Chapter 283 - ID Crystal

Resting her body for a while, she made sure that she was well hidden in case of anyone stumbling upon her.

After all, she may bump into another level 100 since she was quite close to labs. Who knows if they'll send reinforcements.

Struggling onto her feet, she flinched slightly from the pain.

"Tch." Clicking her tongue, she took a deep breath and activated her Life Fire.

As her MP was still quite low, she had to turn it on and off continuously since she couldn't handle the MP usage.

"Fu…" Once she was fully healed, she breathed out in relief and looked up into the sky. While she didn't know the current time, the sky was that of a purple orange so she knew that night time was about to approach.

Shaking her head, she jumped onto one of the fallen tree's and started to make her way towards the city. But when she got there, she was surprised to see an expedition team full of level 60's to 70's.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Shiro asked as she pulled one of the bystanders aside.

The man was about to get annoyed but paused when he saw the white haired beauty.

"Ah that's the emergency expedition team. There had been a large clash of mana not too far from here so they were preparing to defend or fight against whatever caused the problem." The man replied with a blush.

"Ah I see. Thank you." Shiro nodded her head and walked away.

The man wanted to call out to her but eventually decided against it. He didn't want to offend a beauty like her since it was very likely that she had a big backing helping her.

As she was about to enter the city, she was stopped by a few guards.

"Id please." They asked while sneaking a few glances at her face.

"ID? Ah right. Sure, give me a second." Shiro smiled and pretended to reach into her pocket. She had almost forgotten that Aria had a similar system to earth where everyone would have guild ID's to prove who they are. However, in Aria, this ID was a little different.

It was given to a person from when they were born and it was in the shape of a crystal. The more bad deeds that you have done, the darker and more damaged the crystal would be. After a certain point, they would shatter and render you ID less. It was impossible to get a second one since this ID was bound to your soul. It was a one time use item so once it was gone, it couldn't be replaced.

Naturally, some may have the concern about losing the crystal but if they were more than 15 meters apart, the crystal would shatter and reappear in their inventories.

Cities would have a verifier to make sure that the crystal was authentic along with a chart to see how 'corrupted' your crystal was and allow you entry based on that scale. If it was too dark, you'll be rejected and sent away.

But if it was almost near the limit, they'll assign you a body guard who will keep an eye on you to make sure that you're behaved.

In her past life, she never gave a crap about the crystal since they were too weak to even think about stopping her. Naturally, her crystal had long disappeared due to the acts that she had done.

But, she did learn how to fabricate the crystal using her nanobots since it was needed for some discreet operations. It was an easy task for her nanobots since she just had to copy the unique mana wavelength that is recognised by the verifier so that it could confirm that she was a law abiding citizen.

Flexing her fingers, a finger sized crystal appeared in her hands. It was only slightly dark around the edges but was mostly clear.

Presenting the crystal to the guards, she waited for her to be verified.

"Mn, you're clear. Have a nice day miss." The guard bowed in respect. Since her crystal was almost entirely clear, it meant that she was classed as a 'good' citizen.

"You too." Shiro smiled while taking back her crystal.

Walking into the familiar city, Shiro looked around for a moment before using Rift Walker and flickered towards the top of the buildings.

She wanted to locate the villagers so that she could help them out. After all, it is almost an entire village moving out.

Looking around for a short while, it didn't take her long to spot them in the distance.

Jumping from one roof to another, she landed softly next to them.

"What's happening?" Shiro asked with a frown since she could see the chief and some over villagers talking to a innkeeper.

"Well the chief is trying to find us a place to stay for now Miss Shiro. We can't just sleep in the middle of the streets since the guards would kick us aside." The villager sighed tiredly.

Their travel to the city had taken a toll on them as they were forced to sleep in the wild.

"Hmm… let me have a look then." Shiro smiled.

"Ah, you're truly kind Miss Shiro. Your presence is such a blessing to our village." The villager said while trying to hold back her tears.

"It's what I should do." Shiro waved her hand before walking over to the chief.

"Please, we've got an entire village to relocate. Even if it's the stables, can't we just stay there for a short while?" The chief begged.

"No no and no! The guess's horses take space as well you know? I can't just let you in. Plus, where do you think you are? Prices in the city are naturally higher. If you can't afford it, you should have chosen elsewhere." The innkeeper shook his head adamantly.

"But what about the children and the elderly?"

"Che, what about them? I need to take care of myself first." The innkeeper retorted in annoyance.

"Chief, forget about this as*hole. Just set the carriages on the side for now and I'll help us find a place." Shiro smiled. If her memory was correct, there should be a spot perfect for them underground since it had served as a smuggling route in the future. They could use this for now and move somewhere else later.

"But Miss Shiro, we can't possibly leave everything to you." The chief frowned since he felt guilty for relying on a young girl like Shiro.

"Haha, don't worry about it too much. If anything, help me out a little and see if you can purchase a land deed with the money we've gathered. It doesn't matter the quality since I'll be remaking the building." Shiro smiled.

Meanwhile, the innkeeper raised an eyebrow and started to examine Shiro as if she was merchandise.

*Puchi!

Feeling his stare, Shiro felt annoyance rise up in her. Wondering about whether or not it was worth it to make him blind or not, Shiro ushered the chief to take the villagers to the side for now.

"Say, I can cut you a deal. You sign a contract with me and I'll provide you with a place to stay." The innkeeper smiled and tried to hide his lecherous intent.

"Well thank you for the 'generous' offer but I have to decline. After all, staying with a pig like you would only taint the living space." Shiro remarked with a smirk and bowed slightly.

"You!" Gritting his teeth in anger, the innkeeper wanted nothing more than to discipline the girl in front of him but he knew that he couldn't cause trouble in the city. Hence why the only thing he could do was shut up and accept it.

"Che! Don't come running back to me if you can't find a place to stay! Pui!" He shouted out before walking back into his inn and slammed the door.

"Miss Shiro, was that wise?" The chief asked in worry.

"Don't worry, staying with that ass would only bring more troubles. Come with me to the governor's building. We'll see if we can buy a land deed for cheap." Shiro patted his shoulder.

"If you say so." The chief nodded since she seemed to know what she's doing.

Having all the villagers stay on the side for now, the chief and Shiro made their way to the governor's building.

Since he was holding all of the villager's money, he was rather cautious and made sure that he didn't lose it. After all, if he lost it, it would mean the end of everyone.

"The more tense and cautious you act, the more suspicious you become. Make sure you look natural and blend in with other people." Shiro advised.

"Ah, ok." The chief nodded and tried to calm himself down.

Arriving at the governor's building, Shiro narrowed her eyes with a smile before entering through the large doors. The last time she was here, she had presented them with a mountain of corpses and exposed the things that the scientists had done.

Remembering the shocked faces of everyone who was there, she smiled in joy.

'Good times.'