Dailah would be pretty busy for the next few days. After being discharged earlier in the morning, she made a brief stop at her new apartment and went straight to city hall to sort out everything she needed to.

Surprisingly enough the crowley stuck with her, probably already set on its new master. The girl had no problem with this, the city was incredibly big and even if she had confidence in her legs, there's nothing wrong with some extra amount of convenience. Not to mention getting around by crowley should save her some time.

Hansom cabs were also more expensive, even with this one creature's particularly fine palate. Passing through a certain street, abundant in foodstuff stores, it was able to snuff out the most expensive of delicacies from an entire line of stalls!

What happened to crowleys that were happy with filling their bellies using anything? Perhaps it took her for a fool that would overspend on a bird's feed.

And its judgment may have been correct, as she indeed ended up buying the corn cake it set its eye on. For both of them of course.

Speaking of money, she also had to head to the city's bank to collect some. Something Dailah was only able to do late afternoon, as she spent almost the entirety of her day in the hall. Preposterous! Oh how she hated that place, why did she need to get on three different lines for a few pieces of paper?

Before coming here, she requested to advance part of her future payments. The girl insisted on living by her own means and carried very little money with her as she left Nineteenth Village.

After a busy day evening arrived. The sun set completely, leaving only its orange hue in the sky. A very thin mist permeated the air. She rode Mr. Crowley back to her new apartment.

The lampposts along the street illuminated the buildings and roads. Like in her village, they carried glowstones within their lanterns. Unlike in her village, they were not lit and unlit by hand. Rather, they could sense the amount of light in its vicinities, adjusting the glow accordingly.

They would be completely out in a cloudless noon. And shined their brightest on a foggy moonless night. From what she had learned, these glowstones were of even higher quality than those used by small towns in the countryside like hers, lasting longer.

When she briefly visited her place and its neighborhood earlier in the day, her only opinion was that they seemed good enough, not exquisite or luxurious in any form but liveable. However, after wandering through town, she realized how good of a location that truly was.

While there were plenty of clean and organized streets, others stank of poo and piss. Busy roads so narrow the crowley could barely walk through, depilated buildings that weren't cared for, passageways with stale water and mosquitoes buzzing annoyingly, ragged drunks sleeping on the pavement.

She even spotted a few rats strolling around, without a care for the humans surrounding them. As if they owned the place.

Sure, there were definitetly some 'higher class' parts of the city she was able to admire. The hospital she had been admitted to was located in one of such places.

Pristine roads, many plants giving a breath of fresh air to the space, beautiful and incredibly tall buildings made out of the best slabs of stone, ground down to millimetric precision.

But Dailah wasn't rich, she never expected to be able to afford to live in such an environment, even while working as a witch. So, considering all that the girl had seen, she was quite happy with the home her former teacher had arranged for her. The great woman even offered to cover some of the initial payments.

...she should really thank her properly in some way. Truly.

It was a three-store building stashed between two other slightly larger ones. According to Mariane, there were plenty of other witches living in this block, a great place to socialize with her future colleagues.

When she came earlier, she had been worried about her new feathered companion. There were never any plans to own a crowley. Considering how these beasts usually acted, it might not accept to spend its nights out in the cold streets.

Thankfully there was a stable nearby, equipped to deal with crowleys and horses. It wasn't strange considering the amount of witches in the neighborhood as many of them owned rides too.

The creature had been surprisingly accepting of the place. With how expensive its tongue was, she expected it to put up more of a fight. Maybe this one in particular was just a big glutton?

An image of Mr. Crowley happily socializing with kindred creatures put a slight smirk on the girl's face. Hah! As if! At most, it would gloat about the expensive meals its foolish master had bought for it.

After leaving the bird on the stable, she headed towards her apartment.

The front door of the building used a peculiar contraption capable of detecting specific magic signatures. Attached to her key was a small diamond-shaped keychain, it would unlock the door by just holding it close to the device.

People got to calling these 'gem keys' due to their appearance, though the keys themselves weren't nearly as expensive as a real gem. They didn't need any form of external magic source and would work as intended for pretty much two lifetimes, emitting magic signatures.

They were relatively popular because, unlike their mechanical counterpart, it was much harder to make illegal duplicates of the keys without internal access to the magical lock, not to mention some of the said locks even had inbuilt alarm features.

You could also assign multiple different signatures for different keys. Overall, it was a much more secure alternative against breaking and entering while remaining affordable. Even if the overall package was a bit costly.

Of course, that didn't stop people from trying. She heard funny stories of women who wore the gem keys on their necks as ornaments, only to get them snatched right off by petty thieves in the middle of the street!

Why would you even wear jewelry so openly on the wrong side of town? Dailah truly couldn't understand the thought process of some folk.

Inside she was immediately greeted by a small corridor leading to a staircase. The building didn't waste any space.

Instead of proceeding to her room upstairs, she knocked on a door to the right of the entrance.

"It's open."

A hoarse voice came from the other side. Dailah opened the door.

"I'm back Mrs. Mima."

