“Listen, Amina, I don’t plan on killing anyone, you have nothing to fear, you can just go back. Just don’t tell anyone about me” I try to shoo her away.

“Eh, are you sure my lord?” Why do you sound disappointed?! “ev-even then, can I not stay with you? You don’t know much about this world, right?” How bothersome.

“Why are you so insistent on this? Is the temple a bad place to be?”

She turns her head down a little. “I don’t know my lord, that life is all I have ever known. But, at the very least, it seems dreadful. And I fear I may be in trouble…” ah, that’s probably my bad.

“Then, why did you join?” I ask simply.

“I didn’t, my lord. From when I first remember, I was already part of the orphanage at the temple. Then I became an acolyte when I came of age.” Ehh, orphanage at the temple? I wonder if it is a new thing or something the temples have always done? When my father died, I was kind of given away to any takers at the summit, I wonder if the orphanage function was only if there were no one willing to take you in. Remembering him also leads the thoughts to Sten and Lod. I had presumed I would settle my differences with them sooner or later, but now I will never get to…. I should stop thinking about it.

“Anyway, I am planning to basically wait until my card is made. I have no money, nowhere to go. You still need to eat and drink, right? So go home.”

“But are you not strong, my lord? Can’t you simply go into the dungeon and take something, my lord? Do you have anything else to do, my lord?”

“Enough with “My lord” can’t you just speak to me normally.” Ah, this time she didn’t cover at my reprimand.

She thinks a little. “As you wish, master”

“Just… no… why are you like this?”

“Surely it would be proper to address a great spirit with some form of respect, master?” She says.

“Listen, I am not a spirit, I am just a human. I don’t know much and people seem to actually think I am pretty stupid, so I am not all that great either.” She looks at me incredibly doubtful.

“Believe what you will, but in any case, address me like you would an equal, please.”

“Of course, sir” … I choose to stare reproachfully at her.

“An equal wouldn’t have the authority to tell me how to address them, sir”

I sigh. I give up.

We end up going to the dungeon. As expected of a dungeon in a big city, it seems many of the first few layers have big, bulky beasts that are relatively easy to kill. I stab a dagger created with magic in the head of a few, and do my best to dismantle them and take the best cuts of meat at a reasonable pace. We can’t carry that much as we have neither sacks, nor extra people, so the rest of the corpses is given to some passing young people, who thank me reapeatedly.

We then locate a few trees. I create a small saw and cut them down. One might think creation magic is handy this way, but it is just not comparable mileage to using it in other ways. I could only have some ten minutes with such tools in a day before my magic would run completely dry. The trees in the dungeon also carry a few fruits, which I give to Amina to snack on.

We ask some hunters leaving the dungeon, if they can help us start a fire, which we do in an alley. The wood from dungeon trees is always weirdly dry and easy to light, in comparison to trees growing above ground. They warn us that it is illegal though, but we don’t really have any other options.

Once the meat is roasted, I just watch as Amina digs into it.

“This is not very good” She complains. Well of course, we don’t even have salt. “Aren’t you eating, sir?” She asks me.

“Well, I don’t need to” Maybe if I was used to eating I would feel hungry, but I have no such feelings now. In the past, I discovered I didn’t need food, but ate anyway in case it would affect my growth, but I grew up fine even with no food, it seems. Measuring by people we have encountered, I am a good deal taller than the average guy.

“But there is no way for me to eat all this by myself” She is right. We have way more meat than necessary. I reluctantly take a bite then.

It is so good. This sensation feels like I haven’t felt it in forever. The sensation of taste and the feeling of chewing and swallowing. It is so good. I feel tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Eh, sir, did I do anything wrong? Are you unhappy? Is it that bad?” Amina is perplexed. “No, I just… It’s been so long since I last ate something. The feeling overwhelmed me.” I happily dig into the rest of it, as Amina’s face changes to one of satisfaction.

We live homelessly for the next two days, before I turn up at the guild again. I am slightly worried. Our robe is stained in blood and dirt, from butchering monsters and sleeping on the floor, and I have a hard time telling, but I think we smell too. I hope it won’t cause trouble, since there is usually a bit of a stench in the hunter’s guild, or at least in the hunter’s association.

We queue up without problems and I receive my tag. It is, however, quite different from what I expected.

My name is on there, that I can recognize, but instead of the two lines denoting second rank, as I expected, there is a circle denoting a five instead. Weird.