Stepping inside, she looked around. The place was crowded with villagers who were there seeking help or suggestions.
It was usually the Magistrate who tended to the distress of the villagers and was responsible for maintaining stability in their respective villages.
The Magistrate back in her native village had only two attendants working for him, and his office was a small one attached to his house. But the Magistrate's office in the capital village seemed entirely different. The office itself was a huge two-story building with people busily walking around everywhere, and it didn't look like the Magistrate's house was attached to it.
There were three consecutive rooms in a row. The guard had pointed to the middle one, so she entered it.
About five officials were sitting behind their respective desks, busy reading or writing something. There was another cabin in the corner, divided by a swinging door, which she presumed was the Magistrate's workroom.
A man who seemed to be a clerk came out from the Magistrate's chamber with a bunch of files in his hand and placed them on the third staff member's table.
Myra walked towards the first table and asked the official behind it to register her name.
"Go to the fifth table and ask for the registration," he said, without even lifting his head, still busy reading a document.
Walking over to table number five, she said, "Excuse me, sir, I'm new to the capital, and a guard told me I need to register my name here."
The fifth official was a Falseborn demon. He had dark skin and was slightly overweight. His hair was somewhat bald, and two small horns peeked out from either side of his head. According to the carvings on the wooden badge pinned to his shirt, his name was Hagrid Kenneth.
The official looked at Myra for a while, as if trying to gauge her creature type, and then pulled out a thick book.
"Full name?" he asked in a gruff tone.
"Amyra Brooke."
"Full name?!" he repeated, sounding annoyed.
Myra frowned. Hadn't she just given her full name? Then it clicked. "Oh! Sorry. It's Amyra Everly Brooke."
The Falseborn official scribbled her name on the paper. "Age?"
"Nineteen," she replied, and he wrote that down too.
"Date of birth?"
"12th of Januaris, 1744."
"Individual type?"
"A Pseudoborn demon."
Myra's father was a human while her mother was a Trueborn demon, making her a Pseudoborn.
Most Pseudoborns showed the characteristics of the dominant parent. In her case, her human side was more dominant, which often led people to mistake her for a human. She had dark brown eyes instead of gold and fair skin.
The official narrowed his eyes at her response.
"Are you sure you're a Pseudoborn? You look more like an ordinary human. Tell the truth if you're lying."
"No, I am definitely a Pseudoborn. My father is a human and my mother is a Trueborn," she said firmly.
He still looked at her suspiciously. It was very rare for a Trueborn to marry anybody of the lower status. Trueborn demons are usually very beautiful to look at and are rich with high social standards. To have any other creature lower than their own status as their partner is not something they usually entertain.
But in Myra's mother's case, it was different. From what she'd heard, her Trueborn grandparents hadn't approved of their daughter being with a human, fearing it would tarnish their reputation. They had even tried to marry her off to another Trueborn man. With no other choice, her parents had eloped.
"Which land are you from, and why are you here?" the official enquired, and she answered accordingly.
Finally, after fifteen minutes of interrogation, they were done.
"Sign here," said the demon official, placing a thick ledger book in front of her. The entire sheet had her details. She cross-checked it once before signing.
Then the official scribbled something on a small sheet of paper and handed it to her.
"Go to the identification cell in the next room and show this. They'll give you an identity plaque."
Stepping outside, she headed to the adjacent room next to the Magistrate's main office. There was a long queue. Standing in line, she waited for her turn.
Once she reached the front, she handed the paper to the person seated at the desk. He carved her name onto a wooden plaque and stamped it with the Arcadian seal before giving it to her.
By the time Myra stepped out of the office, it was around noon, and she was utterly famished. She found a nearby street food stall that seemed affordable, so she ate her lunch there and went in search of the employment cell.
The employment cell was much busier than the Magistrate's office. The place was bustling with all kinds of men and women, waiting in line to apply for employment.
She had to wait in the line for almost two hours before she could get fill the application By then her legs had started to ache badly from having to stand for a long time.
Now all she wanted to do was to find a decent inn so that she could sleep for the rest of the day.
After a long search, she found an inn that looked reasonably satisfactory. Walking in, she saw a middle-aged, stout human woman at the reception. The woman had black hair tied into a bun and wore oval-shaped glasses perched on the tip of her nose. Myra found it quite comical when the woman looked at her directly without seeing her through the lenses.
Holding back her smile, Myra said, "I would like a room, please," standing at the reception desk.
"Costs three silver coins a day," replied the woman in an arrogant and uninterested tone. "You'll have to pay twenty copper coins extra if you want food and hot water service."
The accommodation charge was a bit high, but she had no other choice. If everything went well, she would have a new job by the end of the week. If she got lucky, she might even land a position in a good household that provided food and shelter.
"Then I'll take a room for two days," she informed her.
"And the food and water? Would you like that too?" asked the innkeeper.
"Yes, please. For two days," Myra answered. The verification officer at the employment cell had asked her to return in two days and had assured her that her list of work offers would be ready by then.
"Then pay six silver coins for the room and forty copper coins extra," demanded the woman.
Myra pulled out her satchel and handed over seven silver coins. The innkeeper returned the change along with a room key.
Then the innkeeper lady called out to a young boy named James and asked him to show Myra to the third room on the first floor.
The boy led her upstairs to her assigned room.
"Have a nice stay, ma'am," the boy said, bowing slightly before leaving her at the door.
Myra went inside and collapsed onto the bed, feeling extremely tired. She had done enough roaming for one day, and now all she wanted was to sleep peacefully, forgetting all her worries — at least for a while.