After laughing for a good while the old man stretched his hand out and asked,
"So fresh off the boat ey'? Where's ye papers?"
'Papers? Oh, come on, give me a break here.'
With no other options Kurt reached into his pocket, took out his wallet and handed him his I.D.
"The hell is this?" He lifted the card up, eyeing it like a foreign object.
"It has ye face on it….and what are these strange letters?"
"Stop looking at it like your eyeing treasure. It's just my I.D card."
"Eye…. dee?"
"Identification."
"Ohhh you mean one of these!" The old man took out a pair of dog tags and held it up. Suddenly it began glowing when a holographical projection appeared out of thin air.
'Whoa! What in the….' Kurt got slightly startled before getting a closer look.
"I didn't know that was ye adventurers' identification! Guess Riverton is still behind when it comes to catching up with the rest of the world ahahaha!" The old man started laughing again.
'Name…Willy…. date of birth 717…. Nationality: Eldoria .... Current Occupation: City Guard. Wait, how am I able to read this?! This isn't the Roman alphabet. Also, Eldoria? That isn't a name of any place I've heard of?'
Confusion struck again as he got lost in his thoughts.
"Ey' lad ye been staring pretty hard. Is everything alright?" the old man waved his hand through the projection right in front of Kurt's face.
"Right sorry uhm…. officer Willy?"
"No need to be so formal, just Willy is fine…."
"Kurt. Kurt Rossana."
"Aye Kurt. Hmm, a surname? Come from noble blood or is ye a high-ranking adventurer?" He asked while handing back his I.D card.
"Neither. I was born with it."
"Born with it?" Willy asked when realisation struck him.
He then put both of his hands on Kurt's shoulders and excitedly exclaimed.
"Goodness lad! Has the Goddess Bula blessed ye?!"
'Goddess Bula? Who?'
People around started looking over to them as Willy shouted.
'Urgh as if the whole fainting thing wasn't enough. Now I've got an old coot screaming at the top of his lungs.'
"Listen Willy we're clearly making a scene here and are disturbing people. Can we maybe talk somewhere else?"
Willy calmed down, taking his hands off Kurt and said, "Sorry sorry it's just that, other than in the main capital, we folk down here at the docks don't really see any special people."
He then waved off the people staring, "Nothing to see here people! Just a false alarm!"
Some people dropped their shoulders in disappointment and left while others shrugged it off.
"Come lad let's take you to the bureau nearby where you can get proper identification. That flimsy card ain't gonna cut it in Eldoria." He walked off calling Kurt to follow.
'The bureau? Maybe I'll finally get some information about where I am.' Taking one step forward Kurt felt something weird in the air around him.
'Wait, why do I feel…. stronger? I was just dying a few minutes ago. Didn't old man Willy say something about magic?'
"Ey' lad what's the holdup?" Willy stopped and turned around to ask.
"Nothing, just getting my bearings."
Kurt caught up to Willy, and they continued on walking.
"Say Willy, you mentioned back there something about magic. Care to elaborate."
"Elaborate? What do you mean? Magic is magic. There's nothing to elaborate."
"Yeah, but that was my first time seeing it."
"Really?! First time? Been living under a rock or something? Parents taught ye nothing?" Willy was baffled by just the thought of not knowing about magic.
"No parents to teach me anything. I lived quite far out in the boonies you see." He lied, putting on a sad smile.
"Ah that explains it aye…" Willy replied sympathetically.
'Thank God you're gullible Willy.'
"But don't worry lad! I'm sure Goddess Bula has sent you here for a reason. There will only be better days starting now." He lightly elbowed Kurt's arm to encourage him.
"As for your question about magic there's no need to worry cause look we've arrived."
Kurt looked at the building, and it was clearly different to all the others he passed. The building stood at least three stories tall, and its architectural design was similar to that of a gothic cathedral.
'Wow fancy.' he thought while taking in the site.
"Impressive ey' lad? Come on, let's get you sorted."
After going in, WIlly led Kurt to the leftmost side of three lines with signs hanging off the ceiling stating that this was the "Foreign Affairs" one. The line was long, and it looked like they were going to be standing all day.
