By having Daumel assigned as my guard, I was finally allowed to move around inside the
…Magic sure is convenient.
Thanks to Daumel coming, I could now go to the orphanage and the Library, which helped keep my spirits up.
Deep snow had sealed off the Temple, and family visits had become fewer and farther between, but being able to sequester myself in the Library eased my loneliness somewhat. While reading, at least, I didn't feel lonely.
The Library was freezing cold, though, so no matter how many layers I bundled up, I couldn't stay long, and both Daumel and
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, rather than sequestering yourself in the Library, wouldn't it be better to ask Lord
"Daumel is quite right, Mine. If you keep going to the Library so often, you'll ruin your health."
Surprisingly, Fran and Daumel got along well. You could say their opinions aligned, or rather, Fran was accustomed to how nobles operated, so they meshed nicely and seemed to work together smoothly.
"…Chief Priest. So, is it all right if I bring books out of the Library?"
"Only my personal belongings. With the dedication ceremony approaching, it would be far more troublesome if you caught a cold. …Heh, this means I win."
Just as I'd expected, the Chief Priest, who had learned the theory of reversi in no time at all, looked at me and grinned. Taking a child seriously — honestly, I questioned his maturity as an adult.
"I think a Chief Priest who takes children seriously is terrible."
"I don't want to hear that from someone who goes all-out against a beginner. Is that just sour grapes?"
The Chief Priest was childish at times, but he was a good person. He lent me books, and whenever I couldn't bear the loneliness anymore and barged into his room, he would let me stay, in exchange for organizing paperwork or doing large volumes of calculations.
He usually made an awful face about it, but when I was in a state where I couldn't spare a single thought for those around me, the Chief Priest's feelings aside, I had no problem.
"Mine, morning. How are you doing?"
"Are you bedridden?"
On days when the blizzard wasn't too severe, Turi would come with Lutz. Turi was currently struggling to learn her letters. She brought the children's Holy Book used as a textbook at the Temple school, along with a slate and stone stylus, and studied together with the orphanage children.
Lutz, who could read and write without any trouble, checked on the progress of the handwork projects, helped the gray priests teach the children letters, and apparently taught
"Who might this be, Shrine Maiden Apprentice?"
"Daumel, these two are my older sister Turi and my friend Lutz. They come here quite often, so please remember them."
I introduced Turi and Lutz to Daumel, and introduced Daumel to Turi and Lutz, who were staring up at him with mouths agape.
"Turi, Lutz, this is Daumel, who will be serving as my guard from now on. He's a member of the Knights' Order."
"…Knights' Order? That's amazing!"
"A noble is Mine's guard!?"
Daumel received their sparkling gazes of expectation and envy, and his expression became slightly strained.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, what am I supposed to do in a situation like this?"
"I think you should just smile nicely."
Wearing a stiff grin, Daumel responded to the two of them.
Later I heard that Daumel, who had grown up practically never leaving the Noble District, had never interacted with commoners, and because he was low in the nobility's hierarchy, he had never been on the receiving end of envious gazes. He said he had an older brother but no younger siblings, so he didn't know how to interact with small children.
"Well then, Mine. Lutz and I are heading to the orphanage."
Turi lightly patted my clinging hand as she said this. I shook my head without letting go.
"I'm coming along today too. The Chief Priest said it was fine for me to walk around the Temple when Daumel is with me, and I want to check on the Temple school's progress too."
Until now, I'd always stayed in the room whenever the two of them came, but today, with Daumel here, I could go to the orphanage too. Taking along
"The Shrine Maiden Apprentice is the orphanage director? …You're quite short on people, aren't you."
"Yes, the shortage of personnel is serious. The Chief Priest also has his hands full with an enormous amount of work, so I try to help however I can. Though in my case,
I'd stuck my nose into all sorts of things on my own, so I didn't think there was any need to explain that in detail. In reality, when something important came up at the orphanage, it was the Chief Priest who signed the documents. I was merely a middle manager overseeing the orphanage's daily operations.
"You were also helping Lord Ferdinand with his paperwork, so the Shrine Maiden Apprentice must be quite capable."
Daumel heaved a sigh. When the Chief Priest had been in the Knights' Order, he apparently detested the incompetent who didn't try, gave those with lesser abilities more than twice the assignments of others, and ruthlessly cut loose anyone who didn't make an effort. Considering his reputation for turning his attendants into top-tier people whether they liked it or not, I thought his hot-blooded approach to training hadn't changed one bit.
