Before breakfast, Elbee reaches the farmhouse from Devia with the complaint book wrapped beneath his coat. King Gandien and Merrin wait near the gate as your border collie watches from the porch.
Elbee
The family withdrew their child after the promised meal failed to arrive. The cost remains unpaid at the inn, and the child is no longer in the placement.
Elbee unwraps the book but keeps it closed. The ledger shows an empty placement line, while the morning mist clings to the road behind him.
Elbee
They will speak only if Magistrate Dagg hears them without clerks present. They want the failure recorded, not buried beneath a corrected account.
King Gandien
Then hear them privately, and preserve the truth afterward. A system that repairs harm by hiding it is only another kind of harm.
Merrin Holt
I checked the morning stores. The kitchen had enough food, but the meal never reached the assigned household. I do not yet know where the handoff failed.
Gandien remains by the gate, and Merrin holds the supply note beside him. Elbee offers Dagg the complaint book and waits, leaving the next hearing and its terms in Dagg’s hands.
“The program is fresh, it makes sense that a few issues would happen before everything gets sorted correctly. I will head there now and speak with them, I am lucky to have a King escort me. Hard to be upset when both the King and Magistrate show up to your door fixing your problems. {Dagg and Gandien head to the household of the family who withdrew, stopping to get fresh food from Elby's Tavern first for the family.}”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Dagg, King Gandien, and the innkeeper leave Nabbitt Farms together. At the innkeeper’s Tavern, Dagg spends twenty gold pieces on fresh bread, meat, and vegetables for the withdrawn family.
Elbee
The food is fresh, Magistrate. I will record the purchase and send the receipt with you, so the family sees this is relief, not another promise without a cost.
They reach a cramped south-quarter home where a young adult woman with a sturdy build, warm brown skin, and dark hair in a loose braid with tired eyes, a patched brown dress, and flour on her sleeves opens the door. Gandien waits visibly beside Dagg.
Dagg Nabbitt
We came to hear what happened, bring the missed meal, and put the failure plainly into the record. You may speak without clerks present.
The Family's Mother
The child was promised food and came home hungry. I feared the program would make us beg twice, but you brought what was owed and came yourself.
The innkeeper opens the complaint book and records the missed handoff, the unpaid inn cost, and the family’s demand for reliable meals. Dagg asks who handled the delivery and when, preserving each answer without accusation.
King Gandien
The failure is entered, the meal is replaced, and the family may withdraw or return only by choice. The reform will earn trust through corrected records and reliable action.