We climbed the ladder to the surface. I grabbed the barrel and helped pull it out. I estimated there might be over twenty beers in it. The murderers did not meet a happy fate. I did not want to know what had happened in that room, but it was not quick. Could the murder have something to do with the letter? A great many thoughts were racing through my head. We reached the library and sat down at one of the large tables. Jurian motioned for the guards to make themselves comfortable.
"I told you not to bother me anymore, but now I need your help." He was no longer so angry with me. "We are the only two who probably know something more." I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "The others cannot be trusted," he added. "Tell me every detail you know," he ordered.
"This morning a suspicious old man came to me and offered me money to deliver a letter. He said it was very important and I wasn't allowed to open it." Jurian pulled out two letters on the table. One of them was the one I had handed over. Both had the same seal.
"I found this other one on the desk of those hired assassins." He opened the envelope and took out a piece of paper with a short text.
The Chief Librarian must die. A generous payment will be delivered to you. -Death
After that, Jurian took out a piece of paper from the second letter.
Your time has come. -Death
Someone was obviously enjoying the letters. There was nothing in them that would lead us to the murderer, but in any case, we found out that there was a connection.
"I think the old man was a changer," I said. Jurian couldn't contain his surprise. It wasn't easy to sense changers.
"Changer?" he said more quietly. "It's no fun, he could have ears and eyes everywhere," he paused. "It's not good to mess with changers," he said.
"I know," I added.
"How are you able to recognize changers?" he asked suspiciously.
"Leave that for now, we have other matters to attend to," I said evasively. Jurian was quite observant.
"I'm going to need your help. Will you stay a while longer and help me uncover this?" His eyes scanned the area.
"Why me? You can get someone else." Jurian frowned as he surveyed the surrounding guards.
"None of them have ever encountered a changer, and if I'm going to solve this, I need someone experienced." I raised one eyebrow. "Believe me, I'd like it to be different," he said. I looked at the letters.
"Okay." There was gratitude in Jurian's eyes.
"So we know that some old man, perhaps a changeling, hired you and the assassin to go to Pestas," he summed up.
"What could have been the motive?" I asked. Jurian's eyes darkened slightly.
"He was studying ancient texts, and I just told him about the rune we found," Jurian said.
"So he knew too much," I simplified. "There was a recent murder of a simple jester who was showing a spell to temporarily change race, and some illegible paper was found near his corpse." Jurian frowned at me.
"Do you think there's a connection?" He hesitated.
"There's paper and unusual knowledge involved. So that someone doesn't want more to be revealed."
"We probably won't find out much more for now," he paused. "I'm supposed to meet Lasin now, will you come with me?" I wanted to say no, but Jurian's gaze was very sharp.
"Okay..." I managed. I didn't want to mess with him. His dominance seemed to fill the entire room. I was lucky that even though I had rejected him earlier, I was still alive.
We walked through a few streets and ended up in a poorer neighborhood. Fortunately, Jurian knew the city quite well. We hardly met any residents anymore. It was almost time to leave the city. It was as if everything alive had died out. I almost didn't feel it when someone suddenly put something in my backpack and immediately tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around. Nothing anywhere.
"What happened?" Jurian asked. I tried to see something in confusion. Then I reached into the bag. At first I didn't notice anything new, but then my fingers felt the purse. It was heavy. I pulled it out and opened it slightly. It was the money the old man had promised.
"What is it?" Jurian asked nervously. They had reached us unnoticed. Neither Jurian nor I noticed him. This only confirmed that we were not messing around with something simple.
"The old man promised me a payment for the delivery and now someone quietly handed it to me and disappeared again." I rummaged through the coins and came across a piece of paper. Jurian turned a little pale. "What? Is this the first time something is beyond your power?" I prompted him.
"The second time," he ended the conversation. He obviously didn't want to elaborate. When we started walking again, we were much more alert. The contrast was striking compared to the center. The rich villas we had been walking around had turned into simple houses with minimal decoration. We stopped at the house with the address from Lasin.
"Is that it?" I asked, my eyes fixed on the half-dilapidated house without a facade.
"It should, it looks like some kind of den." I knocked on the door. For a moment I thought nothing would happen, but finally the door opened. A man in ordinary clothes stood in the doorway. He stepped aside so we could enter. We passed through the door frame. The ceilings were very low and almost no light penetrated inside. The man closed the door behind us. As soon as the door was slammed, the torches on the walls lit up. There was a mage or someone from other races capable of magic. Light flooded the room and I barely had time to turn when swords were held to our throats. Six men and women, mostly human, were pointing their weapons at us. Jurian had one hand on the hilt of his sword. He wasn't afraid. He might be able to kill everyone on the spot.
"What do you want here?" one girl asked suspiciously.
"Put down your weapons or I'll cut you all down on the spot!" Jurian warned in a tone that made the sound of stone and wood creak. Many hesitated and took a step back. Jurian smiled eerily. Silence filled the room. A bloody commotion could start at any moment. We were pretty much begging for death. Three figures ran out of a nearby doorway. They were clad in simple light armor. I looked into their eyes. Lasina's azure eyes felt like rays of sunlight. Her long brown hair was braided. Only a few strands of hair fell around her shoulders. Surprise was evident on her face. Jurian nodded in her direction in greeting.
"They're here for me," she announced. "Let's go to the main hall," she paused. "We need to discuss something."