'Urgh this is gonna take forever.'
However instead of walking to the back of the line they went around skipping it.
"Hey Willy, why are we just going straight through? Don't we have to line up like everyone else?"
"That would've been the case aye but we're just getting ye adventurers' identification. Normally ye should've done that back in Riverton but seeing as how yer from the boonies…..well tis understandable." WIlly explained.
'Lucky me I guess.'
They walked through the back door where another reception desk stood. This one was empty, so they went straight up front.
Sitting at the desk was a young woman who looked to be no less than twenty-five. With shoulder length brown hair, dressed in what could only be described as a corporate suit and rectangular specs that emphasises her reddish-brown eyes.
"Morning Sherry! Ye looks extra bored on this wonderful day hahaha!"
"Patrol-Guardsman Willy, you seem extra lively today. What brings you here?" she greeted back, straightening her posture.
"Aye this lad here needs a pair of Eldorian tags for adventuring as well as some proper identification for Riverton."
"Riverton? Did you not go through procedures at our branch over there?" Sherry asked, looking at Kurt.
"No, I-" but before he could explain himself, Willy interrupted leaning in close to whisper to her.
"Nay see, Kurt here is from the boonies of Riverton. Apparently, he was so isolated he doesn't even know what magic is."
'I can hear you y'know.'
Sherry raised her eyebrows in slight surprise then looked between Kurt and the sympathetic Willy.
She nodded once then took out a pair of dog tags and strapped them around a chain.
"Hold one tag and put your other hand on this orb for me…. Kurt, was it?"
"Yes, it's Kurt Rossana." He took the chain and did as instructed.
"Rossana? Are you from noble blood?" Sherry asked curiously.
"That right lass I forgot to tell you! Kurt here has been blessed by Goddess Bula since birth and has been granted a surname!"
"Really!? Wow! That's amazing!" Sherry beamed.
"Ahaha…." Not knowing what else to say Kurt could only smile as the misunderstanding grew.
'You know what, just roll with it.'
As excitement ensued around him Kurt felt a jolt in his hands. When he looked down both the tag and orb were glowing and soon after, the same projection he saw before popped up.
It read:
Personal Info -
Name - Kurt Rossana
Date of Birth - Unknown
Nationality - Unknown
Occupation - Assassin
'Wait this looks way too suspicious.'
He glanced nervously at Sherry and Willy; afraid things were going to get more complicated. Instead, his worries were unfounded.
"Seems to check out. Got your name…. birthplace and…. hmm didn't know that you were an assassin. Quite the useful class for when you're out adventuring ey' lad hahaha!"
'Huh? Doesn't he see "Unknown". Also, I think his definition of assassin and mine are vastly different.'
"Born year 756….24 years old huh? You're one year younger than me. Now that I look at you you're quite handsome. What say you and I go out on a date after this Kurt~" A slight blush covered Sherry's face as she started flirting.
"Sorry but I'm really busy at the moment. Another time perhaps?" he declined politely.
'Phew, it seems I'm in the clear.'
"Hmmm I'll hold you to that~" she winked back.
She put away the orb and took out a different one this time.
"Now put your hand on the other tag and this orb."
"Sure. By the way, what are these orbs doing exactly? I'm still in the dark about the whole magic thing." Kurt asked while doing just that.
"Oh, that's right! However, I'm no scholar when it comes to the finer details, but I can give a basic rundown."
"That's ok," he replied.
'Anything that will shed light on this situation will be much appreciated.'
"It is said that more than 2000 years ago humanity was completely different to what it is now. Buildings five times larger than even the bureau were commonplace. Flying metal birds carried people to travel far across the lands."
'Wait a minute…'
"Metal boxes moving nearly three times faster than any horse were seen everywhere. It is also said that people from around the world were always in communication with each other no matter where they were."
Kurt held his phone tightly through his blazer.
"There weren't any monsters to kill nor were there any wars going on. In fact, the very concept of magic, that which is so normal now, was not a thing until-"