LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 3: Broad Meadow (updated again)
"Next!" The sound of a large herd of caravans could be heard.
"Identity?" one guard asked.
The leader of the caravan handed him his identity along with his certificate containing which region they came from, the reason they came here, and the official signature of the merchant guild.
"Alright, looks legit enough. Five silver to enter," the guard counted all the caravan members and handed back all his papers.
"Sheesh, from what I remember visiting this town two months ago, it was thirty copper per caravan," the caravan leader complained.
"Sorry, mate. If you want to blame someone, blame the lord. Greedy bastard he is. I'm just following orders," the guard said exhaustingly. It seemed the tax raise also affected the residents of Broad Meadow.
The caravan leader disgruntledly handed over five silver coins before they entered.
"Next!" The guard shouted. Heavy chains dragging on the ground could be heard.
Then a single figure came into view, a fox-kin with ragged clothing, cuffs attached to each limb with the chains cut very cleanly, and a bandage wrapped around her eyes with a black blindfold covering it, it was a sight you don't see every day.
The guard frowned at this sight.
"You got any money, little lady?" To his surprise, the fox-kin retrieved a pouch hidden behind her.
Inside were a couple of copper coins and two silver coins.
The guard picked up one copper coin from her pouch and let her in.
"Just a warning, girly, stay out of any nobleman's sight. You're a beauty and a rare sight around here. They'll be sure to get their hands on you once they see you, especially with that fit."
The fox-kin simply walked forward as if she didn't heed his warning.
"Sigh... visit the cloth store to the west of here, tell them Blark sent you, and visit the administration guild to make a new identity for yourself." With this last advice, he saw her disappear from his sight and turned to the gate once more.
"Next!"
~~
Blade looked down, seeing her outfit, and agreed she needed to do something about it. In the mortal world, everything mattered from now on: clothing, age, gender, and race.
Blade remembered her previous life as 60% of her life; she was mortal before attaining divinity.
Beggars clothed in rags were treated like trash, and the rich wore complex, colorful clothes to signify their wealth.
Spreading her 'divine sense,' she saw a store containing several clothes hung on the walls.
Seeing as it was not far, she decided to go straight to it, paying most of the money she obtained from stray bandits she killed on the way.
Entering the shop, a bell rang atop the door.
"Welcome!" A tailor warmly welcomed the visitor. Looking over, she saw a young girl with rags and chain cuffs entering.
Her most attractive features were the two protruding fox ears, a large fluffy tail, and a black blindfold.
The tailor was quiet for a moment, unable to think of how to handle this situation.
After a moment of silence, the fox-kin opened her mouth.
"Blark sent me." This statement somewhat surprised her.
" Sigh. I see, that bastard sending a runaway slave my way. I hope he pays for this later," the tailor muttered to herself before going to the back of the store to retrieve something.
The lady soon returned with decently made clothes, a tunic along with a long skirt that would cover most of the legs, and a pair of leather shoes.
"Go change in the back of the store. I won't charge you a penny." She guessed the fox-kin could 'see' behind those blindfolds and directed her to the changing room.
After a couple of minutes, the fox-kin emerged from the changing room donning the new clothes but still wearing the iron cuffs.
"Umm, little lady, can I look at those cuffs? They look pretty restrictive on your limbs." The fox-kin turned her attention to the cuffs.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a cut appeared on the cuffs, making them fall instantly.
'I'm not going to question it, lest my neck be next,' the tailor nervously thought.
Dark bruises could be seen on the arms that had been previously covered by the cuffs.
The fox-kin retrieved a used roll of bandage that was given to her by Blark and covered the bruise.
The she looked at the tailor one more time.
"Thank you." After a short silence, she thanked her before turning to the door and leaving.
"Sigh... little foxy can use magic, huh? At least she isn't hiding the fact, or else she would kill any witnesses," She chuckled nervously as she cleaned up the rags and heavily damaged cuffs, throwing them into the trash.
Blade explored the town with her new clothes. Fewer people looked at her frequently, but some would still glance at her animalistic features.
The tailor made some adjustments to the skirt to have a hole in the back for the tail to go through, which Blade was somewhat greatful for.
'Human still are considerate sometime' She thought to herself
'Administration guild.' She stumbled upon a large building where many people entered and left. Remembering Blark's advice, she decided to heed it and enter the building.
Entering through the doors, she saw many receptionists greeting oncoming visitors. The indoor structure was clean, neat, and the air contained a hint of lavender.
Heading to an empty reception desk, she saw a man in formal attire behind the desk greeting her.
"Greetings, little lady. What can I do for you?" He noticed the blindfold she wore but didn't question it, as it would lead to more trouble most of the time.
Rule #1: Never question people's attire or clothing taste. He learned it when he questioned an adventurer's overly large pauldron, which led to a long explanation by the adventurer about shoulder protection.
Remembering it gave him shivers because of how long it took for him to finish.
The fox-kin simply looked at the receptionist silently.
"Umm." Unable to handle the situation, he wondered if the girl in front of him was mute.
"Identity."
"Huh, what?"
"Identity."
"You want to make a new identity?" the man inquired.
The fox-kin nodded.
"I see. I'll be right back with some equipment." After going to the back, the man came back with a crystal ball and a paper.
"Place your hand on this crystal ball. It will read your status." He placed the ball on a holder.
"Status?"
"Status is a form of soul containing all the information about you, be it name, age, race, or skills," the man explained.
Blade nodded in understanding before placing her hand on the crystal ball. She felt a string of magic invade her hand and wrap itself around her soul.
Soon the crystal ball cast a projection containing much info about Blade.
============================
Name: Blade | Age: 2147483647
Race: Fox-kin/D*#*tujb#
Level: 3
Physic: 10
Mind: ◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼
Unassigned point: 4
Titles: The old ◼◼◼, ◼◼◼◼◼Master, [Click to expand]
Skills: D◼m◼◼n of ◼◼◼, ◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼, [Click to expand]
============================
Confused by the jumbled status window, the receptionist touched the window to expand the titles, only to be met with more jumbled words.
"Odd. Let me grab another ball. Maybe this one is defective."
After retrieving an additional crystal ball, it was met with the same result.
"Hmm, weird. I'll write down what I can read. I'll report this error to the administration later, so you can come back once this mistake is fixed," the receptionist politely explained.