The snow in the forest had started to melt, and plants were beginning to bud here and there. Turi, who had gone to the forest, told me so.
The fact that children could now go collecting in the forest meant that the winter confinement — which had left me with no way to read and far too much time on my hands — was finally over.
At last, I could make clay tablets!
I wanted to go to the forest and make clay tablets too.
Turi said there was still a lot of snow left, the footing was bad and hard to walk on, and there weren't many things to collect yet. But for me, whether there were many or few things to collect wasn't really the issue.
What I wanted was clay soil, and if I dug for it, it would be there.
As long as I could get to the forest, I'd win.
Of course, there was no way anyone would let me go to the forest alone, so I needed Turi to act as my chaperone.
First, in order to coax her, I sidled up close and tried to butter her up.
"Please, Turi. I want to go to the forest too, and I want to get along with everyone. Please take me along."
"You can't walk, Mine, so it's no use."
Turi's answer was exactly the same as before. She still had no faith in me, but if I gave up here, it was game over.
"I've built up a little stamina. If I can't make it, I'll just wait at the Gate. Please."
Turi was reluctant, but I had been doing radio calisthenics every day, being as careful as I could about food, and following Turi to the well when she went to wash dishes — I'd been doing my best to build up my stamina in my own way. I figured I should be able to manage by now.
"...Only if Dad says it's okay."
Turi gave up on chasing me off herself and punted the decision to Dad.
In truth, if I ran out of stamina and ended up waiting at the Gate, we'd have to clear it with Dad anyway, so that couldn't be helped.
Next, I set about persuading Dad.
"Dad, can I go to the forest too? I haven't been running a fever as much, right?"
"Yeah, well..."
Over the winter, I had been very careful about my health, so I only collapsed from fever — a grand total of five times.
Oh, that's not a lot, right? It had dropped way down.
The whole family praised me, saying "Wow, amazing!"
Because I wasn't feversick as often, I got to eat proper meals more often. And naturally, my nutritional state improved and my body grew a little bigger. I still hadn't reached the average for my age, but my stamina should have increased too.
"If it's really too much, I'll rest at the Gate. Okay? Okay?"
Hmm, Dad was deep in thought. He hadn't rejected me outright, unlike Turi, so there was still hope.
To get permission, I clung on desperately.
"I'll get used to it eventually. There are kids who get taken to the forest at age three, right? If that's the case, there's no reason I can't go."
"Well, sure, those kids exist... but those three-year-olds are little terrors who can't sit still at home, so they're being sent outside, you know?"
"...So you're saying if I throw a tantrum, you'll send me out?"
"There's no need for a tantrum. Stop thinking up stupid ideas."
If I didn't get Dad's permission no matter what, spring would be here and Mom would start her work soon. Then I'd be sent off to Grandma
That was mentally unbearable. I genuinely hated it. I absolutely didn't want to go. I didn't want to see a child being neglected.
"Dad, you're worried because I don't have enough stamina, right? What would it take for me to go to the forest? What would make Dad feel it was okay?"
"Yeah, well..."
Dad lightly closed his eyes and thought.
I waited patiently for him to come up with an answer.
"...For now, walk to the Gate."
"To the Gate? How long is 'for now'?"
"Until you can walk there by yourself. Once you can keep up with everyone, you can go to the forest."
As expected, he wouldn't let me go to the forest that easily. My grand ambition of making clay tablets felt like it had receded a little.
But being allowed to walk to the Gate — Dad's workplace — and build up my stamina there was probably the maximum concession he could make for me, the daughter with the lowest trust rating.
Tch. I wanted to go to the forest so badly. My clay tablets...
I couldn't go to the forest, but at least I wouldn't have to go to Grandma Gerda's, so this was probably the best compromise.
"...Fine. I'll do what Dad says."
When I reluctantly nodded in agreement, Dad's expression softened with relief. Maybe he'd been thinking I'd throw a tantrum if I wasn't satisfied.
"Hey, Dad. Walking to the Gate — does that mean going back and forth to the Gate?"
"No. You should have
"Huh? ...Is that okay?"
Dad had been so jealous and hostile about having Otto teach me characters before. What kind of shift in attitude was this?
As I tilted my head, Dad relaxed his brows a little.
"Mine, your body is weak, but Otto said you're smart. He said if they're looking for work for you, work that uses your head would suit you better. He suggested teaching you characters and finding you a job that's easier on the body."
For my muscleheaded, doting father to receive that kind of persuasion on my behalf — Otto was so wonderful I was on the verge of tears.
I never would have predicted that Dad would approve of me learning characters from Otto.
"I thought since Mine is dexterous with her hands, she could do that kind of work, but Otto said work that uses your head pays better and is easier on the body."
"Work that uses your head? Like what?"