Inside the dimly lit room sat an old woman. Her owlish eyeballs, one of which was whiter than the other, focused on the book in her hands. She peeked at the girl with her good eye.

"Oh Dailah my dear, you don't have to warn me when you return. Didn't i told you that earlier?"

The old lady glanced towards a few small glowstones spread over a table in the corner. There were numbers attached to each one. Their lights were all out except for one.

Another advantage of the magical lock system. It is able to keep track of the residents in and out of the building. The woman still used a few normal padlocks and chains on the main entrance, closing everything up at night when everyone returned, or after curfew.

"I know. It's just a habit."

She had never lived alone before. Whenever she came back to her old home after a day in school or playing with the little magic she had outside, she would tell her mother first thing upon return.

"Well, don't worry. I don't dislike it. I just think young girls such as yourself shouldn't waste too much time with an old crone like me."

"I-i see... good night then Mrs. Mima." - the girl said with some eagerness.

"I'll lock up after that troublemaker comes back. Sleep well dear."

Dailah gently closed the door. The landlady was a nice person, but too garrulous for the girl to handle.

She may tragically sing about how the young woman shouldn't waste time with the old lady. Give her an inch, however, and she'll go on and on about rat problems, some woman in the block with a suspicious air about her, her granddaughter, the new mayor's secret agenda or what have you.

At least, that was Dailah's experience with her earlier. She came just to get a change of clothes but the woman managed to hold her here for half an hour.

Going up the stairs she reached her apartment on the third floor. Number 32. Unlike the front door of the building, this just used a normal mechanical lock. Putting a magical lock in every apartment would still cost too much in the end.

Her new room was small but cozy. It had just enough space for a bed, a wardrobe and a table. The bathroom and kitchen were shared by the residents. She checked them before and they seemed to be in order thankfully.

The window didn't have a glamorous view, it merely showed the alley behind the building. The morning sun wouldn't shine through it either.

Her baggage was opened in a corner of the room. The girl considered tidying things up properly today but she was too tired, and tomorrow would be another tiresome day.

She still needed to present herself at the Magic Association and look for places to buy her groceries as all the ones she found around town were either too far from her home or too expensive. The wage of a witch working for the city was usually generous, even for people in lower ranks like herself, but not enough that she could be careless with money.

Though, she should still be able to allocate a budget for a certain picky beast.

Rummaging through her bag to get a change of clothes she stumbled upon her witch robes. A conical black hat and a black dress. Unlike Mariane's clothes that practically dragged on the floor, this dress exposed the crus of her legs so she could move more easily, and the hat was smaller. It was all within guidelines of course.

Witch robes had special properties that could protect witches as well as help canalize their magic. There were also more expensive "armors" meant to be used in more perilous situations.

After putting up the robe in the room's wardrobe, she spotted a certain item in the bag. A children's picture book, "The Witch and the Succubi", she had brought it along with some other stuff. Souvenirs to remind her of home.

Right. She had brought that too. Dailah couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.

Looking through the baggage some more, she pulled out yet another object.

A stuffed bear. It was quite old and beaten up. Both eyes had been replaced by different types of shirt buttons, and one of its arms was stitched by clumsy sewing lines.

It wasn't that she was particularly interested in dolls, or that this stuffed animal held any emotional significance to her. What stood out about it was how this was a toy she had fixed herself when she was little, though she did completely forget about it until the moment she was packing.

It was the first time in her life she had put any serious work into anything. She believed bringing it to the place where she'd start working her first real job would be fitting.

None of that mattered anymore, however. Now the figure reminded her of something else entirely. Experiences she wanted to put behind her as soon as possible.

Was this Mother Terra's idea of a joke? Was she laughing at the girl somewhere in the underworld, perched upon her throne in beautiful Eden?

Should she just throw this wretched thing away? Lest it gives her bad dreams at night.

The girl sighed. She tucked the bear back into the bag for now.

All she wanted was a bath and some shut-eye.

XXX

Dailah had a dream that night. One she wouldn't remember by the next morning.

She walked along a river bed, water so pristine it almost shined on its own.

No, the water was indeed shining a strange bluish glow.

Open fields and mountains surrounded her. It was bright as if it was afternoon, yet there was no sun up in the sky. Neither there were shadows cast on the land.

She felt at peace with herself, as if she was meant to be. As if this is the place she belonged.

With each step, she wanted to break into a dance, but she still chose to walk instead. She was very good at walking.

Where was she heading towards? Where did the river flow from? She didn't care, she just wanted to keep walking.

Forever and ever. Without stopping. Enjoying the scenery all the while.

Yet.

A small tingling feeling pestered the back of her head. Pulling her hair with a force so subtle and weak she would forget about it if she stopped paying it attention.

Look down, it said.

She looked down.

Down on your feet.

She looked down on her feet.

What do you see?

Grass, water. Maybe wood and tiles?

Can you notice it, down on the ground? Try feeling it with your soles.

Deep, deep underneath.

Something is wriggling.