Broken Sword's
Ch. 04: Civil Registry

Last night Fang cried for his fate.

Inexperienced Aira and Gana just stood by and sat down near their child who had not stopped crying for no reason. "Should I call a doctor?"

Aira shakes. "The baby is not sick. Maybe just want to vent by crying." Aira corrected the cotton cloth that enveloped Fang's body.

Due to crying, Fang's small face wrinkled to red. Seeing that her son could be dehydrated, Aira forced Fang to drink milk. "Cup, cup, cup. Mom's here, don't be sad anymore."

Fang whose mouth was gagged to drink milk water stopped crying. Hunger takes over his focus and he does not sleep long. Occasionally a stinging sound came out of Fang's little nose, so cute.

Gana crouched down to see her son who stopped crying. "Fang is adorable. Tomorrow after registering Fang's account with the government, I'll have a look at the cloth or gadget that our son can play."

"What toys? The baby's only two days old, don't be so extravagant."

Gana disagrees, "my son. Of course I'll treat like an ancestor. We also have money, and can be recovered after the harvest is taken."

***

Fang opened his eyes when the crowing sound of chickens outside sounded. Unable to move his limbs because his bones were still soft, the new Fang would open his mouth to call out to his mother feeling the seeping feeling of wetting the clothes.

Fang's face became extremely ugly. Her. The strongest person who had sat on the top Pyramid as a master had wetted and wet his clothes and bed!

Aira who was carried by Gana after going to the bathroom saw her son open and close his mouth, laughing, laughing, the woman opened the cloth mattress that enveloped Fang and saw that Fang's bed and clothes were wet with her own urine.

"My husband, please bring a new cloth and a new bed for Fang. The baby's wetting."

Caught urinating, Fang closed his weak eyes. All the remaining dignity was gone already!

***

Gana carries Fang's birth records that she made herself. The name of the baby, the name of the parents, the address of the house and some of the property owned by the Gana family.

Knocking on the gate of the village chief's house, a ten-year-old girl came to say hello. "Hallo, please come in. Dad still hasn't finished breakfast, he's asking Gana's uncle to wait a minute."

"Thank you." Gana sat in the living room of the village chief's house. The daughter who opened the door did not go and sat down with Gana.

"Uncle, I heard from dad, you have a son. Congratulations to your uncle and aunt Aira"

Every time someone congratulates the baby in his family, Gana becomes more enthusiastic. "The baby's uncle's family is named Fang. Next time you come to Uncle's house to play with Fang, how about it?"

"Can? Then in a few days later I'll come to visit."

The village chief who finished eating out and without sitting immediately came out of the house and picked up the ox cart out of the cage. "The civil records division closed at two p.m. Better hurry up and sign up than be late and make the trip back and forth."

Gana sat on the back seat, passing through the village entrance, meeting some people who wanted to go to the county town as well. The head of Dasa also offered his citizens to leave together.

Gana who is familiar with two men who are younger five years and eight years from her joins the chatter around this year's excellent weather. The village chief also added, this phenomenon can produce abundant crops.

"Thul? Has our village experienced anything similar?" Ask a curious woman.

The village chief nodded, "Twenty-five years ago. Our village has weather similar to this year. The sun is not too hot and sometimes it rains. When the harvest is taken and weighed, the results are amazing!"

Patting her own fleshy feet, the woman laughed happily. His family owned twenty-two hectares. If it is true what the village chief said, just imagining it is very cool.

Arriving in the district city, the ox carts are tucked into special parking lots that care for animals and carts. Residents who will pay the rent are all rejected by the village head, "no need to pay. Today's carts are rented entirely by Gana."

"Gana, thank you." Said a happy resident did not have to spend one copper coin to pay the rent.

Gana nodded, "if you want to go home together you can too. After reporting to government officials I'll shop for a while and return to the village before one o'clock."

***

The government office is located in the center of the district city center. The village chief greeted the guards.

"What business is there coming here?" Asked the doorkeeper with a flat expression.

The village chief tried to smile. Like the villagers, he was a little afraid of the government office that many officials and guard soldiers in it. "I am Buwin, the village chief of Noik. A few days ago one of my villagers increased the number of families and wanted to report."

The doorman understood and let Buwin and Gana through. "The civil records division on guard is an official named Kawi. You go to him."

Gana who passed the guard nodded and immediately looked for Kawi's name tag on the row of information tables. In the large hall of the government office there were ten or so desks, looking at the tag named Kawi in the row of number five, Gana pulled the village chief and took the number in line.

Civil registration is the most deserted division of visitors. Kawi's job is to record the name and date of birth of the baby or the name of the dead person to be recorded on civil records. Vaporized widely, today there are only reports of deaths of some residents in various villages to be written and archived. The half-sleepy Kawi shouted out the number in Gana's queue.

"09, queue number 09."

Gana and Buwin came forward and stood in front of the desk counter.

Kawi did not glance at who came, "who died in your family? are you a parent, brother or uncle?"

"This is the birth report." Buwin said awkwardly.

Kawi's hand stopped issuing death forms. "Birth report?"

Gana handed him a sheet of paper bearing Fang's name and date of birth. "The baby in my house was born two days ago."

Kawi picked up the paper and subconsciously raised the voice, "baby boy?! Oh, my God, this is great. Congratulations to you."

Reporting birth and death is required differently. The government in Gollum's lower regions will waive all costs for infants and children under the age of fifteen. There are no taxes and school fees in public schools. It shows how the Gollum's underworld attaches great importance to the prosperity of the children who live here.