After they left the Guild, they headed to the Guard Headquarters. Unlike the other buildings, the Guard Headquarters was made of large gray bricks. It was very fortress-y by Caroline’s estimation.

The Head Guard was, fortunately, in that day and available for conversation.

Just like with the Guild, Thio did a lot of odd-jobs for the Guards. They all knew him by sight. And while he was not exactly friends with anyone, he was on good enough terms that they’d acknowledged him in passing.

“Ah, Thio, I’m surprised to see you today.” The Head Guard greeted. When he saw Caroline, his eyebrows practically shot up to his hairline. “And you bring a fine young lady as well.”

“Ah, yes sir. I’ve actually got some unusual activity to report concerning her.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Thio then explained everything he knew about Caroline. With Caroline periodically adding her own two cents. The farther they got into the story, the more disturbed the Head Guard looked. By the end of it, he’d taken out paper and pen and started writing everything down.

After they were done, he tapped his finger on his desk. “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. While we don’t have enough to do a search, simply knowing there might be a nefarious sort in town is useful.”

“Of course, sir. The town’s safety is paramount.”

“Anyway, this does present me with a slight problem.”

“Problem sir?”

“Well, she’s not a citizen of this country is she? But she doesn’t know where she came from and she’s got no papers.”

“Ah…” Thio understood. Right now, she had no nationality. And while the Empire was lenient with it’s own citizens moving within territories, it was fairly strict with foreigners. Non-citizens were given paperwork upon entry that identified who they were and where they were coming from and how long they were staying. They were expected to keep these papers with them, or least stored nearby, at all times. Not having any at all was… well… it was technically illegal…

“What should we do?”

“Considering her circumstances, I can give her a waiver. But it’s temporary, a month at most. She needs to be adopted or marry into a family with citizenship to be permanent.”

“She’s going to be employed by the Guild, might that…?”

“In that case, I can use a different employment waiver, for six months, but it’s still temporary.”

“S-so what happens after the waivers expire?” Caroline asked nervously.

“You’ll be jailed.”

She gulped. “For h-how long?”

“Until someone claims you.”

“Oh no.” Caroline grabbed her hands, clenching them. “But I really don’t have any…”

The Head Guard sighed, feeling bad. “Sorry, the law is the law. I don’t make it, I just enforce it.”

“What if we went to the Mayor, do you think he could do something?” Thio asked, feeling desperate.

“Huh… maybe? I don’t think he’s got jurisdiction over immigration law, but he might know a loophole I don’t.” The Head Guard turned around and grabbed from a neatly stacked set of paper stored behind him. “Let me get the waiver filled out first at least. We’ll start with the month one.”

Thio and Caroline left the Guard Headquarters with shoulders slumped. It was already late into evening. They walked heavily back to Thio’s house, not saying anything to each other.

“I really wish I hadn’t bothered with the Guards…” The young man slumped on his bed. After all, what the Guards don’t know generally didn’t hurt them. Probably.

“At least I got a job.” Caroline made a go at optimism.

“Look, Caroline, there’s something I need to——”

A banging on the door made them both jump.

“Who on earth?” Thio said, walking over and opening his door. His body stiffened at who it was, immediately stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

Caroline walked over to the front window, which allowed her to peek outside and see what was going on. There was a man in stained and dirty clothes, a messy unkempt beard, glaring at Thio.

“Is there a woman in there?” The old man demanded.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Yes it is! I’m your father, @#[email protected]!” Caroline’s eyes widened. She’d never heard anybody curse in this world before. “I won’t allow you brin’ing a hussy into the family.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Thio was replying in a calm manner, despite the hyper aggressive attitude of his father.

“Ha. Hahahahaha! No idea? Everyone in town knows, my boy. They all know you brought a whore into your house. Wasn’t your Mother enough of a whore, do you really need to bring in more? I’m warning you, nothing good comes from associating with those kinds of women.”

Thio’s hand turning into a fist, gripping so tightly his knuckles were white. It was becoming more difficult to maintain control.

“I have not brought a whore into my house.”

“But you did bring a girl in, didn’t you? Everyone knows, everyone saw it. She’s in there already I bet, naked on the bed most likely. Where’s all your moral piety now? COME ON OUT, GIRLY! COME OUT!” Thio’s father started shouting and laughing, sounding insane. “All those years of sitting on your high horse, and look at you! You filthy, no good——”

With a bang, Caroline charged out of the house and tackled the stinky old man to the ground. Thio might have been able to hold his temper, but she couldn’t. About two sentences into his tirade, she’d gotten furious. Memories of a young man showing her how to punch, the best places to punch, flashed in her mind. Without any thought to the consequences, she raised her fists and started wailing on the bum.

