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After a short trip to the ice-cream stand, which Mira insisted was strictly for Emilia's sake, the two of them headed directly for the police station.
Of course, Mira didn't embarrass the crimson-haired girl further by carrying her through the city, and had already let her down at its first checkpoint.
Nonetheless, the duo still attracted quite a few curious gazes from other people on the road, mostly due to Mira's weapons.
Thankfully, she was a properly registered citizen who had a license to carry arms, so they didn't get detained as soon as they entered the station.
The policemen were obviously familiar with the woman, and the local chief patiently listened to her story before nodding in understanding. "I see…"
He asked her a few more questions to see if she really didn't remember anything relevant before being 'lost' in the forest, and Emilia answered as per her previous plan.
The chief motioned for another officer to take Emilia away, then. "You can go have an ice-cream with the nice lady here while we get things done, okay?"
Of course, Emilia understood that he must have wanted to talk to Mira alone, so she didn't insist on staying and just did as she was told.
As soon as she was gone, the chief sighed. "I'll run her photo and fingerprints through the system, but… it's unlikely that we'll find anything."
Mira naturally understood that even if there were people looking for Emilia, a child normally wouldn't have their biometric data stored in the public database until much later.
The dark-haired huntress hummed thoughtfully. "Well, at least this should verify if that brat was lying when she kept insisting that she must be old enough to be an adult."
The chief chuckled. "Definitely doesn't look like she's sixteen yet, honestly, but who knows? It'll be better if she is."
In their country, everyone needed to go through a proper national ID process when they hit sixteen, after all. And if they could match Emilia's biometric data in the database, there would be no need to go through the hassle of making her a new ID at all.
Unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on their side, and it soon became clear that Emilia's fingerprints were fresh entries into the public database.
Mira hummed. "Listen, chief, let's not beat around the bush anymore. The type of parents who could leave their child to die in a forest are definitely not going to report her missing, right?"
The chief wanted to argue that they could have simply registered the case somewhere else, but then sighed. "I do get what you mean, and it's pitiful, but what can I do? Everything has to follow a process."
Mira snorted. "Since the girl survived, just let her have a new life under my care. Bend a few rules for my sake, won't you? I did get all those stubborn folk registered at your request back then, didn't I? Don't go forgetting old favors so easily."
After arguing back and forth for a while, the two of them finally settled on letting Emilia's name enter the missing person registry for a month.
Of course, Mira was far from happy about it. "Including her photo there… aren't you just asking for trouble to come her way? I won't forgive you if she catches the attention of some unsavory folk because of this!"
The chief coughed awkwardly. "T-This really is the least I have to do to issue a temporary ID, you know? We'll take it down in the shortest time allowed if no one files a claim on her."
Just as Mira was about to refute, the man stopped her with a wave of his hand. "Rest assured, I know more about the filthy rats of the society than you, and none of them will be allowed to get close to her without first proving that she's indeed related to them."
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Emilia was a bit surprised to learn that she'd already been issued a temporary ID by the time she returned from her ice-cream break. After all, she expected it would at least take a few days.
But when she learned that she'd been adopted as Mira's little sister, she couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
The huntress coughed. "Well, don't let the little details bother you much. Only married folk can adopt children in our country, so there was no choice."
Emilia was a bit more bothered by the fact that the woman must have clearly forged some signatures to get it all done, but Mira didn't seem to care about it much.
"Well, don't let it bother you much. How about I show you my place?"
Their destination was quite close by, and it only took them a few minutes to get there.
The old three-story apartment building Mira took her to was apparently where her parents used to live before everyone moved to the settlement near Lake Lynx. And while it was far from luxurious, Emilia felt that it would be a decent place to live in as long as she cleaned it up a little.
With the entire top-floor to herself and easy roof-access, Emilia felt that it was much better than anything she could have arranged herself in a short time.
"My sister's health doesn't allow us to move back to the polluted city, but don't worry, I'll visit quite often to take care of you, and I've asked the auntie next door to help, too."
The crimson-haired girl sighed. "The one who shouldn't worry so much is you, Mira. Like I said, I'm not a kid who needs to be taken care of so much."
The huntress chuckled. "That's exactly what a kid would say."
She amused herself with the younger girl's indignant response before her expression turned serious. "Anyway, although I did my best to get you an ID that would give you all the adult rights within a year, you have to be careful how you handle yourself out there, alright? A professor will visit us tomorrow, and after you're enrolled in school, I won't be here to protect you, so don't go getting into trouble."
Naturally, Emilia understood that the dangers in a city were very different from those in the woods, and it was entirely justified for Mira to be worried about her 'na?ve' self, so she just nodded obediently.
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Luckily, Emilia was easily able to impress the professor thanks to her knowledge of science and maths from the previous world, and he only gave her a few books on literature before leaving.
"You don't really need to waste another year going to school. Just register for the final high-school exam that is due in a few months."
Of course, his advice would have been very different if Emilia had expressed an interest in one of the more in-demand professions, but… education didn't really matter much in 'that' field.
Mira was a bit dumbfounded by the results, but she trusted the judgment of her father's smartest friend, and headed back to the settlement to take care of her sister.
If she knew what exactly her 'daughter' had picked as her future career, however, Mira would definitely have returned to beat the old professor till he started questioning his degrees.
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Emilia stared at the temporary ID issued in the name of 'Emilia Fox' and the thick stack of bank notes in her hands blankly for a while before pursing her lips in thought. 'I'll have to remember to pay her back, somehow…'
She only really intended to use the settlement at Lynx Lake as a means to easily obtain an ID, but Mira had helped her a bit too much.
It definitely made things a hundred times easier, so Emilia was grateful, but she still felt like she'd taken too much advantage of Mira's goodwill.
Cynthia also didn't want her partner to feel so indebted to a mortal, and hummed thoughtfully. "That's easy. You can just cure her sister's 'weak body' condition with a single circulation of chaos energy. We won't even lose anything. But of course, you should only do that once we're done with everything else."
Feeling that her partner's idea was quite good, Emilia happily agreed before the two of them started discussing their next move.
'It'll take a while for the hero to release that thing, right? Was it six months?'
Cynthia hummed thoughtfully. "It should be around eight, I think. He should still be in this city now."
Emilia nodded. 'Well, we shouldn't attract his attention for now, and just lay low and figure out a way to get into the heroine's team.'
Cynthia chuckled. "Shouldn't you call it the team of the villainess? The heroine hasn't yet joined, after all."
The crimson-haired girl paused as she finally realized it. 'Ohhh, wait… doesn't that mean this is the perfect opportunity for us to get in?!'
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Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om