My name was Dania Kaplin. I was born into a knightly family in the Western Territory, and ever since I could remember, I had traveled around with my father on adventures.
They were called adventures, but really, we were looking for my mother and older sister.
I had never seen either of them.
I didn't know what they were like.
My father was only a D-rank Adventurer, but he was also a merchant.
As we traveled around on adventures, my father always kept an eye on prices. He would buy supplies, then sell them in places where they fetched a better price.
I also learned about business from my father.
When I was nine, my father was gravely injured during an adventure. He passed away after making his final arrangements.
My father told me to live well. If my mother and sister were still alive, they would surely love me, so I had to keep living.
Since I had traveled around with my father, I had no fixed home and could only stay at inns.
At first, I tried trading, but someone reported me.
You needed a permit to set up a stall.
You also had to pay a stall tax.
When my father had no money, he worked as an Adventurer. When he had money, he worked as a merchant.
When I had no money, I couldn't work as an Adventurer.
I was just a child and had no idea how to survive, so I started picking through the trash.
But even that wasn't allowed, because the trash belonged to someone.
But I was so hungry I couldn't take it anymore.
To keep people from noticing that I was pretty, I cut off my hair and made myself stink. I disguised myself and quickly ran off with food each time. Everyone thought I was a boy.
A child's voice could sound gender-neutral if you deliberately made it so, and people couldn't tell whether you were a boy or a girl.
Sometimes a priest would look at me strangely. It turned out that even pretty boys weren't safe.
Still, in places with laws and order, as long as you were careful, no one dared openly lay hands on you.
And since I often moved from place to place, staying in a city at night was unsafe. If I slept outside and made sure no one was following me, I could keep myself safe.
Unfortunately, that life didn't last long.
Food was just too hard to find.
I had no choice but to kill my friend.
I used to love cats, but one time, when I was starving, I killed that cat.
I'd loved it so much. Sometimes I even fed it, and it was like a friend to me.
But I still killed it. I killed my friend.
Later, the Orcs came, so I ran. In the chaos, I stole a lot of things, thinking that would let me live comfortably.
But when I went to a pawnshop afterward, the original owner happened to recognize me.
Stealing was a crime, so I was driven out.
Once again, I had nothing at all.
It's okay. I'll definitely keep living.
But I failed.
I tried everything I could think of.
Working as a merchant.
Stealing.
I'd thought about killing someone, but I wasn't strong enough, so I gave up on that idea.
I thought I was going to die, but luckily, an older Dog Demi-human named Anna saved me.
She took me in, and I was able to settle down for a while and recover from all my ailments.
But later, the Orcs invaded.
I was on the run again.
This time, it wasn't just me. Even the adults, who seemed capable of anything to me, were helpless.
While traveling with my father, I'd learned a few simple ways to treat injuries and gather Herbs. Because of that, some people listened to me and helped me with little things.
But we truly had no idea how to get food. The Western Territory was short on grain everywhere, and there wasn't even any Tree Bark left to eat in the wild.
At that point, some people chose to sell their sons and daughters. They said selling their children could give them a chance at a future.
Anna chose to sell herself.
I'd already tried to survive on my own before, but I simply couldn't do it.
I had to live, no matter what it took.
So I decided to sell myself, too. I could think of it as repaying Anna for taking me in.
Fortunately, the man in charge had been treated by someone, so he listened to me.
I suggested that I be allowed to choose my own Master. Anna thought I knew a lot, so she came along with me.
For the next few days, everyone who wanted to buy me was looking for a plaything.
Since I still had a little hope and some time, I wanted to wait a little longer before being bought and spend some more time with Anna.
As for the others, no one wanted to buy them.
We were just too thin. There was no value in buying us.
My father had told me that this world was all about exchanging benefits. If we wanted someone to buy us, we had to offer them something they wanted.
So I suggested lowering the price.
Fortunately, someone bought us this time.
A very handsome person walked in.
He was a noble.
When he saw the Elf, he didn't react at all. When he saw the strong Dwarves and the fierce men with bulging muscles, he would stop and think for a moment.
But when he saw the price, he looked disappointed.
He came to my stall, and when he saw the price, he didn't even look at what we were like. He simply said, "I'll take them all."