Chapter 343 – Maurice’s Passing Tips

Chapter 343 – Maurice’s Passing Tips

While Duncan and Alice went to the cemetery, Maurice and Vanna did not stay idle, they went to the Citizen’s Help Center in the southern part of the Upper City early in the morning, in order to fulfill one of the things that Duncan asked them to do – to find a stable and legal place to stay in the Frost City State, and if possible, preferably with some other people.

Seek a stable and legal place to stay in the Frost City State, preferably with one or two public identities if possible.

After all, they may be active in this city-state for a long time, and they can’t live their lives hiding in the XZ like those cultists.

Considering that the informants that Tirian had left in the city were no longer reliable, Morris then decided to come up with a solution on his own.

Frost’s Citizen’s Help Center is a very large domed building, a main body surrounded by two long extended out side buildings, said to be a citizen’s help center, in fact, this building is also used to receive visitors into the city-state as well as to undertake a large number of third-party intermediary work, from the registration of rental and sale of housing, to the issuance of temporary passes, to the hiring of short-term maids, gardeners, laundresses, almost all can be done here! –Its long side buildings were crammed with registration windows and offices of all kinds, and the huge domed building housed the ever-noisy halls where people came and went, much unlike in Planders.

As soon as you enter the huge dome, the heat comes in, the Frost’s unique high-pressure heating unit dispels the winter chill, and bright electric lights hang high above the dome, keeping the entire building illuminated.

It had only been open for a short time now, but already people were pouring in, looking for short-term jobs or registering their homes for rent or sale, walking through countless windows and counters, interspersed with the clacking and hissing of air ducts being activated, while Vanna was in the midst of it all. “Vanna was obviously a bit uncomfortable with the environment here, as she carefully avoided the crowd around her while muttering to Maurice in a low voice: “In Prendergast, human resources and housing rental and sales counters don’t fit in one building.”

“You have to consider the cost of heating a large building and the time it takes to retrofit a heat pump exchange station,” Morris shook his head, “Most of the city’s basic municipal amenities are left over from the days of the Frost Queen, but those glory days are gone, and after the Great Rebellion the Frost City-State has barely recovered seventy to eighty percent of what it had back then by relying on the Boiling Gold industry, but it’s no simple task to refurbish the underground piping system and steam-powered network left behind by the Queen from the ground up.”

“So it’s just been scraping by?” Vanna’s eyes widened at once, “This is an antique from half a century ago!”

“Or what?” Morris sighed, “On the one hand, there is the decline of the city, on the other hand, there is the pressure of the population, and there is also the shrinkage of the habitable area caused by the collapse of the sea cliffs in the first place …… The facilities of half a century ago used to the present may indeed be a little bit more constricted, but at least they are barely enough to be used, and since they are enough to be used, then they will continue to be used! …… In fact, this is not only the problem of Frost, but also the problem of many old industrial city-states, and it is only a minority of cities that are as energetic as Prand.”

Vanna stopped talking.

This was not an area she was good at thinking about.

And in the midst of this talking, Maurice had already found the direction of the mobile registration counter on the dazzling route guide map above the hall, and he and the taller Vanna wove their way through the crowd, finally arriving in front of one of the quieter counters.

The long wooden counter was set up against a wall, divided into compartments by bars, and behind each compartment sat a clerk in a grayish-blue uniform – their faces as stony as the bars beside them, and clearly intent on keeping them that way until it was time to call it a day.

“We need a residence permit, and we’re also looking for a short-term rental,” Morris said to the waxen-faced middle-aged man inside as he came to one of the grids and sat down in a creaky iron chair, “and we just came ashore today.”

“Which dock?” The waxen-faced middle-aged clerk raised his eyelids and glanced at the old man across the street, he was visibly stunned for a moment when he noticed that a one-meter-nine lady stood behind the old man, but he resumed his businesslike tone in the next second, “Proof of dock documents and ticket for the boat ride show them.”

Vanna frowned and looked down at Morris.

Maurice, however, looked as normal and frankly spread his hands, “Lost, probably on the way out of the marina, and that ship has left.”

The clerk in the lattice immediately stopped what he was doing and looked up, his poker face with a hint of displeasure: “That won’t do, you have to prove the document, go back to the dock and replace it.”

