"I don't doubt it."

Sigh.

"Sorry."

"I'll live."

"I'd be much more torn if I thought it'd kill you!"

"Let me know if you change your mind."

"I will."

And he gets back to his notes.

She goes back to her room.

She has some letters. From other courts, asking about the lights.

...she goes looking for Lohte.

As always very findable.

"What should I know about, uh, etiquette or whatever to do with written correspondence?"

"It's not common because it makes it a bit harder to manage debt. I think people are desperate to talk with you. Their letters should all be written so as not to be a problem, but in general if you respond that court'll be slightly indebted to you, and will presumably send a gift to manage that if it comes up."

"They're indebted for responses and not just yes responses?"

"That's right, yes."

"What kind of gifts are we talking about?"

"It's not that much debt. They might send you some pictures, or a flower, or some food."

"If I don't eat the food..."

"Entirely up to you, doesn't affect anything."

"- I don't have a great sense of how much people actually value food around here besides the debt system happening to assign it importance."

"A lot of people really enjoy and value eating it? But it varies a fair bit person to person."

"If someone else would like food sent to me they should probably intercept it before I get it."