Chapter 13: The Hunt

Kvothe, anxious to make a strong start in Elodin’s class, recruits Wilem to guide him through the Archives now that Lorren’s ban is lifted. At the desk, Fela confirms his reinstatement—marred by a snide “Ruh Bastard” note in the ledger—then signs him in. Wilem leads Kvothe to a hidden study room where Simmon reacts with surprise and offers help.

Playing ignorant to protect his earlier secret trespasses, Kvothe listens as Wilem and Simmon explain the Archives’ tangled catalog history: overlapping systems, mistranslations, mislabeled and hidden books, and constant backlog. They introduce Tolem’s ledgers and other obscure finding aids, warning against students hiding books. Together they locate only a handful of Kvothe’s targets before parting.

Over the next several days, Kvothe dedicates nearly all his free time to the hunt, motivated to impress Elodin. He reads a wide range—travelogue, poor poetry, dense philosophy, wildflowers of Atur, a fencing manual, more poetry, and an impenetrable journal—then begins skimming when faced with Modegan texts, crop essays, mosaics, tax ledgers, and an outdated medical work. Despite the drudgery, he relishes the chase and questions scrivs about reshelving, locations, and repair workflows.

By the end, Kvothe finds nineteen of the assigned works; only En Temerant Voistra remains missing despite exhaustive searching. He compiles sparse notes on his few precious pages and arrives early to class, eager to demonstrate diligence. All seven students gather; no one has found En Temerant Voistra, not even Fela.

When the noon bell passes and the door proves merely stuck, the group discovers a single word on the slate: “Discuss.” They wait two more hours for Elodin, trading stories of the hunt and speculating on his intent. Elodin never arrives, leaving Kvothe frustrated after investing roughly fifty hours into the task.