Chapter 68 The Collar

Times like this make me wish I was taller. I can barely see anything! Evernya thought as she lifted to her toes to spot the direction she needed to go. Fortunately, despite the shoulder to shoulder crowds of people, Evernya glimpsed the customer service sign to her left.

Taking advantage of her catkin grace, she swiftly weaved her way through the hordes of people arriving at the customer service room in only a few minutes. Once inside, she scanned the small group of people in the waiting area but failed to spot Meira, causing her to shake in panic. She sat down on a chair in the row of chairs closest to the entrance and stroked her tail while taking deep breaths to calm down. After a few minutes, she was calm enough to think clearly. Her nose twitched to locate Meira’s scent, but the thousands of scents muddled her sense of smell, forcing her to give up.

I guess my nose has a limit. Meira must have noticed I wasn’t behind her, so she is probably out looking for me. She should eventually come back here, so it’s best I don’t leave this room. I guess I’ll take a number and wait for my turn. Hopefully, Meira shows up before then because I don’t have the money to pay for the collar. Maybe I’ll hit the lottery, and she will change her mind about shopping in a tier 2 city. Evernya thought as she stood up from her seat.

Evernya trotted up to the desk and grabbed a ticket numbered 143. She glanced at the screens above each booth, finding the highest at 131, then returned to her seat, crossing her fingers. Meira showed up before the number hits 143.

Why do they need such a DMV-like setup? It should be a simple process of buying a stupid collar and getting out of here. This place is giving me flashbacks of that damn mages council building. Evernya grumbled in her mind as her eyes surveyed the room with a main desk, then a couple of dozen booths to the left, and a waiting area consisting of a couple of hundred chairs neatly laid out in rows back to back.

Fifteen minutes later, her number got called, but Meira was still nowhere to be seen. Damn it, where is she! Did something happen to her? I wish I had a cellphone to call her. I hate not having a way to contact her. I guess I’ll have to go up there on my own since I don’t want to waste any more time waiting here if I miss my turn.

Evernya stood and shuffled toward the stall with her number flashing, hoping Meira will appear before she got there. Unfortunately, she was still elfless in the minute it took her to walk to the booth, so she attempted to figure out the collar buying process on her own. She stepped into the booth, finding a handsome, tall, brown-haired man who appeared to be in his 30s. Evernya sat down in the provided chair on the other side of the man’s desk. To hide her nerves, Evernya sat up straight and looking the man directly in his eyes. Unfortunately, her tail had other ideas as it puffed slightly as it curled through the back of the backrest and up between her legs.

Why can’t I go into Alpha mode here? I could really use the extra confidence right now. Evernya complained in her head.

“Hello, young lady, what can I help you with today?” The man greeted in a friendly tone, trying to calm down the obviously nervous catkin in front of him.

“I need to buy a collar, but I lost my older sister in the crowd getting here, and she has the money.” Evernya blurted.

Without missing a beat, the man responded while keeping a friendly smile on his face. “That’s ok, we can finance it to your ID, and you can pay it off later when you find your sister.”

“Just like that, I can finance it? Don’t you need a down payment or my credit history?” Evernya questioned.

The man froze for a second, surprised by the young catkin’s sudden questions. “Yes, anyone can finance government-provided services and items. Only companies unaffiliated with our government use credit history to finance.”

Evernya narrowed her eyes, suspicion overcoming her nerves as she questioned, “Okay, so what is the catch? You wouldn’t just give out something without some guarantee I will pay it back.”

“No catch besides you have to pay it off within a month, or it will collect interest.” The man informed, a friendly smile returning.

“I expected that. What is the interest rate?” Evernya prodded.

The man’s previously friendly smile faltered as Evernya continued to ask questions. “The interest rate depends on the amount. For a collar, it should be around twenty percent after the first month.”

“Ok, that sounds about right. My sister will probably pay it off within the hour, anyway.” Evernya stated, relaxing into her seat, prompting the man’s smile to return from her agreement.

“So, what do I do to set this up?” Evernya asked a second later.

The man slid a contact over to the young catkin. “Just sign this, and I will credit the amount owed to your ID.”

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind sent the contract at the man’s face. “How dare you try to trick my little sister into a contract!”

Meira plopped into the chair to Evernya’s right before sighing, “That was close. It would have been bad if you signed that contract.”

“I wouldn’t have just signed it without reading it. I’m not dumb. So what was wrong with the financing? It seemed a little fishy how they would finance someone without even looking up my information.” Evernya defended with her full attention on Meira, ignoring the now scowling man.

