It was a splendid spring day in the〈Fantasia Zone〉. The flowers were blooming, the birds chirping, fantastical deer happily galloping.Most people in the〈Fantasia Zone〉wouldn"t be able to help themselves from going outside and having a short whiff of the gentle spring air. But the protagonists today were not most people, both of them were existences that were both feared and worshipped.
Val was spending his day in his office accompanied by Lala and Braith who had fallen asleep on one of the vacant sofas. He was reading a book when he seemed to have remembered something.
"Lala? You aren"t going to Lucille today?"
Lala raised her head from the stacks of doc.u.ments she was helping sort and answered Val with a chuckling tone.
"Did you forget what today is?"
She pointed over to a calendar on the wall right to Val. The date today was circled with blood rather than some red ink and had a few words written on its square. They were written in the Meirkana Empire script but that didn"t really matter.
"Oh, that"s right. Now that I think about it, how long has it been since Mother and Father have left?"
"I don"t really recall. There were only here because of your short "vacation"."
Lala said that last word with a bit of anger in them but it faded as quickly as it had come. Their boy was sleeping so it was in her best interest to keep her voice moderate.
"Why do you ask anyway?"
"I was just wondering. Since before that, they were clamouring about how the great Dragon Language is dying and wanted to revive it or something."
Val said as he looked over a few scrolls and pieces of parchment with him. While he often appeared to be a happy-go-lucky airhead, as a proud Dragon and the first son of the Blitzkrieg family, he had a duty to supervise the area he was in, as well as the area around him.
He also had to be wary of other territories. No, not human empires or dwarven kingdoms, but that of other Dragons. The volcano they lived close to was a breeding territory for Fire Dragons so he had to be careful that no humans came near it while the supervisor of the volcano made sure that nothing got out of hand in their territory.
"I remember Dad saying that back in the day, he could lay in his cave for all he wanted back then."
To Val however, that was mostly something from a different time even when he had the chance to experience it for a while in his childhood.
"Oh, by the way, honey."
"What?"
"We got a message from the〈Magic Species Preservation Organization〉"
"Really? Let me see it. And you can just call them the〈MSPO〉."
With society moving forward and whatnot, it seemed that some dude in one of the human kingdom said that Dragons were endangered and needed to be protected. Which means, Dragon Slaying is a crime and can last you your entire life and a few descendants in prison.
"That only counts to the nations that are members of the organization though."
This means that hero that tried to take Val"s head for some reason, while not committing a crime in his home kingdom of Bakalandia, the cave Val was located in was part of the Meikrana Empire.
And that was the nation where the dude came from. It was also the nation the Blitzkrieg family watched over and was the guardian of.
"He"s quite lucky that he wasn"t seen by any of the patrolling wardens."
If Yuu was, even with his status as a 〈Hero〉in Bakalandia, it wouldn"t really matter. Bakalandia could negotiate with Meirkana to give them back their hero but that stain would forever remain on his record.
The fact that Bakalandia was only a small nation doesn"t really help with that. While they were on the subject of the nations in their Zone"s various legal systems, Val brought the topic about Cole"s recent request.
"I should help him with all the paperwork though."
"Is there a lot that needs to be done?"
Lala asked, a bit interested. She spent most of her life inside whether it be in the〈Demon Realm〉or the〈Human Realm〉. It wasn"t because of the sun and the〈Demon Realm〉didn"t exactly have one.
It was mostly because that was how she lived her life.
But she was aware of how to do paperwork. She had a secretarial job back in the〈Demon Realm〉and thought she might as well ask about how things were done in the〈Human Realm〉. She was only organizing the papers as of now and thought it would be nice if she could help her husband more in the future.
"Let"s see..."
Val put his hand to his chin and though what Cole would exactly need. He brought out a notebook from one of the desk"s drawers. It covered in leather and Val used his quill to start jotting a few things down.
He realized that Cole might come either later in the day or in the week and thought it would be better if he kept a note of such.
"He"ll need a working permit, a license, an ID for and from here. He"ll also need to register himself with the church so he can activate his status in this world and he"ll also need a pa.s.sport from at least one of these recognized nations."
Unlike most fantasy worlds novels, the〈Fantasia Zone〉was pretty strict on doc.u.menting the population and keeping it in records.
It could be due to the influence of having made contact with a more advanced society but they were already on their way there. They had even been able to produce paper like the one we know today except for it being a bit more primitive.
While the〈Fantasia Zone〉and the〈Huaxia Zone〉were seen as the least-developed among the Zones for obvious reasons, the both of them had been advancing in their own ways.
"Then the Meikrana Empire is probably a good choice. "
"Yeah, so it"ll be quite easy to set him up here. It"s a good thing that I"m a Dragon and not some random villager or else it would be a lot harder."
Val let out a happy laugh and his radiant smile could be seen on his face. But Lala recalled about certain guilds that issue cards that could serve as a form of identification.
If she remembered correctly, it could be used for all the things Val had just listed out.
"Ara? If I recall correctly, can"t an Adventurer"s Card do all that?"
"Unfortunately, not anymore. It can serve as an ID and a working permit but that"s about it nowadays. I"ve even heard that the work they can get depends on their card. "
Lala replied with an "Is that so?" and Val continued on.
"There"s also the fact that an Adventurer"s Card doesn"t give you citizenship. The pa.s.sports here are also used for using proof that you are a citizen of Nation A. You get a lot of benefits if you"re a registered citizen from any nation."
"I guess the〈Demon Realm〉is a bit different in that aspect. Pa.s.sports there allow you to travel to different states ruled by different Demon Lords."
Lala smiled and realized that the special event in the〈Demon Realm〉should be starting in a few hours. She truly felt glad that she no longer was required to partic.i.p.ate and could stay in an entirely different plane from all the mayhem.
"Such simplistic chaos tires the frail me."
But all of a sudden, Lala cast her head low and her eyes focused on the sight of papers all over her lap and at her sides.
When she was a little la.s.s, records needed to be made and knowledge needed to be taught. But Lala started to feel that the world started to grow in complexity year after year.
At the start, it would be difficult subjects and hard-to-understand topics.
Next, it would be learning about human behaviour and the numerous twists and turns of a person"s heart.
After that, it would be the inner workings of society and your workplace.
But even when you"ve settled, even when you were sure that the dust had cleared, things would jumble in disorder and dust would appear once again. Nothing had ever stayed the same, whether it be her, the people around her or the world itself.
"Hey, Rion."
Lala called out to Val with a nickname she had only used in their childhood days. The smile on her face was dipped with sorrow but her eyes told him that she had already come to terms with it.
"The world has become quite complicated, hasn"t it?"
The wind came in through the windows but it was a soft gentle breeze. The papers rustled for a bit while Lala"s short pink hair swayed along with the wind.
"Yes...:
Val said with the same mood Lala carried in her question. He stared at the sky through the small gap left between the curtains and said...
"Yes, it has."