Nobina and Her Strange Journey Through Another World

Soon, the dinner concluded, and everyone gave their goodbyes.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow?” asked Nobina.

“Of course,” laughed Mimiki. “Work doesn’t stop for anyone and I’m sure we have a lot to do. Tomorrow hopefully the last raid group comes back, and we finally conclude this whole thing.”

“That’d be great,” nodded Sarah. “Time to relax and think about the finer things in life… like clothing… and cool stories… and…”

Sarah began listing all her interests, making Nobina laugh.

“Yeah… We can start finally thinking about how much money we need to make to cover our expenses,” sighed Nobina. “But anyway, I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

With that, everyone departed for their home. When Nobina reached her room, she opened it to see that Pausers and Lebron were playing around with each other. Nobina felt relieved since she wasn’t really sure if the two could keep each other company. Seeing a dog playing with a bunny was a sight to see.

Before she could do anything else, Hammy flew out of her special bag, joining the three together. The sight itself felt like a balm to her soul, considering everything they had just been through.

“I’m glad you are all getting along with each other,” nodded Nobina.

She sat down at her desk and began filling in her diary. Despite her desire to continue her story, she wanted to go over it with Mimiki first to make sure it was solid. Not only that, but she didn’t want to give up diary writing. Instead, she wanted to mix writing in the diary with continuing her book. Sure, it would make her journey of writing a book longer, but she had no intentions of rushing a book at the expense of her own happiness.

Filling in her diary, she began remembering the first time she wrote in it and the joy it brought her. Before, there was so much unknown to her. Heck, there was still so much unknown to her now. The difference was that she had so many answers and theories now. She knew that she was destined to potentially influence the world thanks to her Path. There were people who could be watching her from her old world and perhaps other worlds as well, all intent on giving her things through the Gaze bag she received from Nonomo.

“Nonomo…”

That one name. There had only been one encounter with him, but it was clear he was playing a role in her life. His degree of influence was still unknown, but she had no intentions of forgetting that name.

Moving on, she started to think about all the people she had gotten to know. First were adventurers like Merrick, Macy, Jonathan and his party, and so many others, and she began to realize why Mimiki enjoyed her job so much. She must have known so many more faces than her and knew a lot of all these adventurers.

Beyond the adventurers, there were also Sarah, Lare, Mimiki, and Eric, who made up the guild staff. While they were small, they all did a lot of work, and all their roles were important. Not to mention everyone was on good terms with each other.

“Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say,” nodded Nobina.

Realizing she was going down memory lane, Nobina went ahead and finished up her entry. There would always be more chances to think of the past, but Nobina was starting to get tired.

“Oh… one last thing.”

Nobina summoned her pen and then summoned the blade. After that, she went to pick up her diary. The moment she held it in her hand, she saw the blade gain a dreadful, black aura. It was pure black, unlike the pen blade, which was still grey. Fearing the worst, Nobina recalled everything, panting heavily. She felt as if she would have gotten a headache if she held it any longer.

“Why… do I feel…”

It was very faint, but Nobina felt as if the blade had whispered something to her.

“Surrender your memories… and I shall cleave through everything.”

Did the blade… talk? Not only that but it was telling her that if she used her blade with her diary, she’d lose her memories.

“Such a dreadful ability,” she told herself.

The voice never came with the ledger, so she had to wonder if it was the blade itself or perhaps the diary with the blade.

“I’ll… answer this another time.”

With that, Nobina went to bed. To her surprise, Lebron hopped onto her blanket, trying to sleep next to her. Too tired to mind, she merely smiled and fell asleep.

The next day, Nobina unpacked everything from her special bag. Looking at her room, it was a mess of new objects received in the previous days.

“I’m going to need a new storage sooner or later,” she sighed. “I swear if I get something massive one of these days.”

For now, Nobina packed everything that would have been bad to leave behind. That meant the grenades, the magical items, and Hammy, who seemed to continue to want to follow her. Once that was sorted, she began heading downstairs to head to the guild. Once she was in the lobby, it seemed everyone wanted to greet her as they all wished her a good day.

“Thanks everyone,” said Nobina, leaving the inn.

