"One Lumen Mark please, and I'll get it sent to the mailing office immediately," I smiled at the old human couple as I finished writing the address on their letter.
"Of course," the white haired woman already had her single coin ready. She reached out with shaky fingers to put the single Lumen Mark into my hand.
"Thank you! I'll make sure it gets into the post today! Thank you so much for trusting the Animalia Guild with your letter!"
The two smiled and nodded, then turned to go. They took one another's hand, walking away slowly as they talked to each other. About me.
Looking down at my hands, to the letter and coin they held, I wondered where their son was. Some kind of fort in the north, near some lakes… but how far was it? And why did they need soldiers there?
They looked so old that I hoped this letter would reach him before they passed… and…
Blinking at the realization that this letter might be the last thing their son ever receives from them, and their last words, I realized I didn't like this job anymore.
No matter.
Turning away from the counter, since no one else was in line, I hurried to the back room where all of the mail and packages were stored. Most of those working the counters were women, but the moment I entered the back room the workers became mostly men. And it wasn't just because they had to carry heavy packages occasionally… it was also because they wore swords.
They protected the mail as much as they carried it from here, to the depot, where they were put on carriages and delivered all over the place.
"Where to?" the man who stood in the center of the room held his hand out for it as I handed it off. He had stopped messing with the piles of letters on the two tables near him as I approached.
"Fort Blister, in the northern lakes by—" I started to tell him but he nodded before I could finish.
"Hey Trav! Hurry and take this out to Benny before he runs off!" the man shouted loudly, making me flinch. Even with my hat on his voice hurt.
"Yes boss!" Trav, a young man who was shorter and skinnier than me hurried over to grab the letter. He spun on a heel and hurried out of the room, into the back hallways where only employees were allowed. He headed for the depot.
"Thanks Grum," I told the mailroom boss.
The man nodded and turned back to the tables near him. To return to sorting mail.
I watched the busy room for a moment, and then decided to turn and leave before I got yelled at. Grum had snarled at me earlier when I first started working this morning, since I had watched the hustle and bustle of the mailroom in a daze.
He had thought I had been in the way, and had not been very happy with me at all. He had even threatened to fire me, too.
Several of the clerk girls, who worked at the counter just outside the mailroom, weren't talking to me now because of it. Their whispers told me they thought I'd not last the day. They didn't want to be fired with me, and lose their jobs.
They weren't ignoring me out of malice, but purely out of concern for their own jobs.
Leaving the mail room, I slowly walked along the long counter that flanked it. There were nearly a dozen women standing and sitting before the counter, but only a few had customers before them.
It seemed a little odd to have so many workers at the counter, but I knew it was not done on accident. Sometimes it became so busy that they wished there were dozens more here to help.
This place, like the bank, had its ups and downs.
It seemed only the depot area really stayed busy all day long.
The Mail Center was interesting… especially since I had not expected there to be so much mail, since it was supposedly expensive. Yet the Animalia Guild didn't charge a lot to deliver simple letters. Packages and goods? We charged a lot… but letters and messages were another matter.
The Animalia Guild only charged one single coin. A single Lumen Mark, here in Lumen, to deliver a letter. To anywhere our couriers went.
From what I had heard from others, the other guilds who dealt with letters and such charged a lot more than a single Lumen Mark.
It made sense to charge a lot. It took people, or carts, weeks or months to get to some of the locations we delivered the letters to. That wasn't cheap. Nor easy.
Reatti who had brought me here this morning had told me it was a way to make more money. It let us control the flow of information throughout the lands, while forcing everyone everywhere to get used to utilizing our services and no one else's.
Seemed like something that Vim would have thought of. To lose money as to make more money later.
Although it felt like there was more to it than I knew, or understood… I couldn't really complain about it.
After all our cheap prices let those like the elderly folks I had just helped able to afford sending out letters.
Walking up to the section of the counter that I had been working at, I sighed as I glanced around. There was no one to help. The few customers were all being helped already, and there was a good dozen or so women waiting to help the next in line.
It'd be some time before I had another customer and…
Noticing Wynn walking by, I watched as he headed into the hallway. He was carrying a small box, oblivious to my being behind the counter.
Watching him go, I wondered if maybe he knew where Vim was. I hadn't seen Vim since last night. And that had been for only a few moments. He had been busy talking to some humans and…
Tapping my desk, I realized I was getting upset. And not just because I was bored thanks to the lack of customers.
Working here at the mail center was something I didn't seem to enjoy… yet I should. I should like it here. It was interesting. Fun. Different.
Yet I felt annoyed. And the reason was obvious.
Another week had passed since our vote… and Fly had still not returned.
No one else seemed really bothered or concerned yet, but I was starting to get very worried.
What if the poor girl had gotten hurt? Or worse? What if she went back and her supposed master had…
I shook my head, to ignore the thoughts as I watched a new customer walk in. I smiled and waved at the woman… but she ignored me and walked up to another's counter. One closer to the door.
Sighing, I realized it was my fault. I had taken up position at the farthest side of the counter, away from the main entrance. The only people who came up to me for assistance were those who didn't want to wait in line near the front…
Glancing around, I decided to just go. It was near the time I'd be taking my break anyway…
Walking around the counter, and out into the lobby, I headed for the hallway. The one that Wynn had just headed down.
