Valeria returns home with Marcus Flavius, her clean cloth still secured over the irritated palm. The magistrate retains the tablets, while Herennius remains under lawful escort.
Aurelia opens the door, and Nestor rises from the household table. Neither mistakes the adjournment for an ending; the sealed inquiry has merely entered its next interval.
Aurelia
You are home safely. That is welcome news, but not yet a victory. What remains in the magistrate’s hands?
Marcus Flavius
The confession must be corroborated through the proper records. The court will compare the notice, impression, custody entries, and Marcellus’s summoned answer.
Nestor
Then we preserve strength and spend nothing needlessly. A household survives inquiries by keeping its papers, witnesses, and patience in order.
Marcus Flavius reports that Herennius stayed behind under guard, while the Examiner carried the packet back toward the Colosseum archive. No one from the household was detained.
Marcus Flavius
Your veteran bout remains scheduled. Until the next summons, we can rest your hand, review the terms, and endure the delay without abandoning the case.
✓ Quest Accepted
Have Herennius’s confession formally corroborated
✓ Quest Accepted
Prepare for the scheduled veteran bout
“"I think I should go see how the Examiner is doing with the records. I've gotten to be quite an expert with Coliseum records."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -2)
Valeria tells Marcus she will inspect the Colosseum records herself. With the receipt secured, she takes the lawful road back toward the archives.
At the Colosseum, the archive doors admit her without delay. The receipt identifies the packet, and the clerk directs her to the Examiner’s worktable.
The Examiner
You have come at a useful hour. The notice, impression, and altered tablet agree on the essential point: the addition was made afterward.
The Examiner shows Valeria the custody entries. Her familiarity with arena records lets her follow the sequence and identify the precise interval requiring further comparison.
The Examiner
Your receipt clarified the handovers. But one marginal mark still requires checking against the eastern register, and that will consume the afternoon.
Valeria leaves knowing the Examiner’s work is sound and the unauthorized addition is preserved. The remaining uncertainty is concrete: one marginal mark awaits comparison, costing her the afternoon.