This Hero Forms a Party!

I returned to my room in the guildhall. The equipment that I had purchased earlier was piled up neatly on top of my bed. I went over, pushed the equipment to the side, and sat down.

I closed my eyes and began to collect my thoughts. This is the first time in a while that I've had complete freedom with my next set of actions.

"Fooo…" I fell backwards onto the bed. "Alright... Do I accept a quest now? Do I take on quests by myself or do I form an adventuring party? What even is a quest?" I rolled around as I thought out loud. "What if people don't take me as a party member because I'm level zero?"

I'm vocalizing all of my doubts out loud to the room. Though wallowing around won't help me, it's a nice stress reliever.

After a momentary freakout, I slapped my face with both my hands and psyched myself up.

"God said this place is full of low level people." I hopped up out of bed. "All I need to do is put myself out there! I'll be fine! This is my next step to defeating the Demon King!"

With that, I stepped outside of my room and walked downstairs to the tavern.

Many people are sitting in the lobby now. I can see Yimmie taking drinks to and from tables like a reliable waitress. I think I heard her say that she had a boyfriend just now, but that might just be my imagination. Despite how early in the morning it is, many people seem to be drinking alcohol

After taking a moment to read the room, I had a sudden realization.

I am terrible at socializing.

I can talk to one or two people without a problem, but groups of people, especially those that I need to sell myself to, I cannot handle. I'm not agoraphobic or anything, but I just don't really know how to handle this. Do I post an application to the bulletin board? Am I just supposed to walk up to someone and say "Hey how's it going?"

Not knowing what to do, I decided to approach the booth where I spoke with Yimmie earlier today. There is now a human man that appears to be in his late thirties manning the counter.

"Oh, hello. Are you here to turn in a quest?" He smiled to me as he rested his hands upon the counter.

"Actually, I'm here for the exact opposite. I would like to join or make a party but I don't know what to do. Can you help me?"

The man continued to smile. "Of course, that's no problem!" He pulled a paper out from under the counter and slid it over to me. "Take this sheet and fill it out with whatever you feel you may need to bring up. Once you're done, post it on the bulletin board over there and take a seat."

I looked over the paper and read out the fields that it had written on it. Things like "name" and "position" were there, but I have a different question than what's on the sheet. "I'm pretty new to this. Can people here read? I was led to believe that most people can't."

The man shrugged. "You're right that most people can't read, but adventurers usually need to be able to read. If you can't read then you can't really manage your status can you?"

I didn't respond to this man with anger despite him treating me like an idiot. I instead decided to just fill out the form with any relevant information I could think of.

"Hello, my name is Kenji. I am currently level zero but I am serious about being an adventurer. It's alright if you just need me for just one job, but I would like to find permanent party members if possible. I plan on being a frontliner and I currently have basic equipment. I will be waiting in the guildhall all day. I have black hair and I have a leather cuirass on." Is what I wrote down.

This seemed right so I posted it on the bulletin board and took a seat. I saw people look at me as I did this, but they quickly returned to themselves.

I sat quietly for a while before I heard my stomach rumble. Since I'm already here, I decided to order some breakfast. To my dismay, it cost ten juns, but when it came out I could tell that it was calorie filled. I was reminded of those meals that soldiers eat, so I suppose that adventurers need more calories too. I began to eat my breakfast as I waited patiently for people to approach me.

Ah, you're looking at the board. Yes that's me sitting right there. I apologize if I don't match your standards but I can work hard, I promise! No, please don't look away! I promise I'll be good! Noooooo!

I've been sitting here for an hour. Most people have already left the building at this point and nobody came up to recruit me despite multiple people looking at my listing. I guess most people don't want to take a level zero. This is a problem.

As the guild hall is nearly empty, I was about to give up hope before I heard something.

"Alright! Today is the day!" Someone suddenly shouted from the entrance.

A man that appeared to be very thin, clad in the quintessential garments of a wizard, entered the guildhall. His rambunctious attitude and aloof demeanor clashed together as he quickly walked inside. His deep purple outfit stands out inside of the muted color grade of the building. His face lacks any hair aside from his eyebrows. Sticking out from under his hat I can see strands of curly brown hair. His expressions are sharp despite his attitude. Something that is hard to spot but is unforgettable once it is seen is that this man has short pointy ears.

"Tael, you're too loud." Yimmie didn't even look towards the man as she continued waiting tables.

"Yeah yeah... I'm just excited! Today is the day!" He kept hopping up and down.

"You said that yesterday too, and the day before that!" The man behind the counter grumbled.

"And all of last week too." Another worker chimed in.

"Y-yeah, but today is a good day! I can feel it!" The man gave a big toothy grin and a thumbs up at his declaration.

Quickly, the man walked up to the bulletin board and loudly began to read the listings out loud. It seems like this is a normal occurrence for the rest of the guild, however, as nobody is paying it any mind.

Suddenly, the man grabbed my paper from the board and began shouting.

"Oh my oh my oh my! What is this? A level ZERO wishes to form a party?" He spun around in a circle, causing his robe to flutter about. "Fufufu... Perhaps I shall take pity on them? Who here is this mysterious 'Kenji' that this paper speaks of?"

I felt multiple eyes on me as I became the center of attention. Quietly and reluctantly, I slowly raised my hand only for it to be grasped and shaken by the man in front of me.

"Ah-ha! Hello there Kenji-chan! My name is Tael! I will party up with you!"