Linkle Black-Fox

Chapter 5

A guardsman is waiting at the gate. He stared straight at Link; maybe the guard thought she was suspicious; regardless, the guard didn't need to ogle Link like that.

"You there, girl, you were the one who went out to look for herbs, weren't you? Did you find any?"

"Yes," Kikyo said, smiling.

"Good. Looks like you kept your promise and didn't wander deep into the woods. There are monsters in there."

Link smiled wryly at those words.

"And what's going on with you?"

"I'm new around here."

"If you're coming in, show me your identification."

Kikyo showed him her resident card.

"Your identification..." The guard could only get out those two words.

"I don't have any."

"You don't have anything at all? It can be an identification card from any town."

"I wasn't given any when I came to this world." Link shrugged her shoulders.

"Your another worlder? See, in that case, we'll take a silver coin as tax and look into your record."

"I've been in this world for a few days, but I don't think I have a criminal record." 

"It's just a formality... Have you awaken your stats?"

"Nope, where I started had no temple. This place was the closest that had a temple."

"You should get that done ASAP."

"I plan to do that. Stats are necessary to live in this world." Link pulled a silver coin from her peach turtle shell Extradimensional Storage bag, which she called the peach turtle shell bag that is still on her head, and handed it to the guard.

"Well, then. If you could come over here..." The guard led Link to a nearby building, led her to an area resembling a reception desk, and laid a crystal panel in front of her.

"Please place your hand on this crystal. If you are a criminal, it will turn red."

"I just need to put my hand here?"

"Yes. It will react to your mana and look you up."

Link put her hand on the crystal panel, but it didn't react.

"Looks like you're fine."

"Can you tell with something like this?"

"Since you are another worlder, I'll explain it to you. This crystal panel is connected to all the other crystal panels in the country. When a baby is born, a resident card is issued, and its mana is registered simultaneously. They do the same thing in the capital and the other towns. That way, we can tell where someone came from."

"So it's like a citizen registry."

"Yes, and when someone has committed a crime," The guard said, "we can log that data in the crystal panel. The data will be transferred to all the crystal panels if the person is registered. Based on that, a criminal wouldn't be allowed entrance to the towns or capital."

"What happens if they use someone else's card?"

"That'd be impossible. The cards are made to respond to mana. If the mana doesn't match the one that it's been registered to, the card won't respond."  

"Mana is kind of like a fingerprint?"

"It's more like a mixer of fingerprints and DNA." The guard handed Link a wooden tag. "Here is your temporary permit. It's good for three days. If you overstay, you'll have to pay an extension fee, so be careful."