Finding Contentus

Chapter 158: Better Than Nothing

"The figures still don't add up," Ayata snapped after yet another irregularity, discarding the useless pile of financial sheets which floated about him like petals.

"They are not supposed to add up at first glance. That is the purpose of this strenuous exercise. Keep looking," Thembu said plainly, floating across from him in his private study where they would be undisturbed.

Ayata had been holed up in the Network for three weeks straight, rummaging every level like a thief for specks of intel that would aid his case in the slightest. Only to find misinformation and missing information. Even the crisp air itself was dense with metallic deceit.

What a shocker. Ayata thought sarcastically, rubbing his frustrated eyes, sparing a glance at Thembu who carried on in his searches, unbothered whatsoever.

In preparation for the so-called Trial of Worth, Thembu had specifically taken Ayata under his wing, stating that more work had to be done to tame his wildfire. That and something rather peculiar.

"I need a fresh pair of eyes," he had said.

When Ayata had glared at him for the remark, Thembu had added, "unclouded eyes", pointing at his silver eyes for extra measure.

Babaki agreed, opting to string Lovouta along with her. "She'll capture the faces. Ayata, you track the numbers."

The reasoning for the designation started to become clearer once the insufferable days rolled on. Lovouta had her art skills. Ayata had his accounting skills. It was a hobby of his to keep track of all the money they stole, earned and gave away. It wasn't a necessity per say. He simply did it because he liked playing around with numerical values, from the very first silver he received as a beggar to the bags of silver he received in his heists, to the amount of times Neosa beat Genesia—

Challo. Focus. Ayata got up, glared at the garbage site of ledgers, books, loose papers and files all around him, kicked the grounded ones out of the way to create more space and got back to working on the accounts. Despite the irritated scowl he wore, Ayata did look at the ledgers like they were toys that could summon sums out of thin air.

If only the record-keeping system didn't look so cryptic. He blew clouds of dust from the tower of toys Thembu flung his way.

Ayata's mental dexterity sharpened when he caught a ledger that had accumulated an excess amount of rust despite being recent. It had missing names. Missing, like a mouth without teeth or a tongue.

His eyes glimmered. Consternation alchemised into fervour. His hands pounded a quick beat before his fingers rushed across the numbers like they would never get to count again.

158. 158. 158. He repeated. He had to search for them. Zatalia may have done their best to forget about them, but he and his sister would not. Gone. Never forgotten.

He marked all the closely related signs, paying extra attention to the numerical system in Zati. He navigated the zigzagging cataloguing styles and brushed aside the ambiguous terminology that, on the surface, told a completely different story unless one squinted long and hard enough like they were sun gazing.

No wonder. The gears clicked in his head the more his eyes flew across the blurring pages like a hawk scouting prey from miles away. As the hours went by, unease spilled over him like crude oil. What if he found nothing? What if this was just a waste of time? If the damn Overseer hadn't found anything, how the hell did he expect—

Ayata stopped when he stumbled upon the "settled" label. He muttered to himself, separating the named from the nameless, thoughts spinning, sudden panic heightening his desperation, lungs inflating and deflating unevenly.