Loraine approached the mansion’s gates, the guards glancing at her briefly before opening the gates, allowing her passage. The sight of the gates opening felt more like freedom, the cool evening air brushing against her skin like the caress of a lover.

"...." Loraine remained silent for a moment, giving one quick glance over her shoulder, before taking a deep breath, shaking off her nerves as she prepared to step into the outside world.

’Here we go...god this feels way more intimidating than it needs to be. Get it together Loraine!’ She scolded herself internally as she finally walked outside of the mansion’s gates, the heavy metal doors slamming shut behind her.

’Alright, ingredients, just get the ingredients and come back safely. Simple right? Yeah, easy, I got this!’ Loraine said, pumping up her chest as she began to walk down the road. She walked quite a while, as the mansion slowly started to disappear behind her, passing buildings and alleyways that held beggers and some shady people as she walked past them.

"Hey beautiful," A ruffled up middle aged man asked, his voice rough as he stood leaning against a wall, a bottle of ale in his hand as he eyed her hungrily. "A maiden like you shouldn’t be walking alone around these parts." He said, flashing her a toothy grin but was met with a fierce glare from her, her body radiating a fierce wrath that surprised the perverted man as he looked into her crimson eyes.

He quickly averted his gaze, turning around as he retreated into the dark alley, shivering rolling down his spine.

’Ew.....’ She thought, disgusted by the man’s pathetic attempt to hit on her. ’First day outside and I already get hit on by creeps,’ Loraine sighed, placing her hands on her face as she gazed up at the sky. ’We’re certainly off to a great start.’ She remarked sarcastically.

’What the fuck!?’ Loraine cursed inwardly, though it wasn’t in shock, as her eyes were widened in bated surprise. Her eyes wandered over the grand architecture of her surroundings, the houses, the cobblestone roads, street lamps that glowed with a ethereal light that basked the surroundings in a cozy warmth.

She caught sight of a magician on the streets, draped in a cape of fine silk, performing tricks as flames sprouted from his hands and burst into the sky, dancing in the air as the flames spun in a vortex, before exploding in a colorful array of colors that left the people gathered in awe and amazement, applause and praise immediately ringing out for miles as the people celebrated.

There were a plethora of different people gathered, some were dressed as commoners, upper class, and a few carriages even strolled around the place, their nobility immediately parting the people like moses did the red sea.

"That looks so cool..." She muttered unconsciously under her breath, her eyes glued to the spectacle as she almost started to drift towards the sight, but quickly caught herself as she remembered her mission, shaking her head vehemently as she needed to stay on her task.

’Cmon Loraine, focus! You can’t get distracted so soon! You need to hurry!’ Loraine said to herself, slapping her cheeks as they burned red, the stinging pain sharp enough to reclaim her attention, and consequently getting the attention of others as well, as passerby’s immediately gave her questionable looks.

The place was overly crowded, people everywhere making it hard to see any buildings or establishments. It was almost overwhelming, as she didn’t know where to go or what to look out for.

"Shit...maybe Sarah was right, I don’t know what I’m doing." She cursed under her breath, starting to get a little nervous. "I’ll just need to ask for help."

Her eyes wandered around the crowd of people, but she wasn’t sure who to pick as there were just so many people. Her eyes eventually landed on a woman dressed in an adventurer uniform, wearing a leather chestplate and a sword adorning her hip, her hair neatly tied in a ponytail.

"Uhm, excuse me!" Loraine called out to her, gently grabbing the woman’s shoulder to get her attention.

As soon as Loraine’s hand made contact with the woman’s shoulder, her head immediately cocked back to look at her, a sharp glare meeting Loraine’s eyes that sent a shiver down her spine, her aura radiating a fierce bloodlust for a moment before blinking in surprise, having expected something worse, as her hand had already reached to withdraw her blade.

’Scary!’

"O-oh! My apologies, I wasn’t expecting someone like you to grab my shoulder." The woman apologized, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she turned to face Loraine. "What’s up? You seem lost." The woman asked, raising a brow as she looked Loraine up and down, noticing her uniform.

’Is she maid? What is she doing out here?’ The woman thought internally, resting her hand on her hip. ’I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before, is she from another city?’ She pondered, noting Loraine’s beauty that seemed unordinary for those of her profession.

"Sorry if I startled you, I’m looking for a shop to purchase cooking ingredients, as I don’t really know my way around these parts." Loraine explained with a small flush of embarrassment creeping on her cheeks, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "Do you think you could help me?"

’Its my first time ever going outside actually, but its best I keep that hidden as to not look like an oddball.’ She thought with a small grin.

"Of course, sorry for glaring at you like that. It’s a bit dangerous around these parts, so I just like to have my guard up." She said, laughing a bit as she pointed in a direction at the far edge of the square, where a road leading down to another area was situated.

"There’s a shop just down the road, it’s a bit of a walk but there are several shops down in that district, you should be able to find what you’re looking for." She said to Loraine, flashing her a small smile.

"Thank you, I deeply appreciate your help!" Loraine said, flashing her a grateful smile before departing from the kind adventurer, waving goodbye to her as she walked through the place, making her toward the road.

Her eyes wandered around a bit more, engraving everything into memory

’That went better than I expected, maybe things aren’t as bad as I made them out to be.’ Loraine thought with a smile, before the voice of the woman earlier reached her ears, shouting in a desperate attempt to warn her.

"Hey! Watch out!"