Luna

The next day, I had evidently shocked the entire mansion. I could see it at a glance the shocked gazes as I willingly walked past the gate through the stone walls surrounding the mansion atop a small hill.

Soon enough I arrived in town after walking down a short hundred or so meter dirt road into the town.

I had arrived in the town center which was surrounded by several 4 story buildings and a tall stone clocktower.

Despite just being a town, it was evidently still a large one as I found out just from seeing the densely populated square and developed buildings.

I walked down one of the side streets branching off from the large town square. It was crowded and had bustling stores on both sides as humans and a few other humanoid races traded and bartered with either goods or coins.

It was almost overwhelming how much was happening around me, all until I took a turn and was met with an empty alley aside from a person fully covered in white robes who was carrying a silver plate of water in one hand while the other was empty, a large leather backpack on his shoulders with all kinds of things hanging off of it.

I was about to turn around and leave, however a hand soon reached out and grasped my shoulder. It wasn't a strong grip, but for some reason I felt compelled to stay. It was a strange feeling but nevertheless I ended up stopping and turning around.

"Can I help you?" I asked the white robed man whose face was mostly obscured by his large hood, only revealing a long white and messy beard and deep wrinkles.

"Not me, but you can help both yourself and possibly many others." The old man responded.

"I'm too lazy to work your riddles. Either speak normally or I'm leaving." I responded annoyedly, guessing this guy was some scammer or salesman.

"I mean it exactly as I say. I am a prophet who only seeks the betterment of the world. I wish for you and another person to meet. Walk down this street and turn down the 4th alley on your right. If you walk down it you'll find a small space between buildings on your left. Inside would be a young girl." The self proclaimed prophet explained as I turned to face the alley he had indicated.

"Tch. That sounds like way too much effort. Don't you thin-" My voice was cut off as I turned back to find the prophet was gone.

'What?' I wondered before remembering his words.

'Should I really check it out?' I thought as I began unconsciously counting the alleys I passed on my right.

Eventually I came to the alley mentioned which led to another much less crowded street which only a few people were using to pass between the two streets. After a moment's contemplation, I headed down the alley, my eyes focused on the even smaller alley way branching off this one.

I moved closer and closer. Four steps, three steps, two steps..

Soon enough, I was looking down the alleyway mentioned by the prophet and low and behold, there was a young girl around my age in tattered and dirty white and black clothes, a rugged cloak of rags over the top. The girl had long and messy platinum hair and was backed up against the side of the alley next to a broken crate which partially hid her from the view from the bigger alleyway.

In the girl's hands was a pitch black cat that snapped open its eyes before looking at me intently. The moment the cat settled its gaze on me, I suddenly felt… Danger?

<Ding! New quest. Moon's daughter(I). With a little effort, perhaps this will set you for life in the future. Objective: Find a way to help the girl in front of you. Quest reward: Moon's blessing.>

My attention shifted to the quest, which coincidentally made it seem I was staring directly at the cat.

I had just read the quest details when my attention shifted back to the cat and the girl, who had now stood up and was looking at me cautiously.

"Hmm. What's up?" I greeted. Was it plain? maybe. Was it appropriate to the situation? Maybe not. Did it matter? Who knows?

"A-ah… C-can I help you?" The girl said weekly, her eyes a similar platinum hue to her hair.

"I don't know. It seems like you need more of my help." I answered. The system did say to help her after all.

"A-ah… R-right…" The girl responded once again, slowly and without confidence.

"..."

"..."

"Do you need help?" I asked after neither of us spoke for a while.

"... Maybe…No…" The girl's voice wavered as she spoke, evidently unsure.

"What kind of help do you want?" I asked, changing the question a bit seeing I wasn't gonna get a response. Honestly this whole conversation was tiring me out.

"...N-no.. I don't… I want…" The girl's voice kept trailing off. At the same time the cat she was holding her arms, which had practically glowing blue eyes, had shifted its gaze to her, purring gently as if comforting her.

"u-Um… A-a job." The girl eventually said, a little louder than before.

"..." I was speechless honestly. She was too young to be a skilled craftsman. Too timid to communicate effectively and too frail for physical labor.

"What kind of job? You're frail, timid and inexperienced." I asked.

"U-Um… I-I don't… know…" The girl had seemed confident for a bit, but it quickly fizzled out.

"..."

"..."

I waited for her to come up with something but once again, she didn't continue.

"Your only hope is a job that pays trainees or apprentices." I said.

"..."

"You're really helpless aren't you." I couldn't help but comment as she once again stayed silent before I continued. "Well, what CAN you do?" I asked.

"U-uh. I-I can read… And write… I-I can do math… A-and I can… I can…" The girl seemed to run out of ideas after that.

"So you're literate… If you can speak without stuttering and mumbling there's a lot of options then…" I told her, thinking about some ideas.

"I- I can try." The girl raised her voice a bit and managed to get her words out almost without stuttering.

"In that case you can try being a merchant's assistant, a librarian, an apprentice attendant orrrr… I dunno." I listed some jobs before trailing off as I couldn't think of anything else and gave up.

"W-what do you think…" The girl asked, stuttering less and speaking up a bit more.

"Being a merchant's assistant needs either connections or eloquence. This town doesn't have a major library which is hiring. Being a noble's attendant means you need either connections or have some renown and you would need to be ready to serve for life." I described the three occupations I listed.

"Of course, there's other jobs, but that's all I could think of from the top of my head." I added.

"S-so… I can't get a job…Ah! I-I remember, they say nobles will hire anyone who activates their core before 10 r-right?" The girl seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke normally for a bit before suddenly trailing off again.