Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 256. The Attribution Disappears

"The proposals, the records of who wrote them, the minutes of the sessions where they were introduced and voted on... it’s all gone..." Zephyra lowered the lens. "The full documentation of the implementation framework that those proposals created is still there."

"The policy goes on, but the paper trail that led to its creation disappears."

Rick thought about that for a second. "Someone wants to be able to keep running, but they don’t want the record of where it came from to stay."

Zephyra looked at him for a moment, and the analytical look in her eyes was almost like she was surprised, but it was more like she was recalibrating her estimate of him.

"You follow quickly," she said.

"I’ve had better teachers lately than I used to."

She looked at the pattern of the burn again. "Whoever did this isn’t trying to stop the policy... They’re just making it harder to find out who made it, when, and why."

Natasha said from the doorway, "The penetration technique is pre-coalition."

"The magical signature is at least two hundred years old, before the current Mage Council structure... and there are maybe a dozen active mages in Zorathia who can use techniques from that archive." She put down her lens. "It is a narrow field..."

"Not so narrow that we can be sure, but narrow enough to matter."

For a moment, all three of them were quiet.

Then Fredrich showed up at the door. His face showed that he was genuinely worried.

"Have you found anything useful...? If you need help with analysis tools, my team is happy to help."

Rick said, "Not yet, but we’ll keep looking until we get something clear enough."

"Of course. Take all the time you need." He looked at the burned shelf with real regret on his face. "And... that’s too bad."

"Those records were going to be important for the planning of the recovery." He said it and then left.

Rick turned to Zephyra. She was looking at the space in the doorway where Fredrich had been standing.

Her head was tilted by about two degrees, which Rick was starting to learn was Zephyra’s way of raising her eyebrow.

He didn’t say anything, and she didn’t say anything. They both got up and left the room without even any words.

...

Valdris’ streets were quiet at that time of night, like cities are when the night traffic has stopped and the morning hasn’t started yet. After the corruption attack, rebuilding work had been going on for a while.

Some blocks had scaffolding and new stone next to old buildings. New plants lined the edges of the rebuilt road, and young trees were already starting to grow, even though they were still thin.

Carmilla, Zara, and Sylvia walked ahead. Natasha was going over her notes with the small lamp she brought with her for this reason.

Rick fell in step with Zephyra, partly by accident and partly because they had been walking in the same direction all night.

They walked for almost a whole block without saying a word. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Rick said, "The implementation records..."

"Yes."

"If the proposals are no longer on the official record but the implementation keeps going, the authority exists without a documented origin... so anyone trying to trace it would find gaps."

While she walked, Zephyra was looking straight ahead. "The authority stays, but the attribution goes away."

"In practical political terms, this means that whoever is currently in charge of the policy can keep it going without needing a formal vote to extend it, because, according to the record, it was never formally proposed..."

"It just seems to have existed."

Rick thought about it. "And if someone asked about it later, there would be nothing to argue about."

"Or everything to attribute however the current administrator chose." She stopped. "Standard architecture for policy means you should retain its benefits while still being able to deny its origins."

Another block passed in quiet. The city’s sounds were just the background kind, and Rick found himself thinking about the way Fredrich had described the burned documents at the scene, the details he had offered without being asked.

Rick said, "Fredrich told us what the papers were before we went into the room."

"I noticed."

"Would the Grand Magister of the Council normally know the contents of every specific archive shelf in the east wing well enough to describe them at midnight after a fire?"

Zephyra said, "He might have been briefed by his staff before we got there," in a way that showed she didn’t want to make too many claims.

"He might have looked over the room himself before sending out the alert. There are explanations."

"But..."

"But," she agreed.

She stopped moving, and Rick stopped next to her. The rest of the group had moved ahead a little bit without even realizing it.

There wasn’t much noise at the corner where they were standing, and the streetlamp above them cast a warm light on the cobblestones.

"I don’t make accusations without proof," she said, and her voice was a little lower than usual. "I have a pattern... and that pattern worries me."

"That is not a conclusion."

"U-Understood... sorry about that."

"But I want you to know what I see... That way, if I’m right, you won’t be surprised." She started walking again. "And if I’m wrong... we can both relax."

Rick got back in line next to her.

He said, "For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here," after a few seconds.

"In Valdris?"

"In general."

She didn’t say anything hearing that. But she didn’t speed up, and she didn’t look away from the road ahead.

There was something about the way she was holding her folio that was different from how she had been holding it a minute ago.

Sebastian, who was floating behind Rick’s left shoulder and was invisible, didn’t say a word. Rick thought this was important.

"W-What the fuck is this situation...? It feels more awkward now..." Rick thought to himself.

"Maybe keep it down with trying to impress her." Sebastian answered in his mind.

"I wasn’t trying too..."

...

The Council chambers the next morning were just as formal and well-furnished as the last time Rick had been there. The high ceilings and old stone made every word sound more important than it might have otherwise.

Fredrich led the briefing with his usual accuracy. He backed up each of the three passed policy motions with data, a clear logical structure, and the patient thoroughness of a man who has been explaining complicated things to complicated audiences for a long time.

The expanded Mage Council infrastructure oversight was set up just right: it was for dealing with emergencies during a time of active corruption threat, it was a reasonable response to real instability, and it had built-in review provisions and a clear operational scope.

Everything was fine.

All of the arguments were good and reasonable.

Rick sat at the guest table with Zephyra next to him. Her folio was open, and her face was professionally blank.

He watched Fredrich and listened to the logic. He didn’t find anything wrong with it, so he put that observation in the same folder as everything else.

After that, Zephyra asked three questions.

They were short, polite, and very specific, like questions are when the person asking them already knows most of the answers and is just checking to see if the person answering knows them too.

Fredrich named two junior members who could easily speak the language when asked, "Which council members formally proposed the initial motions?"

In her folio, Zephyra wrote something.

"Is there a formal sunset provision for the emergency authority, or a scheduled review date?" Fredrich said yes, absolutely, standard procedure in crisis-period motions; a review would be conducted once the threat level assessment was downgraded.

Zephyra wrote something else.

"Where are the signed implementation orders right now, since the archive originals were damaged last night?" There was a pause.

It was only a short time, maybe half a second, and Fredrich’s face didn’t change. "We’re looking into safe storage options for the records that were affected. It’s one of my top priorities for this week."

Zephyra wrote something down, closed her folio, and didn’t say anything else.

Rick just looked confused, and then he started to act like he was deep in thought.

’It gets even worse... I’d rather fight corruption than hear all of this...!’