18 This Hero Forms a Party!

I returned to my room in the guild hall and recollected myself.

"Phew… Alright. Do I accept a quest now? Do I take on quests by myself or do I form an adventuring party? What if people don't take me as a party member because I'm level 0?"

I'm vocalizing all of my doubts out loud to the room. Though it's not helping me to wallow in my own self doubts, 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. 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 chairs 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.

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?

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

"Oh, hello. Are you here to turn in a quest?"

"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?"

"Alright, that's no problem. 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."

"Wait, I'm pretty new to this. Can people here read? I was led to believe that most people can't."

"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 read 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 0 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 inside of the tavern and I have a leather cuirass on."

This seemed right so I posted it on the bulletin board and took a seat. Since I am also hungry, I ordered some breakfast for 10 juns and began waiting patiently for people to approach me.

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 0. 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 and is wearing the quintessential garments of a wizard entered the tavern. His rambunctious attitude and aloof demeanor clashed together as he quickly walked inside. His clothing is a deep purple robe and a pointed hat. His face lacks any hair aside from his eyebrows and 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."

"Yeah yeah I'm just excited! Today is the day!"

"You said that yesterday too, and the day before that!"

"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 speak. 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 0 wishes to form a party? 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!"