The town of Akoup is surrounded by tall walls, built to prepare for potential monster invasions. It’s a type of fortress city, designed to deal with monsters or invaders from any direction.

The walls are about twice my height, but with a little effort, Ivy could easily scale them.

As I recalled the explanation Jennifer gave me before we parted ways, it seemed like it was my turn.

The guard was pointing the tip of his long spear at Ivy, who was sitting on my shoulder in her smallest size.

I had reduced her size to avoid causing a commotion, but she still seemed to draw attention.

“This is my familiar. Look, she’s wearing the ring.”

“Hm, I see… That’s quite a small monster for a turtle.”

To show that a creature is a familiar, tamers are required to have a ring attached to the creature's body as proof of the bond.

Since Ivy can change sizes, she has four different-sized rings. Right now, she’s wearing the smallest one on her hand.

Ivy takes her appearance seriously, and upon closer inspection, I noticed the ring had been slightly trimmed to give it a more stylish look.

She probably likes little accessories like this. Maybe I’ll give her a present sometime.

The guard seemed intrigued, not because Ivy was too big, but because she was too small for a monster.

Too big is bad, too small is also bad… it’s tough to find the right balance.

I might need to ask later what size is most appropriate for a tamer’s turtle familiar.

“If your familiar causes any damage or commits any crime, you as the owner will be held responsible as well, so be careful.”

“Yes, understood.”

The bond between a familiar and a tamer is strong. Any actions the familiar takes are considered the responsibility of the tamer.

This is why a familiar must have a deep connection with the tamer, to the point where they can guarantee the creature won’t go on a rampage.

Many tamers use magic to communicate with their familiars, but Ivy and I don’t need that.

We already understand each other perfectly.

“Mii~”

After all, Ivy and I are family.

“Well, given her size, I don’t think you have much to worry about.”

“Haha, yeah, probably.”

I casually replied and entered the city. I imagine the guard’s eyes would pop out if he saw Ivy’s true size.

Having successfully entered the city, our first stop was the Adventurer’s Guild.

I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere inside and see if I could actually work in this place (if that’s the right word for it).

The registration was already taken care of with Jennifer’s help.

Adventurers are ranked by classes, with the highest being first class and the lowest being sixth class.

Even though I’ve just become an adventurer, I’m starting at fifth class.

It seems Jennifer has some influence at the guild, and thanks to his connections, I was able to start one rank higher than usual.

The reason he went to such lengths is that adventurers can only register as tamers from the fifth class and above, according to the guild’s rules.

I’m just an ordinary person, so without Ivy, I have no idea how long it would have taken me to rise from sixth class.

Jennifer went out of his way to make sure my rank was raised.

It’s good to have influential friends, I suppose.