I head down the stairs at the side of the long hall, into the dark room where the women wash our robes. Some of them still look afraid and hold back any who must be new from approaching me, but at least they aren't surprised anymore. I pick up my robe from the same spot they always put it, say a few words of thanks, and immediately head back the way I came. I can hear the relief and muttered explanations between the women from down the hall, before I climb the stairs, and they're finally far enough back that I can't pick up their words anymore.

Then I walk over to the wall of the hall, where I'll be out of sight behind the doorway that leads into the little changing room the handlers are standing in. I silently sneak back their way to listen in on their conversation, which has started up again now that they don't see any rail units around.

"Come on, Zell," one is in the middle of complaining when I listen in. "How could you not know anything?"

"Because," a different voice replies, clearly irritated, "I hardly know him. Just because our fathers work together, that doesn't mean I know what he's up to." Zell, that name sounds familiar...

Ah, Zell Lark! That was one of the names of the handlers I found on their staffing forms the last time I was here. And if I remember right, he's the only one from the Lark family that works here. We've only touched on the nobility briefly in my lessons so far, but I remember that the Lark family is part of the Ordlyn faction. So maybe they're talking about someone related to the Ordlyns...?

"Have you guys even seen them talk to anyone?" someone else asks, and gets nothing but 'no's back. "How does Kurt expect to dig anything up if he won't even let his men question anyone?" Kurt Ordlyn? The man who actually runs the rail unit program? It's been a while since I've heard his name.

"Maybe they have." Zell's voice is the one that makes the suggestion. "Maybe they've only spoken in secret and word hasn't gotten out about it." There are a couple scoffs, and one voice actually laughs a bit.

"Come on, Zell, these are Ordlyn guys, not Killian," one of the men chides, with a number of agreeing sounds chiming in. "There's no way they'd find everything they're looking for without tipping their hand to someone."

Zell sighs, "Yeah, yeah..." There are a few long moments of quiet, and I'm considering moving on, before one of the men suddenly speaks up again.

"Oh! About Killian, did you guys hear?"

"Hear what?"

"There's this rumor going around, some of Killian's guys were spotted snooping around the metalworking guild." That one stops me in my tracks. They might be talking about Jared Killian. He's the count that isn't aligned with either the Ordlyn or Varish faction. He's also the noble that Eryk's sister, Lora works for. The one who came to Eryk's party, trying to get information about me. But she wasn't actually there because of Jared, she was just using his name to cover whatever she was there for.

It sounds like his people are a lot better and sneaking around and spying on people. So if it is him, who is in such a good position, and also has really good spies, this could be bad...

"The metalworking guild?" one of the handlers questions while I'm thinking through what I know. "That one is..."

"Just some commoner."

Another says, "Then... Fomoran, right?"

Zell adds, "It's Lyle Fomoran, I believe. He took over as their contact a couple years ago."

"What would a count want with some Fomoran kid?" I wince, there's the confirmation. Definitely Jared Killian.

"He's the baron's son, you know," one sighs.

"And he's older than you are," another laughs.

"Oh."

There's another round of subdued laughter, but I'm not paying attention to that. I'm frantically trying to connect the dots as they speak, turning the tiny snippets of gossip into useful information. My main concern is the connection between the metalworking guild and Jared Killian, since the guild relates to Eryk's business.

So... The Fomoran noble family is another part of the Ordlyn faction. And they mentioned Lyle Fomoran is the noble contact of the guild, and I guess the guild master is a commoner. The way they said it was pretty broken up, but that's my best guess anyway. It makes the most sense.

So since Jared's people were looking into the guild, they think he's interested in someone from the Fomoran noble family, not anything related to the actual guild, right? I don't know... What if he heard about star metals somehow? Would he be looking into Eryk's company? Are we going to have even more nobility to worry about?

Their conversation picks up again when the laughter dies out. "Maybe I'll pay a visit to Casey..." Zell considers aloud.

"Tell us if you find anything?" one of the others asks, but that just makes Zell scoff.

