[Mission - Hunting with the first light of the morning]
[The moments between sunrise and dawn are the best time to find food in the forest north of the capital Priodisma. Predators that have been hunting all night are tired and sleepy, while venomous creatures like scorpions and snakes are still awake. Take this opportunity to gather plants to eat in the forest to solve the hunger problem]
[Nutritional value of collected plants: 0/5000 calories]
[3 hours and 21 minutes to mission start]
[Task reward: new command - Statistics window]
Eren's expression worsened every second as he read the text that appeared on the system screen.
There was a logical reason for this, of course;
Eren looked first at the giant walls that surrounded the city on all sides, and then at the giant tower in the center of the city.
The city walls protect the city from attacks from the ground, while at the same time controlling who enters and exits the city.
The giant tower in the center of the city is the Magic Tower, which protects the city with a magical shield against attacks from the air and is the official gathering point for wizards.
Even though the quest my system gave me contained tips that could actually solve Eren's hunger problem, these tips are meaningless unless he can get out of the city and into the forest.
So Eren puts his head in his hands and dives into his memories, scanning for every single clue about getting out of the city.
The first clue he came up with was a few gangs on the outskirts of the city. Eren had heard that in the past these gangs had been smuggling contraband from outside the city for some nobles.
Unfortunately, in his current state, Eren couldn't ask these gangs to let him out, so he kept thinking and finally found a clue.
In his memories, there were a few woodcutters who used to go out early in the morning to collect firewood and come back in the evening. And these woodcutters used to be low-level mercenaries, so traveling to and from the forest was not a big problem for them.
... Three hours later
As Eren continued to watch people returning home after spending the night in the beds of prostitutes, he finally met the people he was looking for.
Luckily, the big square where everyone would pass if they wanted to go to the North Gate of the city was located very close to the Red Street.
Eren didn't linger any longer and saw a group of people walking towards the forest with axes in their hands and ropes hanging from their waists.
The group was all men, their skin was a bit tanned and they were quite molded. As Eren approached them, when he locked eyes with one of them, he felt the instinct to avert his gaze for a moment, but he quickly suppressed it and cut off the group of about ten men.
The men, with an average age of over forty, stared at the boy who had cut them off. If he wasn't missing one arm, they would have thought him a nobleman at first glance with his white skin.
The awkward silence lasted only a few seconds before Eren broke it.
"Gentlemen, do you need someone to help you with mundane tasks? I want to be a woodcutter, so if possible, can I help you and learn how to become one?"
When Eren made this offer, he was aware that he would probably be rejected.
A group of lumberjacks, only 40-50 years old, would not want to teach him the job unless they had a problem in their minds. Who would want to create a rival for themselves?
"How much do you have, young boy?"
And the first question they asked supported Eren's conclusion to some extent.
They obviously think that the reason Eren can ask such a question is because he's going to pay them for it.
"I'm sorry sir, I don't have any money. I hope to run errands and help you in exchange for the information you will give me."
"You hope, huh? Wait a second."
Seeing the bald man looking him up and down with a serious expression and then pushing his friends away from him a little, Eren thought that they would probably accept his offer, which put his plan to offer them errands in exchange for a ride to the forest at risk after his offer was rejected.
At first Eren wanted to rush forward and make his second offer immediately, but he calmed himself down and maintained the image he had created. Even if these guys were really good-hearted and decided to teach him woodcutting, the system could complete its task during the training.
Contrary to Eren's guess, the reason for the bald woodcutter's hesitation was completely different.
After the men moved some distance away from Eren, they didn't need to say anything and started arguing as if they all had the same doubts.
"Dravik, you think the same as me, right?"
The bald woodcutter nodded at his friend's words and continued. "Yeah. He says he has no money. And as far as I can see, the dress he's wearing doesn't have a pocket."
At this point another man joined the conversation. "But the quality of the fabric is very high. More important is the way she talks."
"Tavrek is right, Dravik. The way the boy talks reminds me of the noble brats in the caravans we used to accompany. Was he hoping? Who uses that word in everyday life? Hahaha pretentious bastard!"
"Shut up, you idiot! He's too poor to be a noble. Use your brains. We're talking about a boy who lives like a noble but is as strong as monsters..."
"Dravik. Do you think you're a wizard? Come on! Wouldn't it be ridiculous for a wizard to ask such a thing of us? They're more the kind of people who just show up and politely order us around. Besides, apart from our old identity, we're just a woodcutter now. What kind of wizard would speak so respectfully to dirty street rats like us?"
"Maybe he's the child of a wizard."
"Or a beginner trained to be a wizard.
"Or maybe his parents, nobles or wizards, have been murdered and he is trying to live like an ordinary person on the streets to hide from the assassins who are after him. Oh, I smell a 12-volume drama novel.
The bald woodcutter named Dravik was about to shout to his friends when he saw that the topic was getting off track, when the image of an old woodcutter with a cowboy hat covering his white hair and emitting a strange synergy around him, walking through the forest with an axe on his shoulder, picking his teeth with a piece of twig hit the corner of his field of vision.