My high heels made noises as I walked down the hallway towards the main lobby. I tried to smell the air, without drawing attention since humans were walking around, but could only smell the stink of people and the city.
I couldn't smell anything that I cared to smell.
Which was odd… Wynn had just been in this hallway, why hadn't I smelled him too?
Surely he wasn't like Vim who was without a scent?
Rounding a corner, I frowned at the sight of Wynn and Reatti. The two were talking near the exit of the hallway, which led to the lobby.
As I approached, I recognized Wynn's scent and Reatti's. Although both of their scents were a little… too strong for my taste, I was still glad to smell them. It had worried me that Wynn had suddenly become like Vim.
"Oh Renn! Is it your break time?" Reatti asked as I approached. Wynn turned to nod in greeting as well, and I noted he no longer carried the small box he had earlier. Reatti didn't have it either though… wonder what it had been.
"Something like that," I said.
"The Mail Room is hectic but I can't handle the smell," Wynn said.
Reatti nodded. "It's a weird smell."
"It's the paper isn't it?" I asked.
They both nodded. "There's a small village not far from here that makes the paper for us. Not sure what kind of tree they use, but it definitely leaves an impression," Reatti said.
"Tree?" I asked.
"They make the paper out of trees," Wynn explained.
"How?" I asked. A tree? Really?
"Ask Vim?" Wynn shrugged and frowned, as if it was obvious.
Vim. Of course.
"So is it a…" I glanced around, and noticed the few humans nearby. This wasn't he place to talk about it.
"No. It's a human village," Reatti said softly.
Oh?
Wynn nodded. "Strange isn't it? But Vim is like that sometimes," Wynn seemed to think my surprise had been one of uncomfortable worry or something.
"Oh shush… Renn, your scarred human should be back later tonight. Heard Vim and Brandy talking about it earlier," Reatti then said.
"Wait? Lamp?" I perked up at that. Really? She was coming back already? Sure it had been a week or so, but I had expected Lamp to stay there for a month or two… maybe forever, even.
"Lamp. Yes, that one," Reatti nodded, recognizing the name.
She must not care much for humans. Even the ones we were going to let into the Society.
"I'll be leaving now… Don't blame me for it, but I don't like the idea much even if she fits the criteria," Wynn said with a sigh as he turned to go.
"Oh…?" I watched him go alongside Reatti. She just shrugged as I glanced at her.
"He voted yes, but that doesn't mean he has to really like it," she told me after a moment.
"Right…" I nodded. That was true… but then why vote yes to letting Lamp join the Society?
"I'll go back on patrol… If you see my brother step on his foot for me!" Reatti decided to step away too, heading down the hallway to follow Wynn.
"Sure…" I waved goodbye as she stepped away. She hummed happily as her spear bounced on her shoulder as she walked away.
She and Brom seemed to love those spears… it was still a little sad to see the silvery items in their hands… but it also made me happy to see how pleased they were with them. I liked them, but they loved them. Far beyond anything I could.
Leaving the hallway and entering the lobby, I glanced around for any other members… or at least a source of entertainment to distract me from the strange sense of unease I was trying to run from.
Oddly, I found it. In a form I hadn't expected.
Walking over to the group of desks, situated on the right next to the large stairwell that led to the balcony on the second floor, which led to Gerald's office, I approached one of the desks in the middle.
There were eight women sitting at the desks, and in the middle of them… with his feet up on the desk, with a plate of cookies on his lap, was Vim.
He was reading some kind of book, one that for some reason felt familiar… yet I couldn't focus on it enough as to remember where I had seen it before. My eyes wouldn't, couldn't, leave Vim himself.
Vim had a small smile as he read the book, while slowly chewing a cookie he had just tossed into his mouth. He was rubbing his right hand against his pants, as to clean his fingers of crumbs.
Glancing around, I did my best to ignore the stares of the women around us… or well, Vim. The eight of them were wearing the dress and colors of the bookkeeping and auditing department. Lawrence's and Brandy's department.
"Who did you steal this desk from?" I asked Vim as I stared past his feet and legs to see the papers and folders on the desk's surface. He wasn't harming or bothering the papers, but there were a few that looked pushed aside thanks to his feet. Some looked half written and finished. Whoever he had bothered had been in the middle of writing a report.
"One of them," Vim shrugged to those around him, not taking his eyes of the book in his hands.
"You're mean," I said. Had he forced a poor girl away from her job? Would she get in trouble?
"I gave her a cookie in exchange," Vim defended himself as he picked up one of those cookies.
"Those are the common ones they make for the morning lunch rooms," I said plainly. They were small, and rather tasteless.
"A fair trade," Vim nodded.
Glancing around, I quickly found the woman he had chosen to torment. She was sitting across the room, at the front entrance guidance desk. Where Reatti usually sat when not on patrol. She was in the middle of eating a cookie, which told me he had probably given her a whole plate full.
"He also gave her three Marks... Wish he had chosen to take mine instead," a woman behind Vim mumbled.
