Following the directions, Ed took several turns, eventually arriving outside of the realtor. Rosey’s Realty... This should be the place. Ed double checked the note in his hand before stepping through the automatic door.

“Hi there! I’m Rosey, how may I help you today?” A woman said cheerfully, appearing from behind the counter. The woman stood a full head taller than Ed, and had a plain white mask covering her entire face, except for her mouth that was permanently stretched into a wide smile. She was wearing a large sun hat and a black and blue Victorian era dress. All signs pointed towards her being from over one hundred years ago.

“I’m looking for a place to stay.” Ed said while looking around the lobby.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place! What are you looking for? A house? An apartment? Maybe a mansion perhaps? Here at Rosey’s Realty, we will help you find the home of your dreams!” She said cheerfully, offering a hand to Ed.

Shaking her hand, Ed took a moment to adjust to her overly cheerful demeanour. “I’m not too sure how long I’m going to be here, so I want an apartment. Preferably one I can move out of at a moment’s notice.”

“Okay, an apartment with a flexible rental agreement...” She mumbled to herself while checking through the computer’s database for a match. “Here we are! I’ve found a a place that will suit your needs perfectly, and it’s pretty cheap as well.” She turned the screen around to show Ed.

On the screen were photos of a cramped studio apartment, about the size of Ed’s living room back in the company. It’s a little small, but it’s fine. It’s not like I’m going to be living in it forever... It’s got a bed and a bathroom; the building has a shared laundry room. Everything’s looking okay, how much does it cost... Ed balked at the price and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things correctly. Eight hundred dollars a week! Rummaging through his pockets, he realised he had enough money to pay for two weeks.

Rosey noticed his reaction and was quick to reassure him. “This price is actually fairly cheap. Land prices are incredibly expensive here in Pride City, so this is one of the best options available to you.”

“Can’t I just find an empty space on the outskirts to get building? Why is land expensive here?” Ed asked.

I see, you must be quite new to Pride City then. All unowned land is automatically granted to Lord Superbia himself. If you want to build there, or even gain ownership over the land, you will have to strike some form of a deal with Lord Superbia. This is technically the case for the rest of the Pride circle too, but he doesn’t bother with the outskirts, and mostly leaves that up to the discretion of the local town leaders.

Who is Lord Superbia? Looks like I’ve got some researching to do, but that can wait until I’ve settled in. “Okay, that makes sense. I’ll take a look at this place then.”

“Fantastic! Just give me a moment to call up the landlord and we will be right on our way!” She cheered excitedly while picking up her phone. A few minutes later she was off the phone and leading Ed outside. “It’s only a few minutes away by car, so it won’t take us too long.”

I should probably get familiar with the area. I’ll be living here for a while after all. Sitting in the car, Ed peered through the window and looked at the surrounding buildings. He spotted the local grocery store, a few different places to eat out, a pub, and a bunch of other stores.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

All the while, Rosey was on the phone, letting the landlord know that they were on their way.

The car pulled up in front of a drab, but still clean and presentable apartment building. Rosey led Ed inside while the car drove off behind them. Stepping onto the chequered floor, Ed could see rows of mailboxes lined across the two side walls. Across from the entrance was an elevator surrounded by a set of stairs that went up to the very top of the building.

There was a gap in the ceiling, allowing Ed to see every floor in the building, or at least the railing for those that were too high up.

“Here on the ground floor, you will find the shared amenities. As you can see, the mailboxes are all here on this floor, but you will also be able to find the laundry room, toilets, and a security room!” Rosey said, giving Ed a tour of the building. “Now the landlord should be around here somewhere... Oh! There he is. Hello William!” Rosey waved at a hunched over old man who was making his way down the stairs.

The man had a scaly, reptilian face with a large shell on his back. “Good evening, Rosey. Is this the new tenant you were talking about?” William said while eyeing Ed up and down.

“Hello sir, I’m Ed.” Ed reached out, offering a handshake.

“It’s nice to meet you Ed. I’m William. I’ll bring you to check the apartment.” He shook hands with Ed before leading them into the elevator. “The previous tenant ended up running off after taking most of the furniture that wasn’t nailed down, So the place is a bit empty. But I assure you they didn’t damage anything, and everything still works just fine.”

They took the elevator up to the seventh floor and walked down the walkway on the left, stopping in front of door seven hundred and four.

“Give me a minute, I should have the key here somewhere.” William said while pulling out a truly ridiculous keychain. It held dozens of keys, giving him access to every door in the building. “Here we are.”

With a click, the door opened to reveal the exact same room as was in the photos, except completely devoid of most furniture. There was no bed, nor was there a desk, couch, and table like was shown in the photo. The kitchen was the only thing that remained in the main room.

Stepping into the space, Ed got a good feel for the space thanks to how empty it was. I guess I’m gonna have to get my own furniture.

“The bathroom’s through here. It’s all clean, and I made sure it was working before I told Rosey that it was available for rent. So, what do you think? If you can give me a couple weeks' worth of rent, I’ll be more than happy to hand the key over right after we sign the contract.”

Hmmm. I’ll have four hundred dollars spare after handing rent over. Looks like I’m gonna have to find a way to get money. This is probably my best offer, and it’s getting late. “Yeah, I’ll take it.”

“Great! Here’s the rental agreement, and here’s a pen.” William handed the stuff over to Ed.

After a brief read through, Ed found nothing wrong with it. Looks pretty flexible. And I can’t find anything wrong or suspicious about it. After double checking, Ed signed his name at the bottom of the document and handed it back to William along with two weeks’ worth of rent.

“Thank you, Ed. Here is your key, if you have any questions or concerns, you can come and find me.” William said.

Sending William and Rosey off, Ed found himself alone in his new apartment. He yawned, as he felt exhausted after the long day of travelling back and forth. I’ll sort out everything else tomorrow. For now, I should rest.

Standing where the bed should be, he pondered for a moment. Several threaded arms grew out of his back, bypassing his shirt without damaging it. He focused his mind, manipulating the threads to attach themselves to either side of the wall. Several minutes later, and he had spun himself a rudimentary hammock bed.

This feels weird, but it’s better than sleeping on the floor. Lying down on the hammock, He could feel his own body pressing against the threads. It took him several minutes to adjust to the weird sensation, but he eventually fell asleep.