Free Citizen (Part 1)

The day after returning to town, snowflakes once again drifted over Rika Town. Standing by the window of his second-floor room, Romon watched the snowy view with great interest for a while.

Although this was already the fifth snowfall Rika Town had seen this year, and perhaps the last snow of spring, Romon was still in high spirits today. He took a roast duck and a bottle of Moutai from his space and began eating and drinking amid the snowy scenery.

Officially becoming a Second-Level Druid was a tremendous change in his life. The difference between Level One and Level Two sounded like merely the distance between one and two, but in truth, crossing that threshold was exceedingly difficult.

It was not just Druids. The same held true for other professions. Every advancement in level was extremely difficult—except perhaps for warriors, who had it slightly easier—and every advancement also represented a rise in status.

In fact, when Romon had reached First-Level Druid, he should have counted as a professional. After all, he had registered with the Adventurers' Guild, and his identity had been verified.

But because of his debts, he had yet to become a free citizen. A person without freedom could not become a professional, and this had always been one of the things troubling him.

Now, however, he had repaid all his debts. As long as he obtained free citizen status, his identity as a professional would immediately receive the lord's advance recognition.

With that status, even if Tax Officer Bakar and the others wanted to make things difficult for him again, it would no longer be so easy.

Thinking back to the astonished, disbelieving expressions on Tax Officer Bakar's and that priest's faces when they saw his Second-Level mark, the corner of Romon's mouth curled upward.

Yes, who could have imagined that a boy abandoned by his teacher, with no backing whatsoever, could raise his strength so quickly all by himself? They definitely had not expected it, had they?

Taking a fierce bite out of the roast duck, Romon began calculating whether his free citizen status would pass smoothly.

Meanwhile, in the baron's castle not far from Rika Town, a somewhat plump middle-aged man sat in a warm room, casually flipping through account books.

"Guess who I am?" A pair of soft little hands suddenly covered his eyes.

The middle-aged man said indulgently, "Let me guess... Hmm, it's my little girl, isn't it?"

"Father, you guessed it again!" The angel-faced girl pouted as she coquettishly withdrew her hands and stepped out from behind him.

"Ellie, shouldn't you be reading at this hour? Why did you come to see your father?" the middle-aged man asked curiously. He was the baron, lord of the lands around Rika Town.

Smiling, Eileen handed a roll of parchment to her father. The baron opened it curiously, and after reading it carefully, realized it contained some of Romon's personal information.

"Romon? He has already become a Second-Level Druid?" The baron was greatly surprised by Romon's talent.

"Yes, Father. Moreover, he has repaid all the debts he owed. Do you think we should grant him Free Citizen status?" Ellie suggested.

"Is that so? Then grant it to him." The baron had always doted greatly on his youngest daughter. Besides, granting Free Citizen status to someone whose profession had already been recognized was simply the most natural and reasonable thing in the world.

"Thank you, Father." Smiling, Eileen hugged her father and kissed his kindly face.

"It's already the third day. I wonder whether Miss Eileen has told Lord Baron about my situation. I wonder how things are going..." In a room on the second floor of Motte Inn, Romon waited anxiously.

His initial excitement had nearly faded with the passing of time, replaced by a tormenting wait.

Romon knew very clearly just how important Free Citizen status was to him. Unlike the geographical restrictions on Earth, in this world, as long as one obtained Free Citizen status and did not leave the country, one could live freely anywhere within it. One only needed to show proof of Free Citizen status and complete registration procedures in the new location.

If he wanted to live a better life, he had to work hard to make himself stronger and improve his status. Yet someone who did not even possess Free Citizen status had neither the qualifications nor the possibility of obtaining any of that.

He had to grow stronger, and this status of freedom was the first step toward becoming strong.

Freedom. Something he had scarcely needed to consider in his previous life constantly threatened him in this world. Without Free Citizen status, even if he had proof that he was a Second-Level Druid, he would encounter many troubles—unless he became a Fifth-Level Druid and automatically gained the Free Citizen right to travel across the entire continent.

But now, without Free Citizen status and without sufficient strength, countless troubles would appear out of thin air along the road ahead over the next several years. The greatest trouble was that he could not freely go wherever he wished. For a Druid who needed to continually seek out new types of plants to increase his strength, the effect this would have on future advancement was nearly fatal.

Thinking of the priest's and tax officer's hostility toward him, Romon's sense of crisis grew stronger than ever.

"Romon!" Just as his thoughts were running wild, someone suddenly called his name from downstairs.

"Coming." Romon jolted upright, hurriedly straightened his rumpled clothes, and came out of his room.