“Excuse me, miss, you need to wait your turn. I am helping a customer right now. Please take a number from the front desk and wait.” The man interrupted.

Annoyed by the interruption, Meira glared at the man. “She is my younger sister, so I may be here. We got separated on our way over here.”

Unconvinced, the man held his ground, hiding his shaking hands under his desk. “If she got this far, that means she is an adult, meaning she needs to handle this on her own. Besides, I highly doubt you are sisters, you are not even the same race.”

“I say she stays. If we didn’t get separated, we would do this together. I am only getting this damn collar because she wanted to take me shopping here.” Evernya stated with finality.

“As my little sister said, she needs a collar, so please get her one. Don’t worry about payment, I’ll pay the full amount right here.” Meira pushed.

Friendly demeanor gone, the now stern man gave in. “Young lady, please stand up so I can measure your neck.”

After Evernya stood, the man walked around his desk, towering over the petite girl. He pressed a finger to Evernya’s neck, casting a measurement spell. Once done recording her measurements, he sat back down on his desk and typed some information into his computer.

A minute later, he returned his attention to the patiently waiting women. “We currently do not have a collar in your size. You are welcome to buy the next size up or pay extra for one of our metal manipulators to shrink it.”

“I thought tampering with the collars is illegal,” Evernya questioned.

While giving the girl a ‘are you stupid,’ look, the man explained. “Once we bind the collar to someone, yes, but we can do slight changes in size before finishing the binding process. However, any over one size up or down could damage the enchantments or weaken the structure of the collar.”

“How much extra will it cost to have it resized?” Evernya inquired, not wanting Meira to spend too much on her.

“Only a thousand extra.” The man replied.

After glancing at Meira, she responded, “Fine, resize it for me.”

The man disappeared in back a moment later, leaving the women alone.

Now alone, Evernya asked, “So, how did you find me?”

“Well, after I noticed you weren’t behind me, I searched for a while, but I couldn’t find you, so I worked my way here and heard you talking,” Meira replied while scanning her kitten for any injuries.

Evernya added while nodding her hand in self-confirmation. “Yeah, I figured you would show up here eventually, so I took a number while I waited for you. Unfortunately, it got called before you came. I need a cellphone to avoid situations when even my nose can’t track you down.”

“When we get back home, we will go get a cellphone for you,” Meira stated.

At the mention of home, Evernya gave her elf a pleading look. “We just got here, and I already want to go home. Do we really need to do this?”

Unmoved by her kitten’s pleading, Meira said. “I know it’s stressful, but we already made it here. It shouldn’t be as bad once we get to the market.”

Evernya’s pleading expression transformed into a pout as she slumped in her chair. “I figured you would say that. I should be fine as long as Minea isn’t as crowded as this portal station. I can’t believe someone grabbed my tail out there.”

“So that’s why I lost you. What an asshole coping a tail grab, knowing he could get away with it.” Meira scowled, vowing to herself to blow away all future tail grabbers.

“How dare someone touch my tail without my permission!” Evernya fumed.

“I am sorry you had to deal with the harassment. Maybe wrap your tail around your waist in crowded places like you do when you sit down.” Meira suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Anything to avoid another tail grab from happening again.” Evernya agreed, shivering at the prospect of someone grabbing her tail again.

“So, what would have happened if I signed that contract?” Evernya asked to change the subject.

“I’ll tell you after we leave,” Meira whispered as she tapped her ear.

“Ok,” Evernya whispered back, taking the hint.

Ten minutes later, the man returned, carrying a bulky silver collar. He set the collar on the desk just within reach of Meira, who discreetly touched the collar to check the enchantments and strengthen the durability enchantment.

“ID, please.” The man requested.

Evernya pulled her ID from her pocket and handed it to the man. He then pressed the ID to the front of the collar, causing an engraving to appear on the collar. In easy to read bold print, the front of the collar reads.

EVERNYA 5MSPSI22379

Upon seeing the lettering running along the front half of the collar, Evernya grumbled. “Seriously, it’s bad enough I have to wear a collar, but now I have a name tag as well! I didn’t see any of the other shifters wearing collars like this.”

Unaffected by his customer’s complaints, the man explained, “This is a new feature added to the collar only a month ago. The collar will now double as a scannable ID linked to your ID so when your ID updates so will the collar.”

“This is so humiliating!” Evernya fumed.

“I don’t make the rules, Evernya. If you have a complaint, I can forward it to my management.” The man replied, showing zero sympathy for the shifter in front of him.

“Don’t bother. I doubt they will do anything about it anyway,” Meira stated, while frowning at the collar.

