The city of Clearmine surprised Kevin in several positive and negative ways as his group joined the queue to enter the city. For one, it was much better protected and well-guarded than he had imagined. But as he saw a few people entering even from the side of the city he was on—the opposite side from where most trade flowed—and recognized them as very obvious merchants, it made sense to him. They were being sneaky because they were dealing with a hell of a lot of money, most likely.

This activity also helped explain how a relatively small city could afford to build such grandiose walls and pay so many guards: the gem mines nearby, exceptionally rich gem mines, some of which produced gems that rivaled those imbued with mana.

Even though Clearmine was so far away from most civilization on the continent, it still got a fair bit of attention, especially from those who were willing to go on an adventure to make a bit more money. In fact, if not for Clearmine's remote location, relatively close to the untamed wilds, southeast of ork territory and northeast of goblin territory, the city would likely be several times larger. Of course, having the two warlike races nearby–both unfriendly with each–right on Clearmine’s doorstep was a blessing and a curse.

Through various gifts and bribes, the orks and goblins more or less agreed to field troops to protect Clearmine if other, rival nations or groups were to attack. So in essence, because of Clearmine, the goblin and the ork nations usually kept each other in check.

It cost a bit for the city to do so, but Kevin was sure that the leadership was more than happy to keep paying out to the orks and goblins every year to conduct their business in peace. The orks, in particular, were so dependent upon their payments from Clearmine that they would sometimes send out soldiers to inspect the trade routes and make sure no new bandit groups were forming.

However, the city itself, while larger than Kevin had anticipated and showing signs of obvious wealth, was also fairly ugly by his standards, and also by the standards of this world.

After thinking about it as he stood in line, he realized there was probably a good reason for it. He wasn't completely sure, but the transient nature of merchants and gem miners probably meant there were very few residents with money who truly called Clearmine home for more than about twenty years. After all, it was multi-generational groups, with pride and love for their cities who would go above and beyond to do the little unsung things that made a city truly beautiful.

Clearmine didn’t likely have much of that.

The process to actually enter the city seemed to be relatively easy until Kevin's group had their turn. At that point, it became rather obvious that none of Kevin’s charges had anything from their previous life on them at all, much less any identification, and Kevin didn't have any either. He’d been raised in the mountains with his mother and father. The guards narrowed their eyes and looked like they were going to make a scene before Kevin nudged one and let a glint of gold shine through his fingers.

Before the guard could get angry or worse, make a critical mistake like engaging in any violence, Kevin suggested, "Why don't we both go over there by the wall, there in the shadow, and I'll explain the situation in more detail?"

The guard immediately and obviously had a gleam of greed showing in his eyes. His bristly mustache quivered as he grumbled, "Well, I don't see any reason not to hear somebody out, especially a goblin who looks as trustworthy as yourself."

Kevin smiled and, after heading over to the side about fifteen paces—far enough for nobody to overhear or see what they were doing—showed the guard the medallion that his father had given him. Then, as the man began opening and closing his mouth like a fish, Kevin also gently but firmly plopped a full gold piece into the guard's hand. “For your discretion. This is also why I waited in line. Secrecy is worth keeping.” The gold was roughly equivalent in size and weight to a one-ounce gold coin on Earth. For this guard, it probably represented something like four months' salary.

"I see," he said, eyeing the medallion again. "Are you sure you don’t want me to announce your presence, your lordship?"

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"No, and no titles. This is a secret trade mission. I'm sure you understand how it is," Kevin replied with a wink.

The guard nodded and got a knowing look in his eye. In this case, Kevin actually did assume the guard truly had run into something like this before. After all, Clearmine was a fairly rough and tumble trading town.

"May I ask what your name is, your lordship?"

"Of course. It's Kevin." He paused, realizing he needed a last name. There was no way he was going to make the same mistake again that he made with Branch, using his parent’s title. However, dragons almost never had last names, and he didn't want to use a last name from his previous lives. So he thought fast and said, "Kevin Brightscales." He inwardly cringed but hid it when the words came out of his mouth.

So lame!

"Brightscales? I've never heard that one, Lord Kevin. Your family must be a martial house for such a name, and you must truly be a great warrior to have been adopted by the nobility. I don't mean to insult you based on being a goblin, you understand?"

