The laughter grew until it nearly shook the entire room, and the bartender suddenly reached into his coat and produced a knife that he stabbed into the counter!

Stab!

Viva flinched in shock, and the bartender snarled!

"You’re about to lose that tongue, little kitty!"

Viva and the lieutenant were immediately on guard, and the lieutenant had already put his hand on the hilt of his sword while glancing around for any sign of movement from the canines! The lieutenant elbowed Viva, and he whispered to her to bring out the damn letter, and Viva seemed to finally remember herself as she reached into her pocket! Every single person in the bar reached for their weapons once they saw Viva do this, and Viva quickly put her hand up with the letter!

"Wait! It’s just a letter! It’s a letter for Big Mama!"

The bartender narrowed his eyes, and he sneered out a question.

"Who’s it from?"

"Do you know Percival? The librarian?"

The bartender shivered!

Viva had no idea why, but the moment the bartender heard that name, a nasty shiver suddenly travelled across his body from his toes all the way up to his ears! The bartender’s eyes widened in shock, and his hostility immediately dropped by several levels as he leaned forward!

"Say that name again? Who gave you the letter?"

Viva swallowed.

"Uhm... Percival. The librarian."

The bartender reached for the letter with shaky hands, and Viva allowed him to take it. Once the bartender opened the letter and saw the magical seal printed on the paper, his eyes grew even wider, and he shouted to the room!

"Put away your weapons! Are you people mad!? I said put away your weapons right now!"

The bartender grabbed his knife and put it away before glaring at everyone in the room, and the other mercenaries whispered amongst themselves in confusion as they slowly began to put their weapons away. Most of them had no idea who this ’Percival’ was, but the bartender was one of the highest-ranking members of their organization, so if the bartender tells you to do something, you had to do it without question!

"W-Would you like something to drink? Uhm, maybe a beer. Or milk. Ah, sorry, I don’t think we’ll have milk; we don’t host felines very often. I can go buy you some if you want."

All of a sudden, the bartender looked like the most polite gentleman in the world as he spoke to Viva in a kind voice. Both Viva and the lieutenant were absolutely floored by the sudden switch in the bartender’s behaviour, and Viva spoke up slowly.

"I don’t really want to drink anything. I just need to meet Big Mama."

"Ah, yes! Of course, silly me! Please come right this way. I’ll take you to her at once. Get the fuck out of the way, you mangy mutts! Don’t you see we have guests!"

The bartender had spoken to Viva very kindly, but he suddenly turned to the side and shouted angrily to the canines who were sitting close to the staircase, and they all rushed to move out of the way so that Viva and the lieutenant could pass! Viva was still completely shell-shocked as the werewolf led them up to the second floor, and she turned to the side as the lieutenant spoke to her in a low voice.

"Who the hell is this librarian?"

Viva had no answer to give to the lieutenant! After all, Viva had been asking herself the exact same question for the past three days!

....

The upper floor of the building was completely different from the lower floors. Up here, there were multiple rooms arranged along a long hallway with bright crystal lights hanging from the ceiling. Viva and the lieutenant were led towards one of the doors at the end of the hallway, and the werewolf put his hands together and spoke to them with a polite smile.

"Please wait for one moment. I’ll just announce you to Big Mama."

Viva nodded calmly, and the werewolf entered the room alone. Once he left, Viva let out a sigh, and she couldn’t help but laugh when the lieutenant suddenly asked her if the librarian was some sort of secret mob boss.

"It’s the only explanation I can think of for something like this. He has to have some ties to the underworld for them to be acting this way. Maybe he’s part of the human mafia."

The lieutenant said all this with a small frown on his face. It was obvious that the lieutenant was worried about Percy being some part of some evil organization, but Viva shook her head. Even if Percy had some ties to the underworld, there was no way he was evil. Percy was an enigma that she still had to figure out, but she was certain that he was a good person!

The door leading into the room opened, and the werewolf revealed himself once again. There was a smile on his face, and he gestured for them to enter.

"Big Mama will see you now."

Viva took in a breath to steel her nerves, and she walked into the room with the lieutenant entering after her. The moment she stepped inside, Viva’s nose scrunched up as she was hit with the intense smell of smoke! Viva took a moment to survey the room quickly. It was a large bedroom with a window on one side and a small center table in the middle. On the other end of the room was a bed with translucent curtains surrounding it, and Viva’s eyes widened as she saw a silhouette of the largest woman she had ever laid eyes on through the curtains! The woman was so large that Viva didn’t know if she would even be able to move off the bed, and she was holding a long pipe in one hand and the letter Percy had given her in the other.

Viva heard a feminine voice speak up.

"I hear you are guests of Percival, the librarian. Is that true?"

Big Mama’s voice was deep and hoarse, like someone who had gone through years of smoking, but there was an intensity to it that could only be gained from the experience of living a very hard life. Viva spoke up.

"Yes, ma’am. My name is Viva."

Big Mama hummed, and another puff of smoke flew through the air before she said:

"I haven’t heard that name in a long time. Five years since he last graced me with his presence. I hoped he would have forgotten about me by now."

Viva said nothing, and she watched as the silhouette brought up the letter and read it before dragging another puff of smoke and releasing it into the air.

"So you are a City Guard investigating a murder."

"Yes, ma’am."

"Do you know why Percival sent you to me?"

"N-No, ma’am. He just told me to give you the letter. He said you’ll know what to tell me when you read it."

Big Mama laughed softly when she heard this. Percival would never change. Right from when she first met him, he had always preferred to remain in the shadows and allow others to handle the minor issues. The only time Percival would show himself was when he was truly needed.

"Very well, little kitten. I will retrieve the information you need. Just give me a moment."

Big Mama waved her pipe around, and the smoke behind the curtain floated up into the air as she spoke.

"How many people have died in this case?"

Viva stepped forward and answered.

"About fifty, ma’am."

"And they are all human?"

"Yes, ma’am."

"The last death was at the Academy library, and the first recorded death was in Hendrix City, thirteen miles away. Hmm, hmm... very interesting."