The end of the exams slowed the tense pace of life somewhat, but the upcoming 15 Practical Credits and Saint Prayer Festival nearly filled next week's schedule.
Shade had no time to give himself any more chances to relax.
Early Sunday Morning, after breakfast, Shade headed out. After being delayed for an entire week, Mrs. Lemmer's acceptance of the inheritance could finally proceed.
This not particularly courageous middle-aged woman had believed the frightening rumors spread by her neighbors. After last Friday's citywide lockdown ended, she had taken her children to live in the countryside temporarily.
Seeing that nothing else had happened in Tobesk's urban district, Mrs. Lemmer finally returned to the city and, according to the original plan, accepted the inheritance of the deceased sailor at her home on Sunday morning.
Mrs. Lemmer had endured an unhappy marriage. Her husband had left years ago, and she had raised her two children alone. The family of three lived in a cramped rented apartment in the north of the city. After jumping down from a hired carriage and finding Silver Gray Alley by its house numbers, Shade could not help but marvel at the filthy, chaotic living conditions.
This was a slum in the truest sense of the word, a glimpse into the lives of the lowest class of citizens in this era. As an Outlander from elsewhere, his impression of the slums of this backward age had come only from his imagination. Even when passing nearby before, he had merely glanced at them once or twice. Only now, truly walking into this place, did he understand that it was even worse than he had imagined.
Even though it had not rained recently, the ground was still horribly muddy. Taking a deep breath, he smelled strange-smelling liquids scattered across the mud, mingling