"So..." I start, sitting on the alchemy guild counter and trying to keep my eyes from wandering away from Ramona now that I have a much better look at the room around us. "We found, umm, lime, and a few other things while we were working with metals, and Eryk said the way they worked seemed more like alchemy than metalworking, so..." I move my hands vaguely, not sure how to put it. I haven't had the time to think through what I'm supposed to ask here. "Well- Besides the lime, we found this white powder that burns really badly if you touch it, but it's different than how fire burns, and uhh..." It was just those two, wasn't it? "Some of them did stuff when we put water on them and we don't really know why so... yeah?"

"Not your best moment," Eryk comments with a small shake of his head, but otherwise doesn't interrupt, and just covers his mouth again when he coughs a few times. I narrow my eyes at him slightly since he's the one who suddenly set me up to explain without time to think of what to say.

"So, lime and water? And... something else?" Ramona clarifies my rambling surprisingly well, even as she looks me over, with the same surprised-confused expression I'm used to. At least she isn't saying anything about my age... Instead, she searches around in the stack of books beside her, selecting one and pulling it out, though it causes a few others to topple off the top. Apparently ignoring that, she opens up the book in her hands, while the old man in the corner - Duncan was his name - sighs and walks over to clean up the books in her place.

Flipping through pages of the book, there's pretty wild, scratchy handwriting, and a bunch of pictures that pass far too quickly for me to make out anything. Then Ramona stops on one particular page, eyes scanning across it for a few long moments, before she points at one section, clears her throat, and speaks.

"When water is added to lime, it will produce hot lime, a key component for soapmaking, plaster, and mortar." Claire mentioned those earlier, didn't she?

"Yes, and...?" Eryk gestures her to go on.

"Umm, that's all about lime itself, there are separate sections about each of the things it makes," Ramona begins explaining, head still down as she grabs a few other books and flips through pages. "Like... the other components... steps for preparation... what to look for to know you have the right ratios... stuff like that." Then she grabs another from the pile, opening it to one of the very first pages, where there's a surprisingly detailed drawing of a stone wall, lines and words scribbled in around it. She looks back up, with an expression that says she thinks she did well explaining. She did answer our questions I guess, but still...

"Ok..." Eryk speaks slowly, before asking, "where does lime come from in the first place?"

This time, Ramona doesn't have to check the book, and answers easily. "Lime is produced by baking chalk in a kiln, like you would with pottery."

"Chalk?" Eryk mouths the word, one eyebrow going up as he considers the answer.

"Chalk," I say it myself too. I did think that lime and chalk were really similar when I first looked at them, and they tasted similar too. I'm not sure what a kiln is, but if all you have to do is cook chalk to get lime... does that mean that some materials have specific reactions to heat? Apart from just melting? Some things burn instead, does that count...?

I feel like I'm on the edge of figuring something out. Something, some connection. It's right there, but I can't quite grasp it...

I close my eyes, shaking my head slightly as I try to get at the thought, and ask the first thing I can think of, some part of my intuition pointing it out, even with the small amount of lightning mana I'm carrying right now. "What... what about the water? Why does adding water to lime make it do what it does? It got hot as soon as we added the water, and started cleaning like soap does."

Ramona inhales, like she's going to give a quick answer again, but then stops short, mouth still open. Uncertainty fills her eyes. "I'm... not really sure." She starts to page through her books again, looking over the notes inside, but clearly can't find anything, because she shakes her head. "There's nothing about why it works, just that it does. That's just... what lime is for."

"Ugh, I feel like I'm still missing something..." I grumble, a hand coming to my forehead in frustrated thought. "Some materials interact with water, some with fire, some with..." That finally makes it all click into place. I look back to Eryk, and I can see him figuring it out too.

Certain substances react in specific ways to the elements. We made star metals by adding lightning to metals, to make them combine together. Chalk changes into lime with fire. And lime makes a bunch of different stuff with water. Even that other white powder, it got hot when we added water too. So I can't find any pattern between how different things react with the different elements, but as long as I know that they do, I have a place to start. It'll take a lot of time, poking at any given substance with fire, water, lightning, maybe air or earth somehow? Anyway, it gives me things to test, and that's what matters here.

