Li An lay on a lounge chair, gently stroking Cloudy.
As time passed, the little creature's body gradually filled out, and its coat grew thicker and thicker, feeling remarkably soft to the touch.
“In a little while, this fellow is probably going to outgrow a standard stable. Looks like I'll need to build a private one in advance.”
Normally, raising a horse only required paying to board it in a rented stable.
However, if anyone discovered that this creature was actually a Pegasus, things would become complicated.
The cost of building a private stable was certainly not low, but Li An had saved up quite a bit of money recently, so he could still afford it.
“Does that tickle, buddy?”
Cloudy nuzzled comfortably into his arms.
According to the Crown Prince, there were no traces of a mare living anywhere near where Cloudy was found. But according to the original plot, Li An knew there was still some time before its mother would be located.
Li An teased Cloudy in his arms while gently pushing it back.
Just then—
A voice came from the mana radio nearby, which was powered by magic stones.
“Next up, we have a submission from a listener who signs off as 'Someone Who Wants to Retire.'”
Li An immediately perked up and sat upright.
“The king has donkey ears... I just needed to find a place to vent this stifling feeling.”
The mana radio allowed people to make anonymous submissions.
For thoughts that were inconvenient to speak aloud, this device was undoubtedly the best outlet.
The host finished reading the submission in a calm tone.
“...It feels like a light bulb suddenly went off in my head.”
“Up until now, I've always been thinking about how to fail, but things always ended up going in the exact opposite direction.”
“In that case, what if I decide to aim for success right from the start?”
“Would it lead to failure instead?”
Li An's eyes lit up.
This logic actually made a lot of sense.
He immediately sat up from the lounge chair.
Since he was destined to succeed no matter what, he might as well try flipping the script.
He would deliberately set out to do something that must succeed.
Perhaps...
This time, he would finally fail.
Li An decided to test this hypothesis of his.
He turned off the mana radio, straightened his clothes, and prepared to head out.
Perhaps today, he could finally break free from this hopeless spiral of success.
The Adventurers Guild.
Even in the capital of the Barba Empire, an Adventurers Guild existed.
Based on Li An's past impressions, an Adventurers Guild was supposed to have a pretty receptionist and a wall covered with quest commissions, ranging from F-Rank all the way to A-Rank.
However—
The moment he stepped inside the guild for the first time...
His fantasy shattered on the spot.
“I heard the port union is paying pretty well lately.”
“But once you go out there, you won't be back for three months, right? I heard quite a few people died on those ships.”
“Is there any job that's both safe and lucrative? All things considered...”
“...”
The atmosphere was unnaturally strange.
Looking around, the men inside the guild all looked as if they had done over a decade of hard physical labor, puffing away on pipes in their hands.
If he had to make an analogy...
This place didn't look like an Adventurers Guild at all.
It looked more like an employment center for middle-aged and elderly laborers.
Li An silently turned around.
He wanted to leave.
However, it was already too late.
“Oh? I haven't seen this face before.”
“A newcomer?”
“Are you new?”
Several gazes fell on him all at once.
A man walked over to Li An, leaning his hands on the table.
The muscles on his arms were bulging and thick, covered in scars.
Those scars seemed to tell the story of half a lifetime spent in grueling toil.
“You don't look like someone who would come here looking for work.”
“What's the matter? In a rush to make money to buy your girlfriend a gift?”
“If you're a rookie, I suggest you start with cleaning jobs. The pay is a bit lower, but it builds work experience.”
“No way!”
Another man immediately spoke up in disagreement.
“A real man goes big right from the start!”
“Head straight onto a fishing boat!”
“Only by braving the fiercest wind and waves can you make something of yourself!”
“My Uncle Qiang once said: the rougher the waves, the more valuable the fish!”
In an instant...
The entire guild turned into a bustling street market.
Varying philosophies of life clashed, sending sparks flying everywhere.
Li An lowered his presence amidst the chaos and quietly slipped away from the crowd.
He had originally thought he was just coming to the guild to pick up a quest.
Who would have thought...
These people's passion for work seemed even higher than that of imperial officials.
“Are you here to find work?”
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Li An turned around.
The speaker was a young girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen.
She wore overalls smudged with dirt; her face looked quite young, but her demeanor was surprisingly composed.
“Yes.”
“This is my first time at the guild, so I'm not really sure what to do.”
The girl walked over.
In the next second, she grabbed Li An's arm directly and gave it a squeeze.
“...”
Li An froze.
“Even if it doesn't show on the outside, your arm muscles are pretty firm.”
The girl evaluated seriously.
“At this level, you could do farm labor or go mining.”
“Do you want to take a look at the commissions?”
“Sure.”
The girl's name was Jenny.
She was the daughter of the Adventurers Guild master.
In this era, regardless of gender, whenever an older man had a lot of free time, people would always suspect he was doing nothing but loafing around all day.
And Jenny's father happened to be a prime example of this type.
“You're a girl?”
Li An looked at Jenny, feeling somewhat surprised.
Jenny paid no attention to his gaze, turning to walk over to a corner of the guild and pulling out several neatly stacked commission sheets.
“These requests have been sitting here for a long time.”
