"Just now."
The woman who had shoved something into his hands was a Ring Arcanist.
"Mm."
Shade looked toward the direction the police had disappeared, then at the paper bag that had been forcibly stuffed into his hands, the sort bakeries used for bread.
"Is there anything dangerous inside?"
There were no traces of elements or spirits. You could take a look inside.
After thinking for a moment, Shade looked once more toward the young girl and the direction the police had vanished, then turned and entered the alley the group had just run out of.
Two-story buildings stood on both sides of the alley, leaving it poorly lit. After confirming that no one else was around, Shade glanced into the heavy paper bag. It was filled entirely with books and documents.
"I didn't expect to run into something like this."
Shade had no desire to get into trouble in an unfamiliar city, nor was he particularly curious about the bag that had been forced upon him. Since he had confirmed that its contents were neither Relics nor bombs, he planned to spend some money to have the tailor shop at the alley entrance hold the bag for the time being, so the lady could retrieve it when she came looking.
But upon closely examining the outside of the bag, he unexpectedly spotted a small blue-ink mark in its upper-right corner.
The mark was circular, with a ring of vines around its inner edge and an Ancient Rune representing "writing" at its center.
Its design was simple, but it made Shade frown instinctively.
"The crest of Zaras Academy of Literature?"
Zaras Academy of Literature, also known as Zaras Academy of Spellcraft, was one of the Three Great Arcane Academies of the Sixth Epoch, alongside Saint Byrens Comprehensive College and Serkses