The trip was long, at least na hour and a half. Hilda slept most of the trip, not even het energy could keep her up, same for most of the others.
-Hilda, hey.
-…uh…? What… - the girl let out a yawn- We arrived?
-Yes, I am just gonna call someone…
-Wait, are not going to stay in a hotel?
-Look Raven, I know that you are really apprehensive about any interaction, but all the hotels were way too expansive.
-So where are we going to stay?-said the elf.
-I have an old friend on the city, that said his friend might have room for us.
-This is so fishy it sounds like a money laundry scheme.
-Listen, I know it is probably not what you expected but at least we will have somewhere to stay.
They continued driving looking for the address, but when they arrived everyone's expectations dropped. The house was not structurally bad, but the paint was old, some parts of the building didn't even had paint. There was a very small garden but the grass was dead and there were weeds growing on the pavement cracks.
-I sleep on light poles and even I think this is a bad place…
-Look, I did not say it was a top tier house.
-Are you kidding me? Mom, are you trying to make me hate this trip even more? Because that is e what is happening and not even I knew I could hate this place even more.
-Shh! We are gonna get in, greet the owner and then-
-I am already here.
Johanna turned around to meet a middle-age man, wearing a brown coat.
-Oh! Hello, are you-
-The owner? Yes.-he looked at the back seat- Are the bird and fox going to stay?
-Yes, any problems?
-No, no. I am just asking.
He unlocked the small wooden gate and let everyone in, he helped carrying some of the bags. Inside the house was much better then the outside, even if it was not a typical house. There were some maps of Trollberg and the surroundings, pictures of trolls.
-Wow, where you got this from?
-I used to work on the bell towers, but got fired.
-Oh, I am sorry.
-No problem, Erik eventually learned his lesson and deactivated the infuriating automatic bells but they hired another person…
-Oh… ah…. Where do you work now?
-Well, I just eventually fix something around the town.
Hilda was looking around for a place to unpack her stuff, it was not much, but she also wanted to talk with Raven who she could see was worried.
-So, all for moving?
-This is like a nightmare… N-Not the house, but, staying with someone for two days…
-You don't need to worry, you are a bird, there is nothing incriminating about you.
-The same cannot be said for me.-said Alfur while trying to climb to the top of the bed.-I don't think that he would be as unsuspicious about an invisible voice.
Hilda started unpacking her blanket and pillow, she also brought her sketchbook. Raven found a place to sleep on the empty shelves. Alfur also had no trouble with the unpacking.
-I think that's all… what do we do?
Hilda sat on her bed.
-Can we… you know, FINALLY stay home?
-Actually, you said something about the librarian.
-Please no. Just, don't.
The girl got up and ran to the front door, her mom was not there, the man was probably showing her the rest of the house. Raven would normally ignore it and stay home as this time there was no reason for him to go, but staying inside with a stranger was not exactly his ideal definition of a good time, so he chose to go with her.
Twig whined, he did not like to stay away from Hilda but taking him outside would at least be suspicious. Hilda was not hard to find, she was the only one with blue hair and she was around the corner the moment she realized she never learned how to deal with street lights.
Raven landed on her shoulder as usual which caused some pedestrians to notice him, not that anyone did anything about it.
-Let me guess-he whispered- you have no idea how to arrive at the library.
The girl nodded.
-Well, I guess it will be hardtop lead you there.
-Just tell me what to do.-she whispered back.
-Ok… when that light turns green we cross the road.
-Why the wait?
-It's because- he stopped talking as more people began gathering to cross the road.
The light turned green and the girl crossed the road with the others, she could notice some of the glaring at Raven, it was probably not usual for people to have bird on their shoulders.
-Ok.-she whispers once they were apart from the others-What now?
-See that building two streets ahead? That's the library, just, try to not get ran over by a car.
She continued walking without saying a single word, she knew just as well as Raven that she was caught talking with a bird that would be a bad first impression, and if he answered back it would get them in trouble.
They reached the building in some minutes, but that was the moment that they had to separate, Raven flew and sat on a electricity wire, and Hilda understood more or less what he meant. She stepped inside and realized how big it was, she was not used to big places, but she also noticed how hard it would be to find anything there.
-Ok…Raven said something about the librarian…
Hilda began walking around the place, she was honestly impressed that there was so many books in one place, she even stopped to look at some. But then a question popped up.
-Why is there a door behind this shelf?