“Good morning!”

“Oh, Mika-san, good morning. Today’s the day for Warehouse No. 4 and inventory, right? Thank you as always.”

When she entered the office to grab the cart and equipment (cleaning tools and insecticide), the always-cheerful store manager was there.

“Sales are still doing great, as usual. The previous manager said that just receiving inventory was fine, but are you sure you’re not being overworked?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Well, if anything’s troubling you, let me know.”

“Okay.”

After seeing off the busy manager as she returned to the storefront, Mika headed to Warehouse No. 4. Without thinking much, she opened the door—and there was the usual cave. She wheeled the cart inside, left it by the door, and stuffed two extra insecticide cans into the backpack she was carrying.

The rake in her right hand was her trusty main weapon. Dressed in a thick black wool coat for defense, she tucked an insecticide spray can into the large pocket—now she was ready. Visualizing Acid’s door, she inserted the key into the lock and turned it once more.

Beyond the door, Acid’s city walls came into view. And right in front of it, as always, Dada, Gatt, and Zurah stood waiting side by side.

At the door’s exit, she showed her guild tag to the lookout, who recorded her name. It seemed they had heard about Mika, as they glanced briefly before scribbling down some illegible characters.

“Hey, Dada, could you teach me how to read your language sometime?”

“Of course.”

Now, Mika and her party were about to take on their very first quest—heading to the mines.

“It’s a mine about three hours on foot from Acid. Recently, Iblieth have been spawning in large numbers, halting all mining operations.”

“Iblieth… you mean those black demon-like things?”

“Yes. Here—”

Zurah handed her a book.

“This is a bestiary that children in this country learn from. It covers danger levels, habitats, how to avoid them, and how to defeat them. Since you can’t read yet, Mika, use this to at least memorize their appearance.”

The page on Iblieth depicted a bizarre creature with black wings and a tail. There seemed to be several annotations around it. I’ll learn to read as soon as I can. Mika, a book lover, made that resolution.

The outskirts of Acid were relatively safe to traverse, as monsters and dangerous beasts were regularly culled. Today, they decided to walk to a door near the mine.

“We do have vehicles, but I’d like the people around here to get familiar with you, Mika, so I thought we’d travel on foot. Is that alright?”

“Sure. I want to see more of this world, too.”

Dada took the lead, guiding the way, while the quiet Gatt kept watch from behind. Mika walked alongside Zurah, listening to stories about this world as she burned the unfamiliar scenery and passing travelers into her memory.