The day after he returned to town, snowflakes once again drifted over Rika Town. Standing by the window of his second-floor room, Romon watched the snowy scenery with great interest for a while.
Although this was already the fifth snowfall Rika Town had seen that year, and possibly the last snow of spring, Romon was still in high spirits. He took a roast duck and a bottle of Moutai from his spatial storage and began eating and drinking as he admired the snow.
Officially becoming a Second-Level Druid was an enormous change in his life. The gap between First Level and Second Level sounded like merely the distance between one and two, but crossing it was actually extremely difficult.
This was true not only for druids, but for other professions as well. Every advancement in level was hard-won—aside from warriors, who had it somewhat easier—and each advancement represented a rise in status.
In fact, once Romon had become a First-Level Druid, he should have been considered a professional. After all, he had registered with the Adventurers' Guild, and his identity had been verified.
However, because of his debts, he still was not a Free Citizen. And someone who was not a Free Citizen could not become a professional. This had always troubled him.
Now that all his debts had been repaid, as soon as he obtained Free Citizen status, the lord would immediately recognize his status as a professional ahead of time.
With that status, even if Tax Officer Bakar and the others wanted to make things difficult for him again, it would no longer be easy.
Remembering the astonished, disbelieving expressions on Tax Officer Bakar's and that priest's faces when they saw his Second-Level mark, the corners of Romon's mouth lifted.
Yes, who would have thought that a kid abandoned by his teacher, with no backing whatsoever, could raise his strength so quickly all by himself? They certainly had not expected it, had they?
He took a fierce bite of roast duck and began calculating whether his Free Citizen status would be approved smoothly.
Meanwhile, in Baron Castle not far from Rika Town, a somewhat portly 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 right again!" The angelically beautiful girl pouted, withdrew her hands coquettishly, and stepped out from behind him.
"Eileen, shouldn't you be reading at this hour? Why did you come to see your father?" asked the middle-aged man—the baron, lord of the lands around Rika Town.
Smiling, Eileen handed her father a roll of parchment. The baron opened it curiously, and after reading it carefully, discovered that 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. And he has repaid all his debts. Do you think we should grant him Free Citizen status?" Eileen suggested.
"Is that so? Then grant it to him." The baron had always doted on his youngest daughter, and granting Free Citizen status to someone already recognized as a professional was simply the easiest and most reasonable thing in the world.
"Thank you, Father." Smiling, Eileen hugged him and kissed his kind face.
"It's already the third day. I wonder whether Miss Eileen has told the baron about my situation. I wonder how things are going..." Romon waited anxiously in a second-floor room at the Motte Inn.
His initial excitement had nearly faded with the passage of time, replaced by agonizing anticipation.
Romon knew very well how important Free Citizen status was to him. Unlike the territorial 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 present proof of Free Citizen status and register at the local office.
If he wanted to live a better life, he had to work hard to make himself stronger and improve his position. Someone without even Free Citizen status was neither qualified nor able to obtain any of those things.
He had to grow stronger, and this freedom was the first step toward that goal.
Freedom. In his previous life, it had been something he scarcely needed to think about, yet in this world, it constantly threatened him. Without Free Citizen status, even if he had proof that he was a Second-Level Druid, he would encounter countless troubles—unless he became a Fifth-Level Druid and automatically gained the Free Citizen right to travel across the entire continent.
But for now, without Free Citizen status and without sufficient strength, countless extra troubles would appear out of nowhere over the coming years. The greatest problem was that he could not freely go wherever he wanted. For a druid who needed to continuously seek out new types of plants to increase his strength, this would have an almost fatal impact on his future advancement.
Thinking of the priest's and tax officer's hostility toward him, Romon's sense of crisis became stronger than ever.
"Romon!" Just as his thoughts ran wild, someone suddenly called his name from downstairs.
"Coming." Romon jolted awake, hurriedly straightened his rumpled clothes, and left his room.