“Don’t you DARE insult Thio, you lousy excuse for a father!” She shouted through punches. “What right have you? WHAT RIGHT HAVE YOU? He’s a great person! UNLIKE YOU—”

Thio, who’d been stunned into inaction by her vicious attack, came to himself. Running forward he grabbed her by the back of her arms.

“Caroline, calm down! CALM DOWN!”

“I WON’T, I WON’T! I’LL KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO HIS HEAD!” She hollered back, flailing her arms and legs in an attempt to be freed.

For someone who couldn’t even lift water earlier, she was surprisingly strong just then. Thio was having a difficult time getting her off of his father.

“Look, he’s unconscious already! You keep punching him and more than his sense will be knocked out of him!”

His words finally penetrated her fury, and she started to calm down. Breathing heavily, she suddenly felt weak and started to shake.

“He really had a girl.” A voice said to their side.

Looking around, they only both just then realized their noise had attracted everyone in the neighborhood. They were surrounded by whispers and gossip and general observations.

Thio paled significantly. This was extremely bad.

“She walloped old man Thanus good, didn’t she?” Came some cackling praise from an old woman.

“He had it coming, if you ask me.” Another old woman commented.

An old man cheered, “Thio, I like your bride, she’s got guts!”

Caroline blinked, what bride? She wasn’t anyone’s bride!

Thio must have been thinking along the same lines. He practically dragged her back into the house and closed the door behind them.

“Oh no, oh no…” He repeated despairingly.

“We need to go out there and set everyone straight.” Caroline look anxiously at Thio, who was on the floor with his hands covering his face. “They should understand, right? Things should be fine, shouldn’t they?”

Just then there was another knock on the door, this time more polite.

“Thio? It’s Father Richard.”

Thio looked like he was going to burst into tears. He didn’t move to answer the door, he didn’t dare.

Neighbors, who hadn’t left, were using the opportunity to regale the Father with what had just happened and other juicy tidbits not at all related to reality. After a few minutes of this, the Father knocked on the door again.

“Thio, I am on your side. I will listen to your side of the story. Please let me in.”

At that, Thio dragged himself off the floor and opened the door. He felt dead inside. What did it matter if the Priest got involved? He was doomed, doomed…

Seeing his expression, the Father patted him gently on the shoulder.

“Now, now. Don’t despair, let’s talk.”

The Priest sat on the bed, with Thio standing and Caroline on the stool. He wore a long black cassock with narrow sleeves and a green sash tided around the middle. Calmly and carefully he listened to their story, occasionally asking a few questions.

When they got to the part of Thio’s father, Caroline looked rebellious. “I’d do it again in a heart beat.”

Father Richard chuckled and then looked thoughtful. “I admire your sense of justice, but you have put Thio here in a difficult situation.”

“I did?”

“Well, you see, there have been a great deal of rumors flying around town today about the two of you. That’s why I came, to see what was really going on.” He looked at Thio sympathetically. “I’m afraid I arrived a bit too late.”

At Caroline’s blank look, the Priest continued gently. “I’m not sure how it is where you come from, but here, reputation is everything. Thio has struggled against his family’s bad reputation for a very long time. Today, depending on how it’s handled, people will think he’s either a noble man or that he’s scum like his father.”

“B-but,” Caroline stuttered in frustration. “He’s obviously not like his dad! I barely even know him and that’s obvious!”

“I agree, but the truth doesn’t matter so much as perception.” Father Richard sighed. “What people have seen is a young single man bring a strange woman home, buy her gifts despite his poverty, and then walk her around town to show her off. This means that he’s either courting you officially or you’re a woman of ill repute. If it is the second one, then he becomes just like his father and your reputation is ruined before you even got a chance to prove yourself.”

Caroline groaned.

“Right now, the opinion is tilted towards the courting. And why? Because you defended Thio’s honor. A woman of ill repute wouldn’t doesn’t care about honor, just money. In the minds of the community, a good woman defends her man’s honor and vis versa.”

“Can’t we just tell everyone the truth?”

“You can try, but it will be difficult. Very difficult. You are not from this area, you have no family here, there is no one to defend you against these rumors. Well, of course I will and so will Thio, but that won’t do you much good. Two people against the entire town. Everyone will think I’m just being kind and they will think Thio is no better than his father. And you… they will think you’re either dangerous for being cursed or a loose woman for accepting such attention from single man.”

Caroline clamped her mouth shut, horrified.

“What… what can we do then?”

The Priest stroked his well trimmed beard. “I have an idea but… it will require sacrifice on both sides.”

Thio who’d been silent, covered his face. He knew exactly where this was going.

“You two… should just get married.”