves. She managed to block one of the attacks but another one pounced towards her just as she recovered.

Bang!

She swung her sword aimlessly and a gale of wind erupted from the tip of her blade. Both wolves flew away and cried in pain from the impact before she eventually leaped off the ground to finish them off.

"Damn beast! Damn beast!"

I looked back to Gorko and saw his angered face stomping on the corpse of the wolf. After he let off some steam, he looked back and started to bark at me.

"You damn brat! What use is there for you if you don't even fight haah?"

..It's going to be a long day.