“Because nobody ever took them...”
She handed the commissions to Li An.
At first glance...
These tasks looked practically like rotting cabbages.
Nobody was willing to accept them.
Yet now, they were being brought out to trick a clueless newcomer.
Squeezing profit out of greenhorns was always the sweetest deal.
However, Li An didn't call her out.
Because coming here today was originally so he could succeed at something difficult.
“The first one is mining.”
“The second one is farm labor...”
Jenny pointed at the commission forms as she explained.
“I think you could do either of them.”
“Your muscles aren't just for show, right?”
The flattery in her words was far too blatant.
Yet Li An asked earnestly:
“Of these two jobs, which one is harder and pays better?”
“The farm labor, of course.”
Jenny didn't hesitate for a second.
“That land is extremely barren, so crops hardly grow.”
“Plus, they've been constantly short-handed, so the work is brutal.”
“As for the pay, though...”
She paused.
“It's a little on the lower side.”
Then she added immediately:
“But hey, the most important thing for a person is building up experience, right?”
Li An accepted the farm labor commission on the spot.
He decided that he was definitely going to make agriculture succeed on that barren land.
“Someone actually took that commission?”
“He looked like a pretty smart kid. Tsk, guess his sharp looks were just for show.”
“Once he gets there, he'll probably suffer through hell and wind up without a single copper coin.”
Li An ignored the whispers around him.
Instead, he felt a flicker of anticipation in his heart.
Fortunately, he didn't have to walk there on foot.
Since this request had been posted in the guild for so long with nobody willing to take it, the guild had provided a carriage directly.
“It'll take about five hours to get there.”
“When you arrive, show this commission to the locals, and they'll know what to do.”
Jenny finished giving instructions.
Li An climbed into the carriage.
The wheels soon began to roll.
He even had a faint feeling that if Jenny realized she had scammed the wrong person, she might skip town on the spot.
The carriage drove out of the city.
The coachman hummed a song as he drove.
“The carriage rolls over the hills in the dark—”
“Reaching Erindale Village in the west—”
“Where the land is cursed and crops won't grow—”
“And livestock wither away and die—”
“Where the villagers cling to a desperate, fading hope—”
Li An remained silent for a moment.
Was this a song?
Or a curse?
A few hours later.
The carriage finally stopped.
Erindale Village.
Li An ate some dry rations he had prepared in advance and drank a bit of water.
A battered wooden sign stood at the village entrance.
【Erindale Village】
The sign looked as if it could be blown away by a gust of wind at any second.
“How come there isn't a single person around?”
Li An looked around.
“Because it's nighttime.”
The coachman answered casually.
“We've arrived. My job is done.”
With that, he steered the carriage and left quickly.
It soon vanished into the night.
Li An stood where he was.
Nighttime.
In this era, it was hardly a suitable time to wander around recklessly.
Unlike in his past life, night in this world was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Without a light source, you couldn't even make out things a meter away.
If you accidentally ran into wild beasts, you might easily lose your way without even knowing how it happened.
Li An produced a magic stone lantern he had spent a considerable sum to purchase.
He slowly searched along the village.
After entering the village...
Finally, he spotted firelight up ahead.
A bonfire was burning.
Faint human voices drifted over from beside it.
Li An lightened his footsteps and walked toward the bonfire.
“Today's food is all gone.”
“The chickens, pigs, cows... they've all starved to death.”
“Even if us old folks can hold on a bit longer...”
“What about the children?”
“Village Chief, you have to make a decision.”
Several elderly people sat around the bonfire.
Strange patterns were painted on their faces, looking like some sort of tribal decoration.
One of the old men slowly stood up.
He was the village chief.
“I will sacrifice myself.”
“Eat me.”
“At least it will buy a few more days.”
“...Village Chief!”
“O God...”
The village chief tilted his head back.
“Please watch over me!”
Saying this...
He raised a long blade.
And closed his eyes.
“Wait a minute!”
“Hold on!”
Startled half to death, Li An rushed right into the circle near the bonfire.
The villagers jolted in surprise.
“Who are you?!”
Everyone's eyes locked onto Li An.
Gulp.
It seemed someone licked their lips.
Li An's brow twitched.
Surely he had misheard.
“I'm here because I took a guild commission.”
“Really?!”
The village chief's eyes immediately lit up.
The blade in his hand clattered to the ground.
“However...”
His tone quickly sank again.
“Just you alone?”
Li An followed his gaze.
That blade that had dropped onto the ground...
Why did it look like the village chief was preparing to pick it back up and hand it to him?
“...”
Li An remained silent for a moment.
“I brought some food with me.”
“The savior has arrived!”
The village chief instantly shouted.
“Quick!”
“Welcome the village's savior inside!”
“Waaaaah!”
The old men erupted into cheers.
Cold sweat broke out on Li An's forehead.
Things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse.
He had come here with the intent to "succeed."
But looking at the situation now...
This commission was probably going to be far more difficult than he had imagined.
Which meant that the first "failure" of his life might actually come to pass.
Li An felt gastric acid gradually secreting in his stomach.
Yet the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
“Tsk tsk...”
This was wonderful.
Rate on N.U.