As she walked down the streets, she was getting a different feeling from before. It felt as if the feeling of worry was gone despite the fact the last raid team hadn’t arrived. Perhaps it was just because Eric and Mimiki were now watching over them, but she felt as if it was more than that. She felt that finishing a major incident like this would give her time to breathe and relax, strange as it sounded. Though, she didn’t want to jinx herself before all the loose ends were tied up. After all, there was still a demon on the loose, and she didn’t know if it was after her or Eric.

Eventually, she reached the guild, where people greeted her kindly. She returned the greetings and soon found herself behind the receptionist’s desk with Sarah.

“How was your sleep?” asked Sarah, merely standing happily behind the receptionist’s desk.

“Great,” Nobina responded. “Managed to get some writing into my diary and learned more about my ability.”

“Oh? Learn anything interesting?” asked Sarah.

“Absolutely do not use it with my diary,” sighed Nobina. “I think it makes it immensely stronger, but it might cost me my memories.”

“Oh, that’s horrible,” said Sarah, shocked by what Nobina said to her. “Yeah… never use that ability please. Though, it is interesting how versatile it seems. I wonder what your blade will become once you finish your first book.”

“I’m excited to see,” nodded Nobina.

Once that was done, Nobina headed into the guild library and began her work tracking the guild expenses. Looking at all the numbers, her face was getting paler as she saw how much closer to the red the guild was than she expected.

“We don’t even have the reports from the medical office yet,” sighed Nobina. “We’ll need to make up this money somehow.”

At the very least, Nobina knew they still had gold. She had established a minimum amount of gold, which she determined was necessary to return to normal operations. If they ran out of money completely, they couldn’t handle the issuing and payment of quests.

Despite how bad it was, Nobina didn’t let it discourage her. She began looking through the means by which the guild had gained revenue in the past and thinking about how organizations in her world got additional funding when they needed it.

The day passed quickly, with the rhythm only being broken with a lunch between all the guild staff. There wasn’t much serious talk this time, but Nobina enjoyed that. Instead, it was a lot of them talking about their own interests and a bit of messing around with each other. It reminded her how much of a family the guild was in Nobina’s eyes.

As the day started to end, an adventurer ran into the guild with a report.

“The last raid party has arrived,” he yelled.

Adventurers began piling out of the guild to welcome back the raid party. Nobina and the other guild officers decided to close the doors for now so they could head to the town entrance and welcome them all back personally.

Once the guild was shut, all of them headed to the south entrance. The raid party hadn’t reached the town just yet, but it was visible from a distance. Nobina was relieved as she saw the party seemed decent in size. Not only that, but it seemed they were all in good spirits.

As they waited, the lead adventurer in front pointed a fist in the air, causing a cheer from the crowd of civilians and adventurers waiting at the edge of town. Even Nobina felt herself drawn into the fanfare as all of them celebrated what seemed to be a successful mission.

Before she knew it, the lead adventurer, Michael, saluted Eric and Hally, who both stood in front of everyone.

“Welcome back,” said Eric.

“It’s good to be back sir. We report a successful raid. We lost a few E and D rank adventurers, but overall, no heavy losses. The plan worked as a charm and the nest has been partially culled.”

“Excellent work,” said Hally. “A lot has happened since your party has left, but I don’t want to ruin the good mood with that. For now, enjoy that you’ve all done well to help protect the town.”

Michael gave a nod, continuing to lead all the adventurers towards the guild.

Seeing that, the rest of the guild staff began heading back to properly welcome them all back. Everyone was still in high spirits as the various leaders of each group approached the receptionist desk. There were a lot of discussions that were to be had regarding payment, since this would basically empty most of the guild vault. However, it was better than the alternative, which would have been a heavy loss of life.

“Nobina,” called a group of three adventurers. Nobina recognized it was Jonathan and his party.

“Jonathan! Herrita! Noct! Good to see you all made it back in one piece,” said Nobina.

“Yeah… Raids are no joke Nobina,” said Jonathan, shaking his head. “So many adventurers, yet so many goblins. It was only thanks to us funneling them out of those tunnels did it make it much easier. If we had to go in, I’d imagine things would have been far worse.”

Nobina felt ecstatic seeing people she cared about coming back without issues. She’d have to imagine the mood would change once everyone learned about what happened, but for now, all of them were having a good time enjoying the victory.

