Sand Reckoner

[Code Name] Sand Reckoner

[Gender] Male

[Combat Experience] None

[Place of Birth] Sargon

[Date of Birth] Jun 15

[Race] Liberi

[Height] 170cm

[Infection Status]

Medical tests have confirmed that no infection is present.

[Physical Strength] Standard

[Mobility] Standard

[Physical Resilience] Normal

[Tactical Acumen] Standard

[Combat Skill] Normal

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Excellent

Sand Reckoner, former overseer of Menat-Ha'mait's gem trading post. He has reached a cooperative relationship with Rhodes Island after being introduced by Operator Papyrus, using his funds and contacts to support our operations in the eastern regions of Sargon.

Imaging tests reveal clear, normal outlines of internal organs, and no abnormal shadows have been detected. Originium granules have not been detected in the circulatory system and there is no sign of infection. At this time, this operator is believed to be uninfected.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 0%

Operator Sand Reckoner shows no signs of Originium infection.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.16u/L

Sand Reckoner has handled all sorts of gems for many years, including ones containing active Originium impurities or etched with unusual Originium circuits. Despite taking reasonable protective measures, his BOCD is still at relatively dangerous levels.

Bustling Menat-Ha'mait is Sargon's most famous center of the gem trade. Within its many, many stores, the ancient gem trading post occupies a unique position. Gems are not sold to the public here, and its overseer is no ordinary merchant. Their position is more like a decision-maker or defender of the gem trade as a whole. Almost all of the rarest jewels in the city are appraised by the overseer, every gem store in the Grand Bazaar requires their permission to open for business, and large foreign caravans often stop by the trading post. When merchants enter the building, they will respectfully place a dinar on both sides of a golden set of sales on the shop counter, signifying their honest bearing and clear conscience.

Three hundred years ago, the trading post had only just been built, and the Grand Bazaar was more known for its shoddy goods than anything it is famed for today. However, thanks to the painstaking efforts of generation after generation of overseers giving their all, Menat-Ha'mait widened its area of trade, and the influence and respect the trading post held grew alongside it. Merchants were more willing to accept the order brought about by the trading post's restrictions as the days went by.

None could say why the overseers have been so devoted to their cause for hundreds of years, keeping their distance from all in the name of fairness. This devotion and neutrality are innate to the position. When Sand Reckoner took over his ill mother's duties at the age of fifteen, none asked him about his personal affairs, or gave him any more respect than usual.

'Appraising the worth of gemstones, gathering information in the market, and serving each and every customer fairly. These are our duties, and I have learned them from my parents since a young age.

'But there is one thing we will not do. We overseers will not place our own coin on the scales. Though we maintain fairness and impartiality in the trade, we cannot say we ourselves are without sin... We cannot.'

By the time he told us all this at Rhodes Island, Sand Reckoner had left the trading post, donating his accumulated wealth to help fund Menat-Ha'mait's reconstruction efforts. As he tells it, the lord ameer may decide to personally appoint a new candidate to take over the post, or the people might figure out a way to make things work without an overseer in charge. Of course, none of that has anything to do with him or his collaboration with Rhodes Island. He is now starting his work anew in another town, and when it comes to soliciting investment, he has shown outstanding talent, alongside an unexpectedly modern streak in his thinking.

In the past, there were two things helping Sand Reckoner perform his duties as overseer: his Originium Arts, and the use of clockwork fowlbeasts using techniques passed down his family.

His unique Arts allowed him to assess gems in a simpler manner compared to the methods employed by his ancestors. Menat-Ha'mait's standards for gemstones are quite different compared to other locales, especially those outside Sargon. Here, it is not size or clarity that is the most important factor, but whether or not they have been etched with Originium circuits by ancient craftsmen, or what effect said circuits entail. Sand Reckoner's Arts have an unusual tactile component. If he judges a jewel as having a circuit with a calming effect on people, he would not need to break out a magnifying glass to have a closer look. Rather, he would be able to 'touch every facet of the gem, both inside and out.'