"You look like you've figured something out, Aria," Claire suddenly notes, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"A-ah, umm, yeah." Even if alchemists don't know about it, alchemy mimics mana somehow. I have no idea what the connection between them is, but it looks like alchemists stumbled on some of it by accident. No wonder why they've never figured out much, it's like what Reena mentioned with sigils. Without even the most basic understanding, like I have from the elements of mana, they'd be trying things completely blindly. "I think I understand how alchemy works now."

"You... what?" The question comes from Ramona, staring at me with her mouth open.

Eryk chuckles for some reason. "Some of the things we've been working on." But he doesn't explain any further.

Claire purses her lips. "So, elements of your star metal process relate to alchemy? Fascinating..." After Claire speaks, Ramona keeps looking between all of us.

"What are you talking about? 'Star metal process?'" she questions.

"New products we've been working on," Eryk explains, "they'll appear on the market next year. Anyway, I believe this has been a productive conversation. We may not have found what we came for, but what we did hear has been even more important." Then he takes a step back, away from the counter, and gestures Claire to go ahead. I guess we're past the 'talk to the guild' part of the visit. Now it's all about my lesson.

Except, just from what we've seen so far, it seems like a lot of what she wanted to teach me by showing me a real guild in person isn't going to work out too well. This place is so run down, it hardly seems to operate as a proper guild at all...

"Ahem," Claire clears her throat, and steps forward to take Eryk's place. "Leaving aside that business, I would still like to cover guilds." Then she speaks directly to me. "As you've read, guilds were originally established as tax collectors for their member businesses, to allow the limited number of nobles to successfully manage the large population and many businesses they could not deal with personally. Other functions have been added since then."

She makes a small gesture to Ramona across the counter. "A secondary function of many guilds is to be the center for knowledge and research in their given field. The alchemy guild in particular, only does this, since alchemy, at least so far, is purely a practice of research, so there isn't anything to tax."

I nod slowly. That explains the piles of books on the subject Ramona has been going through... "As you can imagine, this collection of knowledge is vitally important. Guilds will sell the information they've compiled to those with enough money. Depending on the guild, it can be one of their main sources of income."

"Mm," I mumble, brows furrowed. "They sell it?" She doesn't immediately respond, instead waiting until I can figure out how to put my whole question into words. "...Why? Why do people want to buy information like that?"

Her smile is a bit thin, like I should already understand this, but she explains anyway. "Because, how else would someone open a business? The only other option would be to work as an apprentice. And even then, they would only learn what their master knows. As a professional, anything new would need to be discovered by everyone individually. Any knowledge that wasn't passed on would be lost forever."

Oh. I gulp at the thought. I've seen how hard it is needing to learn everything for myself with magic. I can only imagine if every new blacksmith, glassblower, or woodcutter had to re-learn everything their teachers missed, or forgot to teach them, or didn't know themselves, even if others already did.

"Wait, but what about others? Like, couldn't all the businesses talk to each other about things? The metalworking companies did that at Eryk's party," I point out.

"Good," she smiles wider. "Naturally, that is what some people did. However, most would keep the best information to themselves to gain an advantage and profit off of it. The guilds improved the situation by collecting information from a much wider range than any one company could on their own, and of course, by compensating the companies for information they otherwise would have kept as trade secrets, and eventually lost. By bringing all the knowledge together, it became much more simple to spread. Of course, the guilds had the incentive to do so," she sighs lightly, "because they could charge for the service."

"Ooohhh..." Like... kind of like the clothing store I go to with Emily, actually. Instead of everyone with info having to find the people to tell, it's all collected in one place. Like the clothing store buying old clothes, so sellers don't need to find buyers on their own. And of course the guild makes money off of the work that goes into it... "That makes a lot of sense."

"Yes, it does. A few side-notes on this," she adds on. "First, information focused guilds like the alchemy guild function as some of the greatest repositories of knowledge, and as such, are greatly connected to Reena." I blink a few times when she suddenly mentions Reena like that. But it makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Except, would Reena really be happy with this tiny, run down place being related to her? People already call her useless all the time...

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"Secondly," Claire goes on as I'm thinking, "guilds do pay for the information they amass," she repeats that bit with emphasis this time, "since they can't simply compel the information out of business owners. Most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

She shrugs. "A few guilds sign contracts with their members, in exchange for certain rights, to demand those members report any of their research findings. The inkmaking guild is most notorious for it."

"Huh..."