"Fran said that the Chief Priest never gives assignments that can't be accomplished even with effort?"
"…Keeping up with Lord Ferdinand's assignments is proof of excellence. I've never even been given an assignment by him directly."
For Daumel, who grumbled about wanting assignments from the Chief Priest, I decided I'd ask the Chief Priest next time to "please give him some assignments." I was sure the Chief Priest would be delighted to hand them out.
"Lutz, Turi, welcome. Oh, Rosina. Is
"Myne-sama, who is this distinguished-looking gentleman?"
"He is a knight serving as my guard. He is very kind and faithful to his duties. He would never do anything improper to the children. Right, Daumel?"
"Ah, I have no intention of doing anything improper. It would go against my oath as a knight."
Wilma, who basically only knew the tyrannical blue priests and nobles who came seeking handouts, still kept her guard up against Daumel as she ushered us inside.
"It's warm."
Daumel's eyes widened in surprise as he said this.
The orphanage dining hall had been thoroughly prepared for winter, with the hearth blazing red and warm. And in order to save firewood, the men's wing was empty during the day, with everyone spending their time in the dining hall. The high population density meant it was naturally warm.
"We worked hard on our winter preparations, and there are a lot of people."
In one corner of the dining hall, the Temple school was in session, teaching letters, while apprentices who had already mastered the alphabet were hard at work on winter handwork in another section.
"Oh, it's already started. Mine, I'm heading over."
"I'll go check that out too."
Turi headed toward the Temple school, while Lutz went to the section where handwork was being done. I made my way to a table that was easy to see from while not being in the way.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, what exactly is going on over there?"
Daumel pointed at the Temple school corner with a puzzled expression.
"They're teaching the children letters."
"…Letters? To orphans? Whatever for?"
Here, reading and writing were privileges of the upper class. The idea of orphans being able to read must have been inconceivable to him.
However, considering that some of the orphanage children would become attendants, they had a higher chance of being taught literacy than the children of downtown craftsmen. It was more efficient to boost literacy among those who would need it most rather than trying to teach craftsmen's children.
"The Temple's orphans will eventually become attendants or work as laborers in the Noble District, so we're teaching them letters and numbers now. That way, their work will go more smoothly."
"I see. That saves on the trouble of training them later."
While watching the gray priest serving as teacher read from the children's Holy Book and have the children write each basic alphabet character on their slates, I discussed the next picture book with Wilma.
Since we were making books about the gods' dependents for each season, I showed Wilma excerpts compiled from the thick Holy Book. She went through them, correcting passages here and there, and adding poetic expressions.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, what is this?"
"It's a children's Holy Book I made to help them learn their letters. With this, they can memorize the gods' names and divine instruments."
"…Oh."
Daumel leafed through the children's Holy Book with visible interest.
"Right now, it only covers the Supreme God and the five great gods, but I plan to make books about the dependents going forward. You need the gods' names even to grant blessings, after all."
"That would certainly be convenient. I struggled to memorize them myself."
Daumel let it slip that knowing many gods' names was advantageous when dealing with magic. In that case, if I made an easy-to-understand picture book that served as a kind of god dictionary, nobles would surely buy it. Working up a profit calculation in my head from this invaluable feedback from a noble's perspective, I giggled.
"Wilma, let's play karuta together."
"Wouldn't Myne-sama like to join as well?"
It seemed that after reading, playing karuta had become the custom. Karuta cards were scattered across the floor, and Turi was staring at them with a scowl.
"Turi, you've got a scary look on your face."
While outside my room, I was not allowed to drop my polite speech even when talking to Lutz or Turi. Fran and Rosina had told me this, and though it made me itch with discomfort, I addressed Turi in a refined tone.
Turi's brows drooped slightly, and she let out a quiet sigh.
"…You see, I'm the absolute worst at karuta."
The orphanage children had learned while playing together, and since they'd been using the set ever since I gave it to Gil, many of them could pick up a card instantly just by recognizing the picture, even without knowing the letters.
But Turi, who still hadn't memorized her letters and wasn't familiar with the gods, found it extremely difficult. The difference in foundation between her and the children who played every day was enormous, especially since she could only come when the snow let up.
"Practice makes perfect, so you'll just have to try over and over. How about starting with just being able to pick up the cards for the gods in the textbook?"
Since Wilma had painted both the reading cards and picture cards, the gods' faces and features were perfectly matched. You couldn't win without memorizing both the reading and picture cards, so the only option was to start by consistently picking up the ones she had memorized.