After taking a minute to compose herself, Evernya inquired about the code engraved on the collar. “Does that the code after my name mean anything?”

“Yes, it does. The first number is your mana grade. The next letter is your ID type followed by your magic class, while the last numbers are the numbers from your citizen code on your ID card.” The man replied.

“You said the letter. I have two letters before magic class.” Evernya pointed out.

The man looked at the collar, then at her ID, then back at Evernya with wide eyes. “How do you have both a shifter and a mage class ID? That should be impossible!”

This time it’s Evernya’s turn to return the ‘are you stupid’ look. “Well, duh, because I am both.”

“How unusual I’ve never heard of a purebred shifter with both internal and external magic.” The man marveled, his previous stern attitude melting away to a more respectful tone.

As a professional, the man recovered within seconds, handing the collar to Evernya as he explained the binding procedure. “To complete the binding process, you need to put it on, then feed your mana into it. The binding will ensure only you can wear the collar so no one can impersonate you.”

After hesitating for a moment, Evernya lifted the bulky silver collar toward her neck, only for the man to interrupt her. “You may need to remove that choker you are wearing for the collar to work properly. If it does not have a complete connection to bare skin, the collar may report tampering.”

“Well, that will be a problem because I can’t remove this choker since it is permanent. It hasn’t caused any issues before, so it should be fine.” Evernya explained.

The man’s eyes widened upon inspecting the plain black band. “Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t realize what it was! A slave band won’t cause the collar to report tampering.”

“No need to apologize. I am used to it, besides it isn’t nearly as noticeable as this big silver collar with my name and personal info printed in big, bold letters.” Evernya stated while glaring down at the collar in her lap.

Evernya unlatched the back of the collar and secured it around her neck, latching it in place. It fitted snug enough she could barely shift it on her neck but wasn’t comfortably tight. She pushed her mana into the collar until she heard a click sound of the collar locking in place.

Upon hearing the click, the man explained in a practiced manner, “The binding process should be complete now. To unlock the collar, push mana into the collar and picture it unlocking. However, you cannot unlock or remove the collar within a tier 2 or tier 1 city. If you try to remove the collar or have someone else attempts to remove it, the collar will report tampering. The collar will report your location to the authorities and incapacitate you with a strong electric shock, so don’t even try to remove the collar. By law, the collar must be visible at all times. Failure to do so will result in a fine. As long as you keep the front of the collar visible, you will be fine since you have long hair.”

Evernya unlocked the collar and removed it the moment he explained how. She set it on the desk and retreating her hands as if it was scalding hot.

“Any questions?” The man inquired.

After a few seconds of silence, Evernya responded. “I don’t think so.”

“Then, the total will be 11,000 crystals.” The man reported sliding a scanner forward.

Meira swiped her card on the provided scanner to pay. After paying for the collar, Evernya grabbed it as they get up, eager to leave.

“Have a nice day.” The man stated as the women exited the booth.

Scared of losing track of her elf again, Evernya followed close behind Meira, almost stepping on her heels as they walk back out into the crowded portal station lobby. They quickly weaved their way towards the exit, not wanting to spend any more time in the loud and packed portal station. After five minutes of people dodging, they finally arrived at large doors leading outside.

Once they reach the doors leading outside, Evernya stopped and watched the thousands of people come and go for several minutes before Meria said, “You can’t put it off any longer.”

“I know I just hate this stupid thing,” Evernya grumbled.

Out of curiosity, Evernya tried to stick her hand through the doorway but found her hand stopped by an invisible wall just inside the doorway. “Damn, I guess the barrier stops me.”

After another minute of procrastination, Evernya secured the collar around her neck and stepped through the doorway. This time, the barrier didn’t stop her. As soon as her body passed through the doorway, she heard a clunk from her collar as if a deadbolt fell into place. Her hands shot up to the back of the collar where the latch should be, only to find a smooth seam. In a panic, she pictured the collar unlocking, but nothing happened. She retreated into the portal station, prompting another clunk signaling her collar was unlockable.

“Quit playing around, let’s get going, we have a lot of shopping to do.” Meira prodded impatiently, tapping her foot with her arms crossed under her breasts.

Reluctantly, Evernya once again crossed the barrier to go outside, causing her collar to clunk once again. “They definitely make it obvious when the collar locks,” Evernya commented

“What are you talking about? I didn’t hear anything,” Meira stated as she turned around to descend the stone steps.

“Weird, maybe only the wearer can hear it,” Evernya muttered to herself as she jogged to catch up to the tall elf.