Mist clings to the magistrate’s district, beading on damp wood and iron. The factor’s office sits half-open, lanternlight trembling inside. Clerk Vance is at the desk, feeding ledgers into a brazier too fast to read them.
Kynes
He is destroying the trail.
Bren slips to one side of the doorway, eyes hard on the exits. Kaelen steps in behind Kynes, hand already on his warrant, as ash curls from the brazier.
Clerk Vance
Stay back. These records are sealed by order of the district.
The brazier spits. One half-burned page shows a crest mark, then crumples into black flakes. Another ledger lies open on the desk, its entries tied to the same route sigils Kynes has seen before, the path leading beyond Phandelver.
Kaelen
No. They lead to the architects. Vance, step away from the fire and answer for the names in those books.
Vance freezes, one hand still over the flames. The hall behind them murmurs with distant shock as guards gather at the door, and the conspiracy’s paper trail narrows to this room.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the burning ledgers