Edwin stepped into a small entrance room. It was almost bare, with two sturdy wooden doors leading further into the building. One door, he knew, hid a set of stairs leading up to the second level. He knocked on the other one. A few moments later, a small but stern looking older woman opened the door, sizing him up with a cold look.

“Yes?” she asked, although it sounded more like an order than a question.

“Good evening, my name is Edwin. Is Master Kellert in?”

Her eyes widened for a moment, then she squinted at him suspiciously.

“And why would you want to know that?”

“I just arrived in the city and need somewhere to stay. I was told that Master Kellert’s lodgings were a great choice, and I was hoping to rent a room.”

The woman kept glaring at him, her face a stony mask. Then she slowly spoke.

“It’s interesting that somebody would tell you such a thing, boy. Interesting and strange, considering he died more than twenty years ago.”

Edwin froze. “What?”

“He left this house to me, and I haven’t heard anyone refer to it as his in a long time. Who did you say was it that told you about him?”

Edwin’s mind was racing. Kellert had died twenty years ago? He had just seen him a short while back. Was she lying? What was going on? He had no idea what to do.

“So?” She was still studying him, her frown deepening. He had to act fast, or he might attract more attention than he could handle.

Walter forced the approximation of a smile onto Edwin’s unfamiliar face.

“I’m sorry, I was unaware that he passed. You see, I’m from a small village down south and only just came to the city to become an adventurer. Back home there was…an old man, a friend of the family. When he heard I was coming here, he told me to see if I could stay at Master Kellert’s lodgings. He said he had stayed here several times when he came here…as a trader…when he was younger. I should have realized that the owner would have changed since then. I apologize for reminding you of your loss.”

The fake smile felt painful on his face, and he couldn’t tell if it looked trustworthy or creepy. Beads of sweat were starting to roll down his back, and the frowning woman’s gaze seemed to pierce right through his flimsy attempt at subterfuge. She stared at him for seconds that felt like minutes, until finally her eyes softened.

“That’s fine, boy, it’s not your fault. And my grandfather died a long time ago, I don’t mind remembering him. You can call me Mistress Holling. That is, if you still need a place to stay.”

Relief flooded through Walter, and his smile became less forced.

“Thank you, that is very kind. And yes, I do. I plan to be in the city for at least the next few months.”

Mistress Holling adopted her original stern look, rattling a list off from memory.

“It’s six bronze per month. No food or drink. Bath is at the end of the hall. No business conducted on the premises. No visitors. No animals. No disturbing the other residents. Anything else, talk to me.”

She looked him up and down again and sniffed in disapproval.

“I can have your clothes, linens or anything else washed as well. For a few coins of course.”

Walter dug six of the large bronze coins out of his pouch and handed them over.

“Just the room for now, I will gladly take you up on your offer another time.”

“Very well.” She took the coins, nodded, and disappeared back into her apartment. A few moments later she came back with a key.

“Your room is on the right, all the way in the back. Anything else?”

Walter refreshed his smile.

“No, thank you. I’ve been on the road all day and need to rest.”

“Good evening then.” She nodded curtly and disappeared, the door closing behind her. For a few moments Walter stood there like a statue, his forced smile still etched onto his face. Then he turned, opened the second door, and walked up the stairs. His face hurt, he was slick with sweat, and the adrenaline was slowly leaving him.

What the hell is going on?

He had always stayed at Master Kellert’s accommodations when he visited the city, first when he had been searching for a place to build his secret laboratory, then again during the construction, and a third time when he moved his supplies from Pel Darni to his hideout. He liked the lodgings because Kellert had made it a point not to intrude into his guests’ lives, and the last time Walter had stayed there, they had even spent a few nights sharing a drink by Kellert’s fireplace. He had had a deadpan sort of humor, and he had reminded Walter of someone else.

Walter grimaced. He knew the rules. He’d made them. No contact with anyone from his past life. Why did he come here? Maybe he had hoped to find a friend for Edwin, to have the relationship with Kellert that Walter never could because of the secrecy. Walter unlocked his room and entered, dropping his pack on the floor and sitting heavily on the bed.

Twenty years? Kellert had been middle-aged, barely older than Walter himself. Unless there had been some sort of accident, he could have lived another twenty years easily. Did that mean that Walter had been in his lab for forty years? That couldn’t be, right? It felt like a year or two at most. Then again, after his…transition to a Lich, he hadn’t needed to eat or sleep anymore, and being underground it was impossible to track night and day…or even the seasons. Now that he thought about it, it had taken him a lot of research and experimentation to finish the Immortalizer. All those rituals he’d built by hand, all the tests he’d run. The setbacks. The times he’d had to start from scratch.

Walter lay down, tiredly closing his eyes. Maybe keeping his distance from people who had known him would be easier than he had anticipated. After all, most of them would be dead by now.

--- ----- ---

Edwin stepped into the street, closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath, savoring the fresh morning air, then started down the street. His night’s sleep had ben fitful, but it had done him a world of good. Walter had always been in the past. Now he was simply further in the past than he initially thought. After such a long time, nobody would remember Walter and his strange disappearance. If anything, this was a blessing. Edwin smiled, his pace quickening. It was time to look forward, to take the next step on his journey. He needed to get his head in the game and his story straight, so moments like yesterday didn’t happen again.

Back on the northern square, Edwin turned south, this time following the guard’s directions. The northern quarter was almost exclusively residential, and those that worked in the central quarter, the aristocratic southern quarter or even the industrial western quarter usually lived here, because it was cheaper. That meant that the roads were quickly starting to fill, and Edwin was soon surrounded by workmen, shop attendants, carriers and a hundred other kinds of people all heading to work. It felt strange to be in a crowd after so long on his own, but while Walter had never been much of a people person, he had grown up in a city lager than this one. In a way, the crowd made Edwin feel safe. Less out of place.

Walter knew he had arrived at the city center long before he could see the square. The Guard Fortress stood on his left, the thick stone walls and towers with arrow slits looming menacingly over the street. It wasn’t just the garrison and training ground for the city guard. The real reason why it was so heavily fortified, and why almost every city Walter had ever visited had a fortress just like this one was invisible from the street. The entrance to the Pioneer ruins that contained Pel Darni’s city shield was below it, in the exact center of the city’s circular walls.

Edwin walked past a guarded gate into the compound, the bored sentries watching the masses flow by outside the lowered portcullis. He had never been in Pel Darni’s shield room, but he had been in a few of the others. The shield itself was basically the same everywhere, but some of the other rooms in the underground complex varied. They still knew so little about the Pioneers…

The street spilled Edwin onto the central square and the crowd around him dispersed in all directions. Time to find the Adventurer’s Guild.