"Like I'd tell you jerks anything. My family would kill me if they knew I was talking to you."

"Yeah yeah, what's said here stays here, we know," one complains.

Their conversation moves on, but it's mostly just them complaining about their wives or servants. Well, there's one who briefly talks about... something. A 'steamy Ron day view,' and 'future miss Tress...' Whatever he's saying, I don't know most of of the words, and the ones I do recognize are combined in ways that don't make any sense. I'm immediately lost. I thought my vocabulary was getting a lot better too...

Soon after, I sneak away. I don't want to stick around until the rail units start coming out. I head straight over to the entry hall, and go through the door into the office area. The hinges creak softly when I pull it closed behind me.

There are wooden desks all through the room. I eye them for a moment while considering what I want to look into today. Thinking back on last time, I checked documents in here, and then went to the glass room. Oh, right, I channeled my mark to talk with Reena when I did that. When I recall a specific bit of our conversation back then, it reminds me how I never actually checked the office room for invisible doors.

I do a quick walk around the whole room, hand sliding along the wall to catch on any hidden doors, but find nothing. I didn't really expect to, but I'm glad I finally remembered to check. Returning to the desks, I channel my mark while climbing up on a chair and looking over the piles of paperwork.

Reena takes a few moments to figure out where I am and what I'm doing, before greeting me quietly. "Hi," I reply simply, and we leave it at that, since it's clear I'm in the middle of something. I really just want her help like last time, if there are things I don't understand, or if she has any advice, so she stays quiet for now.

Last time I looked through staffing forms and... I think they were 'requisition' forms?

"Yes, those," Reena confirms, mentally pointing me to that stack of paper. I take the first one and like I thought, 'Requisition Order' is written at the top along with the date. Right, these are for ordering supplies for the rail unit program. I check the number of bread rations they ordered last month, do a little math, and find that it's enough for eighty nine of us. I wonder if I'm excluded from that number since I've been gone...?

I continue scanning other stacks of paper in the room, glancing over them to get an idea of what they're all about. It's way easier now that I can read pretty well. Looks like some relate to the rail units, some are about training, some are about battles... I stop on one titled 'Mana Report,' and read it over.

Mana Report 9-5-123

3A: 16,512

4A: 18,121

5A: 5,934

7A: 22,660

8A: 12,765

...

It's dated right after the last battle, and looks like it a record of how much mana each rail unit had at the time. When I look further, I find that Effy was listed at twenty five thousand seven hundred seventy mana. That's... less than she had last week, isn't it? I forget the exact number, but she was around twenty six thousand two hundred. So, do working rail units gain mana over time too? Actually, that would explain how they have any to begin with, wouldn't it?

Let's see, there were forty six days between this report and when I checked her, so if I just expand on that... It's about... nine point three five seven eight mana per day, which is... I squint my eyes. This is a hard one. About... seventeen thousand... seventy... eight. Seventeen thousand seventy eight mana, after the five years it took us to grow up. That's a thousand off of the eighteen thousand Effy had before our first battle, but given my extremely rough estimation, it's really not that far. Meaning my guess is probably right. The mental nod I'm getting from Reena at my thoughts solidifies my confidence further.

Still, that means Effy gained about five hundred mana in the time I gained a hundred thousand. Why is it such a huge difference? I poke the question over Reena's way, but as expected, she shakes her head.

"Sorry..." she sighs, but I wave off the concern.

"Don't worry about it, I know you can't say much about these things."

As soon as I turn my thoughts back to the paperwork though, I stop short.

Wait, that's not the important thing here. This report means they check each rail unit's mana after every battle. If Effy has too much, won't it make the handlers suspicious? After all, she has over seventy five thousand mana right now! If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is!

"That's a really good point," Reena chips in thoughtfully this time.

Settling the paper back on top of the pile, I make a mental note to tell Effy about this later. I'll tell her to check her mana after battle and if she has too much, burn it off before coming back to town. Even if it's a waste, I'll have plenty more to give her later.

