MTL - Don’t Confiscate My Citizenship

 Chapter 9 Lanqi is about to start making cards

　　Putting on his coat, Lan Qi picked up the codex borrowed from the border library on the table and walked out of the room.

 As the morning light gradually becomes brighter, you can see the outside world more clearly.

After enjoying breakfast as usual, chatting with the butler Hans, and saying goodbye to the maid Francine, Lan Qi walked straight out of the mansion and headed towards the street corner in his memory.

 Soon, he saw Thalia standing by the wall.

 “Good morning, Tata.”

Lanchi greeted Thalia, who had been waiting early in the morning.

 Previously, when Lanqi asked Thalia's name, Thalia did not tell him her real name.

 Instead, he said his name was "Tata".

Even though Lan Qi already knew her real name, he had to pretend not to know.

 Otherwise, if you accidentally call out "Talia", you will definitely cause a big problem.

There is no reason for me, an ordinary citizen, to know the true identity of this demon princess.

So Lan Qi naturally called her by the pseudonym "Tata".

"Um."

Thalia just nodded and ignored Lanqi.

 When Lan Qi started today's trip, she followed him at a distance that was neither too close nor too far away.

 …

 About half an hour later, Lanqi and Talia arrived at the Card Creators Association branch in the South Wantina Border Territory of the Kingdom of Hutton.

Before Lan Qi touched the heavy door, a mysterious energy began to permeate the door of the Card Creators Association.

In front of me, driven by this force, the ancient coat of arms on the black iron-like metal door gradually flashed with a faint blue light, as if it had life and was beating with magic energy.

With a slight vibration, the door gap of the Card Creators Association gradually changed from narrow to wide.

 What comes into view is a scene completely different from the outside world——

 The internal space of the association looks simple and elegant. Except for the orderly divided counter area, there is not too much cumbersome decoration, and the entire layout is orderly.

Even though it is only the morning, the association is already full of busy workers. Many visiting guests were waiting in front of the counter, discussing topics related to magic cards and the shadow world.

As soon as Lan Qi stepped into this magnificent and huge building, he suddenly stopped again.

“Tata, I’m not sure when it will end today, why don’t you go in with me?”

 He looked back at Thalia and asked.

Since he reached a deal with Thalia, he almost always tells Thalia about his schedule in advance these days, including what time he will leave in the morning and what time he will return home in the evening.

 Talia is also very dedicated as a bodyguard.

　　Previously, whenever Lan Qi went to the Border Library or the Card Makers Association, Thalia would wait outside the door until he came out.

The defense force of such important places is not weak, Lan Qi explained to her that there are some places where she does not need to accompany them.

For example, the Lanqi family, as long as Lanqi is sent back to the mansion, she no longer has to protect Lanqi.

In addition, Lanqi himself knew very well that Thalia did not have the identity to enter these places.

 Now she is just an unidentified stowaway in the Kingdom of Hutton.

If your identity is investigated for breaking into the branches of these large associations, it may cause a lot of trouble.

 “No.”

 There was no emotion in Thalia's tone.

But her voice was still as distant as ever.

Lan Qi sighed and looked at her with her hands on her hips:

"I may have to come here for a long time every day. If you wait outside for me every day...this feeling of squatting may be more conspicuous, right?"

　　　…”

　His words made Thalia fall silent, as if she was thinking about it.

“Don’t you think it would be much easier for you to work if you could enter and leave the Card Makers Association freely?”

Lanqi asked again,

"It's like this. I will rent the card-making workshop in the association next. There is no one else in the card-making room except me. You can just stay in the card-making room to kill time. If anyone in the association asks later , I just said you are my bodyguard."

 Lan Qi said as he took out his savings crystal card.

 Obviously, the highest level.

The Card Makers Association of the border city-state would not offend an honored guest like him at will.

“Okay.” Thalia hesitated for a moment, nodded slightly and followed.

Rather than waiting outside, she had actually wanted to enter the human Card Creators Association for a while.

 It’s a pity that I have been suffering from no legal status for many years.

This human being... will always make her get what she wants in the right way.

 …

Not long after Lan Qi took Talia into the association, a deacon walked up to Lan Qi to receive him.

Although he is not a registered card maker of the association, the staff of the association know that Lan Qi comes as a "businessman".

  After all, the Ranch family is the famous Wilford Chamber of Commerce in the southern Wantina border area.

“I want to rent a high-end single-room card-making workshop, and I need some materials.”

Lanci expressed his intention to the deacon succinctly and handed him a list.

 Then the deacon nodded respectfully and extended his hand to invite the two of them to follow him.

 Under the leadership of the deacon, they bypassed half of the indoor area on the first floor of the association and arrived at the third floor of the association from a suspended staircase.

The corridor in this building seems to be decades old, but in order to retain a certain sense of art, no excessive renovation was chosen.

 At the end of the corridor, a room with a purple sign on the door caught Lanci and Thalia's eyes.

The deacon opened the door for them, then moved aside, indicating that they could enter.

"Mr. Ranch Wilford, the rental fee is 1 pound per hour. You can settle the rental bill when you leave. I will send the materials later."

The deacon worked on the small magic instrument in his hand for a while, and handed back the crystal card with Lan Qi's identity engraved on it to him.

"OK, thanks."

 Lanchi was chatting with the deacon at the door.

Thalia stood silently near Lanci, looking around.

 She could tell at a glance that this spacious card-making workshop had a complete set of card-making facilities, and all of them were relatively high-end equipment.

Having these things in a border city-state is pretty good.

Thalia couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last touched these familiar tools.

 But she doesn't want to touch these things now.

 The magic cards she made and inscribed with demonic writing cannot be freely traded in the human kingdom.

If you leave something to be traced by the Human Kingdom Alliance Council, it will only cause serious trouble...

 …

 It didn’t take long before the staff prepared and delivered the materials purchased on Lanci’s list as promised.

In addition to conventional materials such as whiteboard cards, energy crystals, rubbing magic stones, and magic core liquid, there are also a bunch of scrolls.

 The main materials required to make the three major types of magic cards are different.

 Equipment cards must have equipment prototypes and props such as enchantment and encapsulation.

 Summoning cards require materials such as monster crystal cores or soul crystals.

Making spell cards requires magic scrolls as materials, which must be processed and rewritten.

 As a practice, spell cards are undoubtedly the best choice.

Because a large part of the materials and crafts required for spell cards have been integrated by magic scrolls.

 Compared to creating them from scratch, making spell cards is closer to “reprocessing”!

"In addition to staying here, you can leave at any time in the middle. As long as you find the deacon just now, he will bring you in."

Lanchi picked up a chair and placed it not too far away from the workbench, indicating that it was for Thalia.

 Thalia nodded.

 She doesn't like to stand around and wait all day either.

So Thalia walked to this chair and sat down gently, with her back straight and her hands gently folded on her knees, like a noble queen.

 She stared in front of her calmly, seemingly not paying attention to the things around her.

But after sitting down, she discovered.

 It seems like all I can do next is watch the guy in front of me drawing cards to pass the time.

 (End of this chapter)