Before anything else could happen, Sarah made an announcement.

“Everyone. The guild welcomes all of you back. A lot has happened since your departure, so please listen closely as I relay the chain of events that have happened.”

Sarah wasted no time relaying the events. A lot of the fanfare seemed to disappear as people realized how bad things had gotten. However, the successful defense, rescue of Mimiki, and the culling of the other two nests brought back the good mood.

“Tomorrow, we shall have a remembrance for the fallen of the two attacks on the town and those who have died for the sake of the town. Please report to the town center, where we shall have Priestess Irida give words to the fallen.”

Hearing that name, Nobina recalled that the town had a small church for the God of Beginnings.

She didn’t have many details regarding the world religions, but she did know about the three major gods. The God of Beginnings represented the start of all, the God of Progress governed the progression of all things, and the God of Ends governed the end of all things. It was simple to understand, but there seemed to be a deep religious system behind each god. If Nobina had time, she wanted to learn more about them. However, her duties always kept her busy. The main thing she wanted to know anyway was how these three gods related to Nonomo and whether he was a god or something else.

“That is all,” said Sarah. “If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.”

Almost expectantly, many adventurers approached not only Sarah but also Nobina, Mimiki, and Lare with questions. They all did their best to answer everyone’s concerns. However, a part of it was people thanking Mimiki and Nobina for the work they did. Many of them were thankful because they had families in town and credited her for protecting them. Knowing that they managed to get through two attacks that could have seen the town destroyed was a relief to them. Some even felt like they had to pay Nobina back for what she did, but she quickly dismissed those thoughts.

“I was just doing what I could,” she’d respond. “I rather you use that money to help those who need it.”

Many of them appreciated that response and left things there. Eventually, things died down as most of the people’s questions were answered. By the time the adventurers had left for the day, it was the dead of night.

“Man, I’m starving,” said Sarah. “Let’s all head out to eat.”

“The restaurants are probably packed,” said Lare. “Why not eat at Eric’s place?”

All of them turned to Eric, who merely shrugged.

“I guess there’s no choice. Come on.”

All of them seemed excited to go there, prompting Nobina to wonder what Eric’s home was like. She had never been there personally, nor did anyone mention it.

They closed up the guild for the day, following Eric as he headed to the north-east corner of the town. Next to one of the guard post was a nice stone house. The lawn itself looked well-kept and the house gave off a rather old look to it.

Eric opened the wooden gate of the house, and they followed him down the cobblestone path. Eventually, they reached a nicely decorated wooden door, which he waved his hand to open. To Nobina’s surprise, it seemed to unlock the door, allowing them in.

“Wow,” said Nobina.

Nobina was amazed by the interior being a well-furnished wooden setup. The furniture looked well made, with designs reflecting the craftsman was someone who clearly had interests in adventuring.

“This house hosts a lot of my past treasures, so I keep it secure,” said Eric, looking a bit sentimental. “Many of them aren’t useful in battle or should never be used, so forgive me if I never brought any out for the recent events. If I had an item that could save people without repercussions, I wouldn’t have hesitated to use it.”

“No worries,” said Nobina, waving her hands. “I know that that my Gaze bag isn’t useful all the time either, so…”

“Speaking of your bag Nobina,” said Eric, looking directly at it. “Have you received anything to offer insight regarding it and your Path?”

She shook her head.

“There’s plenty of answers I’ve received thanks to the items, as well as question. It’s a good discussion for the future but…”

The growl of their stomachs caused Eric to laugh, shaking his head.

“Forgive me. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss the future. For now… let’s enjoy some food.”

With that, they all entered the dining room, which had a table meant for six people. All of them took their seats as Eric began preparing food.

“Man, this is exciting,” said Sarah. “Eric was the chef of his party and developed his skills during his many years adventuring. He often doesn’t cook for others because he never has time, opting to cook quick meals for himself. However, if you get a chance to try his cooking, you take it.”

“Please,” said Eric, showing a sense of embarrassment. “I’ve met far better cooks than me, so all this praise feels a bit underserved.”

Nobina was surprised to see his reaction to Sarah’s praise, considering Eric seemed to be the type to never show such emotions. However, perhaps it meant that Eric had another side to him on the private side.

