Page 41 of Legends and Librarians
“Yes.” That was going to be my plan anyway, so this was just accelerating that. As long as they were reasonable adventurers, we should be fine.
Nyssa nodded. “Okay, we’ll let you deal with them. You can think of it like your last mission before you leave.”
The sarcasm in her voice stung like nettles. I hadn’t meant to upset her, but now wasn’t the time for that. Because the adventurer walking up the path with those telltale twin swords on her back wasn’t a friend and was definitely not reasonable.
Jade.
Chapter 15
Nyssa
Four adventurers sauntered into the courtyard, three men and a woman. They were joking and laughing about something I couldn’t quite hear, but their gazes were taking everything in, like they expected to be ambushed at any time. The woman’s eyes hardened as she spotted Roan.
Roan.
I hadn’t even had time to process what he’d said about leaving before this group showed up, but now wasn’t the time to ask him about his feelings.
“That woman seems like she knows you...?”
“Unfortunately.” Roan sighed. “Jade’s the guild master’s daughter. She’s got a terrible attitude and resents that I’m higher ranked than her, so she likes to show off when I’m around.” He glanced at me apologetically. “I’ll explain everything and get rid of her.”
Great. So not only was Roan leaving, but the library was in the middle of their battle of egos. A few minutes ago, it had felt like everything was going right for us. We’d been having a nice meal and the tree was healing, all good things.
But now? I’d just be grateful if the story spirits could stay hidden long enough for Roan to send the guild away.
“Come on,” I said, dragging the Demon Lord inside whileRoan walked into the courtyard to greet the adventurers. “Didn’t Lisa mention you guys usually hide from adventurers?”
He scowled. “Just because a little knight got capturedone timeshe expects us to be cowards.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “A knight got captured?”
“In a jar like a bug, yeah.” He shrugged. “The library handled it, don’t worry. It just sent him back to his book.”
The library handled it? Wait...
“Does that mean the library controls you? And knows what’s going on?”
He gave me one of his classic are-you-an-idiot looks before staring out the window. Right. Of course the library didn’t control them. It was magical, sure, but it was still just a building. If magical libraries could do something like that, every librarian would know about it.
The adventurers stopped in the courtyard where Roan stood waiting. Jadelooked at the library with such disdain that I wanted to send her away myself, but one of the other adventurers smiled warmly and waved at Roan. So at least some of them were on good terms then. Two others followed behind, but they seemed like extra muscle more than anything else.
“Sorry, but we’re not open yet,” Roan said. “You should come back later.”
The nice adventurer’s smile widened. “Come on, you know that’s not why we’re here. Show us this haunted library of yours.”
“Yes,” Jade said, “please show us the incredibly dangerous spirits you’ve let roam the mountain without a care for anyone’s safety.”
Since when did being scary equal being incredibly dangerous? And why did it sound like Jade was blaming that all on Roan?
Oren joined me, raising an eyebrow at the group of people outside. “Who’s she?”
I held a finger to my lips, not wanting to miss anything outside as Roan started talking again.
“I didn’t —”
“Didn’t what?” Jade cut in before Roan could finish. “Didn’t do your damn job like everyone expected you to? You’re supposed to be some kind of hero, an S-rank adventurer who can solve anything.” Her voice was overly dramatic. “I can’t believe my father thinks you’d make a better guild master than me.”
Oh, so that’s what this was really about. The way she glared at him was full of anger, but also something else. Something that looked a lot like pain. There was more going on here than I knew, but I still didn’t like her tone. How dare she march up here with her muscle and talk to him like that? He was just trying to help us.
