After leaving the house, Arthur and Kukyo walked to the Licenses and Documents Office. On their way, they passed many students wearing similar uniforms to Grace.
Wow, I guess I didn't realize how many students went to that school. I wonder if there's any other school, Kukyo thought while following Arthur.
As Kukyo was walking, he looked at his surroundings. He noticed that they weren't far from the library, and he also noticed that the pipes connecting to the building ran underground.
Hmm, I guess they're all connected to one big power plant, but I don't see any. I wonder if it's far away? Kukyo thought, looking around, then set his gaze to the sky as a cloud blocked out the sun, and then, for a moment, the cloud had passed, showing the sun and its light shining on Kukyo's face.
Feeling the warmth of the sun, he closed his eyes for just a moment, getting a firm grasp on reality, knowing it wasn't a trick or dream, then looked straight ahead, opening his eyes and continuing to follow Arthur, who was looking at him.
"You feel it, don't you?" Arthur asked with a serious yet understanding expression.
"What?" Kukyo asked in confusion.
"The full weight of reality, that you're a part from your loved ones that might be or are already gone, and all that tears you've shed before felt like seeing a part of the canvas compared to seeing the whole portrait."
Kukyo was stunned by Arthur's response, for he had not predicted anyone to understand how he felt in that moment.
"I suppose you know the feeling?" Kukyo asked to see if he could gain insight into how Arthur knew the feeling, or at least how to deal with it.
"Yeah, we know it all too well." Seeing Arthur's look, Kukyo felt it was right not to ask more about how he knew that feeling, thinking, I guess the feeling isn't unique to my situation, but it's not something anyone would feel, it's sorrow.
"Well, we're here." Kukyo and Arthur stopped, turning to see a white, medium-sized building with a sign saying, Licenses and Documents Office. Entering, they saw many well-dressed working individuals, some walking with papers in their hands, others sitting at desks talking to others in medium lines. Seeing one of the desks free with a sign saying Rank #3, and saw other sections, each with its own rank.
They were listed in order from one to five, with five being the highest, and closed. Seeing this, Kukyo quickly realized what it meant. I guess it's the rank or clearance each person held in the kingdom, rank #1 being the lowest and rank #5 being the highest. It's most likely the royals since it's closed during the day, and the rest are open. Kukyo confirmed his thoughts after seeing the people in rank #2 wearing plain clothing, though the line for that section was not long.
Kukyo continued to follow Arthur as he walked to the #3 rank section, seeing a female receptionist dressed in a black sheath dress with long brown hair, black eyes, and who looked like she was in her thirties.
"Good morning, Emily," said Arthur.
"Ah, Sir Arthur, good morning, how can I help you?" Emily said happily.
Seeing Emily's joyful reply, Arthur smiled and then said, "Well, I wanted to register this young boy here as a full citizen of the kingdom and of the Elvon family, and also get him a permit for the library."
Emily was stunned for a second and said with a confused expression, " Those are unusual requests, but since it's from a Grand Knight, I'll carry them out in short order. Please wait for just a moment." After saying those words, Emily walked off to a door leading to another office/room.
Grand Knight, that sounds like the highest rank in the Knighthood, Kukyo thought to himself, then said, " Didn't know that you're a Grand Knight. Then again, I don't know what they are."
"Hmm, oh, yeah, well, technically I'm a former Grand Knight, now I'm a construction worker, but since I was able to achieve such a high title, I still hold the rank and some of the authorities of a Grand Knight."
Normally, new citizens, over the age of 5, could only be registered in the country after being interrogated for 3-7 months, but since a Grand Knight was the highest form of knighthood holding authorities, not even nobility held, one of those authorities was able to clear new citizens of the interrogation process.
After waiting a few minutes, Emily returned with two documents, one being a citizen ID form, which all citizens had, and the second being a library permit form. Seeing as the permit form was specifically for the library, Kukyo had confirmed his suspicions that different permits were required for different things.