These Arts can also be used to activate unique Originium circuits within his clockwork fowlbeasts. One told to fly dozens of meters into the distance can still be used to extend the range of his perception. However, the only things he can sense in this manner are disturbances caused by objects passing by. Most of the time, these clockwork fowlbeasts seem to be used in a similar manner to modular drones, performing tasks such as reconnaissance, transportation, or orientation. The businesspeople of the Grand Bazaar are all familiar with these azure chirpers, and will often invite one to 'witness' a trade deal, but it should not be assumed the distance one can fly is limited to the bazaar. Robberies outside the city, traces of lost lapidary workshops in the sands... Gem trade-related news from outside Menat will be brought back to the trading post, for the overseer to mention as he pleases during a discussion.

Thanks to their boundless curiosity, Engineering has dismantled several clockwork fowlbeasts supplied by Sand Reckoner. Their internal structure is incredibly complex, as expected. It can only be speculated that the core technology behind them are Originium circuit etching techniques of legendary quality. Sand Reckoner himself only knows a fixed procedure to create one, and cannot explain the theory behind the technology involved, or how to appropriate it for other uses. Despite the disappointing research results, Engineering knows this is simply yet another ancient Sargonian secret. There are many marvels of eld that still hold up to modern scrutiny. Perhaps they are still buried in the sands, lost to time, or perhaps they are hidden away behind the high walls of the mysterious City of Gold.

When Sand Reckoner was being introduced to Rhodes Island to establish a partnership, Papyrus mentioned a rumor hounding him that she had slight concerns about: apparently, his bloodline is cursed, with each and every member of the family suffering from some unforeseen disaster. None have met a happy end. As our partnership progressed, we were able to confirm why Sand Reckoner, whose ancestors have been involved in the gem trade for generations, has such an interest in us and other international medical firms. It mostly stems from him seeing many of his relatives waste away from disease. By having more medical resources at hand, he hopes more lives can be saved.

Rhodes Island is not one to believe in curses. Medical performed a comprehensive examination of him, including a thorough check of the family medical history he provided, and ruled out the presence of a rare hereditary disease. We have seen many unknowingly infected by exposure to active Originium, and with his BOCD clearly higher than average, Medical turned their gaze towards his former living space, conducting a series of tests on the distinctive Originium-etched gems of Menat-Ha'mait. Once the tests were complete, Medical was able to tell him that under specific circumstances, gems with inlaid Originium circuits were able to influence the minute particles of Originium in everyone's bloodstream. In the trading post, where vast quantities of various etched gems were gathered, blood Originium could have been incited to grow, aggregate, or affect nerve centers. Thankfully, Sand Reckoner has already left his former domicile, and this so-called 'family curse' will likely have no further effect on him.

Surprisingly, upon hearing this news, he merely nodded and stated how happy he was that his ancestors' conjecture turned out to be correct. It's clear his family had figured out the truth a long while back. They simply never considered leaving the trading post. They held their ground until the day their mission was completed.

[Classified File]

Operator Sand Reckoner has already informed Rhodes Island of his family's true duty, in its entirety. Though he has kept a few things hidden, we can speculate that the individual his family wished to return their gems to is one of Sargon's Zhayedans, or perhaps the general that had been transformed via similar techniques, ones that spared him from age and decay. It is not our place to judge whether or not what the Sargonians see as 'eternal life' is a true continuation of life, or what state the Zhayedan soldiers are in. When it comes to Sand Reckoner and his family, perhaps the guilt that weighs heaviest on him is not in 'scattering the gems' or 'suspending the Zhayedan's life', but in being the first to tell another all this.

It can be inferred that over the last three hundred years, every member of his family abhorred the idea of spilling their secrets. They stayed silent about their heavy burden, and called few their friends. It all served to cultivate a distant, impersonal image of the overseers. Sand Reckoner is no doubt the luckiest of them. Of all the generations of overseers futilely reckoning the measure of each and every grain of sand, it was he who saw the day the gems were all returned. More importantly, however, is that he was willing to tell us everything. This means he and his family have truly found forgiveness.

