Chapter 19: Prosperty City

Located in the far northwest corner of the Holy Theocracy, the City state Prosperty could be found. With Prosperity River located to the west and the Enchanted forest located to its north, It's safe to say there was an abundance of unique natural resources that can't be found anywhere else, but is within arms reach of this one city.

Located in the center of this large city was a sturdy looking castle like fortress, with buildings built haphazardly with no particular order surrounding it but getting more and more orderly the further out you got. It was clear that the early settlers of this city didn't have any plans when they first started building.

There was an outer and inner wall to the city. The outer wall surrounding the city was massive, and any who laid eyes on it couldn't help but be in awe by its massive size and beautiful design. If one were to walk from one end of the outer wall to the other they would find it would take a full 24 hours. The entire wall had a dim blue glow thanks to the many enchantments added to it, making it as sturdy as possible.

The inner wall was both shorter and older, surrounding the older part of the city, but not any less impressive. Even though it wasn't as large as the newer outer wall it still towered over many of the surrounding buildings with no problem. It also marked where the old part of the city ended and the newer part began.

In between the inner wall and the outer wall are five smaller walls cutting through the city, splitting it into five different quadrants. A by product from constructing the outer wall first before building the newer part of the city. After they finished building the outer wall they built the city segment by segment around the old city until five segments were complete in the end. As a result the city itself has many parks and natural beauty within its walls.

The fort in the middle of the city was built upon a large hill making it visible from even the outer wall. What was once an outpost was now the home of the Prosperty family, the leaders of Prosperty city. The current head of the city was a man named Drakove Prosperty. He had two children, a son and a daughter.

From one of the balconies of the castle-like fortress a girl in a beautiful red dress could be seen. With curly shoulder length brown hair that glistened in the sun, if one were to look closely they would notice a part of her hair was a slightly different shade of brown than the rest though. Her green eyes surveyed the old city, that's now more commonly called soldier town thanks to the fact that most if not all the city's militia and their families now lived within the inner wall.

Sighing the girl picked up a tea cup from the table she was sitting at and took a sip. The girl's name was Sara Prosperty and she was currently bored. At only twelve years of age, the young girl had very little to do. She wasn't allowed to leave her room without attendants or guards, not to mention the building.

She did enjoy watching the knights train but she rarely got a chance to do so thanks to her father being over protective. Ever since Sara's mother died Drakove started doing everything in his power to make sure no harm could even come close to his daughter. He probably would've done the same with his son if he wasn't already an adult by the time he became over protective.

"Maybe I should sneak out again?" She said thinking out loud. "Father is busy with meetings today and Brother entered Lady Nielia's Enchanted forest I could sneak out and be back before anyone notices."

With a clink Sara put down her teacup on the small table. She quickly got up and entered her closet to change her clothes. Wearing such an eye-catching dress would be counterproductive so she needed to grab some street cloths. With a smile on her face and a pep in her step the young girl quickly got herself ready for a day of play.

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After entering the city without a problem the girls started looking for an Inn. It turned out to be much harder than expected thanks to the size of the city. For example, even after getting through the gate there was still a grassy plain they had to cross before they even entered the city proper. But after a bit of time and asking for directions they found a place to stay.

After checking in there was still plenty of daylight left so they headed to the Hunters Guild to inform them about their job completion. Luckily Judith seems to know where one of the Guild buildings was located. Apparently she's been here before. Judieth gripe to the others that the Inn she stayed at when she visited the city in the past was no longer here and she was a little annoyed since it was closer to the Guild.

"Wow look at all these shops!" Yuki said looking in every direction. "Look, look! There's a whole store dedicated to selling scrolls and talismans!"

"... There are even restaurants every so often. Most of them are bars though." Ruby noted, slightly disappointed by the lack of sweats being sold in this area.

"There's even a few places selling maps and map making tools here as well." Morella said looking at a storefront with paper and pencil drawn next to the store's name.

"Well this area tends to cater towards Hunters and Mercenary's thanks to both Guilds being Built in this area. Take two turns that way and you'll find yourself in the grassy plains we were in when we entered the city." Judith said pointing down one of the roads. "Honestly this place is way too big so be careful when you go out alone, it's easy to get lost."

"I definitely would get lost here if I was by myself." Yuki said smiling brightly. "But I'm sure Ruby and Morella will keep me from getting lost! Right Ruby~." Latching on to the person closest to her - Ruby - She gave a smug smile for some reason.

"...Sure." The other girl responded looking away.

"Of course we'll make sure you never get lost." Morella said, smiling sweetly.

