Nobina and Her Strange Journey Through Another World

Nobina began telling him as much as she could, sticking to the main points of the story of what happened to her. How she was from another world, brought there by what she considered a god called Nonomo. At least, that’s what she thought he was. His scientist outfit didn’t really sell the whole god thing that well, but a god could do whatever they wanted in most cases.

He told her how she had died and was being given a second chance to live her dream. She also received a bag that he told her was special and that she should keep on her at all times. With that, she appeared here and found her way to town with the help of a merchant called Fitz. Afterward, she began looking for a job and found her way to him.

“Fascinating,” said Eric. “Can I see the bag you have?”

“Sure,” she said happily, handing over the bag.

Taking it, he took out the fishing rod and placed it on the table, looking it over.

“This seems like solid enough woodwork,” he said, examining the rod. “Very polished and sturdy. Though it’s unfortunate there’s not really good places to fish around here. I think there’s a river you could check out somewhat close to here.”

“That sounds good enough for me. If I don’t get a job soon, I might starve and have to fish to survive,” she laughed.

He laughed as well, shaking his head.

“No worries about that,” he told her. “I’m fine hiring you on, though whether you will stay here long term is up to your actual skills.”

“I’ll do my best,” she said, almost shaking in excitement. Memories of her first interview quickly filled her mind as she felt a similar experience. The joy of getting the position after working for it was something special.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction, rubbing the back of his head.

“Now then, let’s start talking about the situation you’re in regarding your Path and all. Safe to say, you don’t know your born Path, right?”

Nobina shook her head.

“No sir,” she responded.

He gave a nod back, picking up a book and scanning through it quickly.

“Well then. We have a person who specializes in checking Paths coming in two weeks, so we can confirm what your born Path is. For now, you can keep saying your Path is that of a writer.”

He then put it back down and took a sip of his drink before continuing.

“Next is the whole ‘another world’ aspect. As you might guess, you should avoid spreading that knowledge as much as possible. Some people will think that you’re a hero and try to take advantage of you. If you really do have the Path of the Hero, it would be very problematic if someone with bad intentions takes hold of you. In fact, I’d be obligated to surrender you to the kingdom in such a case.”

Hearing that made her immediately worried, but he once again calmed her down with his next words.

“However, for your sake and for ours, we can’t just assume that’s the likely scenario. I want to have your Path confirmed first before doing such a thing. If you really aren’t a hero or if you really do have the Path of the Writer, then you can work here as long as you want without issues.”

Nobina gave a nod.

“That would be great. I’m not interested in becoming a hero or anything that crazy. I just… want to write.”

He gave a nod, showing a reassuring look.

“It’s a simple, yet respectable desire to seek simplicity. Not everyone is born for the life of an adventurer. It requires a certain fire and desire to push oneself into danger, and it is far too risky for many.”

Nobina had a feeling that was the case. Realistically, most people wouldn’t be expected to risk their lives unless absolutely necessary. That was basically the same with Nobina.

“With those matters out of the way, we can probably conclude the interview and have you meet with the rest of the staff. Sarah, who you’ve already met, is one of the three guild officers we have at this branch. The others are Mimiki and Lare, who you will meet shortly.”

The guild master stood up, walking close to Nobina. The aura he had previously given off was all but gone as he opened the door. Nobina took her fishing rod and bag and began to take her leave. As she passed by and exited, Eric closed the door and walked back to his desk, facing the outside window.

“I wonder if she really is a hero…” he said as he closed his eyes. “Everyone so far that has come here from another world has turned out to be one, but her circumstances are so weird. And that gaze… It felt so strange. Hopefully, for all our sakes, her being here isn’t a sign of bad things to come.”

Nobina made her way down the stairs back to the front. Sarah, who was still managing the desk, brightened up when she saw her.

“Nobina!”

The excitement in Sarah’s reaction caught her off guard. She made her way to Nobina, grabbing her hands.

“Did it go well? Do I have someone new to talk with?”

Nobina gave a nod, causing Sarah to jump up and down.

“Great! I’m so happy that things will be so much better. Oh, did he tell you what your job would be?”

“He didn’t,” she responded.

“Well, I guess Lare’s job is to figure that stuff out. Anyways, we should celebrate! Drinks seem perfect for the occasion.”

Hearing that, Nobina began to recall how drinking was a thing that she was asked about initially as she started to work in her office in her previous world. When she was new, a few people invited her out to drink, mainly her direct co-workers. She always told them she wasn’t really a drinker, which seemed to slowly stop the invites. Soon, she was pretty much not invited under the assumption she wouldn’t drink.

It wasn’t just because she wouldn’t drink though. From what Len had told her, they felt she wasn’t really interested in spending time drinking and seemed to want to go home all the time. Nobina couldn’t deny that was somewhat true. She was always looking forward to writing a bit or relaxing by either watching anime, reading books, or even watching streams. That lack of interest in hanging out must have been clear to the others.

With that in mind, Nobina didn’t want to follow the same path she had followed in her old world. She wanted to spend more time with her co-workers and enjoy her journey here.

“I’m… down to drink a bit,” she said. “Though maybe after I settle in first.”

“No worries,” said Sarah. “Let me introduce you to everyone else... Well, it’s just Lare and the guild master here today. Anyway, let’s see Lare.”

With that, Sarah began pulling Nobina through the guild, specifically to one of the back offices. Sarah knocked on one of the doors, and a man answered the knock.

“Who is it,” called the man.

“Lare. It’s me. Sarah. We finally got a new employee.”

