Chapter Text
"Orario. Elves. Beastkin girls. I finally made it."
The boy who shouted those words in the middle of the street looked far too polished for someone making a scene in public.
A set of light armor studded with glittering gems covered his body, and an ornate longsword hung at his waist. He drew in a deep breath, lifted both arms, and laughed without the slightest concern for the strange looks turning his way.
To Cael Veyren, every part of the city was new.
His eyes shone like stars as they swept across the streets. White stone stretched beneath his boots, running straight toward the great chalk-white tower that pierced the sky at the heart of the city. On both sides of the avenue, shops stood in uneven rows, each one displaying goods he had only ever imagined.
Adventurers and demi-humans moved through the crowd in every kind of equipment: strange-bladed swords, armor shaped more for style than coverage, and gear that sat somewhere between practical, ceremonial, and completely ridiculous.
The elves and beastkin who had heard his shout gave him cold, unimpressed looks.
The human adventurers, on the other hand, gave him the kind of knowing looks that said, You get it, kid.
"Ahem..."
Cael scratched his reddening cheek and hurried out from under the elves' chilly stares.
That was mortifying.
He had been so excited that the words had slipped out before he could stop them.
After taking another breath, Cael patted the engraved breastplate over his chest, adjusted the travel bag on his back, and looked around like a child seeing a festival for the first time. The strange shops, the passing adventurers, the demi-humans on the street: all of it felt fresh enough to make his heart pound.
"It isn't that different from what I remember," he murmured. "But actually standing here is something else."
Cael followed the broad avenue leading toward Babel while sorting through the memories in his head.
He had transmigrated into this world one month ago.
At first, he had thought he had landed in some generic fantasy world about claiming land, managing farmland, and slowly becoming a local lord.
Then he heard the bards singing.
At the western end of the continent stood a white tower that reached toward heaven. Around it lay Orario, the center of the world. The gods had descended there and granted mortals their Falna, the one blessing that could unlock the path of adventurers. Heroes entered the Dungeon beneath the city, fought monsters in the depths, crossed paths with demi-humans, shared legends with elves, and chased fated encounters with spirits.
That was when Cael understood where he was.
In his excitement, he had made a painful but necessary choice. He sold the phone in his pocket, which still had one bar of battery left, for ten million valis. Then he handed 9,990,000 of that to a dwarf for the flashy equipment he was wearing now, just before setting out for Orario.
"First things first," he said. "I need to join a Familia. Without Falna, I can't unlock my body's potential or become a real adventurer."
Following the route he remembered, Cael walked down West Main Street toward the Guild, unable to stop himself from glancing at everything along the way.
Orario was enormous, worthy of its title as the center of the world. Eight main streets stretched from Babel at the city's heart to Orario's eight gates, dividing the great city into even sections.
The Guild stood on the western side, in the district where adventurers gathered in the greatest numbers. People called it Adventurers Way, and almost half the shops there catered to adventurers in one way or another.
"The Falna granted by the gods is fundamentally the same," Cael thought. "So choosing a god comes down to personality and the atmosphere of the Familia. The gods in this world aren't that different from people. Their temperaments vary just as much."
The only thing he did not know was where the timeline currently stood.
His first choice was Hestia Familia, but only if Bell Cranel had not joined yet. Compared with entering an already powerful Familia, Cael preferred the idea of building one from nothing.
After all, he had not arrived empty-handed.
If Bell had already joined Hestia, then Cael would give up on that plan. Hestia had a special attachment to her first child, and if that special place already belonged to someone else, then there was no point forcing himself into the picture.
Besides, Bell's soft-hearted nature and Hestia's overwhelming favoritism were not things Cael wanted to live with every day.
Outside of Hestia Familia, his options were much thinner.
Freya Familia, the strongest in Orario, was out of the question. Their internal competition was brutal enough that members regularly fought each other. Everyone there seemed desperate to win their goddess's affection, and Freya herself was famous for letting her interest drift when something new caught her eye.
Cael had no intention of living like that.
Hephaestus Familia was the most acceptable alternative. It was Orario's richest Familia, its goddess had an excellent personality, and she did not have any strange obsessions that worried him. If he joined them, maybe he could get a few pieces of second- or third-tier equipment. Even if he had to pay, perhaps she would charge him only for the materials.
Then there was Loki Familia.
Their atmosphere was probably the best in the city, and they were famously united. They were also Orario's second strongest Familia. On top of that, because of Loki's preferences, talented female adventurers made up much of the roster.
Cael would at least think about it.
As for the other Familias, he would consider them only if the ones he actually wanted refused him.
The closer he came to Babel, the thicker the crowds became. Shops built for adventurers packed the street on both sides. A broad-shouldered beastman haggled with the owner of a weapon shop, while a graceful mage disappeared into a store with an odd sign that called it a witch's cottage.
Farther ahead, a white plaza spread out beneath the tower. Groups of adventurers gathered there before entering the Dungeon below Babel, and the easiest people to spot among them were the supporters carrying oversized packs.
Cael drew his gaze back from the stream of adventurers and looked up at a building made entirely of white stone. Beautiful reliefs had been carved into its surface, giving it the air of a temple from the old myths.
The Guild.
Compared with the street outside, the entrance hall was even more crowded. Adventurers came and went through the doors, while others stood near the request board, reading the posted commissions.
There were so many that the papers almost blurred together. Some asked for materials dropped by Dungeon monsters. Others searched for party members. A few even sought information on companions who had vanished in the Dungeon.
The Guild belonged to Ouranos, the first great god to descend and the one who had established Babel to suppress the monsters below. It was tied to every part of Orario and, in practical terms, functioned as the city's administrative center.
The patron gods of the Familias were closer to nobles who ruled their own houses.
"I still can't tell what point in the story this is..."
Cael studied the request board for a long while, but nothing on it gave him the clue he wanted. Troubled, he scratched his cheek and headed toward the reception counter.
"Excuse me..."
Before he could finish, the woman behind the counter beat him to it.
"Have you just arrived in Orario to register as an adventurer?"
"Huh? I haven't even said anything yet." Cael blinked at her. "Is that your Guild experience talking?"
He recognized the Guild employee immediately.
Short brown hair framed her face, and a pair of glasses rested over her spring-green eyes. She was neat and gently pretty, with ears slightly shorter than a full elf's, and she wore the Guild's black-and-white uniform with practiced dignity.
She was a half-elf, and easily one of the most popular advisers among rookies.
Eina Tulle.
Even if he had not recognized her, the nameplate on her chest would have told him who she was.
"It isn't that impressive, really," Eina said with a professional smile. Her eyes moved briefly over him. "Most adventurers don't wear gear that is quite so... decorative."
Cael froze.
The beautiful half-elf's polite smile and the implication behind her words struck him harder than any monster could have.
"Decorative..." he repeated faintly. "My armor and sword look decorative..."
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