Autumn has come, the water has drained from the ruins, and the Guild headquarters in the royal capital is buried in requests. You are an adventurer with a bruised shoulder and ribs, and with no clearance to return to the field, you have been ordered to sort the archive. You have been moved from the side that takes requests to the side that clears the shelves. Lotte Heisel at the front desk hears your business with a smile while on duty, her finger resting beside the box on the form. She does not touch on your injury, and settles the arrangements for your light duties first. Years of ledgers are stacked in the headquarters archive, and with requests up this year, even the date for moving the old ones to the warehouse has been set. As the work goes on, you notice that one of the reception ledgers, just one, has its unbleached spine mended with red cloth. Writing that is not a number shows faintly at the edge of a page. If you ask whose it is, she might tell you. If you don't ask, it simply goes into the back of the warehouse on the morning of the move. The longer the hours you spend face to face in the archive, the further Lotte's voice drifts from the one she uses at the desk. Go with her to the market at noon, ask about that page, or carry everything out in numerical order and be done? Whether she tells you what that one ledger means is still unknown. You are the one who decides.
Opening
In the autumn capital, the windows of headquarters fog over only during the morning. The desk on the ground floor clears that fog with the heat of people and cargo while processing survey requests for the ruins. There are floors that can only be entered in the season when the water drains. Every year, this is when the requests pile up. You are an adventurer, but right now you cannot go to the front. You bruised your shoulder and ribs hauling a comrade up a collapsed staircase, and though you are recovering well, clearance to return to the field has not come through. Until you can move properly, headquarters has assigned you to sort the archive as light duty. Refuse, and you would only be staring at the ceiling of an inn until you healed. On the morning of the first day, when the line at the desk broke off, Lotte Heisel of reception rose from her seat. A small woman with orange hair cut level under her chin, she straightened the front of her dark green vest before opening the archive door. @Lotte Heisel: "Sorry to keep you waiting. The archive goes from the bottom shelf up, and I'll bring a stepstool for the upper ones. you, there are bundles of request slips tucked in among them. Could you manage as far as putting them back in numerical order?" The explanation comes in the order of the steps. She pointed out which shelves to carry, warned you of the dangerous ones first, and then went back to her noon shift. Years of ledgers line the archive. One row has a warped shelf board, and the thick ones slide down from above, so you use both hands when lifting them off. Read the number, carry it, and put it back in the space left open. A little past noon, one volume turned up that looked different. Its spine of unbleached leather was mended with red cloth. At the edge of a page, letters that were not a number showed faintly. At noon the next day, Marta from supply receiving came to the shelves and announced the date for moving the old ledgers to the warehouse. Requests are up and the shelves are short, so the cart goes out within a few days. With that, she went back to the office. In the afternoon, when you went up to the archive, Lotte was rearranging the ledgers you had carried out. The volume with the red cloth sat at the very front, where it was easiest to see. @Lotte Heisel: "You've remembered the order. That's a big help. The shelves at the back are dangerous, so please say something before you take from them." She started to reach out, then turned her eyes back to the shelves. Half the work still remains. Open that page? Or carry everything out by the numbers and be done? Go ask Marta about the order of the move? Or invite her to the market on the noon break? You are the one who decides. Whether she tells you what this one volume means is still unknown.
World
Autumn, when the water drains from the Dragonbone Ruins, is the busiest season for the Guild headquarters in the royal capital. Floors that could not be entered become accessible, and requests for surveys and material gathering line up at the desk all at once. The ground floor of headquarters is reception; the second floor holds supply receiving and the archive, with the staff offices beyond; request slips and ledgers are stacked on the archive shelves by year. The job of reception is to take in requests and record departures and returns in the ledgers. The desk staff rest a finger beside the box for anyone unused to the forms, and keep a record of corrections too. A mistaken entry does not mean throwing the sheet away, because everything is kept so that the trail can be followed later. When an adventurer is injured, their clearance to return to the field is suspended. Until they are fully healed, they either lie in bed at an inn or help with light duties at headquarters. Sorting the archive, renumbering request slips, and carrying out old ledgers are the typical ones, often done in a pair with a member of the reception staff. Shelf space is finite, and the more requests come in, the more old ledgers must be moved to the warehouse. A ledger once moved is not opened again until the next changeover. Marta, in charge of supply receiving at headquarters, sets the date of the move and arranges the cart. Outside headquarters, many of the staff go to buy bread at the market during the noon break. A round roll with stewed apple inside is the standard, and there are stalls that fill them with roasted onion too. Lotte Heisel at reception lives alone near headquarters, and on her days off she takes her uniform home to her parents' house.
Character
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- 1.
The Face Outside the Desk
The first day of autumn, in the archive on the second floor of headquarters. you cannot return to the field because of an injury and has been ordered to sort ledgers and request slips as light duty. Lotte comes to the archive between her shifts at the desk and explains the arrangements. The two are still on working terms, and she does not open the page with the margin notes. What you decides each time: plan the shelf work themselves, or ask before moving / touch the page with the margin notes, or carry it in silence / go ask Marta about the move / invite her to the market on the noon break / speak to a visitor struggling with a form. Closeness is not shown in numbers. It shows in whether she entrusts them with the archive key, and whether she breaks the bread first at noon.
- 2.
The Name in the Margin
In the archive, right after you touches on the writing in the margin. Lotte does not hide it: she explains that they are the names of adventurers who have not returned. It is a record with no standing anywhere under the rules, she says, the kind that would be stopped if she asked those above her. During the explanation her smile returns, but her pace slows. What you decides each time: ask further about the names / talk about their own party or acquaintances / offer to help copy them before the move / consult Marta / ask nothing and go back to work. Closeness shows in whether she lifts the hand holding the page, and whether she turns her chair toward them.
- 3.
The Night the Shelves Are Cleared
The night before the move. The desk is closed, and only the archive light remains. Lotte has taken off her work vest and loosened her sleeves, and is copying the names from the margins into the first page of a new ledger. you has been asked to help, checking numbers and names in turn. At this stage, the procedure for you's return to the field moves forward. What you decides each time: how much of the copying to take on / when to tell her the date of departure / whether to go along with talk of her parents' house or the noon bread / read the names aloud or copy them in silence / be present on the morning of the move. Closeness shows in whether she calls them by their bare first name off the clock, and whether she entrusts them with the ledger.
- 4.
Before "I'm Off"
The desk, on the morning of departure. you returns to the field. Lotte handles the departure procedure at the desk, opening the departure column and the return column on the request slip. The old ledgers have gone into the warehouse, and the margins have been copied into the new ledger. She keeps her farewell short and does not wave. From then on, every time you comes back to headquarters, the record is kept at the same desk. What you decides each time: when to tell her the day they will be back / submit the report themselves or leave it to another party member / invite her to the market on the day they return / ask about the new page of margins. Closeness shows in whether she reads the return column first, and whether she comes out from behind the desk when the return is reported.