A girl stood on an old wooden crate in front of Mentor's Lodge. Both hands rested on her hips, her chest puffed out like a hero in a children's fairy tale. Her high-pitched voice tried to cut through the hustle and bustle of the city crowded streets.
"Ever heard the stories of the ancient Gods who saved this world? Come here, brave adventurers who have set foot on the historic land of Nilvheim! We are ready to accompany your journey!"
She bounced slightly, making her ponytail sway playfully. A few people walked past without caring. Others only took a quick glance before continuing their steps. However, the girl never lost her spirit. She kept shouting, waving her hands, occasionally giving a V sign with her fingers.
Then, her eyes caught something.
A man stood on the side of the road, right at the border between the crowd and the shadow of the buildings. His appearance was strange. Not an adventurer's cloak, nor a typical uniform of any country. His clothes were plain black with a cut that was far too neat, feeling very alien. The man stood frozen amidst the flow of people, merely staring at the sky with an empty gaze.
"Wait, who is that strange, dazed man?" the girl thought while tilting her head. "I don't think I've ever seen him before."
"Hey, you!"
The man didn't move.
"Weird guy in weird clothes!"
His eyes slowly shifted from the sky toward the girl. However, his expression was blank, like someone who had just woken up and forgot where he was. The girl jumped down from the crate and approached him with wide strides.
"Yes! I'm talking to you!"
She stopped right in front of the man, examining him from the top of his head to the tips of his shoes. The outfit was truly bizarre. No rank insignias, no guild badges, not even a weapon on his waist. Just plain black fabric that looked like hemp.
"Ugh, seems like you're not from around here, huh?" The girl smiled widely, showing off her row of white teeth. "In that case, you're lucky to have met me! I'm an S-Rank guide! I can guide you in this place full of adventure, fufu!"
The man just stared at her. His gaze reflected absolutely no comprehension.
"Why does he keep quiet? Is he mute?" The girl frowned, but her smile didn't fade. To her, every oddity was an opportunity.
"Well... Mr. Weirdo, from your eccentric appearance, you must be from a faraway land! Right? Right?!"
The man remained silent. But in his eyes, there was something moving slowly, resembling a thick fog.
"You're lucky to meet me, hehe!" The girl gave a thumbs up while playfully sticking out the tip of her tongue. "As long as you have... you know, money... everything is sorted out!"
She held that pose for three full seconds, her eyes blinking expectantly.
Smack!
A hand landed hard on top of her head.
"Ouch!" The girl held her crown while tiptoeing in pain.
An adult woman with her hair in a single braid stood behind her. Round glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, while her eyes narrowed sharply. A neat guild receptionist uniform wrapped her body.
"How many times have I warned you, Miss Lyra? Do not force someone to join." The woman turned to the man. "Sir, ignore her. She is just a new Rank C guide."
Lyra turned around with her eyes wide open. "Haaaah!? What did you say? Ugh, shut up you fat bottom! You'll never know my greatness if you keep standing behind that receptionist desk every day!"
The woman snorted, her hand ready to strike again. Lyra quickly jumped beside the strange man, grabbed his stiff arm, and pulled him back.
"Eekh! Don't mind that woman, my esteemed client! Let's move to the bar across the street to discuss our business!"
The man let himself be pulled. His legs moved involuntarily, following Lyra's cheerful tugs through the streets filled with merchants and adventurers. The city was decorated as if a grand festival was about to be held.
Lyra occasionally glanced back, ensuring the receptionist wasn't chasing them. "Phew... Oh my, we're free now." She let go of the man's arm. "Yeeeah... Sorry about earlier! Ugh, that woman is always ruining my attempts to build my golden Kingdom!"
They walked casually. Sometimes Lyra stopped at a stall to haggle, even though she ended up buying nothing. "Crazy, the prices have already gone up... even though it was still cheap yesterday!" she complained.
Halfway there, a caravan passed by. Lyra paused for a moment seeing a group of miserable-looking adventurers. One of them was vomiting blood with bruised and peeling skin.