"I'll try my best."
I tried my hand at karuta too, but the kids who played every day were strong. It wasn't even a contest. Also, there were apprentices near adulthood, and their longer arms gave them an unfair advantage.
In the afternoon, it was time for Turi's sewing class. She mainly taught the girls simple mending techniques. Since this was already several sessions in, Turi looked the part of a teacher, and the children had learned to mend hems on their own. Even though they were hand-me-down clothes, their appearance had improved considerably.
"Gil, they're all bundled up in winter gear. Where are they off to?"
I could see the boys, led by Lutz, dressed warmly. It wasn't a blizzard, but snow was still drifting down.
"Lutz said they're getting ready at the workshop."
"Gil, do you know what they're getting ready for?"
"Preparing for paru gathering."
Clear winter days were always paru gathering days. Preparing early in the morning on the day itself was tough, so they were apparently getting everything ready in advance.
"Then, make sure to prepare thoroughly, and bring back plenty on the day."
"Right!"
The orphanage children had, of course, never gathered paru before either. But with so many of them, they were sure to collect a large haul. I was already looking forward to seeing how many they'd get.
"Mom can't go this year, so paru gathering might be difficult."
As I watched the boys rush off to the workshop to prepare, Turi let out a sigh.
I was always on the sidelines, and Mom was pregnant, so there was no way she could climb trees. Dad was likely busy with work, so he couldn't be fully relied upon either. Turi lamented that we might not get our winter sweets this year.
"Weren't you going to take the orphanage children? I was planning to give you our family's share of paru as thanks…"
It would indeed be hard for Lutz to lead all the children on his own. My words made Turi's eyes light up, since I'd been counting on her help and intended to secure paru for our family in return.
"That's great. Thank goodness. I thought we might not get to eat paru cake this year."
Once we picked the paru, we'd extract the juice, press out the oil, and bake paru cake in a press — it was a family tradition. This year, I planned to do the same at the orphanage. For that purpose, I'd even bought a larger iron plate.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, what is paru?"
"They're tree fruits that can only be picked on clear winter days, and they're very sweet."
Nobles probably didn't go paru gathering. Daumel furrowed his brow as if he couldn't picture it.
"Myne-sama, are paru sweet?"
The children who had been clustered around Wilma must have caught what I said, because they approached with eyes sparkling with anticipation. The orphanage had so many people that sweets were rarely available in daily life. They looked like they were about to drool just hearing about it.
"Yes, they're very sweet and delicious. I love them myself."
"Wow, that sounds amazing!"
"Turi, you absolutely have to take us!"
The children had been thoroughly convinced that Turi and Lutz were the ones who took them into the forest. Surrounded by a handful of children, Turi beamed.
"Sure, let's go together. But to gather paru, we have to head into the forest really early in the morning on a clear day. You'll have to wake up early and get ready. Can you do it?"
"We can!"
Then, several days later, the long-awaited clear sky finally arrived. Brilliant light streamed from the morning sun, reflecting off the snow, and even through the curtains of my bed canopy, I could see the air glittering.
Before Deria could come to wake me, I jumped out of bed and leaned over the railing, calling down to the floor below.
"Gil! Gil! Today's the day for paru gathering! Let the orphanage children know and have them prepare quickly!"
Gil, who apparently was already awake and dressed, shouted "Right!" and dashed out of the room. Deria, who had been preparing the room, grabbed my arm with a furious expression.
"Myne-sama! Please stay in bed until I come to wake you! And do not lean over toward the staircase in your nightgown! Honestly! How many times do I have to tell you!?"
"Deria, it's paru gathering day, so Lutz and Turi will be coming very early. I have to get dressed right away."
The commoners set off for paru gathering in sync with the opening of the gate at the second bell. Lutz and Turi would surely arrive at the orphanage early too.
My words made Deria sharpen her eyes and her voice.
"That is not in the schedule!"
"Whether the blizzard clears is up to the Life God Everilde's divine will. Even I can't predict it."
I hurriedly got dressed and waited for Turi and Lutz to arrive. I could eat breakfast after seeing them off. Fran, who must have noticed us bustling about upstairs, also began preparing to receive our guests.
"Mine, morning! Dad has the day off, so he says he's coming along today."
Just as I'd predicted, Turi burst in at the time when the others would normally be sitting down to breakfast. Behind her stood my father.
"Dad! It's been forever!"
