Chương 56: Chapter 54 – Vale and Lessa

Alric studied the man led into his office with Seren. The man was forgettable at a glance: average height, narrow shoulders, neat black hair parted cleanly, plain clothes worn correctly. It was only after a moment that one noticed how little he moved, and how his eyes, when they lifted, gave nothing away, as though attention itself was something he issued sparingly.

The office was quiet except for the faint scrape of a chair leg as Seren pulled it back and sat, placing herself where she could observe both men without appearing to do so. Alric stood and extended a hand as Seren settled behind him.

"I'm Alric. Good to meet you." The clerk shook it. His grip was brief and precise, the sort of handshake that suggested he considered the gesture a formality already completed.

"My father would rather you call me Vale, so please use my first name. Edrin." Alric nodded, and for a moment he was certain he could hear Seren smirk behind him or at least he sensed a smirk somehow. Like someone too smug was nearby. When he glanced at her she wore a politely attentive expression, carefully arranged and maintained, but Alric got the impression she was enjoying the meeting of these two particular minds far more than was strictly professional.

"So we make beer here, which we supply to taverns, inns, and bars. We don't sell to individuals," Alric began. Alric noted how the clerk somehow seemed to be sitting in a way that suggested he already owned the place, or at least had begun mentally rearranging it.

"I heard as much from Seren. I don't mean to sound rude, but I won't be able to prove anything to you without some kind of documentation," he said, his tone matter-of-fact in the way of men who rarely needed to raise it. Alric couldn't decide whether it was rude or not, but the man was right. He glanced over at Seren, who nodded and passed over the ledger from their winter sales with the air of someone handing over evidence. Vale accepted the document and opened it.

He began to make small humming sounds as he read, paging through it quickly, his eyes darting across the pages. The paper rustled steadily in the otherwise still room, the sound oddly reproachful.

"Everything is here. None of it talks. This is information, not record keeping," he concluded, looking up at Alric with clear disapproval, as though the ledger had personally disappointed him.

"Who normally looks at these?" Vale asked.

"I do," Alric said. Vale nodded once.

"And how often?"

"When something feels wrong." Vale's mouth twitched, a movement so slight it might have been mistaken for dust. Alric gestured for him to continue.

"The totals are present, but it lacks structure. We have nothing on what sells in which areas, nothing on trends, nothing on warnings," Vale explained, turning a page as if hoping it might improve under scrutiny.

"We were only selling one type of beer over the winter. We're about to add more," Alric said.

"Keep in mind that taverns and inns just buy by the cask. We don't get records beyond that."

"Do they buy more when it's cold?" Vale asked.

"Yes."

"More when it rains?"

"I'm not sure." Vale tapped the page once with his finger, decisively.

"Then this should already show it." The clerk clicked his tongue, a small sound, but one that carried judgement. Alric heard a snort beside him and glanced at Seren, who was biting her lips hard, shoulders held rigid in what was rapidly becoming an act of professional endurance.

"Well, let's discuss the next problem. We'll be rolling beer out of here in a few days. We'll be using the carters to handle deliveries, but they won't take coin. They claim it's not safe for them," Alric said, pulling a page from his drawer and passing it over. The drawer stuck briefly before coming free with a soft knock, as though it too objected to being involved in administration.

"I know it as something called a receipt. The innkeeper, or whoever, signs and dates for receiving a cask," Alric explained. The clerk nodded as he examined it.

"Merchants use something similar, but usually for large deliveries where payment comes later. Very clever. But a whole page?" he said, glancing up at Alric, as if personally affronted by the paper's ambition.

"We can cut the page into quarters. It doesn't need to be large," Alric said. The clerk nodded, still studying it, the paper held close to the light as though it might confess something further.

"Who keeps these once they're signed?" Vale asked.

"We do," Alric said.

"The carters get nothing back but the empty casks and a signature." Vale nodded.

"Good. A man who keeps nothing cannot be blamed. A man who keeps everything must be accurate."

"This will be a nuisance to write out hundreds of these," he said, his expression complicated in the way of someone already calculating the cost in wrist pain. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"I was thinking of making it a stamp. A large one," Alric said. The clerk nodded again before looking up.

"This is an official document. It needs your seal," he said, placing the page flat on the desk with finality.

"I don't have one," Alric said cheerfully. He heard another snort from Seren. The clerk recoiled slightly. A moment later his head was in his hands, fingers pressed to his temples, as though steadying himself against a world that insisted on being run by amateurs. Seren began openly giggling, any remaining attempt at restraint abandoned. It occurred to Alric that this was the man he needed. These were the sorts of observations he would have missed entirely.

Vale understood the city's administration far better than he did, and seemed faintly distressed by the fact.

"When do you want to start?" Alric asked, now also holding back a grin.

"How many work here?" Vale asked, closing the ledger with care, as though protecting it from further misuse.

"Five, not counting myself. We have a grumpy dwarf two days a week, which makes it six." Vale considered this, eyes dropping briefly to the closed book.

"Your totals for staff are remarkable, but you are already larger than you think." This prompted another snort, and Alric saw Seren cover her mouth, shoulders shaking.

