章節 21: two papers
"Adventurer's license and residence papers, please!" demanded the guard impatiently as he jotted something down in a book.
"I don't have residence papers," I replied, "but a..."
He looked up from the book, twitched briefly, then composed himself and locked eyes with me.
"First time here?"
"No, we were born here!" insisted Mia, "my father is the mayor!"
He scrutinized her with a gaze that slowly drifted away, and chuckled briefly.
I sighed, stepped in front of my wife, and explained the situation to him.
"So, you're from here, but haven't been here since the reconstruction?" he inquired, "Do you have any papers confirming that?"
"No, but my father is the mayor!"
"Haa..." sighed the guard, "How many times have I heard that! But the mayor has been a woman for almost a month now, so that's not possible."
"Wha...?"
"Do you have an adventurer's license?" he asked, without delving further into it.
I nodded, "I have one, but my wife doesn't."
"If you are at least a C-Rank, you can apply for a permanent residence permit for yourself and your family. However, it comes at a cost, and you must fulfill a minimum number of assignments monthly."
"We need a provisional one first!" I replied.
"Name?"
"Leo and Mia Eternia," I answered.
"The adventurer's license, please!"
"That's not necessary!" Bernd interjected, "We vouch for him; here... I'm a C-Rank adventurer!"
He gave a critical glance but shrugged; "Name?"
"Bernd Fisher."
He quickly noted everything and tore a sheet from the notebook and whistled once. A young lad came running.
The guard whispered something in his ear, handed him the sheet, and the lad ran off.
"That will take a while because newcomers don't usually come from the Monster Mountains. My son is running to the distribution point." He quickly noted something in the book and underlined it. "That'll be two silver coins."
Bernd already pulled out two. I wanted to object, but he insisted.
"Alright, now you just need to wait a moment. Please step aside so the line doesn't get longer."
Mia and I stepped aside. "You don't need to wait; our debt is settled. You surely have something to do."
I handed Eva, wrapped in a cloth, to Bernd and took out the proof of the troll hunt from my backpack.
Bernd carefully took her, and Ben took the sack with the evidence.
They said that they would always help if we needed any, bid farewell and left.
I saw them still having to show what was wrapped in the cloth, but then they were allowed to enter Bergwacht.
We sat down and leaned against the wall.
She rested her head on my shoulder.
The sun shone warmly on us, and a gentle breeze brushed against our noses. I felt the soft grass beneath me and watched a squirrel chasing up a tree at the edge of the forest.
A bee flew in front of my eyes, pollinating the beautiful wildflowers.
I looked up to the sky and saw clouds lazily drifting by.
"Look..." I said, lightly laughing and pointing to a cloud that looked like breasts, "that cloud looks like breasts."
I looked at Mia, who contemplatively watched the grass gently swaying in the wind.
"It has changed quite a bit," she whispered after a while, "I feel... I don't know how to say it. But it makes me happy and sad at the same time."
I leaned my head against the wall and hugged her with one arm. "It's great that the village is finally lively again... And as long as your family and friends are doing well, everything is good!"
"And the others."
"And the others," I added.
"And my family is your family too."
"Haha, I know."
"Then say it!" She said angrily.
"I thought you knew that," I replied and yawned, tired from the idyllic atmosphere.
She sat up and let out a frustrated "AHH!"
I looked at her in surprise; she looked at me angrily, and we locked eyes.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked, bewildered.
"Sometimes I feel like you don't like my parents," she said annoyed.
"Uh,... of course, I like them," I answered with a visibly confused expression, "Elias is even my only friend."
But Mia's outburst didn't seem to calm down, and she continued; "You always say 'yours,' 'yours, yours!' Do you only feel like bringing them to Eternia because of me? Do you see them as a burden?"
I was confused. Had I said something wrong, expressed myself incorrectly, or why was she so angry now?
I scratched my head and raised one eyebrow inquisitively.
"You don't get it, do you?" she glared.
I shook my head.
She stood up, leaned towards me, stopped just short of my face, and said slowly and coldly, giving me goosebumps down my spine; "I love my parents, and I don't want you to think of them the way you do about yours! You proposed to me and decided to join the family. So. Finally. Behave. As. If. My. Parents. Are. A. Part. Of. It."
I should exhale slowly, but suppressed it because I was genuinely scared.
I opted for the easy way and said; "You're right, I'm sorry."
"Good!" she said satisfied and sat back next to me.
I internally sighed with relief, but had to admit that I didn't understand why Mia was so angry. But I always remember Elias' words after the first argument I had with Mia: "Sometimes you have to give in and apologize to settle a fight."
I don't follow this motto; in my opinion, you should 'argue it out,' but only if you understand both sides, and I don't understand right now.
To distract myself I listened to some adventurers talking in the queue, discussing what they had accomplished or learned today.
"I killed a few goblins and gathered some herbs today," a young adventurer proudly boasted to his comrades up front.
They chatted animatedly and eventually reached the gate, where they passed through without any issues.
Behind them stood a boy with black hair falling into his face and fiery eyes peeking out from under his strands. He had a sword hanging at his hip and was dragging not one but two sacks of loot behind him.
He had just arrived at the gate when I saw the guard's son coming back, handing him two papers.
He graciously took them and turned towards us.
"Your papers are here!" he called to us.
We got up, and I took the risk of holding Mia's hand. She resisted at first but then accepted.
I thought I saw the eyes of the black-haired boy flash, but I ignored it.
"Thank you," I said, taking the papers.
We passed through the still under-construction gate and were about to admire the new village.
"Stop!" shouted the black-haired boy in a broken regional dialect.
I didn't pay attention at first until I felt a hand on my back.
I turned around and looked down at the boy.
Why does he look so foreign, I thought and got a bad feeling.
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