The registrar was the next location we needed to go to fill out the appropriate paperwork to have Chalm registered as a city of Aberis and for me to be registered as the lord. Basically, we had to make a case before the local lords that we are worth being identified as such. Of course, Chalm could always remain independent, but after the disaster that led to Chalm’s original destruction, many there felt that remaining loyal to Aberis was important. First, it allowed them to continue to buy and free slaves. Secondly, it’d allow us support that is currently lacking.

Of course, I was a little curious if the church didn’t have any involvement in the death of the previous Lord Karr. His death was mysterious, up to and including his diary being opened to some incrementing photos which led to Astria’s taking over the whole mansion and turning it into a dungeon. After hearing about the clockwork dragon and their nefarious attempt to recover it, it wouldn’t be surprising to me if they assassinated the previous Lord.

It wasn’t lost on me that it was the priests who ultimately contained the threat and acted as the saviors to the people of Chalm. It was an act that seemed pretty reminiscent of their actions towards the Bandit King’s hometown. That was, of course, if I chose to believe the Bandit King’s story. These were simply stories for the moment, and I really couldn’t act on them, so I decided to just play it by ear.

We reached the office, which was really a large building with various desks that reminded me a bit of the Adventurer’s Guild, except everyone was dressed nicer and there was an atmosphere of haughtiness. I entered the room and gestured for my girls to wait while I got in line. It took about thirty minutes of waiting before I got to the front.

“What petition or order do you have?” A receptionist like lady asked, a bored expression on her face.

“Ah… I’m petitioning for the city of Chalm.”I said, pulling out some papers.

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I was doing things exactly how I was coached to do them by the former Mayor. There was a particular order to these things and you had to do everything. I tried to follow everything.

“Hmmm… Chalm? I thought that the town was destroyed.” The woman said flatly.

“Uh, no… we moved.” I corrected her.

“In that case, you’ll need to go over there to that line, and fill out this form.” She handed me a form.

I sighed and walked over to the other line. A few hours later…

“Eh? Do you have proof of lordship? Oh, you’re not a lord? In that case, you need to go to the building across the street and fill out this form.”

I let the girls wait outside this time and bought them some food from a nearby stall. I then went into my next line. Some time passed.

“Ah… no, you want the line over there.”

“That’s the line I started in!” I cursed.

“Sorry, sir.”

I rubbed my head. This was turning out to be a much greater headache than I could have ever predicted. As I was walking across the street, I heard a noise.

“Hey… psst…” I looked over to see a shady looking guy standing by the alleyway. “Hey. Come over here. For a gold coin, I can give you some information. It’ll save you a great deal of time.”

I frowned at the shady looking man, but in the end, I decided I had nothing to lose so I showed him the coin. When he reached out to take it, I held it away from him.

“Speak first.”

“Ah… well… haha…” He brushed his hands on his dirty tunic. “You’ll never get anything done that way. They only truly respect nobles in this town. Unless you have a lordship, you’ll never be able to get anyone to accept your paperwork.”

This caused my mood to sour instantly. I had the feeling that if I was a lord, they’d be taking me seriously. Several snootier men came in and seemed to get things done in an instant. However, one of my papers was petitioning to become a lord. So… I couldn’t petition for lordship without being a lord? Well, I supposed if I knew a lord, that would also help.

“How is that supposed to help me?” I responded more bitterly than I intended.

“Ah! That…” He held out his hand and I dropped the gold coin in it. “The city is quite packed right now, haven’t you noticed.”

“Yeah?’ I mean… it was busy, but I guess it was busier than normal?

“That’s because there is a tournament that will be starting tomorrow. You still have time to register. The top prize is a lordship!”