"Romon, someone from the Temple just came by and said you should go there." Now that Motte knew Romon had become a Second-Level Druid, his way of addressing Romon had not changed due to Romon's insistence, but his attitude had become far warmer than before. Seeing him come down the stairs, Motte 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 nearly all the way to the Temple, but stopped just before entering.
I can't give anyone a reason to find fault with me... Romon knew that the more critical the moment, the calmer he had to be. He eased his tense mood, checked again to make sure his clothes were neat and spotless, and only then slowly walked inside.
"Romon, you're here." Eileen wore a long female priest's robe. Because of priestly spells, she appeared lightly dressed but did not fear the cold. She stood before the Temple garden, admiring the flowers that still bloomed brilliantly beneath the protection of Divine Spells. When she saw Romon enter, she immediately turned around with a smile.
"Miss Eileen, sorry to keep you waiting." Romon immediately returned her smile with a bright one of his own.
Infected by Romon's smile, Eileen's smile became even happier.
"Do you know why I called you here?" Eileen smiled, deliberately keeping him in suspense.
Perhaps even she did not realize that she had exceptionally shown her lively, playful side before an outsider.
"This..." Romon was stunned by the adorable smile that suddenly blossomed on her face, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.
Only then did Miss Eileen realize her lapse in composure. Feeling slightly annoyed with herself, she took a document from her robes and handed it directly to Romon. "Here. From now on, you are a Free Citizen. You may travel freely throughout the country, conduct business and travel, and enjoy all lawful rights without obstruction!"
The document was made of parchment and listed his name, gender, profession, and the lord's signature.
"With this document, you can place it on file at the Adventurer's Guild and add the new information to your Adventurer's Badge. That way, you won't have to produce the original every time," Miss Eileen said, seeming even more familiar with the process than he was.
Romon nodded and took out his Adventurer's Badge. Looking closely, he found that it really did resemble the identification documents from his former world.
However, Romon knew very well that these Adventurer's Badges had magical energy settings, and most identity checks in this world used specialized magical instruments. Compared to the documents on Earth, they were actually much harder to forge. At least before Fifth Level, it was impossible. That was why he had to obtain Free Citizen status.
"Thank you, Miss Eileen. I truly owe you this time." Romon only looked at it once before carefully putting away both the document and the badge, then 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 to Romon without even looking at it. "Take a look. What do you think this is?"
There was more? Romon accepted the parchment and opened it. After only a few glances, delight 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 obtained it at the same time. I hope it will help you." Miss Eileen smiled again.
Ha, this was exactly what he needed. Romon truly wanted to hug her and kiss her. Still, he restrained himself, though his tone grew even more cheerful. "Thank you so much, Miss Eileen. You really are an Angel!" The moment the praise left his lips, her face reddened.
"Actually, you don't need to thank me so much. It was only a small favor. Besides, the conflict between you and him began because of me, so... you really don't need to thank me like this." Miss Eileen blushed and suddenly said, then gave him a mischievous smile. "In any case, run your shop properly. Don't back down because of a little setback."
Romon hurriedly nodded. As he watched her turn and leave, he remained where he was, unable to recover his senses for a long while. Miss Eileen actually knew everything? She actually knew it all?
Well, she was such an intelligent person. After noticing the priest's hostility toward him, how could she not have guessed the reason?
Beneath that quiet, delicate exterior, this angel-like girl probably possessed a wise, strong, and clever heart as well.
Romon thought to himself.
"Oh, right. Tomorrow at noon, there'll be a small banquet at the Temple to celebrate your obtaining Free Citizen status and becoming a Second-Level Druid. Don't be late."
The clear, pleasant voice drifted over on the wind. Romon looked up and saw Eileen smiling sweetly amid the flowers, waving to him before gracefully departing. He stared blankly for a long while before finally coming back to himself. 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.
Sorry, I corrected the chapter title.
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