Darius hoped he’d had his fill of surprises for the day. Though deep down, he kept wondering what else might go wrong. On top of that, he kept thinking he’d have to go to the town in the centre of the enclave, even though he hadn’t planned to. He was already grinding his teeth as he counted how many meetings he’d have to attend. Of course, he would mainly have to discuss management errors with Lieutenant Al-Satar, and later with the governor himself. Whilst the first conversation shouldn’t pose any problems, he was wary of the second. To be honest, he had no desire to find out what an unpredictable person was capable of.
Now, however, something else was important: the task for which he had been sent here. Upon entering the enclave, Bleist had the opportunity to view the structure grandly proclaimed to be a castle. In reality, it was a four-storey tower on a square plan, with a single-storey, horseshoe-shaped building attached at the base, whose inner courtyard was enclosed by the tower itself. The whole structure had been built from sandstone, widely available in the area, and covered with a clay facing, but this had long since ceased to serve its purpose and was flaking off the fortifications in thick patches. It did not look very welcoming and hardly served its purpose. The castle stood on a small hill opposite the entrance to the enclave, but nothing blocked the path along the rocky cliffs marking the boundary of the magical territory. If anyone wanted to avoid the military outpost, they didn’t have to go to any trouble at all.
Before saying goodbye to the sergeant, Darius asked him about the village where the murder had taken place. Unfortunately, the soldier couldn’t say much. He merely confirmed what Bleist already knew. The settlement lay a two-day’s walk from the castle, though on horseback they should reach it before nightfall. According to the sergeant, the village was home to about three hundred people, which meant there was at least a semblance of comfort to be found there – an
