>>5584354 >>5584554 >>5584783 >>5584970Perhaps a more easternly surname could grease the wheels just a little if you ever need to fit in with 'high society', but... eh. Better to choose something you like than something that might a few people have better impressions of you for a rather surface-level reason.
You fill in your name and details on the piece of paper. Tetsuya Kinzou (鉄也金造). Age 12, date of birth the 8th day of the 1st month of Sheng 474. Born in Fogtop, son of Takigi and Nui, born in Sheng 450 and Sheng 452 respectively. So and so the forms go, filled out with various boilerplate.
For a moment you wonder why you have to fill in so many details, especially when you know there's at least a birth certificate recorded for you, but, well... not everyone has that on file, even. And even if birth certificates existed for everyone, you've never seen a bureaucracy lean on the side of less paperwork rather than more. It seems some things are constant throughout the universe...
After some time you finish filling out the forms Percival handed you. You make your way back to his office while handling them gently, afraid of smudging the ink. Around a minute after knocking he shows his face again. You notice a hint of haggardness to his appearance that you hadn't before. A few bags under his eyes, and perhaps an extra wrinkle.
Before you can wonder as to the cause of his tiredness he receives the papers from you and glances them over. Then he steps away from the door, letting you in. He calls for his guard to enter as well, telling him to grab a worker who's still around.
A minute or two of awkward silence later, Percival's guard returns. Alongside him is Du, who you suppose got stuck with overtime. He greets you timidly, unsure of what's going on. Percival coughs to get his attention. "Kinzou has requested a citizenship. We needed another witness."
Saying that, Percival gestures for his guard to approach the desk. He does, silently adding a signature to the bottom of a piece of paper. After some hesitation, Du does the same. You know that he isn't literate, but you guess he can write his name at least.
You become a citizen of the empire with the anticlimactic scratch of a brush. Percival thanks Du for his assistance and then straightens out the papers, scanning over them one more time as he does. "With that, the three of us have acknowledged that the one in front of us is Kinzou, a resident of Fogtop, and that he is becoming a citizen of the empire of his own behalf."
"Congratulations. Henceforth you are a Testuya Kinzou, a citizen of the empire and the Kingdom of Han, a subject of their majesties the emperor and king." Percival offers a handshake. You accept.