I couldn't think of any kind of mental labor in this world. Was there even intellectual work you could do without physical stamina?
"Well. He said a scribe who writes documents on behalf of the government or the nobility can work from home, as long as they feel well enough."
Writing documents in place of others — so like a paralegal? That did sound like something you could do from home if you had the qualifications. I'd never actually obtained a qualification, so I wasn't sure.
"Otto is a Soldier, but he used to be a traveling merchant. He still has connections with the commercial guild. The jobs your Mom and I could introduce you to aren't a good fit for Mine, so it's important to keep your connection with Otto."
...Dad, who'd been so jealous of Otto, was suddenly looking like such a great father!
"Thank you, Dad. I'll do my best!"
Dad patted me lightly on the head, then turned to Turi.
"Turi, will you cooperate?"
"...Mine can't handle it."
She shook her head vigorously. Turi, who would pretty much agree to any request from her little sister, absolutely refused to take me to the forest.
Dad didn't seem inclined to overrule Turi's opinion either, and nodded gravely.
"I know. But Mine will be the one in trouble if she can't make it to the forest."
"That's true, but... she'd be in the way..."
"Exactly. As things stand, she'd be in the way."
Not just Turi, but Dad too clearly said I'd be in the way. Even though I knew it myself, hearing it stated so bluntly in front of me still stung a little.
"At the very least, you need to be able to walk at the same speed before we can move together to the forest. So first, walk to the Gate. Until you can walk to the Gate, Dad will go with Mine. Once Mine can make it to the Gate, I'm asking Turi to help out."
"...If that's the case, I'll try my best."
Turi, who had a strong sense of responsibility, nodded firmly, but I felt my shoulders slump a little. The family's assessment of my physical stamina was still bottom of the barrel.
Right. They thought I couldn't even walk to the Gate. Even though lately I'd been going all the way to the well without getting that out of breath.
The next day, when the sun had risen a bit higher in the morning, I set out for the Gate with Dad. I could only go to the Gate when Dad was on the day shift.
The gate guards' work was divided into three shifts: the morning shift from before dawn until midday, the day shift from before noon until the gate closed, and the night shift from before closing until dawn.
Until I could walk to the Gate on my own, I would walk there with Dad during his day shift, and then either come home with Turi and the others if I was feeling up to it, or wait until Dad's shift ended and walk home with him.
"Don't overdo it, okay? Keep an eye on Mine for me."
"Yeah, I know. Let's go, Mine."
"Bye!"
I waved to Mom, who saw us off with a worried face, then held Dad's hand and walked to the Gate.
I'd gotten past the state where just going down the stairs required a rest, but once we reached the main street and walked a little, I was already panting.
Come to think of it, I'd been carried, pulled in a cart, or given piggyback rides — when I thought about it carefully, I'd never once walked to the Gate on my own two feet.
"Mine, are you okay?"
"Not... yet... I'm fi..."
If I gave up now, I might never be allowed to go to the forest again.
Driven by that sense of urgency, I said "I'm fine," but my body was anything but fine. Everything felt heavy — I wanted to just sit down right there.
"You don't look fine at all. ...Up you go."
Dad stopped on his own authority, scooped me up in his arms, and I immediately slumped against him, gasping for breath.
No good! I'm dying!
The family was the right call. I couldn't make it to the forest.
After being carried for about half the distance, I arrived and immediately collapsed to rest in the guardroom. Honestly, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I must have looked so exhausted that Dad left me lying on a bench in the guardroom and walked away.
After noon, I finally managed to sit up.
"Hey, Dad. So I'm going to be having Otto teach me characters — won't that take up too much of his time? What about Otto's work?"
Otto had his own duties as a gate guard. Teaching me characters was definitely not part of a Soldier's job, as far as I could tell.
"Otto's job is to teach characters. He's been assigned new recruits."
"New recruits?"
"There are about five apprentices who just finished their spring baptism. Teaching those kids characters is Otto's work."
Soldiers were required to be able to read and write to some extent. If they couldn't read and write names and job titles, they couldn't stand guard at the Gate.
"So I'll be learning alongside them?"
"Well, yes. But technically, you're not an apprentice Soldier — you're Otto's assistant."
"Assistant?"
Could someone really take a child as an assistant? I mean, not to toot my own horn, but I looked like a three-year-old girl. I didn't think anyone would accept the idea of me being an assistant.
"Mine. You helped with Otto's work, didn't you?"
"The accounting reports and budget, yes... but that was just calculations?"
I'd helped Otto exactly once. He'd asked me in confidence, so I'd judged it better not to mention it to Dad. But apparently Otto had reported it despite the risk of being reprimanded.
"Yeah. He'd been saying for a while that leaving all that work to Otto alone was too much of a burden, but there was nobody to help. That's when Otto said he wanted to teach you characters and make you his assistant."
