Chương 29: The Waterfowl Incident

Aurelius hugged the heavy, leather bound journal tighter against his chest, backing further toward his disarmed royal guards.

"No," the king said.

"A king's private journal cannot be seized as evidence!" Bart adjusted his glasses and consulted the active Sovereign Collateral Assessment hovering above his desk to verify the legal standing of Aurelius's claim. The Archive agreed but only partially. PERSONAL WRITING PROTECTION Private reflection remains protected from unrestricted disclosure. Exception: Claims voluntarily incorporated into the official sovereign record may be compared against relevant entries of the same time.

Access required: Supervised consultation only.

"The Archive respects personal privacy, Your Majesty," Bart explained calmly.

"I am not permitted to read your private thoughts. I am only authorised to consult specific, relevant entries tied to disputed claims." Gregor leaned over the plain wooden desk.

"So we're only allowed to read the embarrassing parts connected to government business?" Bart said nothing but looked at Gregor in a mildly reproachful way. Aurelius stared at the blue institutional text. Physical force and outrage had failed so, the king pivoted to the oldest tactic in existence.

"Three chests of gold," Aurelius said suddenly. Bart blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Three chests of Tremendian gold," Aurelius repeated, stepping slightly closer to the cyan boundary of the Audit Area.

"A fertile valley in the southern province. A sprawling country estate. A hereditary title. Walk back through your portal, cancel this 'lien,' and I shall name you Grand Duke of Records!"

"No," Bart said. Aurelius gritted his teeth.

"Grand Duke of Records and Filing!" Gregor nudged Bart.

"Boss, he added Filing." Bart ignored the thief and kept his eyes on the king. He rejected it because of his profession.

"Your Majesty, accepting personal compensation from the subject of an active institutional audit would be a severe conflict of interest," Bart said. The Archive immediately backed him up. UNSOLICITED BENEFIT DETECTED Potential conflict of interest Recommendation: Decline Gregor raised a hand.

"Could I accept the valley?"

"No," Bart said.

"It wasn't an unsolicited benefit," Gregor pointed out.

"I solicited it." Bart sighed. He turned his attention back to the massive pile of unresolved historical conflicts. He realised he did not need to verify all 1, 184 discrepancies at once. He needed to demonstrate to the Archive and to Aurelius that his provenance method actually worked. He needed a test case. He scrolled past the rain, the moon, and the dragons, stopping on the smallest, most absurd, and best documented incident in Thaddeus's ledger. The Battle of Aramholm Courtyard.

Bart looked at the Royal Historian, who was standing safely inside the Audit Area.

"Mr. Thaddeus. We start with the goose."

"Beatrice," Thaddeus said softly. Bart paused.

"We start with Beatrice."

"KEEP ITS NAME OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MOUTH!" Aurelius bellowed from across the room. Bart turned to Thaddeus.

"Can you locate the supporting documents for this incident?"

"Yes, Keeper," Thaddeus said. Thaddeus hurried to the older mahogany record cabinets lining the western wall. Unlike the plain Archive furniture, these belonged to the palace and contained decades of Tremendian administrative records. After a few moments of searching, he returned to the Audit Area carrying four distinct pieces of parchment.

"Evidence A," Thaddeus said, placing the first document into the Intake Tray.

"The Royal Poultry Master's livestock ledger." Bart read the entry. It verified that on the 17th of Harvestfall, a flock of precisely 67 royal geese had been relocated to the South Courtyard. The "winged beasts" had been physically present.

"Evidence B," Thaddeus continued.

"The South Courtyard Guard Incident Report." The report contained three independent witness statements. It detailed how a single aggressive goose had pursued the king, how the king had retreated at a so called high rate of speed, and how he had subsequently collided with a marble fountain, requiring immediate medical attention. Bart noted that one of the guards had diplomatically written: His Majesty performed a rapid tactical repositioning away from hostile waterfowl.

"That was Sergeant Mallory," Thaddeus said.

"Evidence C is the Royal Physician's report. It documents a mild concussion and minor bruising." Bart read the medical parchment.

"It also explicitly states there were no dragon related burns, claw wounds, or magical trauma."" Very specific," Bart noted.

"And Evidence D," Thaddeus finished, placing a crumpled receipt onto the desk.

"The Royal Tailor invoice number 882. Ceremonial trousers replaced. Reason: waterfowl accident." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Gregor leaned in, squinting at the invoice.

"Exactly what happened to the trousers?"

"We are not investigating that," Bart said firmly.

"It is not relevant to the audit." Bart arranged the four documents neatly on his desk and placed them into temporary audit custody. The Archive immediately processed the incoming evidence, projecting the results into the air for the entire room which Bart read out aloud. CLAIM UNDER REVIEW Official claim: King Aurelius defeated 67 winged beasts.

Independent evidence located: 4 sources Poultry ledger: VERIFIED Guard incident report: VERIFIED Physician report: VERIFIED Tailor invoice: VERIFIED Current evidentiary assessment: Winged creatures present: YES Creature classification: WATERFOWL Combat victory: NOT ESTABLISHED Royal injury: ESTABLISHED Gregor tapped his pencil against his clipboard.

"The goose won though?."

"THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION!" Aurelius screamed, his composure entirely shattered. Bart waited. Four independent sources now supported Thaddeus's account. He did not know whether that would satisfy the Archive's standard but it was the strongest evidentiary package they had assembled so far. The System flashed an amber warning.

