You have come to the house you need.

Soon, you found the very house you needed. You looked around. This house was located on the northern edge of the South Gate Quarter next to a well. This house looked much richer than the worn-out wooden buildings around it. This house was two-story, its roof was covered with brown tiles.

You approached a powerful oak door, which was covered with iron. You knocked on the door.

No reaction. Nobody opened the door.

You knocked again. Much stronger and longer.

The door opened wide. You saw the figure of a tall, muscular human man, who was slightly hunched over so as not to hit his head on the doorway. This man was dressed in a leather vest and gray cloth pants, with worn leather boots on his feet. On his leather belt you noticed a large falchion in a sheath. This man's hands were covered with scars, there was no beard or mustache on his face, his skin had a pale tint. At the sight of you, his face contorted into some kind of contemptuous grimace. The man looked at you as if he really wanted to rip that oak door out of its hinges and hit your head with that door until you turned into a meat patty.

The next second, this man scratched his bald head and said to you: “Come in, guy! But you will have to wait! Etario is still busy talking with a previous client.”

You have entered this house. In the room you saw five worn wooden chairs that were placed along one of the walls. You saw that there was a table and a couple of benches near the opposite wall. The man who let you into the house sat down at this table. Opposite him, at the same table, sat some half-elf. You notice that there are cards on the table. These two are probably playing some kind of card game. The half-elf looked much happier than his playing partner. You saw that the half-elf was dressed in an old cloth doublet, dark leather trousers and boots. The half-elf had a dagger in a sheath hanging from his belt, and on the bench next to him lay a small crossbow and a quiver with crossbow bolts.

You walked carefully on the creaking floor and you walked over to one of the chairs. You sat down on a chair and waited. You saw that in this room there is another door that leads to the next room.

While you were waiting, you heard the loud sounds of a conversation taking place in the next room. You heard the voices of two men. One voice was timid and ingratiating. The second voice was permeated with hidden sarcasm and cold indifference.

“I’m talking about debt...” said a timid voice.

His interlocutor replied: “Oh, yes. Debt. Well, of course, and I already thought that you just decided to go to an old friend to drink a little ale and talk about the weather... But, apparently, not this time... So what's going on with your debt? Are there any difficulties?

“Um... Yes...” a timid voice muttered indistinctly.

“Well, well, why is it so quiet? Are you really afraid of me? Speak boldly! We’ve known each other for a long time... You could say that we are old “friends”! Ha! Ha! Tell me what’s bothering you?” - the second voice said in a mocking tone.

A timid voice said: “I... I... We... My family has no money. We cannot pay the loan and interest on the debt on time. We could not get enough harvest from our land. The weather this month was too cold and there was a lot of rain. Because of this, the harvest was less than last year. We cannot pay you. We need a deferment of debt payments. In a couple of weeks, I will find additional sources of income. And then I will give you all the money. I will return all debt, interest on the debt and late fees... Just let me get a deferment of payments, respected master Etario! "

There was an oppressive silence for ten seconds. There was silence in the next room.

Then you heard the irritated voice of the moneylender: “So you want a deferment of debt payments because your current harvest was poor due to weather conditions? And you dared to come here to me and utter these pathetic words... You probably wanted to insult me by suggesting that I would allow myself to be deceived. Do you think that I will allow some fucking peasant to pocket my money!?"

The debtor's voice said: “But respected master Etario! Forgive me! You know that I have always repaid debts before! And now I will repay the debt with additional interest! At least double the amount! Please give me a deferment of payments for at least one week! There is nothing for family now, we ourselves have nothing to eat. My children, my wife... My sick mother... I ask you..."

"Silence, scum!" – the moneylender barked furiously.

“Have mercy... Please...” said the debtor’s voice.

After that, you heard sobs, inarticulate cries of pain and dull sounds of punchs. Lots of punchs. This lasted almost a minute.

After that, you heard the sound of the moneylender's voice: “Enough, Myrtos! This pathetic scum almost stained my carpet with its bitch blood. Get this carrion out of the building. Then you will go to our nearest establishment and take a couple of strong guys with you. After that, you , together with the guys, you will go to visit this fucker, who wanted to pocket my money and not pay the debt. I’m sure that there will be valuable things in his fucking house. Besides, I know that this fucker has a young and beautiful daughter. How old is this pretty girl? She probably just turned nineteen years old! I'm sure that with the help of this pretty girl's charming beauty we can get our money, collect the debt and get the interest paid on the debt! You know what you have to do, Myrtos !"

After these words, the door to the interior of the house swung open. You saw how a stocky, muscular guy, whose skin had a bronze tint, dragged some elderly peasant by the neck. This elderly peasant was severely beaten, blood oozing from abrasions on his head and face. Then, the two men left the building.

You heard the words that were addressed to you: “Why are you sitting? Are you stupid? Now it’s your turn! Come into the next room!”

These words were spoken by the same guy who let you into this house.

You went into the next room. The door slammed behind you.

You have looked around this room. All the free walls of the room were covered with paintings with gilded frames. Vases, candelabra, books, and scrolls were placed on the table and cabinets filling the entire space of the room. On the floor, next to the moneylender, lay a fleecy carpet with some incomprehensible pattern.

You saw the moneylender sitting in the center of the room in a deep soft chair and warming his feet by the fireplace. You noticed a large and tall man in leather armor near the wall. Upon closer inspection, it became clear to you that this man has greenish skin and is obviously a half-orc. In the hands of this half-orc was a small wooden club, on which traces of blood were clearly visible. On his belt hung a dagger in a sheath. This half-orc looked at you with an indifferent gaze, but you understood that he would closely watch any of your movements.

You noticed the appearance of the moneylender. He was dressed in a luxurious dark green camisole, which was covered with gold embossing, trousers made of dark satin fabric, and well-polished men's shoes with silver buckles.

This human man was small in stature, his skin had a tan tint. His head was bald, his face had a small mustache and a small black beard. You noticed that his eyes were black and that the pupils of his eyes looked in opposite directions. This man is probably about 45 years old.

There was a mask of thoughtfulness on the man’s face, brightened by a smug smile that barely touched his lips.

You looked straight into the moneylender's face and you said: “Greetings, respected master Etario! My name is Elmar.”

Etario looked in your direction with a strange look from his slanting eyes.

His face took on some kind of ironic expression.

He said: “Hello, young man! I am glad to welcome you to our beautiful city of Granveith, in the capital of our blessed Kingdom of Morthem! Judging by your appearance, you have recently decided to leave your village, overcome the vast expanses of forest and join the delights of metropolitan life. Is my guess correct??

You smiled politely and replied, “You are right, respected master Etario. I have indeed lived most of my life in the provincial forest villages of the Kingdom of Morthem. You are quite perceptive.”

Etario continued to study you with his gaze. Judging by the skin tone and slight accent in this man’s speech, you understood that he came from some distant eastern lands.

Then he asked: “And why did you come to my modest house? Perhaps you need money to open your own trading enterprise? Or do you need to satisfy the needs of your beautiful woman with money? Or did you have some kind of misfortune in the family, like Is one of your relatives sick and you urgently need financial help?

You said with a grin: “This time you failed to guess, respected master Etario. The purpose of my visit is different. I am not going to borrow money from you.”

The moneylender's expression became somewhat more suspicious, and he exchanged glances with the half-orc.

Then the moneylender Etario said: “Well, why the hell did you come to my house, hillbilly guy?”

You answered briefly: “I came because I want to work for you, respected master Etario.”