Dear Risa,

  Riiiiiisa. I was born to do this work, and the Goddess knows it.

  I got offered a bribe today. Sure, first the moron tired to say I didn’t know what I was doing, but I asked in what universe 40 - 23 is 0, and he switched rails to saying he wasn’t all that great at math.

  Which is true. There were a few legitimate mistakes in those papers.

  But there were also several illegal not-mistakes in there. And then he asked if I could possibly adjust my report if he gave me the great, huge “tip” of… five gold. …I know, right? Ha.

  Maki got it. He asked for five gold to not inform anyone the mayor had attempted to bribe the auditor. So legally, the only one who accepted a bribe was a privately-hired independent guard.

  Y’no, as much as I complain about my idiot of a brother, I’m glad he’s here. He’s the perfect guard for me. Like, when the mayor kept trying to check what I was doing, or try to make small talk, Maki just said “please do not interrupt the auditor” in an Official Guard Voice, and it worked! And you know how hard it is to be left alone to work! Then when the bribe came up, I just looked at Maki, and he took over.

  He also knows how I like my coffee, which is handy.

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  So yeah! First job done! It took five hours, then I sent off my report with the provided telepaper, and an hour later the message stone activated saying they’ll look over it tomorrow and say how I did!

  Meanwhile, Cali was off playing with animals, and Luke was carving rocks for people.

  Luke actually has a lot of work to do here. He asked if we could stay another day as he finishes. I guess they don’t have anyone who knows true runesmithing, only a blacksmith who knows how to copy simple things. So he’s making a lot of money here.

  Speeeeaking of Luke, he acted kinda weird today. When we met the mayor, everything was fine, and then he suddenly freaked out. As far as I remember, he freaked out when the mayor called me “too pretty to be an auditor”.

  It wasn't a jealousy thing, it was a full-on panic. And when the mayor left and I asked if he was ok, he ran out of the building.

  So yeah, I don't know what happened. I could use your advice on this, Risa.

  I don't really want to ask Cali’s advice on this, because she… kinda doesn't notice when people are having a hard time if she’s happy. And right now she’s overjoyed about absolutely everything. Everything is going great in her life, so why isn't everything great in everyone else’s lives?

  Like, Maki left home half a year before I did. I was sad about that; I missed him. A week later, she turned sixteen and got her Beastmaster class. Cali had no clue I was depressed as hell.

  Yeah. If I ask her what she thinks is up with Luke, I know she won't have noticed anything.

  Maybe I should get a set of message stones and send one to you just so we can talk whenever I need my best friend. And you can talk to me whenever you need advice on makeup. It'd have to be a pretty expensive one, though, if we keep traveling away from Goldvale.

  I'll think about it.

  Thinkingest Regards,

  Maeve Zee