What? I need money...

Having been told that registering at the mercenary guild required money Kietn left in disappointment. Walking through the Market District Kietn saw the many shops as well as a bunch of advertisements.

Picking up a paper that had fallen to the ground, Kietn began reading. What he picked up was a flier promoting the Magic Knight Academy in Delfrost city not too far away from the capital. As Kietn walked he read the flier. Without noticing, Kietn was once again outside of Swallowma's walls. Looking up Kietn made a fast decision.

"Onward to Delfrost." (Kietn)

•••

On his way to Delfrost Kietn had come across many different caravans. Each caravan was unique coupled with their trade group's insignia. Alongside these caravans were the mercenaries or knights protecting it. Once again Kietn was enamored by the mercenary lifestyle.

As each and every caravan passed by, Kietn would wave at them. In some cases he was able to have a short conversation with the mercenaries. These few encounters only solidified Kietn's desire to become a mercenary.

•••

Passing through the occasional village Kietn was quite satisfied by their conditions. Within each village everyone had a job of sorts. Everyone was doing something that would eventually lead to profit for the village. Every time Kietn saw this he was almost brought to tears.* Seeing everyone with the same goal of getting through day to day life also while working their hardest, in some aspects, it reminded him of his sister.

Not too long after leaving the fifth village, Kietn could barely make out the shape of Delfrost, or at least what he thought was Delfrost. Speeding up his pace he arrived the next day.*

•••

Approaching within fifty meters, give or take a few, there was a not so small line trailing from the Gate. Looking at the people in the line Kietn realized that there wasn't a single commoner. Everyone in the line was either, 1: part of a caravan, 2: a knight returning from a mission, or 3: a noble wanting to become a magic knight.

With a sigh Kietn stood behind the person at the back of the line. After waiting a few hours however, Kietn was starting to get hungry and the line hadn't moved much. Looking behind Kietn almost fainted. There was even more people in the line!

If Kietn were to exit the line to go grab some random beast to cook up he would lose his spot. Lucky for Kietn, he still had access to water. His water source was in the form of a little flask given to him by one of the mercenaries he met on his way here.

Taking the occasional sip of the flask, Kietn began to wander off into space.*

•••

After having waited in the line for roughly eight hours, adding on top of being hungry Kietn now had to take a piss. Wriggling around like a child, about to piss himself Kietn began to sweat. After having waited in line for so long, he was pretty close. He would only have to wait around half an hour and he'd be inside. Resolving himself Kietn pushed on.

Arriving before the guards in front of the gate Kietn was about to walk in. Being blocked conversely by the spears within the guards' hands.

"Eh, why're you stopping me?" (Kietn)

"Entry fee is one gold piece." (Guard 1)

"What is that bullshit?! I waited almost nine hours to enter Delfrost and now you're telling me I can't because I don't have money?!" (Kietn)

"Correct." (Guard 2)

In a huff Kietn walked out of line and went to the little forest next to the city. After relieving himself Kietn began his hunt for food.

•••

At this point Kietn looked quite terrible. His commoner clothes he had when he got here were all worn down. Looking somewhat homeless Kietn was wandering the forest. So far Kietn had managed to get six odd looking rabbits. Finding a clear area within the forest, Kietn made a little fire. Skinning the rabbits, albeit not very cleanly, Kietn put some of the rabbit meat on a stick and let it cook. A few minutes later the meat was done cooking.

With a sigh Kietn began eating his burnt rabbit meat.

"I wish I knew how to cook and skin animals flawlessly. Fucking mc's stealing all of my cooking and skinning skills." (Kietn)*

As Kietn was eating, his thoughts went back to Delfrost and the Magic Knight Academy.

'I could try going over the wall... That could work.' (Kietn)

Finishing his meal Kietn went back to the walls of Delfrost. Looking up to the top of the wall, Kietn could see the knights patrolling. Looking around further Kietn decided to go with his plan. Approaching the wall Kietn put his absurd mana to use.

A hole, roughly a meter wide, was opened along the wall and trailing into the ground. Jumping in and crawling to the other side Kietn was within the city. Moving all of the dirt back Kietn looked around...

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

*for the whole topic of money, to make it easy: 100 copper pieces = 1 silver piece, 100 silver pieces = 1 gold piece.

*happy tears

*mc will not be using his powers to make travel easier. He is currently just a normal guy (a normal guy that can walk for hundreds of miles without feeling pain in his feet.)

*he isn't actually going to space. It is just an expression used to describe someone lost in their thoughts

*don't take this literally