"I would have preferred next week, but if you're starting to sell soon, this can't wait. Can we at least resolve your seal quickly?" Vale asked, sounding perplexed, as though this were the most urgent problem in a day already full of them.

"Sure. I'll make it a priority. Would you like a tour of the building?" Alric asked. The clerk looked as though he was about to accept, then paused.

"I'd rather look through it myself, if you don't mind. I'd also like to take this with me. I need to reorganise it," he said, tapping the ledger, which seemed resigned to its fate.

"Sure. Welcome to the team, Vale," Alric said with a wide grin. Seren, he noticed, very nearly had her fingers in her mouth.

"Thank you. I'll be watching how you operate, then, if you'll excuse me," Vale said quietly as he left. Vale paused at the door, already drawing a folded sheet of paper from inside his coat.

"Please continue as you normally would," he said without looking back.

"I learn faster when people forget I'm present." He stepped out, unfolding the paper as he went, charcoal already in hand. His footsteps faded into the broader warehouse noise, though his attention clearly did not. From the doorway, Seren watched him stop beside the boilers, head tilted, writing rapidly as his eyes tracked Hal's movements, noting each scrape and rinse with unnerving interest.

"He didn't even wait to be alone," Seren murmured. Alric exhaled slowly.

"No. He really didn't."

"You enjoyed that more than you should have," Alric said, standing and looking over at Seren. She shook her head as she stood.

"I'm allowed to enjoy my job, surely, Mister Alric?" she said innocently, the corners of her mouth betraying her. Alric grinned as he headed out. It was difficult to miss the two large men standing in the warehouse, holding what appeared to be a sizeable bed frame. One shifted his grip, wood creaking faintly in protest.

"Oh, that's mine. This way, please," Seren said, waving to them, her tone bright but not hiding a blush. Alric stepped aside as she directed them toward her room, the frame brushing past a stack of crates with a dull thud, as though the storage was reminding the bedding who was there first. He turned his attention back to the warehouse.

Vale was carefully observing the boilers and Hal as he cleaned them, noting each movement without interrupting, a man entirely comfortable being ignored while understanding everything.

"Stones empty yet?" Alric asked. Hal shook his head.

"Not yet. I'll need more water soon, though." Alric nodded and positioned the barrels without further fuss, the slosh inside settling as they were set, content to behave predictably. Seeing Mara nearby, busy sewing, he moved over to her. The steady rasp of thread through cloth filled a brief silence.

"Listen, I have a question. Are there any mages in the poor district?" He hesitated.

"Anyone desperate enough?" Mara set the needle down carefully.

"They exist. They're… not treated very well. It takes a lot of money for someone to be a mage, and their family has to keep them afloat while buying supplies, so they get picked on," she said, glancing sideways in a way that suggested she already knew where this was leading.

"I see. Can you find one? I'll look into tutoring, but they'd need to provide mana to the charging station," Alric said, gesturing with his head. Mara nodded.

"I'll look into it. But first, Mister Alric, my friend for the interview is here," she said, a glint in her eye that suggested this was not entirely coincidental, pointing nearby. Alric turned and felt as though he had been punched. Sitting on a nearby bench was the most beautiful woman he had seen in two lifetimes.

"Fwah," was all he managed as the breath left his body. The woman turned, smiled, and stood. Her posture was shy, her gaze struggling to meet his as she approached, as though apologising for existing so conspicuously. The world felt like it slowed. Her hair was a shade lighter than the normal of the world, her hair framed a heart shaped face, her large blue eyes glanced at him and Alric had to glance away before his brain shut down completely.

She wore a simple dress, the kind made to last, its seams reinforced in careful, uneven places. There was nothing remarkable in that. What was remarkable was how easily she seemed to unsettle the space around her without doing anything at all. She pushed her hair back from her eyes with a small, distracted motion, and for a moment it felt as though the rest of the room had been arranged badly around her.

Alric cleared his throat and looked elsewhere, aware that he had already spent more attention than the moment deserved. She gave a small curtsy.

"My name is Lessa. I'm sorry for the disturbance," she said.

"Fa… Alric… office," was all Alric managed, vaguely pointing toward the door. She looked up at him and smiled again, nodded, and headed that way, her footsteps light against the stone. When Alric glanced back at Mara, bewildered, she had one hand over her mouth and was giggling hysterically, sewing entirely forgotten. Meanwhile, at the Merchants' Guild, an irritated clerk sat opposite the guild master of the Tavern Keepers' Guild.

"Look, I don't know how else to explain this to you. There has never been any licensing authority granted to your guild. If there had been, we would be the ones to withdraw it," the clerk said, clearly bored with the conversation.

"But it's always been run this way," the guild master retorted. The clerk let out a slow sigh.

"If that were true, we would be shutting down every inn in the city, and there are taverns that are not members of your guild, aren't there? So how could those exist if your claim held?" He leaned back slightly.

"You may set internal rules for your own members, but they do not apply to the city at large." The guild master opened his mouth to speak, but the clerk raised a hand.

"As for your suppliers being required to hold membership, are you proposing to register every chicken farmer?" he asked.

"Or only the distributors? Do we now require a license to cut vegetables for guild use as well?" He gathered the papers in front of him.

"I think we are finished here. Good day."