As Father entered the hallway, I raced down the stairs and leaped at him with a thud! He caught me firmly in one embrace, then lifted me up. I ran my fingers through his coarse beard, and we looked each other in the face at about the same height.
"You're looking well, Mine. You haven't had a fever?"
"Nope. Whenever I start looking unwell, Fran rushes me straight to bed. And if I actually get sick, I end up drinking horrible medicine. There's no room for my temperature to go up."
"Good to hear."
While Father listened with a smile, I snuggled up to him and gave him updates. Turi pulled a bottle from her pocket.
"Mine, you said you were running out of this, right?"
Father set me down, and I reached for the bottle. It was the bottle of natural yeast. With me away from home, Turi had been taking care of it in my stead. I took the faintly warm bottle and hugged it close.
"Thank you, Turi."
"I just wanted to bring this over and see your face, so we'll head out to gather paru right away. Lutz is already at the orphanage."
"Okay, gather lots! I'll have fresh fluffy bread ready for lunch when you get back."
After seeing the two of them off, I let out a contented sigh. Even the briefest time spent with family made me happy. And this afternoon would be paru processing and paru cake baking.
"Fran, could you deliver this to
"Understood."
After handing the bottle of natural yeast to Fran, I called out to Rosina.
"Rosina, once you've finished your Feischpiel practice, please go tell Wilma to start the preparations."
"Understood."
I practiced Feischpiel until the third bell, then went to help the Chief Priest. I was told I was "unusually cheerful" as I went about my tasks. The mere thought that Father, Turi, and Lutz would be joining us for lunch today, having returned from paru gathering, made my heart sing.
Before I knew it, the fourth bell had rung, and it was time for lunch.
"Well then, I'm going for my meal. Please don't leave the room until I return."
"Understood, Daumel."
Daumel's lunch was to be prepared in the Chief Priest's room. My room's stores couldn't sustain a full-grown man.
When I received word from Ella that lunch was ready, I waited fidgetily for everyone to return.
"Mine, we're back! We got tons!"
"Welcome home!"
Shortly after noon, all three returned with satisfied smiles. The strategy of numbers had been formidable indeed — they had apparently collected quite a lot of paru.
While savoring the fluffy bread made from the natural yeast Turi had brought, we discussed the afternoon's plans.
"Afternoon is processing, right? In the workshop or the dining hall?"
"We can extract the juice in the dining hall, but for pressing out the oil, wouldn't it be faster to use the press in the workshop?"
The workshop had a press for wringing water out of paper. With Father and the gray priests helping, there'd be no need to painstakingly hammer everything out. My suggestion made Lutz furrow his brow.
"…But the workshop is cold. And when it's cold, the paru gets hard, so it'd probably be easier to use hammers in the warm dining hall."
"With so many people, if we have enough hammers, shouldn't we just do it in the dining hall?"
Father's words settled the matter — paru processing would be done in the dining hall. Turi seemed more interested in what came after the processing than the processing itself, and she asked me in a fidgety manner.
"Where are we baking the paru cake? The basement of the girls' wing? The kitchen here?"
"The basement of the girls' wing, as planned. …If we bake them in the kitchen and the smell spreads through the district from Ella's, won't that cause trouble for people who use the press cake as animal feed?"
"That would be trouble."
Lutz, who raised chickens, grimaced. Paru press cake was excellent winter feed. People who raised livestock would be in serious trouble if they could no longer get press cake that was practically free.
Paru cake was something we could enjoy quietly among ourselves. There was no reason the batch we made at the orphanage should spread to the downtown district.
"In the afternoon, we'll divide up the paru into our share, Lutz's share, and the orphanage's portion, then do the processing in the dining hall, okay?"
"Then I'll teach the girls how to bake paru cake in the basement of the girls' wing."
After lunch, the three of them immediately headed to the orphanage to start working. I waited for Daumel to return before heading over myself. The only one staying behind was, predictably, Deria, who said she didn't want to go to the orphanage.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, what exactly is going on here?"
Daumel took in the state of the orphanage, and his face went rigid.
In one corner of the dining hall, children were holding pierced fruits and catching the thick, slow-dripping white juice in cups. In another corner, several men were swinging hammers with tremendous bangs, smashing open the fruits. To someone who had never seen paru before, it must have looked quite bizarre.
"Over here, we're extracting juice from the paru fruits, and over there, they're pounding the juiced fruits and pressing them to extract the oil. The leftover press cake becomes a delicious treat, so the girls should be hard at work in the basement."