“But I have something else,” Morris said as he dug around in his pocket and fished out a folded document and a small book with a dark red cover and handed it over, “It should serve as legal identification.”

The clerk subconsciously waved his hand, “Not without the dock certification document, and nothing else ……”

He saw the markings on the little book and didn’t say anything further, then he reached over and opened the folded document, his eyes sweeping over it.

The poker-like expression changed instantly.

“An academic pass issued by the Truth Academy and the Boundless Sea Passage Council, the holder is allowed to stay and visit all the city-states sheltered by the Positive God, and during the stay, the local city-states’ universities affiliated with the Truth Academy automatically act as the sponsoring organization,” Morris said, and then pointed to the small red book, “This is my credentials, a dual certificate of degree and theology from the Academy of Truth, with the rank of professor.”

The waxen-faced middle-aged clerk froze for a moment and finally slowly raised his head, looking a little bemused, “Uh …… good morning, Professor Morris …… nice to meet you, your status is of course legitimate ……”

Morris had a relaxed expression on his face.

But the clerk paused immediately afterward, as if torn for a moment, and still said stiffly, “But …… I must at least know which ship you are traveling on, it is …… a rule.”

Maurice’s newly relaxed expression looked a little embarrassed, while Vanna on the side touched the tip of her nose and turned her head without moving. Morris sighed and looked at the middle-aged clerk in front of him who was obviously a little nervous, but still looking straight at him.

“You already know which ship I’m traveling on,” he said with a sigh, a shimmer under his eyes, “Just issue the certificate.”

The clerk was stunned for a moment, a trance seeming to flash under his eyes, then he lowered his head and began to operate the clacking punching machine and put the punched card into the container of pressurized piping next to the counter.

A few moments later, accompanied by hissing and clicking noises in the pipes, the cards returned from some approval office deep in the building were returned here at the counter.

The clerk slipped the punched card into the small machine used for reading it, and confirmed the number of the return and the security code, before starting to fill in the required contents of the supporting documents, while saying without looking up, “I can only open supporting documents here – you’ll have to go to the west wing with the supporting documents, and look for Window A-12, there there should be a short-term rental that meets your requirements.”

“Thank you,” Morris took the opened document and after a pause muttered softly, “Sorry.”

With that, he and Vanna hurried away from the counter and headed for the next window.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this,” the old gentleman couldn’t help but lower his voice just as he walked away, “I was going to rely on the normal paperwork process to get this done ……”

“We arrived on a ghost ship that is not to be tolerated, and as you know, the normal process will never solve this,” Vanna said in the same whisper, with what seemed to be a bit of a smirk in her tone, “Extraordinary times, extraordinary methods.”

“…… What do you think the chances are that Mr. Duncan will give the Lost Country a legitimate ship’s registration certificate?”

“What do you think?”

“…… Well,” sighed Maurice, looking at the certificates in his hand, “Heidi mustn’t know about this-the next time it happens to me , I’d rather make a false ship’s ticket first.”

Vanna looked at the sighing Morris with a smile or not, since childhood, she really is the first time in this has always been “rigorous governance, abide by the rules” of the face of the old scholars to see such a fretful expression, it seems to …… be quite interesting.

……

At the same time, just after the end of the scene investigation, have not had time to return to the cathedral of Agatha in the halfway received from the Department of the third cemetery to send urgent information.

Sitting inside the steam car, Agatha looked at the letter that had just been delivered to her hands, and her eyes gradually froze a little.

A letter of report – from that unnameable visitor.

No sooner had she herself left than this letter was delivered to the cemetery.

Should I lament the mistake of missing it, or the strange behavior of the “visitor”?

She put away the letter, her mind quickly calculating.

Unease spread in her mind, and one thing suddenly became urgent.

“Steer, to Eastport.”

The minion driving in front of him was a little surprised, “Aren’t we going to the cathedral first?”

“Change of plan, go to East Harbor first,” Agatha said decisively, “I have a bad feeling …… something might want to take advantage of the opportunity to land.”

The subordinate who drove the car listened in confusion, but the instinct of obedience to orders made him quickly suppress the doubts in his mind.

The dark steaming car slowed down at the next intersection, swerved, and then sped toward the harbor area in the eastern part of the city-state.

(End of Chapter)