Mia Kim's Delightful Demise

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

It had been a long journey, but it was almost over. The last thought that ran through Mia's mind as she approached the gates of the city of Verona was how her life had led her here. She'd started off as a detective in a small city on Earth, but after one too many close calls with death and the occasional time-traveling adventure, she'd wound up in what turned out to be this world's version of Asia. A continent away from home, and now she was about to enter a magical kingdom ruled by a self-proclaimed king who hated humans for his own reasons.

If it weren't for the fact that she also hated humans, she probably would have left immediately. She didn't have much experience with human kingdoms beyond the borders of her own country, and it was often said that even if you were the most powerful mage in the world, you were still just another commoner when you traveled among them.

"No pressure." Mia let out an exasperated sigh before drawing her sword and entering through the gates. The only other person present was an old man sitting at the front desk of what appeared to be a large inn. He looked up from his book when he heard her approach and took one look at her before standing up slowly and reaching for a rope behind him.

"Wait! Please don't ring it!" Mia shouted quickly, holding up her hands to show that she wasn't armed and that she meant no harm. "I promise I mean no harm; I just need information." The old man looked back at her suspiciously but lowered his hand, causing the bell to remain silent. "Thank you," she said with a nod of relief before walking over to him, making sure to keep her distance so he couldn't reach her if he wanted to.

"Who are you?" he said in a gruff voice, eyeing her with one eye while shielding his other with his hand as though he were trying to block out some kind of light. "And why do you look like some sort of... elf?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her pointed ears and pointy nose before glancing down at her swords again, as though expecting there to be something else odd about them. "I've never seen such a thing outside of fairy tales." Mia smiled slightly at this but kept herself from laughing outright; she stood between five and six feet tall, which was not exactly short by human standards but pretty average for an elf around here - or whatever these people called elves anyway.

"I'm not really sure what an elf is supposed to look like," Mia replied honestly before straightening up into a more serious posture and looking him directly in the eye with all sincerity. "My name is Mia Kim, and I am here to seek an audience with your king." So far, there had been no sign of anyone else in the little town besides herself and this old man; it was somewhat surprising that they hadn't heard that loud bell go off. Probably because they're all sleeping or something during this hour-long break between lunch and dinner or whatever they call their midday meal here... That should make things easier once I get inside... Or harder? It depends on how many soldiers there are waiting for me.

The old man paused for a moment as though processing what she had said before responding, "That's impossible," he said flatly without any emotion whatsoever. This made Mia raise an eyebrow inquisitively; it was obvious that he didn't believe her but seemed pretty calm about it all despite being so blatantly lied to by someone who could quite possibly be some sort of assassin sent by the king himself. Although she hadn't been able to bring herself to trust humans fully, Mia found no hint of deception but was still indecisive about her plan.

"They call us Humans here." His tone had changed slightly now; instead of sounding amused or indifferent about everything going on, he sounded resigned - like someone who had expected this sort of thing to happen someday but still felt more than a little annoyed about having his worst fears realized. Mia blinked several times as she tried piecing together what that might mean until finally figuring out that whoever had named themselves Humans must be Elves' enemy race here by default.

This realization clarified that this whole kingdom must be run by Elves since Humans hate them so much, which means whatever evil force has threatened this land might actually be Elves! If so then speaking with the King should help figure out where the real threat lies! And then, hopefully, learn something about magic too since getting stuck on Earth forever isn't really ideal either! At least traveling around between worlds is fun even if it does put me at risk constantly.