Ah. Watching the
latest video, some of the NPC's have 13 topics, and that's just at the start of the game.
Okay, yeah, I see why a keyword system is the only way to do that.
I did note that some of the keyword were ambiguous like "Return Staff", which asks "do you have it?". Maybe if you haven't found it yet, that option could mean "What will my reward be?"
Esmeralda has an "Evidence" keyword, but again, that's just her asking if you have found any. Maybe before then, that keyword could be for her telling you something about what she knows about her husband's murder.