Correction threshold: NOT YET MET Independent corroboration: Sufficient Event evidence: Sufficient Claim origin provenance: Incomplete Cited contemporaneous source not yet verified: The Private Journal of King Aurelius - Original Bart stared at the notification. Despite four verified pieces of independent evidence and the meticulous secret ledger provided by Thaddeus, the Archive still refused to complete an official correction. Thaddeus looked bewildered.

"But... the evidence is overwhelming. Why will it not let you correct the record?"

"The Archive accepts that the incident occurred," Bart said.

"What it cannot yet establish is how 67 geese became 67 defeated winged beasts in the official record." It was a profound limitation, but Bart respected it immediately. A librarian could not loosen standards merely because the subject of the audit was incredibly unpleasant. The provenance procedure required the contemporaneous primary source to establish the origin of the false claim, and Aurelius was currently hugging it. Though the Archive did not leave Bart entirely powerless.

A new notification appeared in a soft, encouraging blue. PROVISIONAL EVIDENCE FLAG AVAILABLE Keeper may append formal notices to disputed claims pending final verification. It was not an Official Record Correction. Bart was not changing history. He was formally stating that the claim was disputed and that evidence had been submitted against it. A heavy wooden stamp materialised on Bart's desk.

Bart picked it up, aligned it carefully over the official chronicle's entry for the Battle of Aramholm Courtyard, and pressed down hard. THWACK!!. Vibrant red ink burned itself into the parchment, impossible to erase. RECORD UNDER FORMAL REVIEW Independent contradictory evidence attached. Original claim preserved pending completion of provenance standard. The king's eyes widened as he realised the bureaucratic stain was not confined to the book on the desk.

Across the chamber, a heroic mural of Aurelius standing atop a mountain of slain winged beasts shimmered. A hovering, glowing blue notice appeared directly underneath the painted king. ILLUSTRATIVE HISTORICAL CLAIM Associated record: UNDER FORMAL REVIEW The painting itself remained unchanged. But now, Aurelius had to look at a glowing warning attached to his own heroic mural, and it would remain there until the review was resolved.

Aurelius stared at the blue text then rage faded from his eyes, replaced by a cold, calculating sharpness. He was a vain king, but he was not entirely stupid. Once Bart proved the provenance system worked, Aurelius realised a terrifying truth. The journal in his arms was not the only piece of evidence. There were documents scattered all over his government invoices, logs, and reports capable of dismantling two decades of carefully manufactured royal mythology.

Instead of surrendering his journal, Aurelius did something much smarter(atleast according to him). He turned to his terrified, silent advisers standing near the doors.

"Enforce Royal Records Preservation Decree 12," Aurelius ordered, his voice echoing coldly across the chamber. Thaddeus went pale. Bart looked at him.

"What does Decree 12 do?"

"No original Crown record may leave its registered ministry without authentication by the royal seal," Thaddeus whispered. Bart looked towards Aurelius.

"Your seal is currently suspended." The king smiled. It was a vicious, triumphant expression.

"And my seal," Aurelius said softly, "is currently unavailable. Then nothing leaves." Bart understood. Aurelius did not need to issue a new order. He merely had to insist that everyone follow one of his old ones. It was genuinely clever. Aurelius had weaponised Bart's own insistence on procedure against him. His lack of authority had just become his greatest defense. If nobody could authenticate document transfers, the ministries were paralysed. Bart's audit would stall indefinitely.

The Archive confirmed the new reality. AUDIT OBSTRUCTION DETECTED Relevant sovereign records inaccessible. Cause: Pre-existing sovereign custody restriction + authentication deadlock. Keeper authority outside Annex: Insufficient. Bart's temporary authority allowed him to govern the Repossession Annex. It did not give him the power to march through every ministry in Tremendia kicking down doors and seizing paperwork. The room fell silent as the bureaucratic trap snapped shut. Then suddenly, Thaddeus spoke up.

"There may be another way," the historian murmured, keeping his eyes carefully averted from the king. Bart looked at him.

"Explain."

"His Majesty is very... particular about his legacy," Thaddeus said carefully.

"By royal decree, every ministry must send an annual, certified copy of their most important records to one central institution. It was built specifically to ensure that future generations could marvel at the indisputable proof of his reign."

"What is it called?" Bart asked.

"The Office of Royal Authenticity," Thaddeus said. Gregor blinked behind his goggles.

"So the king built a building whose job is proving the king is right?"

"Yes," Thaddeus said.

"And it contains copies of all the evidence proving he isn't?" Thaddeus thought about the sheer volume of unfiltered government data housed there.

"Quite possibly." Because the Office of Royal Authenticity was a registered central repository of sovereign records, the lien recognised it as eligible for collateral inspection. Bart could not simply walk in and seize its contents, but he could request an External Records Inspection Annex. REGISTERED SOVEREIGN REPOSITORY LOCATED Office of Royal Authenticity Lien relevance: High Temporary inspection jurisdiction: AVAILABLE Activation requirement: On site registration Bart tapped his fingers on the oak desk.

"Where is it?" Thaddeus pointed out the large, open palace window. Across the sprawling city of Aramholm, standing on a prominent hill, was a massive, staggeringly ostentatious government building. It was constructed almost entirely of white marble and capped with a bright golden dome. Aurelius looked out the window, and his triumphant smile instantly vanished. He went deathly pale. Gregor pushed his Veyric goggles down over his eyes, ready to work.

"Structural vanity?" the thief asked. Bart looked at the enormous golden building.

"This time," Bart said, "possibly."