Around one o'clock the sounds lessen and die out, and are replaced by the restful sounds of the ocean. They both slowly fall asleep. Only to be awakened a few hours later as the fishermen wake and prepare their ships. They set out just after dawn, when the sky becomes bright enough to see where they are going. Then they all cast off with a lot of shouting and noise, waking Nillian and Lyxia again from their slumber.
After lying awake for two hours Nillian rises and takes a cold shower to wake himself up. He goes downstairs, where he is informed that breakfast won't be ready for a hour. So he takes out his notes and begins to work on the final chapters of his book.
Lyxia joins him by the time breakfast is being served, looking quite worse for wear. She stumbles into her chair, laying her head on her arms and making sleepy noises.
"Not had much sleep last night?"
"No. Is it that obvious?"
"Sorry to say sis, but you look a bit fringed. You should have taken a good cold shower, that will wake you up good."
"Yes, I can see that. Do you really have to be so cheerful in the mornings?"
"Of course! Look, breakfast is ready, let's have a bite to eat and I am sure that you will feel better afterwards."
"Alright, alright."
Breakfast is not served individually, as Nillian was originally expecting, but is spread out over a large buffet. They do have all the normal things that make up a full breakfast, so Nillian is soon munching away, while Lyxia first goes for a cup of strong black tea and a small bread roll.
After breakfast Nillian and Lyxia make their way to the city hall, where Nillian can begin his investigation. The city hall is a small building, especially in comparison with the city halls he has visited the last week. It does look old, and has several worn statues standing in front of it. The doors of the city hall are open, and together they walk inside.
Immediately inside, on the left side of the hallway, there is a small counter with a bright eyed clerk sitting behind it. Lyxia mutters something about "not another happy morning person" as Nillian makes his way over.
He falls back on the same routine, telling the clerk that he is a writer, and that for his research he is looking for the delivery address of a large shipment of coal.
"Of course. All records are available in the records room. Just go down the hallway, take the first left and then the stairs down. All the records are down there, though the filing system is not entirely up to date."
"Oh, that is quite alright, I am sure we are not afraid of a little bit of work. Thank you very much!"
"You're welcome sir. Good luck with finding the information you are looking for."
Together they make their way to the records room. The stairs down is a small wooden staircase, which creaks profusely as they make their way downstairs. Then they are standing in a dimly lit corridor, with several soft burning gas lamps. Along the corridor there are two small paintings of the city Capes, from a far away perspective. At the end of the corridor they arrive at the door of the records room.
It is a old oaken door, with golden letters nailed on it. It looks like vandals have been here as several letters are removed, leaving the words " EC R S RO". Nillian looks at the door and smiles.
"And the name of the thief is...?"
"What are you talking about, Nill? Aren't you going to open the door?"
"Well, the letters that are missing spell out ... Mordo!"
Lyxia looks at the door for a few seconds.
"Or ... Dorm O, like a group of students, or Mr Doo."
"Ah right, that's possible too. What else can we make? Rodom ... Droom ..."
With a deep sigh Lyxia pushes him aside and opens the door, revealing the inside of the records room. It is very dark inside, so she unhooks the nearby gas lamp and uses it to find her way inside. Nillian follows her, looking around him intently, searching for some kind of lamp. Almost immediately he walks into some kind of cord hanging from the ceiling. He experimentally pulls on it, trying to see if it is hanging loose. It does not come down, but instead several electric lights go on in the room, blinding him.
He hears Lyxia cursing, and after blinking for a few seconds to clear his vision, he walks over.
"What's the matter, sis?"
"Oh, I stubbed my toe on something."
"Hmm, do they allow such language at the monastery?"
"No. And you are not going to tell them!"
She scowls at him, and he quickly takes some steps back.
"Alright, alright. I won't say a word."
"Good."
After that exchange they look around, trying to find out how everything is organized. Soon they realize what the clerk upstairs meant. Every cabinet is sorted and holds a specific kind of record. But from the outside of each cabinet there is no way to see what it holds. They have to open each cabinet and look through the records to see what is in it, before they can move on to the next cabinet.
Luckily the system is not entirely without structure. Records that fall in the same category can often be found next to each other. All the birth records are located in five large cabinets, next to the cabinets that hold the death certificates. Public and municipal notices are grouped together, and all business records are kept separate in several cabinets on the other side of the room.
It is in these cabinets that Nillian begins his search, hoping to find that Gerardina Nott set up her own business to receive the shipment of coal. If she kept it as a private delivery there is probably no way he will be able to find out where the order went. He calls over Lyxia, and together they dive in. There are a lot of cabinets to search, and Nillian wants to be finished as soon as possible.
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