They walked towards the northern gate. Frey’r was carrying Ulius backpack because it was cumbersome, Ulius Sirinn’s because it was very light, Sirinn Frey’r’s, Estellaand Vella their own, and in Vella’s there were the sandwiches Missy had prepared for them.

Just a few hundreds of yards from the gate, Ulius asked with such politeness that he made everyone suspicious:

„Can we make a short stop at Sem’s shop, please? It’s just around the corner. I would like to have something to read during the trip.”

„Do you think a book shop is open so early?” asked Vellantina.

„He promised to open it for me today. He’ll leave for Osht with the morning train. I was there at seven, but it was closed, maybe now it’s...”

„Kiddo,” said Vella, „the station is far to the south. He must have left by now.”

His sad eyes were like a puppy’s. Estella’s heart broke, and she did the last thing she imagined she’ll do, intervened in favor of her brother.

„Let’s go, Vella. Either he’ll get his book, either he’ll know we tried, and at least he'll be off our backs.”

„Thank you, sis!” jumped up Ulius, like a happy rabbit.

In under a minute, they were at the store’s door.

„Looks closed,” Vella showed the obvious closed sign.

„This is strange,” frowned Ulius. „The door’s lock is open. It was closed before.”

„How can you tell?” wondered Frey’r.

„It’s his power; he feels mechanisms. And breaks them.” Estella enlightened him.

„I can control them and make them work better too,” argued Ulius. „I’m just not so good at those yet.”

„Moms have a guard at their lab door, with the instruction not to let him enter,” added his sister.

„Never mind, if it’s open, maybe he’s inside, let’s see,” said the kid.

Ulius pressed the handle and opened the door. A clickety bell noise followed, the bells most stores have at their entrance.

„Mister Sem?” shouted the boy.

„You’re back, punk? What are you doing, breaking, and entering? Didn’t I told you I’ll call the police?”

The woman from before was back too, dressed in a house dress, and the white facemask was still there. Vella tried to explain.

„Good morning, dear lady. I fear this is a misunderstanding. These are Estella Khaira Ohstwald and Ulius Inkhirus Ohstwald, prince and princess of Ohst. I’m their protector, Vellantina Guerrefido.”

„Police, police! There’s a gang robbing the store!”

Her shout was mild, probably because she didn’t really wish to have the police on her head, taking declarations while she was far from being presentable; she wanted just to scare them away.

Vellantina already considered climbing on a gaslight post, then grab a cornice, jump on the balcony, and break the lady’s neck, but Sirinn was faster.

„All is well; go back to sleep. Nobody is here.”

After she disappeared inside the house, he told the others:

„The Voice spell. It’s a low-level calming charm; I had learned it at the Casino. Very useful to calm drunkards, doesn’t work so well on strong-willed people, though.”

„Let’s go inside the store, else we’ll gather more attention,” suggested Estella.

Inside, nobody. Ulius closed the door behind, taking care to not disturb the bells too much.

„Mister Sem?” he called in half-voice.

„He’s not here, Ulius. The store is empty,” said Estella. „I would have felt some probabilities if there were somebody. I think he left and forgot to close the door.”

„If so, why would he left his breakfast half-eaten?” the Norse said to them. Frey’r was pointing at the main desk. On it, half a cup of coffee and half a toast, both warm.

„This is not fair!” whispered angrily Ulius, who had noticed the same details but was denied the glory of announcing the discovery.

Maybe Sem was in a hurry to catch the train was the obvious answer, but none gave it. Instead, they gathered around the desk because next to the coffee and toast sat an open paper folder, containing a thin metal sheet and a pen, attached to the sheet by a wire. The sheet was filled with unknown characters and was emitting a soft blue light.

„Now THIS is interesting!” exclaimed Ulius, filled with detectivistic eagerness.

Her sister's face was already filling with despair.