Misunderstandings were already running wild, but Kevin didn't feel a need to correct any of them. He just shook his head. Then the guard said, "My name is Jahiz. I know that nobody would be dumb enough or crazy enough to flash around credentials like yours unless they were the real deal. It's why, even though you're a goblin, I'm not even questioning it."

"I'm sure the gift I gave you doesn’t hurt anything," said Kevin. “Or the way I speak.” In a world like this one, where education could differ so much from person to person, a person’s education, and even how they spoke could easily indicate a certain level of wealth.

Ironically, Kevin spoke like a noble but had been living in a cave.

"Of course, of course," said the guard. He leaned in a bit closer and spoke quietly. "But the mayor is probably going to want to speak to you, and since you're coming into the city from this direction, if you don't, other people who read the law books might misunderstand and believe that you are a scammer. And of course, faking credentials like yours would be a death sentence. I'm sure you understand."

"Yes," said Kevin. This was the guard covering his own ass, and he could tell it was unavoidable. He wanted to facepalm, but at the end of the day, meeting the city mayor probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to do, and it hopefully wouldn't even take that long. The guard's logic was completely sound, and since Kevin had to actually spend some time here both to gather information, make sure the goblins settled in, it didn't make any sense to rock the boat.

"Yes, that's fine," repeated Kevin.

“Please forgive me if I misspeak, but you need to get identification after this, though,” said the guard. “Even though many people don't actually need identification, that’s only if they don’t travel, or if they come in a group and somebody in charge of the group can vouch for them. Somebody with some authority and with identification. I highly suggest that you and maybe one other person in your party get identifcation if you're going to be traveling like this any further."

"That's very helpful of you," said Kevin. "Why are you telling me all this? Not that I'm not grateful, mind. I'm just curious."

"Of course," said the guard. He smiled good-naturedly. "If you truly are who you say you are, and you end up meeting the city mayor, I would love it if you put in a good word for me. After all, guard duty at the gates is some of the worst, and I have only been here for three years. I have to two more years, realistically, to expect a transfer."

"Ah, I see," said Kevin. "No promises, though." He pointed at the guard's pocket where the gold had disappeared a little bit earlier. "After all, it's not like I only showed my sincerity and promises."

The guard chuckled without any shame at all. He knuckled his brow and said, "That is true, but it also doesn't hurt to try."

Kevin genuinely smiled back at the man. He could appreciate an honest rogue. "Where should we get credentials or identification at?" he asked.

"Well, there's the Adventurer's Guild, the Fighters Guild, and the Magi Guild. The three of them are the three largest guilds in the world that have the most universal and problem-free identification cards."

"I see," said Kevin. "Any differences between them?"

The guard scratched his head. "The Magi Guild won't accept applicants unless they take a lot of tests. It’s really hard. Most people can’t even get in. There is some kind of practical test, too, but it’s about survival or something, I think.”

"They don't have to display any magic?" asked Kevin in surprise.

"No, because there are some scholars in the Magi Guild who are entirely focused on research, and they still get hired out by parties or officials who may need their services to unlock something or translate."

"Oh, I see," said Kevin. "So if you're in that guild, you have to prove yourself by accomplishments and knowledge, maybe not just magic."

"Exactly," the guard said. "Not everybody out there hiring is looking for a fighting mage. Anyway, the Fighters Guild is second hardest to get into; one has to make an oath under the god of contracts. Something fairly simple and about the rules that are standard for other guilds, too. Things like not murdering guild members and not stealing from them, that sort of thing. This is after proving your ability to fight in a spar. Then the adventurer's guild basically takes anybody with a pulse."

"Really?" asked Kevin.

"Well, yes, at least at the lower ranks. To get into the higher ranks right away, which is possible, there are tests, but somebody would need to go to the larger cities for that."

Kevin nodded his thanks and headed back to the group. The guards that had been holding up the other goblins stepped aside after a nod from Jahiz. Kevin led the goblins into the city and only realized about ten minutes later that he had forgotten to ask the guard about food and lodging.

By that point, the group was already firmly inside the city, and the press of bodies was becoming more noticeable. Kevin really didn't want to turn around just to ask what might be a dumb question, so he didn't. About half an hour later, he regretted that choice.