-26-Scribbling sounds resounded beside her as pen glided over paper flattened and fixed on a wooden board.Celine stared at the piles of wooden crates that were stacked atop one another in the storeroom. One of the many storerooms in the barricade."Hm? Have we recorded the number of rice sacks?" Pelton asked, he raised his head and looked at her with an eyebrow raised."Yes we have, Mister Pelton. Two hundred and twenty three rice sacks in the last storeroom." Celine replied."So we have." Pelton mumbled. He turned back to scribbling on his board."What about the number of potato sacks? Have we written that down?" He asked again, eyebrow raised."Yes, Mister Pelton. Seventy three sacks of potatoes." Celine replied."So we have." Pelton mumbled. He returned to his scribbling.Celine sighed, again. If she had to count how many times she did, she would've lost it already.She was one of the many commoner folk attracted by the princess's edict. People from all over the monarchy journeyed to the north-eastern tip of the Azvant monarchy and gathered at the barricade.She was first awed by the sheer size of the place when she saw it, and again when she entered the place.She thought it merely a large fortress with a lot of encampments but she was wrong. She didn't see a tent the first month she was here. She barely did after she started working in the northern part, though she was more or less in the middle of the city.It was all houses and buildings. Stone and wood and bricks and mortar.It was no different from a city and not much different from how she imagined the Capitol would be. The only things missing were the mansions and the castle.People wandered the streets, merchants arrived with wagons and more people, shopkeepers tended their shops, peddlers sold their wares at stalls or in the street, cobblers, cooks, blacksmiths, carpenters, herbalists, everyone from everywhere was here.And these were the people attracted by fortune and opportunity.The people who were attracted by the edict were the volunteers, who served in the northern part of the city. Who were separated into two; combatants and ancillaries.And Celine, now aide to the ever forgetful Mister Pelton, was an ancillary. As were, she presumed, most of the women volunteers at the barricade."What about here? Have we recorded what is in here?" Pelton asked, turning to Celine."Yes, Mister Pelton. Fifty three crates of salts and seventy four crates of spices." Celine replied."So we have." Pelton mumbled as he wrote.Mister Pelton was on the thin side, a head taller than her. His dark brown hair was short and a pair of glasses sheltered his brown eyes, which were always looking at his board.Celine often wondered exactly why Mister Pelton was an officer, that too of logistics. He was forgetful, so forgetful she feared he may just forget he even was an officer and wander around with his board and paper trying to remember what he was to do.Well, he was diligent even if he was forgetful, and Celine never heard him complain. She wondered how he worked before she was his aide. The image of him returning back to storerooms he had already recorded and doing it all again made her smirk.It wasn't that bad, honestly. Just a tad bit annoying, and it made her want to vent.She could have it worse. She wasn't cut out for the mess hall - seriously, how do they feed that many people there? - nor could she nurse nor was she familiar with herbs. She might have done laundry, cleaned, couriered, or many of the other things ancillaries did.As remote as the place was, there were many women who journeyed to the barricade.The princess's edict promised citizenship in the Capitol and a hefty sum for serving five years as a combatant, or seven as an ancillary at the barricade. And it was separate from what they would be paid at the barricade itself.For common folk who were struggling or wished to live in the Capitol, there was no better reward. Even the ones flourishing went to the barricade.Celine hardly cared for the Capitol citizenship though. What she wanted was the money and she'd sell the citizenship to get even more.She was sent to logistics for the simple reason that she could read and write. Also, count and calculate. Though she could never write as elegant as Mister Pelton did.Maybe that was why he was an officer? Celine stared at Mister Pelton as he scribbled. His letters danced as he wrote, no less prettier than an artist's drawing or a tailor's dress. And it was all orderly arranged and arrayed."Mister Pelton, we're done with this storeroom. We have to head to the next one." Celine said."Hm? We are?" Pelton raised his head and looked around the storeroom and the crates, then at his board."It seems we are." He said. He scribbled some more, unfixed the paper from the board and handed it to Celine.She handed him another paper while she folded and stored the other in her satchel."Now, which storeroom do we head to next, Celine?" He asked Celine."The one where we store herbs, Mister Pelton." Celine replied. A few more and they would be done. Maybe they already would be if she didn't have to keep reminding him.She much preferred the days when they were on registry duty, filling up paperwork for the new volunteers. She would be writing while Mister Pelton would ask them the questions.The volunteers would be annoyed when Mister Pelton asked questions they already answered before, repeatedly. She found it amusing whenever that happened."Let us go there then." Pelton said, he held his board at his side and started walking.As they left the storehouse he paused."A moment please Celine." He said. He unfixed the paper on the board and handed it to Celine.He took a fine paper roll from his pouch, straightened it and fixed it on his board, then started writing again.Mister Pelton often did this either once a week or once in two weeks.Celine presumed it to be a letter, though she never knew who he sent it to.She didn't want to snoop or pry, but she was also curious. The most she would do was peek - like today - and she stopped at that.It would always be to Lerkester, which wasn't odd since they were one of their main suppliers. It was often about the supplies, but other times she caught snippets of things about the volunteers, or was it about a volunteer?She thought it odd but brushed it off. As long as it had no flamboyant and dreamy words or lines, it was fine.When he was done, he unfixed it, folded it and put it in his pouch.Hopefully he never forgot to send them. He wouldn't, right? She couldn't put it past him."Thank you for waiting, let us continue." He said, and they resumed walking.As they did, Mister Pelton spoke to her."Celine, here, a gift," He pulled a trinket out of his pocket, "My work has been swell with you as my aid. And I still haven't got you a gift. Please, accept this."He placed it in her palm. It was a round metal ornament, carved and shiny, with a hole at the top. She could turn it to a pendant If she ran a cord or chain through it.Celine smiled."Thank you, Mister Pelton." She kept it in her pouch, where it made a sound as it dropped into the many trinkets inside it. Then they started walking again.He was forgetful, but he never forgot to be thoughtful. Though he did forget how thoughtful he was, and how often.Today was another good day. It seems she didn't have it bad at all.