The assistant tending to Nikolai and Lana returned to the counter where the two of them were waiting.

"The mayor is available to see you now," she said, bowing a little as a polite gesture. "If you would please follow me."

Nikolai and Lana exchanged surprised glances. They didn't expect this at all. What they had thought would happen was that they'd be told there was a line, so their meeting would be in a week or so.

They tailed the lady with the short ponytail past counters, watching as citizens of Brymlight City submitted their complaints. Nikolai could see the glee radiating from Lana's face. It was obvious that she thought fast-forwarding their meeting with the mayor was a good sign. He, on the other hand, remained skeptical, but decided to say nothing.

"You said you'd escalate the matter!" said an angry woman, banging her fist onto the marble platform separating her from Oswald's secretary. "I haven't had water sent to my house for three days! Where am I supposed to wash my clothes? The river?!"

Nikolai snickered. "Sounds horrible," he said as they walked by.

"You have it tough," Lana added, shaking her head. "Washing at the river..."

"I know!" the woman replied enthusiastically at their support. "And Oswald doesn't seem to care!"

"Yeah," Nikolai said, turning around to nod at her. "Sometimes, we have to chase down deer in the forest. We won't have any food otherwise. Good luck." An expression of horror dawned onto the woman's face as she shook her head. When there was some distance between her and them, Lana sighed.

"You're so mean," she said.

"Like you didn't enjoy yourself," Nikolai scoffed. "Can you believe these people? They have water sent to their houses?"

"They probably pay for things like that."

"Maybe I'll start a food-delivering service," he said, frowning. It wasn't a bad idea. "We hunt pretty well. And your cooking isn't bad."

"Excuse me?" Lana said, raising an eyebrow at him. "It's very good, mind you. Did you notice all of Oswald's assistants are young women about our age?" she added.

Nikolai grinned, thinking she was changing the subject but when he turned to look around, he saw that she was right. All receptionists sported the same style of short ponytails; exactly like their attendant's. They wore tight-fitting short bluish grey dresses, exposing their legs downwards from the thighs.

"Maybe he has some sort of fetish..." Nikolai said, dropping his voice as he eyed the attendant in the back. It wasn't a joke. All of them looked so similar, it was disturbing. His eyes darted towards Lana who seemed anxious. "Don't worry," he said. "I don't think he'll do anything to you with me around."

Lana appeared to calm down at that. They walked on for a bit more through a needlessly large hallway. Draped with red carpet, framed paintings of... bizarre objects... and bronze coloured pillars, it was a little disappointing to see the boring colour of limestone for the corridor walkways. Not that Nikolai approved of the spending of money for all the unnecessities. He was still expecting the mythical Silph-decorated floors but they haven't come across any so far.

The building was... empty. It was the best word Nikolai could use to describe it. Long corridors with no rooms. Curtainless glass windows which invited so much heat, it would have made more sense to omit the glass entirely. There was a lot of walking involved; a waste of time and resources. Yes. That was the word he was looking for. It was a "waste".

Their attendant stopped so suddenly, Nikolai jumped. Had she read his mind and gotten offended? No. They had arrived. The lady gestured towards the large double doors on their right. They were the only doors in the entire hallway. How pointless...

"This is Oswald's chambers," the girl said with a forced smile, her voice betraying the disgust in her tone. "I shall leave you to your meeting. Feel free to enter without knocking."

"Right," Nikolai said, scratching his cheek. "Hey, how old are you?"

Lana turned and kicked him at the ankle. Hard.

"I'm nineteen," the girl replied, a little amused at his hopping.

"That's way younger than us," said Nikolai, gritting his teeth from the pain. He glared at Lana as he continued, "Do you like working here?"

Her silence was enough for an answer.

"Foreigner?" Nikolai continued, at which the girl blinked at him with surprise. "Opulen? Bineswall?"

"Glendaron..." the lady replied quietly. "How did you --"

"I guessed," Nikolai said honestly. He shifted in his footing, stretching out his ankle. "Why did you come here?"

"I was studying Brymlight's cotton since it doesn't grow anywhere else," the attendant replied, watching Nikolai with slight fascination. "But then --"

"The plague happened," Nikolai finished.

She nodded. "My friends and I are only students. We're working for Os -- for Mr Oswald to pay off our debt. He's housing us in the city."

"In exchange for tonics, I'm guessing?" Lana said, looking concerned.

The young woman paused. However, instead of answering, she closed her eyes and bowed her head low. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I've taken up much of your time. Please proceed with your meeting." And without another word, she hurried past them and disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

"I forgot outsiders are stuck in Brymlight as well," said Lana sadly. "Completely cut off from home. They can't even send letters because of the blockade..."