Sitting on the edge of one of the desks, my eyes slowly return to the stacks of paper, trying to pick out anything else important. Planning Reports... Damage Reports... Incident Reports... Ah, After Battle Reports. I pick up that one.

After Battle Report 9-6-123

Battle Date: 9-3-123

Result: Loss

Ally forces assumed three part pincer formation. Enemy forces assumed single block formation. Enemy forces advanced toward the center. Before reaching center of pincer, enemy forces deployed Lica and Herata armaments, blocking view of their movements, and ambushed the right flank of the pincer formation. The center moved to reinforce. The battle commanders soon ordered a retreat.

Rail Units Lost: 7

Approximate Enemy Kills: 4

Approximate Ally Total Mana: -60,000

Approximate Enemy Total Mana: -40,000

"That looks about right..." I mutter as I read over the summary of what happened, then eye the losses on both sides. We used sixty thousand mana in a single battle? Well, I guess it depends how much mana each dead rail unit had. If they went down with thousands left, that would explain it.

"Not quite," Reena comments, and mentally points back at the requisition order I just checked. "There are almost ninety of you." That's right. Even if I ignore the big losses from dead rail units, sixty thousand mana split ninety ways is just six hundred mana each.

"I mean, only about a third of our forces were involved with the way they attacked us, so it wouldn't be completely spread out like that, but still..." I scratch my cheek. "You're still right. Just like the food expenses, it really adds up..." I nod a few times, then put the paper back. Nothing else nearby immediately draws my eye, and Reena doesn't call out anything either. So I slide off the desk, down to the floor, and head over to the trap door. Since it won't open all the way with the carpet and desk on top of it, it's still a tight fit to get through. Again, I manage without that much trouble thanks to my size. I grumble silently about that the whole way across the little tunnel while Reena pats my head to cheer me up. Then I climb the short stairs into the tiny connecting room, and push through the swinging door, into the room with the huge glass panels in it.

My feet tap across the floor, all the way to the center of the large room, and I turn in a circle to take it in. Like I remember, there are three big pieces of glass. One has all the math to find the specific number fifteen million six hundred thirty nine thousand six hundred sixty four, with the enormous, ceiling-to-floor diagram of a mana structure beside it. I still have no clue what it's for, but it must be important somehow, right?

Next, there's the one with the smaller diagrams. Much more simple mana structures, which match some parts of our manastones, though I still don't know what they do either.

And last...-

"Aria," Reena interrupts as I'm turning toward the third glass panel. "I think you should check the other room, you didn't have a chance last time." There's a subtle hint at... something underneath her words. It feels like she's trying to help me along even though she can't explain why, so I just nod.

"Sure, I'll do that." If she's suggesting it like this, there must be a reason. So I leave the glass room behind and head into the next one over. The huge spiral of metal embedded in the floor glints brightly in the light of the strange glowing crystals in the walls - another reminder that I want to take a look at those when I have the chance. For now, I head to the table that stands in the far corner. It's exactly as I left it, I think. Even though it's been months since then. Does anyone come back here?

Putting that from my mind, I look over the tools, and it immediately becomes apparent how much more I know now than I did back then. First is the wooden holder, containing five manastones. One of each element, excluding light, dark, and absolute. They're faintly colored according to their element, but based on what I remember, their structures are different from the ones I've made myself, and they hold way more mana.

Next, there is a pair of tongs, clearly made of titanium, and shaped for holding the manastones securely. Then a small rolling cart, to position a manastone on the giant spiral in the floor. Some kind of pen, with a hole to slot a manastone into. And a little viewer to hold in your hand, which... I think the manastones glowed when I looked at them through it before?

Going up on my toes at the edge of the table to look over the tools from closer up, my eyes go wide. Oh my gods, there are papers! That's right, I didn't even know what paper was when I first came here!

I flail my way up on top of the table, kicking my legs and stretching to reach the papers. There are just a few sheets scattered about, and I quickly gather them up. As soon as I have them, I sit down on the floor and start reading.