It was no grand city by any means.

The main city, I presumed, was covered by a tall wall only defeated in height by thee buildings within the city. The wall didnt seem to be made by bricks, but instead as a single slab of clay. I imagined it must have been filled with something, but i could imagine what. The surplus of clay astounded me.

Around the city were multiple small houses dotted about in a random fashion. Each house was close to a blob of crops, and so i concluded that each house must be the home of a farmer, which in turn grew crops on the ground they lived beside.

The houses were strange.

The walls and roof were covered by clay. Either that or they were entirely made of clay. This gave them a curiously modern countenance.

An interesting part were how they were painted.

The walls were covered by radient colours, from red to green to blue to white, None were the standard grey colour.

Some were even painted with murals, which pleased the eyes. Or, in my case, eye.

I checked what Hans was feeling, but she was completely undisturbed.

No, thats not entirely true.

She may not have looked surprised or confused, but she somehow had an air of jealousy about her. I wanted to ask her about it, but, alas, i was unable to.

Hell, i didnt even know if the ? meant what inthought it meant!

It probobly did, as she could understand when i named byself ”Bob”, but i didnt want to take the risk.

She seemed to be in rather deep thought, her eyes darting about from me, to the houses, to the city ahead.

Oh, right, the city!

I almost forgot to mention the most interesting part!

As i stated earlier, only three buildings in the city were taller than the wall around it.

The shortest one had three spires which only barely grazed above the wall. The spires looked to be gray, but some parts were topped by brass, making it glimmer in the mid-day sun.

The second tallest was rather tall and i could only barely make out the building from which its towers protruded. It was almost entirely golden, and by the fancy decirations and glittering details, i could only imagine the wealthiest man to be its inhabitant.

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The tallest building was so by a mile. All the other buildings looked like sprouts beside a full grown oak. it was nowhere as fancy as the golden building, but there was something holy about it. It was covered in a dusty black, resembeling a black hole. It was covered by what looked like frills, ribbons and garnaments. It seemed divine.

Sadly, the closer we got to the city, the less we could see of what could be found therein.

Before we reached the first house, i was suddently picked up by a pair of slender hands. i turned my eye to Hans, who reluctantly held me in her hands.

”If citizans saw one walking plant then would they become suspicious...”

Aha. Right...

In order to quell ruther suspicions, i retracted my eight roots back into my pot and let my hearing- and seeing-root retract only to the point of near-invisibility.

I could still see and hear, but people could not see my roots as i did so.

Hans seemed content and brought my now inconspicous body closer to hers.

Right as she did so, we passed someone on the street. he wore a simple hat made of straw, his clothing was simple, and in his hand he held a hoe. His skin was tanned well by the sun as a testament to his work and his entire body was toned well.

Clarely, a farmer. Hans gave him a polite, friendly, and stale nodd, to which he tesponded in kind, with a slight smile to show his hospitality, I refrained from nodding. It might have been the polite thing to do, but certainly not the most natural thing to do.

I could see sweat streaming down from Hans’ forehead, but i pretended not to have noticed her glaring uncomfortableness.

Sorry about being such a bother...

After five or so similar encounters - Hans’ reaction never changed -, we reached the city. The small houses crowded around the wall, creating a mini-city.

Hans seemed very excited, despite her best attempts to hide this.

Soon, we stood close enough to the wall to touch it. When nobody was looking, i did so. It was stordy and thick, and i could feel it was not only clay.

We circled around the wall until we reached the entrance.

A large, ornamented gate stood tall before us. It was made of black wood which i imagined to be oak.

Two men stood guard on each side of the gate, both dressed with chainmails and leather armour but with larger plates of armour on their chest as well as each of the fi, four limbs. Both carried spears of differing quality and lengh. The right guard’s spear seemed tl be better than the left’s one. Both wore well polished, iron helmets, but there was a slight difference between the two. The helmet of the left guard had red wings whilst one on the right bore white. I did not know what that meant.

”I beg if entrance into in the city Jormundgand.”

”Who is You?”

”I Is Anette, Daughter of Hans, villagelive of Sturup.”

”Have You one identification card?”

”Yes.”

Hans brought out a small card out of her pocket.

The guard which she had spoken with, the one with the red wings, scanned the card carefully before bringing out a small quill made with a red feather. Using the styligh quill, he quickly scribbled something on the and handed it back to Hans, who breathed a sigh of relief.

”What have You for errand in Jormundgand?”

”I will become Jäger.”

”A small girl as You?”

”Yes, I leaved my village on ground of bad relations with the villagers.”

”...I understand. Aja. Welcome to the Divine City of Jormundgand.”

”Thank.”

As the two guared heaved the door open, i could t help but feel how Hans’ hands were trembeling. However, how could i taunt her when my leaves trembeled just as much?