"In any case," she gets back on topic. "Since you have been amassing quite a bit of information, you do have the option to sell that information to the guilds. Not only will you be paid for it, but it will also allow that information to spread far and wide, which I believe to be a good thing, all on its own."

She pauses again, so I can consider that. She is a teacher, not to mention as much of a follower of Reena as I am, so of course the more information out there, the better. That also explains her comment about Reena, doesn't it? I mean, she's The Goddess of Knowledge, devoted to helping people learn. Obviously Reena would be really happy if I helped everyone learn things, wouldn't she...?

Of course I can't sell everything. Keeping all the information about star metals a secret will make Eryk a ton of money. Still, he can only make so much metal. If everyone could make star metals, everyone would have them, and then they could make better things out of it. Like, if everyone could make linite, it would completely replace iron, wouldn't it? There'd be no reason to buy iron when linite is stronger, lighter, and cheaper...

"Huh..." I breathe out a long breath as I try to understand all that. I... still don't want to sell the information, obviously. That would hurt Eryk. But I never really thought of the downsides of what we're doing before. I mean, we still need magic to make the magnets, but if we apply some of the stuff I learned about lightning to make them instead, then anyone could make them, and make star metals.

Instead, with only Eryk making them, there won't be as many star metals out in the world. And if the information doesn't spread eventually, he'll be the only one who ever makes them. Then, whoever takes over the business, assuming he teaches them how.

Just like how Eschalle is the only place they've been made, for hundreds of years since they were invented...

And what if after I'm gone, something happens to Eryk? Like he gets attacked, or dies, like what almost happened during the rail unit attack - or even in a accident. There have been plenty of those during our research already. Then it would be like Claire just said. The information would be lost. We only figured it out because I'm a broken rail unit and I can do magic. What's the chance that ever happens again?

What's the chance that at some point, the star metal creation process we came up with gets lost forever, because we never told anyone else how to do it?

It takes me some time to think through all my thoughts and worries about that. Claire just stands there in silence, giving me the time to think.

It's Ramona, clearing her throat loudly, that finally brings me back.

"A-ahh, I'm sorry, I was, uhh, thinking about everything you said," I stammer when I realize it's been more than four ticks.

Claire raises a hand gently. "I could see that, which is why I chose to exercise patience." She throws a sidelong glance at Ramona with the word, who shrinks down under the look. "Now then, since I believe we've discussed the most pertinent information about the alchemy guild, we should move on."

I nod quickly, and push off the counter, dropping carefully back to the floor so I don't snag my dress on the rough edge of the wood or anything. "Good day," Claire says to Ramona, just nodding her way instead of doing a full curtsy, probably because we're in more of a business setting than personal, I think. I never really see customers and shopkeepers exchanging personal greetings after all.

Claire walks along the connected counters. Since the alchemy guild was on the right side, we move over to the center, with the monster hunter's guild sign above, and the young man and old woman sitting at table a little way behind.

"A-ah, umm!" Ramona suddenly squeaks out from the other counter, and I look back just in time to see her attempt to rush along the far side. She hardly makes it a step before she runs right into that pile of books I saw behind the counter. There's a loud crash of books scattering while she flails and goes down hard, out of sight. I wince just hearing it, and so does Claire, in the middle of leaning down to pick me up.

She continues a moment later, setting me on the counter so I can see again, while Ramona scrambles back upright, rubbing a bruised chin and stumbling when she almost trips over the books she scattered all over the floor behind the counter. Somehow, she makes it the rest of the way around the long counters without falling again, while we stare at her.

"Welcome to the magic guild!" she chirps as brightly as she can, even though the strain and pain are clear in her voice. At the same time, Duncan is grumbling loudly, starting to pick up the books from the floor again. The two people at the table just behind the counter have their heads in their hands, shaking them sadly.

"Excuse me, but..." Claire sends a look upward, to the sign with 'Monster Hunter's Guild' written on it. The magic guild sign is above the last counter, to the left.

"Ah, sorry about the signs, we've never managed to get them moved," Ramona immediately replies, fingers digging anxiously into the far side of the counter.

"Fine," Claire dismisses that. "So, this is the magic guild? What do you do here?"

Ramona's eyes are nearly closed at this point as she keeps trying to smile. "I'm the guild master!"

Claire's face finally falls into her hand with a loud groan. "You can't be serious."

"Uncle Joseph told me to run them both, he did before..." the young girl practically complains. She looks like she's about to start crying again...

