Passport Job! {Akihime, Solo}

The last thing she'd expected on her way to the market was the colossal crowds of people all on the docks of the portside town of Hargeon - home of Lamia Scale and apparently hundreds of wannabe vacationers. She saw sunhats and beach balls and more luggage than she could possibly hope to count; the lines were backed up as far as the little shops that fringed the docks. The fishermen were having a difficult time of things, and from the cross expressions they were making, they shared a little of her confusion - keeping well away from the crowds, some with arms folded as though intent to just wait it out, like a bad storm.

"What's going on?"
Akihime caught a young man at the edge of the crowd by his sleeve - he looked a little irritated to be stopped like this, but his expression soon evened out when he saw her, Akihime's bright blue eyes focused on his face with an innocent kind of charm.
"Everyone's here for their passports - the Magic Council opened up Fiore's borders and now every man, woman and child are clambering to go on a vacation outside of Fiore for the first time in years."

Years? Had Fiore's borders really been closed? All of that traveling with Zenma she'd done in her younger days...had they really climbed mountains and crossed borders without the proper documentation? Akihime would've been shocked if she hadn't expected such a thing from her wise (if not wily) old mentor.
"The wind goes where it wants, there's no such things as borders", he had repeated in between blowing smoke rings from his pipe. Zenma the Wind Sage hadn't been much for rules, come to think of it.

Well I'll do this by the books then, if I ever want to travel outside of Fiore.

Should she come back later, when the lines were no longer bursting and backed up as far as the shopfront windows and display cases? Yes, that sounded much more reasonable. Akihime thanked the man and made a small effort to leave, deciding to cancel her grocery shopping trip for the day - when something caught her eye.

A man with five o'clock shadow and an armful of boxes stacked one on top of each other was setting up a little stall slightly out of the way without being completely unnoticeable. At least, to anyone that wasn't currently pushing and shoving and cutting-in-line at the edge of the docks. Curious, Akihime approached.

"Today's a bad day to try and get any business done," she commented, having noted the discouraged looks on the faces of the fishermen trying to do business in the docks, the suddenly heavy traffic making it difficult to transport cargo to and from the wharfs.

The man made an amused scoff at the back of his throat.
"You're telling me. Though I'd rather be standing around not working than dealing with that crowd. Buuut..." He unsealed some of the boxes, pulling out a magic camera and equipment, proper identification documents and some skinny black passport cases.
"Orders are orders. If the crowd gets much worse they'll send a third guy down here to offer more."

He's from the Magic Council! Oh why hadn't she recognized the seal on the box? Blinking in surprise, Akihime smiled, glancing over her shoulder to the never-shrinking crowd, stepping closer to buy the man a few seconds more of peace and quiet before they started swarming.
"In that case, I'd like to get my passport, please." Yes! No waiting in line!

Within fifteen minutes, the Lamia Scale guild-member had her shiny new passport and a distinct lack of crushed toes, messy hair and clothing askew like some of the other would-be vacationers. Ducking away from the crowds, Akihime made a beeline for the beautiful marble castle of Lamia Scale, dreaming of faraway lands and chuckling over an unfortunate official who would be working well until sunset.