The Potion of Life

Hugon

They walk further as a group and reach a sturdy closed door.

"Could this door be open as well?" Colos says as he walks towards it. 

Hugon notices Emelina trying to stop him. "This door leads to the Valentina gang's base. Did none of you listen to Oudenhuysen's explanation?" However, Hugon was elsewhere with his thoughts  during Oudenhuysen's explanation. The person who had been spying on them last night had given him a note. There were seven words on it, a kind of list.

First, there were two instances of Katarina. After that, three instances of Lucinda, with the words Katarina crossed out and the first Lucinda as well. The last two words were Malindi, which were not crossed out. There was also a fig leaf drawn at the bottom of the list. Some of the corpses he had passed had a chain around them in the shape of a fig leaf. Was there a connection? 

"Why are we still waiting? As a group, we can handle a thieves gang," Bjorn says, taking his barbarian battle-axe in his hand. 

"Bjorn is right; there's no point in waiting at this door," H'Jar walks to the door and knocks.

However, Hugon remains lost in thought. What did the thief mean with that piece of paper? Also, the thief is linked to their client Oudenhuysen. He had recognized him when he was leading them to the catacombs. However, he prefers to keep this information to himself. He might use it at a convenient moment, and it keeps the group calm. 

When H'Jar knocks on the door, Hugon makes a decision. He takes out his magical lizard and places it on his shoulder. This makes him invisible; a second later, the door opens. Three sturdy men stand in the room behind the door. 

"What are you doing here? Are you members of the Schatzenheimer gang, or do you belong to us? Just tell me the password, and the four of you can continue as a group."

Hugon sees the group is surprised that he has disappeared. 

"We don't have a password," H'Jar says, drawing his Bintaan curved sword and attacking one of the guards. A fight ensues, but it doesn't last long. After a few seconds, the three guards lie dead on the ground. However, a few seconds later, five gang members enter the room and attack them immediately. 

Hugon sees all of this happening and watches calmly. They don't need his help, or maybe they do. That one gang member mentioned a password. Is that list he has maybe a list of passwords for the Valentina gang? It's too late to use the passwords now, and the group is still alive. Another detail he won't share with this group of adventurers. 

Despite all Valentina members in this room being defeated, Hugon doesn't feel it's safe enough to become visible again. The rest of the group doesn't wait for Hugon. They move to the next corridor, and Hugon follows them closely. However, the group doesn't go unnoticed. Hugon sees them entering a room where the Valentina gang is loading crates, boxes, and barrels. They are approached by a gang member with a whip. He orders them to stop evading their work and help evacuate the base. Fortunately, they realize they are heavily outnumbered. They don't attack this gang member but instead help the Valentina gang evacuate their base.

Hugon is relieved he remained invisible. Now he just needs to find a way to get the rest of the group out of their situation. He walks to the next room. This room is relatively empty, with only a desk and a man behind it. He is clearly guarding the room behind him and has a crossbow in his hand. However, since Hugon is invisible, he calmly walks to the next room. That room is also empty at first glance. However, Hugon immediately notices that some books have been removed from the bookshelf. He also observes that someone thoroughly searched the desk in this room. Was someone looking for that gemstone here?

Then Hugon sees a blood trail leading from a sturdy closed door in the bedroom to the bookshelf. Hugon goes to the closed door but can't open it. He decides to focus on freeing the group first. Hugon realizes he has a card with H'Jar's face in his backpack. This is a magical card that serves as a portal for that person. Hugon can use this card to pull H'Jar through and get him into this room. Together, they can come up with a plan to free the rest. Hugon takes out his card and pulls H'Jar through. H'Jar is not surprised that Hugon managed to remain undiscovered by the Valentina gang. He simply asks Hugon about the plan. Hugon tells him about the guard in the previous room and the blood trail.

However, Hugon sees that H'Jar is more distracted by the desk in this room. H'Jar examines it and takes out various jewels and ducats. They divide the loot between them and then realize they still need to free the rest. Suddenly, they hear noise in the next room. 

"I've already said the boss doesn't want to be disturbed! You know my 'Lucinda' has a light trigger, and I don't always have control over my finger. What possessed you to irritate me and the boss?" 

After that, Hugon hears nothing. A few seconds later, Emelina, Colos, and Bjorn enter the room unsuspectingly.

"Is the guard dead?" H'Jar asks them. 

"What do you think? Nobody threatens Bjorn Thorson." 

"How did you escape from that workroom?" 

"The overseer suddenly ran off; we couldn't miss such an opportunity, Hugon," Colos answers with a smile on his face.

"I did get some interesting information from one of the Valentina gang members. He told me that their gang had learned that Kurt Holger is dead. Emilio Valentina, their boss, decided it was the moment to wipe out the Schatzenheimer gang. The gang member said nothing about a gemstone. So, I think the gemstone is not in the catacombs," Emelina states. 

"In my opinion, your information is not entirely correct, Emelina. I believe the gemstone was indeed in the Schatzenheimer base. Emilio probably took possession of it without informing anyone. Someone clearly searched this room. This will probably be Emilio's room because why else would there be a guard at the door? The only questions are where Emilio is now and whether he actually had the gemstone." I suspect that if we follow this blood trail, we will learn more", H'Jar suggests.

Hugon sees everyone listening attentively to H'Jar's explanation, and they follow the blood trail leading to a door. 

"I couldn't open this door, I need a bit more muscle power," Hugon says. 

Colos smiles, "I'll solve that problem for you quickly, Hugon." 

A few seconds later, Colos has managed to force the door open. Hugon walks in and sees that this must be Emilio Valentina's bedroom. At the foot of the bed lies a decapitated corpse. The corpse has a dagger in its heart, and the clothes are still covered in blood. 

"This must be Emilio, the question is where his murderer is."

The group leaves the bedroom and goes to the bookshelf where the blood trail disappears. Bjorn sees that this is a secret passage. There's a lever where the books have disappeared. He pulls it down, and the bookshelf disappears, revealing an opening to the rest of the sewer system under Uzés. The blood trail continues into the sewer system. 

"Something tells me that if we follow this blood trail, we will also find the gemstone."