Getting taught characters was my side of the bargain, but his desire to have me as an assistant was no joke either — he'd been completely serious.
"In effect, you're being hired as Otto's personal assistant. But we can't put a pre-baptism child to work, so we're going with the pretext of teaching you characters to get you into the Gate. Your payment will be stone styluses. You can take sick days whenever you're feeling unwell. And budget-wise, Otto argued pretty forcefully that there couldn't be a cheaper assistant."
So it seemed I was expected to learn characters from Otto while helping out with paperwork. A stepping stone toward next year's budget season.
And the fact that he'd gotten his superior to approve treating me as an assistant so the stone stylus salary would come out of the budget — that was pure merchant thinking. He knew how to turn a profit without denting his own wallet.
"Mine, we're about to start — you ready?"
"Yes."
Otto came to get me, so I picked up my tote bag and moved from the guardroom to the training room.
In one corner of the training room there was a wooden table and chairs, and five boys were seated there. They must be the apprentice Soldiers Dad had mentioned.
"Mine here is the squad leader's daughter. She's been helping us with paperwork. This time she'd like to learn characters, so she'll be joining you. Don't cause any unnecessary trouble."
He introduced me like that, and then Otto-sensei's lesson began.
He began writing the basic alphabet — something like an alphabet — on the slate. First, I'd need to memorize all of these, or nothing else would work.
"That's all thirty-five basic characters."
Today, he wrote five of the thirty-five characters on the slate while pronouncing them out loud. I'd already been taught a few of them before, so I picked them up without much difficulty.
"...Mine, you really do pick things up fast."
"I like this kind of thing more than running around."
Unlike the children of this world, I was used to studying, and I had absolutely no resistance to learning — which I believed contributed to picking things up quickly. There was a saying about how loving something made you good at it.
Compared to the boys, who were holding a stone stylus for the first time and had to start from the very basics of how to draw strokes, I felt sorry for them.
"Otto, I think we should wrap up the character study soon."
"Huh? Already?"
By my sense of time it had been about thirty minutes, but for the boys, the task of sitting still and writing must have been painful. They'd already started squirming around. That was a clear sign they were getting bored.
"Thirty minutes of concentration is too much for someone who's never held a stone stylus before. After a bit of character practice, we should move on to calculations. Have them draw a map of the town. Teach them the Soldier's code. Mix in some exercise. That way, they experience a little bit of many things in one day, and it sticks better."
Given their ages, I should model it after an elementary school schedule. Even Japanese elementary students couldn't sit through an entire day of nothing but hiragana drills. Children in this world who weren't used to sitting still would have it even worse.
"Let's move on to calculations. Starting from counting."
Since they sometimes went shopping, all of them could count up to about ten. Though a few looked a bit shaky, so I had them count out loud while writing numbers zero through five on their slates.
Once again, just as all of them started squirming in their seats, I called it a day and chased them off to do some physical training.
"Let's stop here for today's lesson. Make sure you memorize all the characters and numbers we learned today before next time. If you haven't memorized them, that child's study time will be extended way beyond everyone else's. Memorizing characters and numbers is an important job."
With that, I quickly dismissed the children.
As Otto walked me back to the guardroom, since I no longer had any reason to stay in the training room, he wore a pained expression.
"Mine, with such an easygoing approach, they'll never learn."
"Hmm? But if they start feeling anxious about it, it takes even longer. The amount I taught today is plenty for one session. Don't compare them to me."
"Oh... right."
He seemed to realize he'd been unconsciously comparing them to me and scratched his cheek sheepishly.
"Besides, if they review and still haven't memorized it, next time they won't be allowed to go home until they do. It's their own responsibility. It's not as soft as you think."
"Huh. Self-responsibility is pretty harsh for fresh recruits."
I laughed along with Otto's wry smile, then quietly let out a breath.
Nobody told me I'd be helping with new recruit training, and having those kids around meant I couldn't get any of my own studying done.
When we returned to the guardroom, Otto used the remaining time for my private lesson.
He wrote out words for me, and I practiced them on the slate. Otto did his paperwork during my practice time.
"Alright, Mine, since you seem to have learned the characters, let's start on vocabulary. I'll teach you the most commonly used words first."
"Yes!"
And so I began learning vocabulary during Otto-sensei's private lessons — but every word he taught me was related to supplies or gate guard work. It was pretty clear he was dead serious about having me help with paperwork.
Probably, once I got a little proficient, he'd shove me into paperwork well before next year's budget season.
Because the first words he taught me were 'person identification,' 'Nobility,' 'letter of introduction,' and 'petition of grievance.' Nobody uses those in daily life! If he'd started with the supplies list, I could have learned the names of fodder, food, weapons, and armor...