Everyone, I know you've been making bets on Sand Reckoner lately, including but not limited to: 'whether or not placing two pet cloudbeasts in the reception room will make him come to discuss cooperative trade orders more often,' 'when he will add Rhodes Island's proprietary pet nutrient paste into his procurement list,' and 'who will be the first to run into him talking to his clockwork fowlbeasts'... I'm hoping you all, especially those of you who've been leaving your pets with him when he's alone, will curb your curiosity a little. I know his love of small animals is an open secret, and I know you don't mean any harm, but it's quite rude to keep an eye on one of our guests like this.

—An excerpt from a Logistics meeting

We've gotten the answers to those questions. First, he doesn't like having cloudbeasts in the reception room. An HR operator bringing him some files saw him use one of his clockwork fowlbeasts to patiently lure the cloudbeast out of the room beforehand, saying small animals might knock over ink pots and the like and really shouldn't be allowed into business areas. Seems he has plenty of experience with this sort of thing. But when the pet nutrient paste was mentioned, he said he didn't have any pets. He also emphasized that his Sargonian business contacts usually preferred exotic or hard-to-tame beasts, and would have little use for the nutrient pastes our operators were making.

As for whether or not he chats with his clockwork fowlbeasts, one brave operator decided to simply ask the man himself after several days of fruitless observation. This sort of abrupt questioning naturally confused him, so the operator decided to offer an analogy. 'Y'know, like one of those fairy tales where people will yell their feelings into the woods or something,' to which he replied 'I don't have much to say in the first place.'

...Going back on my word? No, I haven't. Sure, it's rude to poke your nose into a guest's breathing space like that, but don't forget he's now one of our collaborating operators. The way I see it, he's a touch too serious all the time, so it's worth an occasional reminder from us that he's not an overseer standing behind a counter for three hundred years any more. He's just a regular twenty-year-old operator, codename Sand Reckoner.

—Another excerpt from a meeting several weeks later

[Records from the gem trading post for the last several years]

Damaged item(s): clockwork fowlbeast, one

Cause of damage: getting caught by a stray cloudbeast

Notes: must upgrade the fowlbeast's perception and mobility. (This note is crossed out)

Follow-up: clockwork fowlbeast has been restored.

Damaged item(s): gifts of balsam, three boxes

Cause of damage: Unused since opening

Notes: Mio says they can clean themself, and will choose body washes and balsams with suitable smells of their own accord.

The storeroom is still locked, and there are no traces of damage on the walls or ventilation ducts. As Mio said, I have no means of stopping them from entering at the moment.

Damaged item(s): fresh seafood, twelve types

Cause of damage: Was not promptly eaten

Notes: Mio does not enjoy eating raw food. They suggested I improve my quality of life so that we can share a meal together.

Follow-up: the aforementioned seafood was eaten by a black beckbeast.

Damaged item(s): gemstone storage cabinets, five

Cause of damage: damaged by Woof during a test of strength

Notes: my Arts are not at the level of being able to appraise the effect of this giant gem etched with an Originium circuit. I believe it may be one of the gems we seek. Woof helped me use new materials to craft a new storage cabinet, one that does not use any of the security measures that have already been broken by thieves in the past.

Mio told me they were not actually a cloudbeast, and Woof was no beckbeast. They appear as statues around the city, on frescos and within ancient texts. They can speak, and the trading post's strictest security measures do not affect their comings and goings in the slightest. All clear proof they are no ordinary animals, but they also have means to hide these abnormalities from me. They told me the tale of the trading post and the duties of the overseer, the appearance of the vault guardian I have not yet met, as well as how more than a hundred years ago, they advised my ancestor to entrust the sole gem they found to a local collector for safekeeping. The logic was that if the gems we sought were ever gathered in one place in the future, thieves or worse were sure to take notice.

I have met with this collector and confirmed the truth of Mio's words. I then learned from Woof that there was another gem being kept at the city's museum. I now knew the whereabouts of three of the gems, including the one I happened to obtain in a trade a few days ago.

I believe Mio and Woof are symbols of fate's guiding hand, but they disagree. Mio says they're only at the trading post because they wanted a pet of their own to talk to. They chose me.