Moments later, the door opened to another guild employee. He was probably a bit older than Nobina, and he was wearing the same style of outfit as Sarah. There was a slight distinction in the emblem, likely indicating his position.

“Oh? That’s nice we got someone at least qualified to work here.”

In response to that, Sarah punched his arms, with him laughing in response.

“I’ve proven myself already, alright? I didn’t work here for six years for nothing.”

“Right…” he replied with a look showing he didn’t believe that. “Anyways, I’m Lare, a senior guild employee. I’m in charge of managing the guild staff in place of Guild Master Eric. You’ve met Sarah already, our main receptionist. She handles most of the day-to-day tasks. I believe that Mimiki is out right now, but she handles adventuring matters from negotiations to promotions and acts as Sarah’s backup. Hm…”

Lare gave her a look over before speaking again.

“So, what did Eric ask you to do? Actually, what is your Path?”

“He didn’t say,” she replied. “I can do reading, writing, and mathematics though. Also, my Path is the Path of the Writer.”

Those last words seemed to confuse him a bit, but he quickly began thinking about what else she said.

“Hm… Perhaps you can handle financial matters? Take a look at everything at let me know if you can figure out what needs work.”

With that, the three began a basic tour of the adventuring guild.

The Adventuring guild was a two-story building made out of mostly stone and some wood here and there. Unlike the other buildings, a lot of the stone was carved and decorated to look nice. It was a solid building with three receptionist desks in the main lobby. There was an adventuring board where people could take the daily quests that were placed on it. The lobby itself was decently furnished and had places where people could hang out and talk before heading out to complete quests.

“Our quests range from F to D, so we don’t have any high-ranking adventurers or even mid-rank adventurers. Many people here are just starting out their adventuring Path.”

“I see,” said Nobina, giving a nod. “So, this place is relatively safe then.”

“Not necessarily,” said Sarah. “Sometimes the monster locations get a bit too large for us to handle, so Eric personally goes out to trim the numbers. You should see him in battle. It’s a sight worth seeing.”

Nobina nodded. Seeing an adventurer in action would be a memory worth remembering, like seeing an anime fight live. For now, her focus was settling in and getting a rhythm for her new job, whatever that ended up being that is.

Their tour then went to the back part of the first floor, where Nobina noticed the first thing that she could potentially help out with.

“So… how exactly do you track your finances?” asked Nobina.

“We note down the daily totals in a notebook, and then that’s basically it,” said Lare.

“Uh… isn’t that too simple for an adventuring guild?” asked Nobina. “I would have guessed you would have used a more solid system.”

For her, it seemed like a no-brainer that any business, especially one like an adventuring guild, had at least a basic accounting system. She wasn’t an accountant herself, but she learned a bit of it in college. Her major was economics since she needed something solid to get her a job while she did her writing.

“What do you suggest? None of us specializes in mathematics.”

“I can handle creating a ledger for the guild. It should help track the finances better, as well as serve as a basis for developing reports and evaluating economic performance. Especially since following trends is a good way to…”

As she spoke, she noticed that both of them looked at her in shock.

“What?”

“Are you sure you don’t have an Economic Path?” Asked Sarah. “That sounded so… math like.”

“She’s right,” said Lare. “What was your previous profession?”

Thinking about it, she had to give a profession that made sense in this world.

“Uh… I guess Treasurer would be the correct title.”

“Wow,” said Sarah. “Someone in charge of money. Not only that, but the ability to read and write…”

“We got lucky with you,” said Lare, nodding his head. “Looks like we got your first task. Create this ‘Ledger’ and then see if our finances are good.”

She gave a nod. It would be a tough endeavor as she needed to understand how the guild income and expenses worked first, but it was something within her power at least.

They finished up the tour, and she was happy to get a good layout of the guild. Her greatest enjoyment was finally being able to see the guild information room, which had three rows of books of various information. She wanted to look through it all and see what this world was about, but Lare stopped her before she could begin browsing.

“Hold your horses,” he said, giving a stern look. “You still got plenty of things to do before diving into these books. Your job isn’t just going to be this ‘Ledger’ creation. You’ll be expected to perform the basic duties of a guild officer. We might have days of high demand, or someone is unavailable. You’ll need to be able to pick up for them.”

Nobina gave a nod.

“Right… sorry. I was just very excited, that’s all.”

“Lare,” said Sarah, putting her hands on her hips. “Don’t intimidate Nobina. She’s enjoying her time here, and you shouldn’t slam her with pressure.”

“I’m being honest,” he said without a change in his expression. “But yeah, that should cover the tour for today. Any questions?”

“Nope,” she said. “I’m really excited to begin working.”

“Great. Sarah can teach you the ropes from here. I’m heading back to my office. Feel free to let me know if you need anything directly from me.”

With that, Lare left, leaving the two alone.

“Finally,” said Sarah. “We can chat about so many things. I’m so curious about where you’re from and would love to hear some interesting stories. You must have a tone.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle in response.

“Well... I might have interesting stories to tell. Just a bit more on the fiction side.”

Nobina hoped she was fine with hearing her chat about her writing. It was her favorite topic, and besides that, it felt hard talking about other stuff from her old world. The worst case would be revealing the fact she was from another world.

As she thought about it, everything was going well so far. She had a lot of work ahead of her and wasn’t completely set so far in terms of settling down. However, she saw a path forward and had people supporting her. She would do her best to show she was a hard worker and deserving of her job. It was a chance she didn’t want to waste.