Chapter 53: Merits

The guard headquarters was a four story building that was on the main road, surrounded by a short log fence. It was set back further because the front yard was used for training. It did not take a genius to figure this out because the yard was full of straw and wooden dummies for practicing, and a few guards were outside swinging their swords. There was even a large circular patch of dirt that a few other guards were at, two of which were sparring in the center. To be honest, I kind of wanted to test them out myself to see how strong they were, but I held back. Not that they would let me anyway but it was still fun to think about it.

"By the way, my name is Jack." The guard, who had been quiet this entire time, suddenly spoke up. "I forgot to introduce myself, which was rude of me."

"Nice to meet you, Jack, my name is Faith." I returned his greeting. I was finding it strange that not many people were giving me strange looks. Especially now that I was in the guard station. I wonder if this was one of the rules to join any guard or even the knights, that they had to at least be nice to demi humans.

"It's nice to meet you as well. I should have introduced myself earlier, but to be honest, I have been trying to wrap my head around the fact that you caught bandits, ten at that. Not to mention these guys seem quite scared of you, Haha!" Jack let out a loud laugh. The so called bandits didn't seem to mind either. They even laughed along with him.

"Well, they would have been fine if they did not try to stop me." I pursed my lips as I said this. It was because of these bandits that I had to deal with the idiot hero guy.

"Haha! Well, in a way, I am glad they did stop you. The fewer the bandits on the road, the safer it is for the citizens. You would be surprised at how many reports we get each week. Sadly once someone is robbed, whether it be their goods or their women and children, trying to get any of it back is a lost cause." Jack shook his head. I could tell he hated this fact.

"I couldn't just let them go free after they stopped me even if I did beat them up…." I really couldn't tell him the only reason I captured them was because I wanted their treasure. Sometimes it is best to lie.

"That is true. Haha. I thank you. Now then, if you will follow me inside." Jack pushed open the door to the guard headquarters and led me down a small hall to a large room. There was a table in the center of the room, with chairs around it, and a small windowed counter in the wall on my left, with a man sitting on the other side. On the far wall to my right was a more comfortable seating area with cushioned chairs lined up against the walls. It reminded me of a doctor's office when you went to visit and had to wait your turn. Besides that, there was a barded door that led to another hallway leading further inside the building next to the window on my left.

"Faith, I will ask you to wait here while we confirm their bounties and file the proper paperwork. Bringing in bandits also raises your merit with the kingdom, so it is good to make sure everything is on file. Plus, this way, you know you are getting the correct amounts."

"Okay." I nodded my head and turned to go sit in one of the chairs. Surprisingly enough, the chairs had open spots in the back and were pulled away from the wall to accommodate demi humans. While it only took into account for tails, I could still easily sit in it with my wings pressed against my back.

I looked around the room a bit and pursed my lips with how boring the room was. There was nothing on the white walls, not even pictures. It was a gloomy room that gave nothing for the eye to look at. If there was a picture, I could at least stare at it and nitpick it until Jack returned but sadly, I could only look at the white ceiling that had a bunch of bumps in it and start counting. Sitting and doing nothing was not something I was able to do unless I was trying to sleep.

While I counted the bumps, I began thinking about what I was going to do for the rest of the day. Since the town I was in seemed okay for demi humans, I figured I would do what I never got a chance to do before, and that was to browse the stalls and try out some of the food the town had to offer.

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Wandermere used to have the same kind of setup until the lynching and the splitting of the village. While small, it still gave a place for the locals to sell what they had to others. So I was kind of excited to see what the town had to offer.

I ended up waiting almost thirty minutes before Jack came back from the back room with a stack of papers in his hands. "Sorry for the wait. I never thought that all ten would really have bounties. I hate to say it, but you will need to sign quite a few forms."

"Okay." I got up from my seat and walked over to the table in the middle of the room. Jack began sorting the files out into ten stacks.

"The top page is the information on the bounty and how much the bounty is for. The second page is your authorization for us to take them in, and the second to last page is confirming that you received the bounties in full. And lastly, we need your signature, a drop of blood, and magic injection to make sure that you do not miss out on the merits. When dealing with merits that are not officially going through proper channels from the kingdom, like being a knight under the kingdom or going through the mercenary guild, you will have to fill out this form each time. You can also gain merits at the royal academy as well. But for a normal civilian, we have to have these forms of signatures so they can be filed and sent to the capital. When or if you ever register at any of the places I mentioned, you also have to register your signature, blood, and magic." Jack's explanation confused me a bit because I did not know anything about merit points.

"Jack, what do these merit points do for you? What use do they have?" I asked. I mean, if you do not know, it is best to ask.

"Merit points are used to allow even a commoner to reach a higher noble rank. Although you would need a lot, you can reach the rank of baron or higher if you gathered enough merit points." So basically, it was a means to rise through the ranks. It made me wonder just how many nobles this kingdom really had.

I thanked Jack for his explanation before quickly signing all the forms. By the time I was done, my hand ached from grasping the quill. I think at some point, I should really introduce an actual pen. Making such things would be easy. A metal pen with ink injected inside and a small ball at the end. Pressing down and writing will allow the ink to escape, I should probably have the parts made later on to try it out. I wonder if this kingdom has a thing called patents. This way, after it is made, I can sell it exclusively under my name.

After finishing the paperwork, Jack handed over a small pouch full of silver coins. "Fifteen silver in total. Also, take this." Jack handed me a small card. "This is your pass. It is good for three days. Normally they cost three copper, but since you have done a good deed, this one is free. You will need it if you get stopped by a guard."

I see, so it seems there was a kind of citizenship when it came to towns. You needed proper identification if you planned to stay for long periods of time in the town, which made sense since if someone committed a crime, those in town could be tracked with these cards. I could even feel a bit of magic in it. A tracking function was my best guess. To be honest, with how this world was all over the place with technology, I was not surprised.

By having everyone carrying a form of identification, if someone committed a crime, it would be easy to find out who it was or if the person was even allowed to be in town. You probably had to get one of these before entering town, so unless you scaled the walls, you were stuck getting one. And if you tossed it afterward, then the guards would easily find it and then begin searching for you. Very intuitive for town protection.

"Thanks!" I once again gave my thanks before exiting the guard headquarters and making my way to the street. Now I could finally check out the stalls. I feel like eating some meat….

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