"So this is the state of the guilds," Claire sighs to herself, before addressing Ramona again. "As the head of the magic guild, could you explain what this one is for?" I guess she's given up on the awful way these places are being run, and is just focusing on what they can teach me...

"Y-yes," Ramona manages to pull herself together. Which is good, because I really want to know what on Loqa this guild is for, when magic is completely outside of what humans normally deal with. "At the magic guild, we work with the other guilds to keep records of any new magical materials that are found. This includes anything that comes from magical creatures and magical plants."

"Ohhhh..." I murmur under my breath. That makes way more sense.

But she isn't done speaking. "If another guild comes across anything they believe to be magical, they send someone here with it so we can take note of what it is, where it came from, and any information about it so that we have records of them."

"That... actually sounds pretty important," I speak up.

"Yes, it is," Ramona agrees, and Claire nods too. But then...

My question comes out before I think better of it. "Why isn't it a bigger guild?"

Ramona's moment of confidence turns back to sadness and she sags forward again. "Because no one ever finds anything. Even if they do, why would they bring them here? They probably just keep it to themselves, it's not like the other guilds can force them to give away information on such valuable things. And no one even knows where our guild is anyway!" By the end, her sadness has turned to frustration, and she throws her hands up in the air.

Apparently, the girl's shouts are finally enough to get the old woman at the table behind her to act. She gets up from her seat and thumps her hand down on top of the short girl's head, rubbing it to calm her down.

"Now now, Ramona," she sighs, then directs her words toward us. "Normally, the magic guild should work pretty closely with the monster hunter's guild," and she tilts her head toward the last counter over. "However, no one in their right mind would hunt monsters out here. Those ones all go to Timberfort. And the ones not in their right minds usually don't come back when they try. Obviously," and shrugs her shoulders. "So the bulk of the magic guild's work just doesn't happen in this city."

"It's picked up a bit, last couple months," the man over there suddenly speaks up too, looking up from his book. "Not much, but there are a couple guys who've managed to haul stuff back into town. And some of the guards when the monsters attack the town. "Nothing magic though."

"Pretty much," the old woman agrees.

There's a short pause, before Claire speaks up. "I see. And you are?"

"Larissa. I handle the paperwork, so this little operation," and she gestures all around at the whole building, "keeps running, and everyone here actually gets paid."

"I see..." Claire grimaces faintly. So... this woman manages all the paperwork for three guilds? Well, if they never actually do anything then it probably isn't that bad...

"She's officially employed at the magic guild though," Ramona offers. Not that it really matters if she's doing the work for all of them...

"In any case," Claire gets us back on topic quickly. "At the magic guild, you log any information on magical things discovered, and also serve as an information repository, the same as the alchemy guild, yes?" Ramona confirms with a single nod, so Claire goes on. "Anything else?" She asks it in the same tone she uses when she's quizzing me on things.

Ramona opens her mouth briefly, face slowly filling with uncertainty. That prompts Larissa to answer for her. "We regularly report the information back to the government so they will be aware of magical materials that are discovered. This includes the quantities of such materials coming into the city, so they can be aware of any such things."

"We do?" Ramona asks, before blushing and covering her mouth with her hand.

"Yes," the old woman sighs at her apparent guild master. "Of course, I just write 'nothing new' in all my reports, since we never actually get anything."

"Oh."

Then Claire speaks, to me this time. "Normally, most guilds would report to a noble, who acts as the contact for any matters that need to be raised with the government, and of course, to take in the taxes and other fees that have been collected by the guild. Given what we've seen, I doubt these particular guilds have such a contact."

There's a moment where both the young and old woman look puzzled, then Larissa turns to look over her shoulder. "Jeremy?" she prompts the young man at the table behind them. I tilt my head a bit, when I notice the blackboard on the table in front of him, letters scratched in chalk on its surface. Is he learning to read?

But he's looking back at us right now. "I don't think so, I always just hand off our papers to the gate guards," he responds.

"I suppose that means they are delivered to some low level functionary," Claire guesses with a shrug. "That covers everything I wanted from this guild," she speaks to me again. "I would have liked for you to get an idea about the divisions of labor and duties, but that won't be possible with guilds this small."

I'm not really sure what those are, I don't even know some of the words. I just nod and let her move on. "Thank you, ladies," Claire says, and walks us over to the last counter, on the far left of the room.