"They need to go to the church... that's totally bad..." Lyra muttered softly.
Finally, they entered a noisy bar. The smell of sweat mixed with the aroma of food filled the room. Adventurers were busy boasting about dungeons and their loot. Lyra sat down and let out a small growl out of her earlier annoyance, before smiling again.
"Forget about that... Sir, do you-"
Her sentence was cut off. The man looked at her with the same blank expression, but this time his mouth moved. A hoarse, barely audible voice came out.
"...where..."
Lyra tilted her head. "Huh?"
The man blinked, as if he had just regained control of his nerves. "Where... am I?"
"Oh, so you can speak!" Lyra clapped her hands. "What? Don't tell me you don't remember anything?"
The man nodded slowly. His movements were hesitant.
"Okay... Then that's going to be very troublesome..." Lyra let out a dramatic sigh, but her smile quickly returned. "Alright then! You want to know where this is?! Yes! You must have heard of it somewhere..."
She puffed out her chest, taking a deep breath.
"You are now in Nilvheim! The grandest adventurer city in the empire and in the whole world, fufu! Here we worship The Sun!" Lyra leaned in and whispered, "Though I'm not really religious myself, hehe."
The man didn't respond. He looked up out the window, watching the adventurers before shifting his gaze far upwards. To the sky.
"As you can see, there are many adventurers from various nations and races here!" Lyra continued. However, the man remained fixated on the sky.
"Just like in other regions, we've also entered the Crimson Blood Season since a month ago... no need to explain, you must already know, right!" Lyra pointed upwards. "They say it's because of the resonance of The Sun and the fourth moon that makes the sky a beautiful red."
The man kept staring upward. For the first time, something changed on his face. No longer confusion, but a profound astonishment.
"Red?" his voice trembled.
"Yes! Red!" Lyra nodded enthusiastically. "Pretty, right? Some people say it's the color of blood, but I think..."
"No, what you all see is wrong."
The words cut Lyra's sentence short. The man pointed at the sky with a trembling finger. "Because I am seeing... a black sky."
Lyra was stunned. She looked at the sky, then back at the man. "What?" She giggled. "Fufufufu! Don't joke around! You see a pitch-black sky? Are you blind? Well, I thought you were weird from the start, Sir!"
The man didn't laugh. His eyes didn't turn away in the slightest.
"Oh my..." Lyra shook her head. "You are so funny! It's called the Crimson Blood Season, the sky during this season has been red since ancient times!"
She waited for a reaction, maybe a laugh or an admission that it was just a joke. But the man remained silent. When his eyes met Lyra's again, the girl felt something odd. Exhaustion? Or something much darker? But the flash vanished as fast as it appeared.
The man blinked. "...It's red?" he repeated softly, like he was memorizing a new word.
"Yes! Red!" Lyra nodded enthusiastically, though in her heart she muttered, "Is his brain short-circuited?"
The man looked down, holding his temples as if suppressing severe pain. Lyra just shrugged.
"Well, whatever it is!" Lyra stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Seems like you really don't know this place. As long as you have the money to pay me, I will keep guiding you! Fufu!"
The man lifted his face. "Money?"
"Now, let's start from there!" Lyra reached into her pocket and took out a small copper coin. "This is the money used in the empire. Do you know this round object? Artei?"
The man took the coin, examining it as if it were something entirely alien.
"Gosh..." Lyra let out a long sigh. "This is going to be a long journey."
Even so, the corners of Lyra's lips curled up. She grabbed the man's stiff arm again, leading him out of the bar and into the crowded city.
"Come follow me! First of all, let's find a cheap inn! You can owe me, but... you have to pay double, hehe~"
The man walked beside her with awkward steps. However, right before they completely drowned in the hustle and bustle of Nilvheim, he glanced up one more time.
Above the ocean of city roofs, above the stone towers, the sky stretched out blood red. But in his eyes, the sky was pitch black, a bottomless darkness where something unseen was waiting, whatever it was and whenever it would be...
"So... what is your name, Sir?"