Soon, the food was set, and Eric gave an introduction to the meal. It was a well-seasoned Chizen, using seasonings from his journey during his adventuring day. Many of the seasonings had an amazing shelf life, but his spice rack itself was magical and preserved his food even longer.

“It cost a pretty penny, but even a bit of the spices I’ve gathered really enhance the meal. Forgive me Nobina, as you might have never tasted anything as good. Though, considering you’re from another world…”

“Only one way to find out,” smiled Nobina.

She bit into the meal, savoring the Chizen and the powerful flavors of the spices. It felt so unique that Nobina felt as if she was in another world once again.

“Wow,” said Nobina.

Looking around, everyone shared the same sentiment. A look of pure bliss was filling everyone’s faces as they were savoring Eric’s personally cooked food.

“It’s too bad some of these ingredients can reach up to a thousand gold nowadays, else I’d get some more.”

Nobina froze upon hearing that, causing Eric to chuckle.

“If you’re thinking about selling the spices, I’ll tell you that I can obtain way more money if we need it Nobina. After all, we are a part of a national guild system, remember?”

“Oh. Sorry,” said Nobina.

As she said that, her Gaze bag glowed. When she opened it, she saw what appeared to be someone’s bank book.

“Why did someone give me their bank book? Who in the world would accept dollars in this world?”

A note flew out of the Gaze bag, saying, “It’s for your pen.” On the very bottom of it was a sign of the foreign currency conversion rate being ten to one.”

“Two… thousand… six hundred gold?” asked Nobina softly to herself. However, Sarah was close enough to hear.

“Did… you say two thousand six hundred gold Nobina?” asked Sarah, her face in a bit of shock.

“I believe the person who gave me the bank book gave me their conversion rate, though I doubt I’d actually be able to use this to get the gold. I’m just curious if this works with the Golden Pen Blade, which is what I’m going to call this ledger and pen blade combo,” nodded Nobina.

“Oh right,” said Mimiki, coming to a realization. “You have that new blade! Tell us all about it.”

Nobina nodded, beginning her explanation of how her Pen Blade ability worked. Sarah and Lare merely nodded as Mimiki’s eyes lit up during the conversation. Even Eric was clearly interested in the ability, as he seemed to be deeply thinking about it.

“I’m so ready to test that thing out later. Man… It’s going to be so cool seeing you become a great adventurer,” nodded Mimiki. “Perhaps even… a legendary adventurer.”

Nobina didn’t fail to see Mimiki almost drooling over the idea, causing her to cover her face in embarrassment.

“It’ll be cool to see what comes of this as well,” said Eric, merely smiling. “I have no doubt you can become an amazing adventurer. Perhaps legendary might be a stretch though, considering we’ve only had a few in our worlds existence.”

As he said that, Eric reached out and caught a rock that was about to hit his head.

“Nice try Gaze,” he chuckled.

The hand from the Gaze bag shook its fist at Eric before going back into the bag.

“I’m not sure why some people in there hate you,” sighed Nobina.

“Don’t worry about it,” smiled Eric. “If I was beaten by a single rock, I don’t deserve the title of former S-rank adventurer. Anyway, I think we went off track. Don’t worry about the money for the guild. When the reinforcements get here, we’ll begin organizing a supply relief to the other guilds.”

“That sounds good,” nodded Nobina.

With that, they all continued their meals. As Nobina enjoyed the sight of everyone eating, she began thinking about the future. She’d finally get a chance just to focus on developing her own abilities. There was always a chance that something would attempt to impede her development in the future, but for now, all she wanted to do was move forward in her life. It might have seemed like she hadn’t made much progress in her dream, but that was far from the truth. She felt she had learned so much about the topic she was going to write about.

Writing wasn’t merely just creating fiction. It was taking your experiences and putting them down on the page. Sometimes, it was converting those experiences into immersive experiences that would reach the hearts of millions. Other times, it was merely personal writing that would be solely for your enjoyment. Regardless of why someone wrote, the experience behind the writing matters. After all, authors were made up of experiences that made their writing unique.

“Nobina,” called Sarah. “Are you alright?”

“Oh… yeah,” she smiles softly. “I’m just thinking about how things are going to be moving forward.”