"I have the best sisters ever!" Still latch to Ruby with her wrapped around the girls torso the young demon hummed a turn obviously in high spirits.

'What has her in a good mood?' Ruby wondered. 'Did something good happen? Am I missing something here? We haven't really been apart recently because of traveling so this is just confusing.'

While it was true the demon was being more cheerful than usual, it wasn't for anything special. Judieth had told them that thanks to how close Prosperity River was the city actually had plenty of fish and other river food readily available for sale. Yuki just really wanted fish. Didn't stop Ruby from growing flustered and confused with Yuki's behavior though.

"Hm? Oh, uh, Ruby the effects of your potion are wearing off." While trying to break Ruby's poker face Yuki noticed that her fake golden brown eyes were turning red.

"...I'll be going then." Ruby said pulling a hood up over her face.

"Try to take the back roads heading back. We ran out of the potions to change your appearance." We'll see you later.

With a nod Ruby walked into one of the alleyways. Yuki looked reluctant to let Ruby go by herself but she was already gone by the time she realized she could've just followed her. Morella also looked on worriedly but figured she'll be fine, plus Maisy was with her so she did have backup with her. Even if the slime tended to stay out of the fight.

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Ruby's Pov

Splitting off from the others I made my way through alleys and back roads. I tried using my sense of smell to try and find my way back to the Inn but quickly realized that wasn't going to work out for me this time. There were multiple reasons as to why but the biggest one was that I was in a new area and unfamiliar with the place, which makes everything a bit overwhelming at times.

After about ten minutes of walking I realized I was lost. I felt a great sense of shame because Yuki believed I would be able to keep myself from getting lost. I knew better than that. I mean if I was just re-tracing my steps I could've made it back to the Inn but trying to find my way back in such a roundabout way is the reason I got lost.

"Oh, wait. what was the name of the Inn again? It started with an R I think?" I said to myself realizing I couldn't even ask for direction. "Shit."

While mentally berating myself for not even remembering the name of the Inn we were staying at, I decided I'll just wait till nightfall. The only way I'm getting back is by retracing my steps from there. I think part of the reason I got lost in the first place was because I tried following scents that seemed vaguely familiar.

'Hmm... I thought I was smart but I've been making a lot of mistakes lately, am I actually a little slow? I don't think that's it. Maybe an air head. Nope that's not it either'

Okay enough joking I'm seriously bored right now. Oh wait. "...Hey Maisy." I called remembering the slime wrapped around my body at all times of the day. "Do you know how to get back to the Inn?"

"I- I'm sorry I was sleeping until just a little bit ago." She replied sullenly. "I'll make sure to remember for next time."

"...I'm not mad at you so don't sound so timid." Well that sucked. Can't really complain since I was awake the whole time. "...Wanna talk?"

"... Really...?"

"...Yeah."

I never really took the time to talk to the monster that's constantly wrapped around my body. I figured this is as good of a time as any to learn more about her. I also really wanted to know why she was so attached to me anyway. It's almost like she's devoted herself to me at times with the way she always tried to dress me in the mornings, but other than that one time I always stopped her from doing that though. Just didn't feel right having someone do that.

"I would love to talk with you. What should we talk about?"

"How did you end up in Verland?"

"Ah, well its a long story but I was just kinda running from one set of humans from another for weeks until I somehow found my way there. I used to live in Nielia's Domain, but some humans that weren't supposed to be there came in and chased me out of the forest there." Maisy said telling a bit of her story. "I don't really know where I came from but I'm fine now that I got you!"

"...Got me? Well what ever makes you happy."

"It does!" She responded cheerfully.

"... So who is this Nielia?"

"She's the guardian of the forest. Well, half of it anyway, in the middle of the forest there's a big lake and on the other side of it there is another guardian."

"... Do you know their name?"

"Nope!" She said, her voice still cheerful.

"Why do you sound so happy about it?"

"I'm just happy to talk with you."

"Is there any particular reason you're so attached to me?" I asked since her weird devotion still bothered me a little.

"I've bonded with you." She responded.

"What does that mean?! Like in a matting sense?!" I exclaimed, hoping it wasn't like a mate or anything like that.

"Nope, it just means I chose you to be my partner or something. I don't know. I'm actually really young and haven't really learned much about my heritage." She said with a tinge of melancholy in her voice. "I just know that's something I can do. I didn't really understand what that meant till I bonded with you. It was instinctual, I didn't even have to think about it."

"... Well thanks I guess."

We continued talking until the sun started to set.