Preliminary Convention

The day after the notice was posted, Zhou Yu went and copied a copy of the "Ragunna City Preliminary Convention".

The entire covenant was inscribed on the bluestone of the Order's outer wall, ninety-seven articles in total. He moved a small stool to the base of the wall and sat down, copying each article into his notebook. Sigelica copied the odd-numbered articles, and he copied the even-numbered ones. Dania sat on the steps and waved to Echo Hai as he passed by, Chisa stood watching the street.

The passing Order priests watched three times, and finally couldn't resist coming over.

Why copy this?

"Learn the rules," Zhou Yu said. "The notices you post must be in accordance with the rules."

The priest stood there for a while, then left. When he returned, he had a cup of cold tea in his hand, which he placed beside the stool. Without saying a word, he left again.

That evening, another thick stack of materials appeared on the long table. It was a compilation sent by Brant, the troupe's ten-year collection of annual carnival regulations, temporary controls, stall hygiene, parade routes, one volume per year, the edges all worn from repeated use.

There was a note on top. It said, "I can show you any year you want. Give it back when you're done, don't underline it." Below that was another line of smaller, illegible handwriting. "If the materials pass the review, I'll keep four theater tickets for you, front row."

Zhou Yu watched it all night.

As dawn broke, he opened the notebook and tapped it.

"The first problem," he said, "Is that 'Silent Maintenance'? It's not in the convention, nor in any previous regulations. It doesn't belong to any particular rule; it's a new term."

Sigelica rubbed her eyes and asked, "What's wrong with the new words? Is the new policy not working?"

"The new policy is acceptable. However, Article 3 of the convention states that temporary control orders must be posted seven days in advance, specifying the signatory and their number, and are subject to the convention." Zhou Yu turned to the folded page in the copy. "This notice was posted the day before yesterday; it's scheduled for maintenance at the end of the month. There were a few days in between; you can calculate it yourselves."

"Four days," Sigelica calculated.

"The second problem," Zhou Yu said again, "Is the serial number. The serial numbers for each year must include the year and the sequence number, without missing a single digit. I checked ten years, and only this one is blank; it has the number but no year."

Dania leaned over the table, staring at the line of numbers for a long time.

"Is it afraid of having the year written on it?" she said. "If the year is written on it, we'll know where it came from."

Zhou Yu paused for a moment, then copied the sentence into his notebook.

In the morning, at the Order's window.

It was the same priest. Zhou Yu spread the manuscript out on the window, making sure it was flat.

"Silent Maintenance, which article of the convention?"

"A temporary order," the priest said, "Approved by higher authorities."

"According to Article 3 of the Convention, a provisional order must be published for seven days. This notice was only posted four days ago. Who signed it? Why is the year in the order number blank?"

The priest pulled the copy over and read it line by line, very slowly. When he finished, he pushed the copy back and stood up.

"You wait here."

He went into the inner room. He stayed there for two hours. The people Echo at the window were all very self-disciplined, and no one rushed him. Dania sat on the steps and shared half a bag of conch pastries with a passing Chop Chop.

Sigelica wanted to go to the door of the inner room to listen for any sounds, but Chisa pulled her back.

"The place where we're investigating," Chisa said, "Stand back a bit."

"Is it any of your business?"

"You have two employers," Chisa said, "Both disagree."

Two hours later, the priest emerged alone. He was pale and held a number in his hand.

"The original document is in the archives," he said. "The chief is personally checking it. Once he has found out, he will give you an answer."

He paused, then pulled the copy over and glanced at it again.

"You copied the third one correctly."

That night, the lights in the Order archives stayed on all night.

The next afternoon, Phoebe came to Margaret's house. She wasn't wearing the head lady's dress, but still her wide-brimmed hat, the thorn trim on the brim askew and left uncorrected. She carried a stack of files in, first taking off her hat and hanging it on her elbow.

"Excuse me," she said, "May I borrow your long table?"

