Chapter 11: Re-encounter with Xingjian Ya (Patreon)

"Come on, let's head out for a bit."

After finishing lunch, once the sun outside wasn't blazing quite so fiercely, Musachi checked the time and turned to Remielle beside him.

"Where are we going?"

"To get our certificate."

"Huh? Isn't that a bit much? Isn't it moving kind of fast?"

Hearing Musachi's words, Remielle froze for a moment, then answered with a touch of bashfulness.

"Not fast at all — the paperwork takes several days to process. Today we're just heading to the police station to get our photos taken; they'll mail the ID card over after a while."

"Oh... it's just an ID card..."

Listening to Musachi's explanation, Remielle looked a little disappointed.

"What else would it be?"

Musachi looked utterly puzzled.

"Nothing."

Remielle shook her head, smiling sweetly.

"Speaking of which, do you need to get one reissued too?"

Musachi glanced at Remielle, curious.

"Wouldn't that be a hassle? Someone like me, undocumented and all..."

Remielle looked at him, a little hesitant.

"It's fine, not much trouble at all. After the Fall of the Old City, a lot of old records were lost, so plenty of people ended up without any identity — especially those from the Outer Ring. Many of them are undocumented too. To make things easier to manage, New Eridu lets you register a household account directly."

"I see... I thought it'd be a hassle. If it really were, I'd rather just stay undocumented."

After hearing the explanation, Remielle nodded as well.

Still, if it wasn't going to be much trouble, getting an identity wasn't a bad idea — otherwise, things could get complicated down the road.

"It's not too far from here to Lumina Square — let's just take the subway over. We might even grab dinner there tonight."

As he spoke, Musachi locked up the bookshop door and led Remielle toward the subway entrance.

Sixth Street was out of the way, but its subway entrance was well placed — something Musachi was quite satisfied with.

Before long, after a half-hour subway ride, Musachi and Remielle arrived at Lumina Square.

"Wow, it's so lively here."

Taking in the crowds around her, Remielle felt a flicker of genuine surprise.

"Of course it is — this is one of the most bustling districts in New Eridu. A single apartment here could nearly buy up every shop on Sixth Street."

Musachi sighed at the thought himself.

The first time he'd come to Lumina Square and seen the property prices, he'd been startled too.

By now it was four in the afternoon, the hottest stretch of the day already behind them.

As a result, the streets had grown busier as well.

Bustling crowds, packed shoulder to shoulder.

The intersections were perpetually choked with traffic.

Even amid such a crowd, though, Musachi and Remielle stood out easily.

Musachi went without saying — nearly six-foot-two, lean and towering, with a handsome face so striking it practically glowed.

Just on the subway ride over, he'd already overheard several elderly women commenting admiringly on his height.

Remielle beside him drew even more attention.

A pure white gown draped over her alluring figure, a face of breathtaking beauty, and the rare wings of the Winged Thiren besides.

Walking down the street together, there was no telling how many eyes the two of them drew.

Some passersby even wondered aloud whether Musachi and Remielle were celebrities from some talent agency.

Neither of them paid it any mind, though, and they simply made their way toward the police station at Lumina Square.

...

At the front counter of the Lumina Square station, Qingyi yawned, utterly bored.

By rights, she shouldn't have had to deal with such tedious work.

But today was an exception — the officer usually on front-desk duty had taken leave for personal reasons, and with the station short-staffed lately for various reasons, Qingyi had reluctantly been drafted in to cover.

Still, tedious as it was, Qingyi rather liked this sort of life.

It was comfortable enough, after all.

All she had to do was sit at the counter cradling her thermos, and a peaceful day would simply pass her by.

"Miss, are you the receptionist here? We need to get an ID card reissued — where should we go?"

This was Musachi's first visit to the Lumina Square police station, and unfamiliar with the layout, he turned to the young woman at the front desk.

Qingyi frowned, took a sip from her thermos, and looked over at Musachi and Remielle.

"First of all, I'm not a 'miss' — I'm older than the two of you put together. As for the ID reissue... go straight in from here, turn left at the end, and there's an office. That's the place."

She pointed the way, then went right back to ignoring them, looking perfectly at ease.

Something about Remielle struck her as vaguely familiar, but Qingyi didn't dwell on it — maybe she'd just seen her somewhere before.

"I see. Sorry for the trouble, and thanks."

A little surprised, Musachi glanced at Qingyi, nodded, and led the silent Remielle inside.

Older than him and Remielle put together?

Some ancient crone masquerading as a teenager, more like...

Once they'd walked past, Remielle let out a breath of relief.

Remielle could tell that Qingyi wasn't human — or at least not flesh and blood in the ordinary sense — and given her apparent age, if they lingered around her much longer, she might actually recall the Void Hunter from a century ago.

Thankfully, Qingyi hadn't paid them any mind, and that let Remielle breathe easier.

"You two are here for an ID reissue? Just a moment, please — here's a form, fill it out."

Inside the office, Zhu Yuan watched the pair push the door open, speaking with brisk professionalism.

Musachi nodded, handed a form to Remielle, then sat down at the table and began filling his out.

Musachi wasn't particularly worried about his identity being exposed — after all, hardly anyone in all of New Eridu actually knew what he looked like.

His Void Hunter title hadn't been personally bestowed by the mayor; it had been awarded posthumously, so to speak, in memory of his deeds after he'd fallen into his long sleep.

That was exactly why the TV stations had kept bringing him up and hyping his legend all these years.

After all, as far as both the mayor and TOPS were concerned, he was already dead.

A dead man was the easiest thing in the world to control. They could shape Musachi into a flawless hero, a spiritual icon for New Eridu.

After all, with the man dead, the public wouldn't dig any deeper.

Though Musachi had been posthumously named a Void Hunter, his true face remained a mystery — only a handful of people had ever actually seen him back then.

People like the current matriarch of the Hoshimi Family, or Yi Jiang, the twelfth-generation Sect Master of Yunkui Mountain, along with a few ordinary folk and Defense Force soldiers he'd personally saved.

"All right, the reissue request has been submitted. Generally speaking, we'll have your ID card mailed to your home within fifteen business days."

"Thanks for the trouble."

Musachi looked at Zhu Yuan across the desk and nodded as he spoke.

With everything taken care of, Musachi glanced at the sky and turned to Remielle.

"It's getting late — let's skip going home for dinner. I hear there's a decent hotpot place around here, let's give it a try. After that we could wander around a bit, maybe catch a movie?"

Musachi looked over at Remielle.

"Of course. Whatever you say."

Remielle nodded, smiling.

But just as the two of them stepped out through the station's front doors, Musachi's steps came to a sudden halt.

Not far off, a figure stood waiting for the light to change.

At the sight, his expression froze.

It was Hoshimi Miyabi, the present-day Void Hunter he'd run into inside the Hollow that day.

The moment he spotted her, Musachi grabbed Remielle's hand.

"Come on, let's go, let's get out of here."

But before Musachi could get far, footsteps stopped close behind him.

"Stop right there."

Hearing the voice behind him, Musachi sighed and turned to face Hoshimi Miyabi.

Why was he so unlucky? He couldn't even run a simple errand without bumping into her?