The quarry clinic key reached Marrick's ledger beside a request for two guards, though Hans crossed out both names before the ink dried.
"A guard at the clinic hears the bell after everyone else," he pushed the page back with his remaining hand, "put one on the ridge where he can see the road."
Hajin followed him outside, finding sixty workers gathered between the registry and eastern wall for the first full bell drill.
Loccy waited near the mine-road choke point with her hammer resting against one shoulder, surrounded by blocks she had stacked into a straight barrier.
Hans stopped before the wall, looking through its single cart opening before turning toward the workers behind it.
"Where do they go when riders reach this gap?" he pointed toward the men assigned to hold the road.
One miner raised his new spearhead before answering, "We keep them outside."