Dania ran to pour some herbal tea. Phoebe took it with both hands, thanked her, and placed it beside her, not bothering to drink it all night.

The file lay open on the table. The signature stub for the Silent Maintenance had a seal in the signatory's column. The seal was clearly visible: the seal of the head of the Hidden Sea Order.

"My seal," Phoebe said, "But I didn't sign this order. There's no handwriting on the stub, only the seal. For Orders, both the seal and the handwriting are required; without either, it's invalid."

"Could it be a proxy signature?" Sigelica asked.

"A signature on behalf of someone else must include the signatory's name." Phoebe pulled out another booklet. "I reviewed all thirty-seven temporary orders from previous years last night. Every single one has a name and seal in the signatory's column. Only this one has a seal."

She turned the stub over, facing Zhou Yu.

"So there are only two possibilities," she said. "Either the seal was taken out, or the seal wasn't taken out, but someone went into the document's passageway."

"Which is more troublesome?" Dania asked.

"The next one," Phoebe said, "If the seal is lost, change the lock. If the road is lost, rebuild the road."

The stairs creaked. Two elderly priests, dressed in white robes, came up, their steps steady, but their faces were grim. The one in the lead bowed slightly.

"Sir," he said, "the Elders' Council already knows about the archives. Let me add a word of caution. During this reconstruction period, what we fear most is the loss of morale. If this gets out, the whole city will be asking how the Order's seal could fall into the hands of outsiders. It's better to keep quiet for now, finish the carnival safely, and then we can discuss this further."

Phoebe listened without speaking immediately. She picked up the stub, then put it down again.

"I understand what the elders mean," she said. "But this can't be suppressed. If we try to cover it up today, it will come out on its own tomorrow. On that day, people won't be asking how the seal was taken, but how long we've been hiding it."

The old priest was about to speak when Phoebe took out a copper seal from her cloth bag, placed it on the table, and pressed it down on Zhou Yu's application materials. The seal knob was worn shiny.

"It's stamped here," she said. "From now on, I'll sign for all investigations. I'll talk to the Elders' Council."

The old priest looked at the seal, stood there for a moment, bowed, and then went downstairs with his companion.

As he reached the top of the stairs, Phoebe called out to him.

"Could you please provide me with a copy of the list of those on duty at the document room over the years? Keep it quiet."

The old priest paused for a moment.

"Yes."

Phoebe turned back to Zhou Yu and said, "The investigation is mine. The handling is yours. You have the best materials and you know the rules well. If someone from the Order affairs, they're likely to deceive themselves. You're an outsider."

"Outsiders don't get to do this for nothing," Zhou Yu said. "Labor, tea, and file retrieval fees will be recorded in the Order."

"I will," Phoebe said, "But let's make this clear first. Once we find out who it is, I'll go and fetch them."

She placed her hand on the seal.

"The seal is mine. The name is mine too," she said. "I will personally go and invite those who steal my name."

The Silent Maintenance did not stop.

As night fell, the clock tower struck nine, and the sound stopped in unison. First, the singing on the bridge ceased, then the Chop Chop on the windowsill, its hand still raised in mid-air, froze. Lottie Lost's sword was half-drawn, stopped halfway.

The guide lights in the waterway went out one after another.

People returning home late stood by the waterway for a long time, but not a single Echo came to see them off.

"Phoebe said to identify the cards when the lights go out." Sigelica stood by the window, her voice low, "Now the cards are lying down too, who do we identify?"

No one answered her.

Dania leaned against the windowsill, watching for a long time. Echo of the city had ceased; the bodies lay scattered haphazardly, each in its own posture. There was no sound on the streets, nor on the water.

"This city seems to be faking its sleep," she said.

Zhou Yu stood behind her, not responding. Inside the canvas bag, the digital watch lit up briefly, displayed a notification, and then went out on its own. This time, he didn't look at it.

"I'm going to sleep," he said. "Starting tomorrow, it's time for work."