"Romon, someone from the Temple came by just now and said they wanted you to go over." Now that he knew Romon had become a Second-Level Druid, Motte had become much more enthusiastic toward him than before, although he had not changed how he addressed him due to Romon's insistence. Seeing Romon come down the stairs, he quickly relayed the message.

"Did they say who was looking for me?" Romon asked as he came downstairs.

"It was Miss Eileen!" Motte said, rubbing his hands together.

Romon immediately understood that it must be about his Free Citizen status. Barely waiting for Motte to finish, he thanked him and rushed out.

He hurried almost all the way to the Temple, but when he was about to enter, Romon stopped again.

I can't let anyone find fault with me... Romon knew that at a moment like this, he had to remain even more composed. He eased his tense emotions, checked once more whether his clothing was neat or stained, and only after confirming that everything was in order did he walk in slowly.

"Romon, you're here." Ellie wore a long female priest's robe. Thanks to priestly spells, she appeared lightly dressed, yet she did not fear the cold. She stood before the Temple garden, admiring the flowers that remained in brilliant bloom under the embrace of divine arts. When she saw Romon enter, she immediately turned with a smile.

"Miss Eileen, I've kept you waiting." Romon immediately returned her smile with a bright one of his own.

Infected for a moment by Romon's smile, Eileen's smile grew even happier.

"Do you know why I called you here?" Ellie asked with a smile, unexpectedly keeping him in suspense.

Perhaps even she herself had not realized that, for once, she had shown this lively, mischievous side of herself before an outsider.

"This..." Romon was stunned by the adorable smile that had suddenly blossomed across her face, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Only then did Miss Eileen realize her lapse in composure. She felt faintly annoyed with herself, but at the same time took a document from her robes and handed it directly to Romon. "Here. From now on, you are a Free Citizen. Unhindered, you may travel throughout the country, conduct business, journey abroad, and enjoy every lawful right!"

The document was made of parchment and listed his name, gender, profession, and the lord's signature.

"With this document, you can put it on record at the Adventurer's Guild and have the new information entered into your Adventurer's Badge. That way, you won't need to bring out the original every time." Miss Eileen seemed even more familiar with the process than he was.

Romon nodded and took out his Adventurer's Badge. Looking closely, one could see that it really was quite similar to the identification documents from before.

But Romon knew very well that such Adventurer's Badges had energy enchantments. Furthermore, this world mostly used specialized magical instruments to inspect identification documents. Compared to Earth's documents, they were actually even harder to forge. At least before Level Five, it was impossible. That was why he had to obtain Free Citizen status.

"Thank you, Miss Eileen. I truly owe you this time." Romon merely glanced at it once before carefully putting away both the document and badge. Then he thanked Miss Eileen.

"No need to thank me." Miss Eileen smiled. "Oh, right, I nearly forgot this." As if recalling something, she suddenly took out another roll of parchment and handed it directly to Romon without even looking at it. "Take a look. What do you think this is?"

There was more? Romon accepted the parchment roll and opened it. After only a few glances, a delighted expression appeared on his face. "This is..."

"This is a permit allowing you to open a shop in Rika Town. I knew you wanted to open one, so I simply requested it together with the rest. I hope it helps you." Miss Eileen smiled again.

Ha, this was exactly getting what he wanted the moment he thought of it. Romon truly wanted to hug her and kiss her. But he restrained himself. Still, his tone became far more cheerful. "Thank you so much, Miss Eileen. You really are an angel!" The moment the praise left his mouth, her face flushed red.

"Actually, you don't need to thank me so much. It was only a small effort on my part. Besides, the conflict between you and him started because of me, so... you don't have to thank me like this." Miss Eileen's face reddened as she suddenly spoke, then she gave a mischievous little smile. "In any case, you must run the shop well. Don't shrink back because of a little setback."

Romon hurriedly nodded. Seeing her turn to leave, he remained standing where he was, unable to recover his senses for quite some time. Miss Eileen actually knew everything? She actually knew it all?

Of course. Someone as intelligent as she was, after noticing the priest's hostility toward him, how could she fail to guess the reason?

It was only that beneath this angelic girl's quiet, delicate appearance, there was likely a heart that was wise, steadfast, and clever as well.

Romon thought to himself.

"Oh, right. Tomorrow at noon, there will be a small banquet at the Temple to celebrate your obtaining Free Citizen status and becoming a Second-Level Druid. Don't be late."

A crisp, pleasant voice drifted over on the wind. Romon looked up and saw Eileen smiling sweetly amid the hundred flowers. She waved at him, then gracefully departed. He stared blankly after her, only returning to his senses after a long while. Then, clutching the two documents, he left the Temple in excitement.

Meanwhile, in a corner Romon could not see, a young priest dug his fingernails into his flesh.

"Romon..." he murmured the name in a low voice.

Sorry, I need to revise the chapter title.

!!