As I scratched characters into the slate, Dad came to get me. It was just before the gate closing, so Turi and the others must have returned from the forest.
I put my slate in my bag and headed home with everyone.
"Turi!"
"Mine, let's go."
A group of children carrying baskets for collecting, tools, and all sorts of things stared at me — the girl carrying nothing but a single tote bag.
"Huh? Mine?"
"Turi's sister? I've never seen her before."
When I flinched at the rude stares from these grubby children and ducked behind Turi, she gave a wry smile.
"It can't be helped. Mine almost never comes outside."
It seemed that Mine, who rarely made an appearance at local events, was treated like a rare monster among the children.
Turi assured me "You'll be fine — people aren't going to bully you just for looking at you," but their stares still stung.
"Mine's coming home with us too?"
"
Seeing a familiar face, I felt a wave of relief. I looked around for
"Huh? Ralph isn't here today? Is he sick?"
"Ralph turned seven this spring, so he's working today."
"Oh..."
So Ralph was only seven. I'd known his age from Mine's memories, but with his solid build and responsible nature, I'd just assumed he was eight or nine.
Come to think of it, Lutz had gotten taller over winter too, hadn't he? Maybe the laws of genetics applied here as well.
Mulling over these thoughts, we started walking home. The children, their forest collecting done and loaded with goods, naturally quickened their pace, eager to get home as fast as possible.
The ones who stayed behind to look after me as I fell behind from the group were Turi and Lutz.
"Everyone, slow down!"
"You okay, Mine?"
I was trying my best to walk, but the group pulled further and further ahead. The kids were merciless. They wouldn't wait for the slow one.
"Everyone's so fast..."
"Sorry, Lutz. Mind looking after Mine? I need to keep an eye on the others."
Since Turi was the oldest among the pre-baptism children, she prioritized looking after the group over her little sister.
"Sure. Mine, walk at your own pace. Even if you get tired, I've got my own load today so I can't carry you."
"Okay."
The only one willing to walk slowly alongside me as I fell behind was Lutz. I didn't want to burden him any further, so I deliberately slowed my pace without holding back.
"What were you doing at the Gate, Mine?"
"I was learning characters."
"Characters? You can write!?"
Lutz looked at me with complete astonishment.
I thought I saw respect shining in his eyes, but I really hadn't learned enough words to say I could write. Being looked at with those sparkly eyes made me uncomfortable.
"I can barely write my own name properly. I'm still practicing."
"That's amazing, Mine! You can write your own name!"
Huh? The respect had fully taken root?
I never would have guessed that just being able to write your name would earn you that much respect.
But when I thought about it carefully, for farmers, being able to read and write was something only the village head could do — and Dad had said that even being able to write people's names was pretty impressive.
I'd thought of it as first-grade elementary level, but in this world, that was apparently respect-worthy...
I was starting to understand just how rare it was to be able to help with paperwork. No wonder Otto was willing to invest in training me ahead of the other Soldiers.
If people were already satisfied with me being able to write names, there was no way anyone would teach me to draft documents.
"Pant... pant..."
"Mine, you okay?"
For me, memorizing characters was easy, but building up stamina was hard.
Escorted by a worried Lutz, by the time I reached home, I was so exhausted I could barely speak.
Sure enough, I came down with a fever and spent two days in bed.
"That's why I told you not to push yourself!"
Mom was fuming, but my stamina was steadily improving. Where I would normally have been bedridden for five days, I was up and about by the third.
Walked to the Gate with Dad, made it halfway before being carried the rest of the way. Afternoon spent practicing characters and helping with calculations. On the way home, walked with everyone, immediately fell behind, was gasping for breath, and got fussed over by Lutz. Got home, collapsed again.
I repeated this cycle for about a month, but my stamina genuinely improved.
Where I'd gone one day and rested three, it became two days of rest, then alternating days of work and rest. By that point, though still slow, I could somehow make it to the Gate.
Then it became two days on, one day off. Then three days on, one day off.
The first time I made it to the Gate five days in a row, the whole family threw a big celebration.
"You did it, Mine! You made it every day without a break for the first time!"
"Your stamina has really improved! Dad's so proud!"
"You should be able to go to the forest soon."
The family had made a big fuss over me, but right after, I came down with a fever and spent two days in bed. Things didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped.
About three months after I started walking to the Gate, I finally got permission to go to the forest. It was late spring, when the first hints of summer were beginning to appear.
It took roughly three months to build up enough stamina to walk about thirty minutes on foot.
As for practicing characters, things were going quite smoothly. Over those three months, I'd learned to read and write 'person identification' and 'letter of introduction to the Nobility.' But I still hadn't learned many words that would be useful in daily life.
Next time, we finally reach the forest. I'll make my clay tablets.