"Please fill these out," said Emily, giving them the citizen ID form first. After Arthur had filled out the citizen ID form, Emily then handed him the library permit form, and after filling out both, Arthur then pulled a small object that looked like a chess piece, then asked Emily, " Can I have a stamp pad, please?"
Emily nodded in agreement, passing Arthur a small, rectangular, black inked stamp pad. He then pressed down the small, rounded object into the stamp pad, then pressed down one of the forms, revealing a stamp resembling a family crest. It was a simple design, a capitalized E with four curly lines surrounding it as if to almost connect, and a sword going through the E.
After stamping both forms, Arthur handed them back to Emily, who took leave to another room again, and after a few more minutes of waiting, she came back with a citizen ID paper and the library permit, handing them to Arthur and saying, " It's always nice to see you, Sir Arthur."
"Likewise, thank you," said Arthur, handing Kukyo the papers, who was stunned for a second, letting out a sad yet relieved sigh as he looked at the citizen ID with his new name, Kukyo Elvon.
I guess I'm fully a part of this world, Kukyo thought after seeing his new name on the citizen ID, which also described his facial features and had two stamps on it, the Elvon family crest and another showing a simple-shaped building like the one they were in with Larphenia right below it.
Kukyo, after looking at both documents, then folded them, putting both in his pockets, one in the left and one in the right. After thanking Emily, both Arthur and Kukyo turned around and walked away.
"Wait!" After only taking a few steps, Arthur and Kukyo heard Emily's voice, stopping, and then turned around in confusion.
"I'm sorry to keep you, Sir Arthur, but you forgot to pay the fee," Emily said in a calm voice.
"Ah, yes, how could I forget the tedious requirement after every official request?" Arthur said in an annoyed and sarcastic tone.
Arthur paid the fee, then immediately left the Licenses and Documents Office building. He then looked at Kukyo and said, "Well, now that's done with, I'll be heading to work. You could head back to the house or to the library if you know the way, and if you get lost, just return here since I will be walking on this street to return home."
After hearing that, Kukyo immediately thought of heading to the library to see if he could find any way of returning home.
"I'll be heading to the library. I won't stay there long, though, then I'll head to the house. Thank you for helping me get the permit," said Kukyo with a slight smile.
"Well, it's one of the only ways to help you in your situation, but make sure not to lose the documents. I suggest that after returning to the house, you put your citizen ID in the small chest of drawers and only carry the permit when you're going to the library," said Arthur with a tired but happy expression.
"Okay, goodbye."
"Goodbye, and try not to get into any trouble."
After exchanging goodbyes, Arthur and Kukyo went their separate ways, Arthur to the construction site and Kukyo to the library, which he had remembered the location of after memorising the streets he had been down so far.
8 minutes later, Kukyo had reached the library. Looking at the building, Kukyo felt as if he had been given a second chance to correct a mistake he had made. He then walked in, looking around for the librarian from last time.
"Oh, it's you again." Kukyo looked to his right to see the lady from before, who was wearing a blue dress with brown eyes and blonde hair that was wrapped up into a bun.
"Hello again, Ma'am," Kukyo responded in a gentle tone as if speaking to his teacher.
"I do hope you have a permit this time."
"Yes, I do," Kukyo said, pulling out the permit from his left pocket and handing it to the lady.
After taking the permit, the lady glanced at the small paper and at Kukyo with a skeptical look, then back at the paper. After confirming that it was a real permit, bearing the stamp of the Larphenia kingdom, she handed it back to Kukyo.
"Well, it checks out, so you have permission to access 87% of the books in this library of the Larphenia kingdom. Enjoy, and for further interactions, my name is Ms Arden, Kukyo," said the librarian as she walked back to her desk, which Kukyo hadn't noticed the first time he was there.
Kukyo could only access 87% of the books in the library due to the other 13% being restricted from public citizens and could only be accessed by the librarian and high-ranking citizens, such as rank #4, which included nobility and higher. Kukyo had already come to a similar conclusion, but did not care to question the restriction unless it could help with his return home.
Finally, I'm one step closer to finding a way back home.