It seemed Turi was doing her best, as a sweet, lovely fragrance was already wafting up from the basement.
She had mixed goat's milk, eggs, press cake, and paru juice — all ingredients Wilma had secured that morning — and was baking paru cake with butter. I closed my eyes lightly and drew the intoxicating scent deep into my lungs.
After I'd asked Rosina and Fran to prepare plates, some time passed before Turi came up from the basement carrying a plate stacked with paru cake.
"Oh, Mine. You're here? Perfect timing. I've already started baking a bunch."
Behind Turi was another apprentice, also carrying a plate stacked with paru cake. The two of them lined up the plates in front of me.
"Mine, you're the lookout. Make sure nobody sneaks a bite, got it?"
At Turi's words, I nodded with a small laugh. At the very least, nobody here was reckless enough to pilfer paru cake right in front of a blue shrine maiden apprentice, only to be punished for it afterward.
"Wow, that smells amazing!"
"Looks delicious~"
The children who had been extracting juice spotted the paru cake accompanied by the sweet aroma, abandoned their work, and came running over.
"Not yet! You can't eat until the work is done. He who does not work shall not eat."
At my words, the children scrambled back to their stations.
Mixed in with those footsteps, I heard a sound like a gulp behind me. When I turned around involuntarily, Daumel's gaze was locked firmly on the paru cake.
"…Shrine Maiden Apprentice, what is this?"
"I want some" was written all over Daumel's face. Since he was a noble, he probably had access to sugar, so sweets weren't exactly rare for him, but perhaps he was curious because it was something he'd never seen before.
"It's paru cake, made from paru. You didn't seem familiar with paru, so this must be a first for you — quite a rare treat. Would you like to join everyone?"
"Ahem! Indeed. Since I'll be coming to the orphanage often, I suppose I am somewhat curious about what kind of food is served here."
Once the extensive paru processing was finished, the girls and children carried the paru juice, oil, and press cake down to the girls' wing basement, while the men took the tools used for processing over to the men's wing to clean up.
Fran and Rosina began cutting the paru cake into portions, distributing it to the children who had lined up with plates. I asked Gil to deliver some to Deria, who was minding the room, and to set aside portions for the children helping Ella in the room's kitchen.
Everyone assembled in the dining hall, and plates were laid out before them. The dishes that Fran had brought from the room were placed before me and Daumel.
"Well then, let us say grace."
At my words, the children crossed their hands before their chests and offered the pre-meal prayer.
"We give thanks and pray to the Supreme God, who rules the lofty, vast sky and blesses us with the sustenance of countless lives, and to the five great gods, who rule the broad, boundless earth, and receive this meal in accordance with the divine will."
Father and Turi watched, somewhat dumbfounded, as everyone recited the prayer smoothly, but these were words I had learned by eating here regularly. A quick glance told me that Daumel was also chanting the prayer as though it were the most natural thing in the world. So nobles prayed the same way.
Once the prayer was finished, the children dove into the paru cake as though it were a race. I watched them, then took a bite myself.
"Amazing! It's delicious!"
"It's sweet!"
Amid the children's joyful cries, Daumel, eating beside me, had frozen with wide eyes.
"Shrine Maiden Apprentice, is this something the commoners eat regularly?"
"Not regularly. It's something we enjoy in secret. Did it suit your taste?"
When I asked, Daumel slowly let out his breath.
"It's too good. …Do the children here live at a level comparable to nobles? Learning to read and write, having access to such sweets…"
"This is an orphanage. I imagine it's quite different from noble life. We went out to the deep, snowy forest at the crack of dawn to gather this paru ourselves. Paru can only be picked on clear winter mornings, so they're not something you can buy."
Daumel ate the paru cake with an expression that still didn't quite look satisfied, but from that day forward, he started urging me to visit the orphanage on clear winter days. It seemed he had taken quite a liking to it.
And it wasn't only Daumel who had taken a liking to the paru cake. The orphanage residents felt the same way.
"Myne-sama, this is really delicious."
"When will the next clear day be?"
"There's still plenty of paru press cake left, so let's make more. You can use press cake in other dishes too, so please look forward to it."
The result of sharing the recipe I'd given to Lutz's family with Wilma and the others who cooked for the orphanage was that the children's paru cake wars grew even more heated.
That was winter life at the orphanage, with paru.
For Daumel, it was one surprise after another, but since he was a noble who didn't know about other orphanages or life at the Temple, he simply assumed this was how orphanages were.
Next time: the dedication ceremony.