Looking at her as she sighed and went back to writing on a paper, I smiled gently at her. She sounded genuinely envious.
Maybe they were just used to Vim's antics...
Several of the other women around us nodded in agreement, and as they did they began lightly talking amongst themselves. Not about Vim and I, but rather the cookies. They were complaining that they were actually a little untasty. They wanted to know why better snacks weren't provided.
I agreed with them, but at the same time felt a little bad. Hopefully I didn't give them the idea as to complain...
"Worried?" Vim then asked quietly.
I nodded and glanced around. None of them seemed to even realize he had spoken.
"Don't be. I feel much better now," he said.
"Only you would feel better finding out there is... someone..." I went quiet, and wished I had found him elsewhere. Somewhere more private. I wanted to talk about things I couldn't.
"What's happening is something I've encountered many times. There's no need to worry now. I could handle it in a few hours, if I was allowed to," Vim said.
Staring at him as he tossed another cookie into his mouth... I wondered how many times he actually had encountered other groups of Non-Humans like this.
Probably many, many, times. Yet...
Yet he did look a little too comfortable and unbothered. Shouldn't he at least worry about Fly or the rest? What if they were eaten or sacrificed?
"I heard Lamp's supposed to be back tonight," I said.
He nodded. "Yes. When she gets here you'll have to go with Brandy and the rest to take her to her new home. She'll be given a position too," Vim said.
Stepping around the desk a little, as to look over Vim's shoulder and read the book he was reading... I frowned as I stared at the language.
"What's that?" I asked.
"An old book. One Lawrence remembered earlier," Vim said.
Lawrence had? I noticed an odd silence and looked up.
The women were staring at us now, interested as well.
I stared at them for a moment until they looked away, and seemed to try to pretend go back to being busy. Yet they weren't. They were now listening intently. No one was talking anymore.
"Unlike you, we normal people need to refresh our memory every so often. I've read this thing dozens of times, yet can't remember how it ends," Vim said.
"Oh?" So it was an actual book? A story? Not some ledger or...
I leaned forward, to try and study the odd writing. It looked like it had been written not along the width of the page, but alongside it. They had written at an angle, it seemed... which made the words somehow blend with each other. It looked like a mess. It made me feel as if even if I could read the language, I'd not be able to understand it just because of the placement of the words.
"Was it written sideways?" I asked.
"From top to bottom. Then bottom to upward," Vim ran a finger lazily up and down the page, showing me how it worked.
"Hm... is that a better way to do it?" I asked. It seemed interesting. I had never even considered that there was other ways to write words. Different symbols, sure, but to use them differently too?
"For this language, I suppose. The hard ones are the ones that use anagrams as their grammar structure. All it does is make words mean hundreds of different things, so nearly impossible to really know what the author meant," Vim said.
"What's an amagrama?" I asked.
Vim smirked at me, and then lowered his book a little. As if to focus on me.
"Shouldn't you be at work?" he asked.
Oh? Did he not want to teach me? I thought maybe he did, since he had been so willing to tell me about it.
"I think so... but it's slow at the Mail Center," I said.
"Hm... a good excuse if any," he said.
I frowned at him, especially since it was obvious that he so clearly understood my real meaning.
He knew I had wandered off, not because I was bored, but because I was worried.
"Upset with me?" I asked him.
He shrugged and grabbed a cookie, but instead of eating it he spun it in his fingers as if it was a toy. "You need not worry, Renn. Focus on your tasks, and Lamp, and worry when it's time to do so," he said.
"Is that how you do it? You just put it aside until it's time?" I asked him.
"Well..." The cookie stopped spinning, and I noticed the way his thumb rubbed it. He seemed to have forgotten it was a cookie in his hand, and not a pen or something inedible.
Smiling at him, I remembered the conversation he and I had on the Sleepy Artist's balcony. The one long ago, back when we had first met. Before he and Lomi had left, and Amber had died.
"It's your job. But, Vim, that's the point," I said to him.
He blinked, and studied me for a long moment... and I wondered if he even remembered that conversation. The one where he had told me not to worry, since he would do so for me.
He didn't say anything, and then he held the small cookie out. It honestly didn't look too appetizing... even if he was seemingly willing to feed me himself. Especially since now parts of it had fallen off, littering his lap, thanks to his spinning and messing with it.
A broken cookie. A cookie that I had no desire for, since they really were tasteless. They were bland things. Every morning there were fresh plates of them in the breakfast lounges for the employees, and by the end of the day they were always tossing most of those plates away. Uneaten and untouched.
A poor gift...
Yet still I bent forward a little, and opened my mouth.
Vim carefully placed the tiny thing into my mouth.
"You do look delicious, but you're no cookie," he said with a smirk.
The cookie crunched, and I blushed at him as the women around us went still. They all looked up from their desks, to look at me.
Suddenly I had their full attention again, and Vim looked far too amused over that fact...
So I turned and hurried away.
I could barely hear Vim's soft chuckling as the women giggled and began to gossip about us as I left the main lobby, running away.
He really was mean, sometimes.
Especially since that nasty cookie now tasted delightful.