My arms had been pulled back and I couldn’t move them, someone had grabbed me and begun running. I tried my best to resist, but my attempts to do so were in vain and could only claw against the thing I was trapped in. I could see light seeping through the tiny gaps in the cloth, I had been stuffed into a bag.

  “H-help me…”


  “Myne! Tuuli!”


  “Let them go!” I heard Lutz and Damuel yelling at the culprit outside the bag and footsteps chasing me from behind.

  It turns out that Tuuli had been snatched too as I could hear her shriek. The sounds from the main street faded into the distance, so the kidnapper had probably ran into one of the alleys.

  “Captain! Myne has been kidnapped!”


  “Release my daughter!”


  I heard Otto yelling after us as well as Dad who was booming with rage, then I felt myself fly through the air. The kidnapper had probably dropped me to defend himself against Dad’s attack. But I couldn’t see what was happening and could only let myself hit and roll across the ground.

  “Ouch!”


  “Myne!”


  “Sister Myne!”


  I heard Lutz and Gil yell for me and felt them pull the bag up such that I was now sitting on the ground. My eyes shifted around in the dark as I felt the bag being yanked open, and I could see again

  I squinted my eyes because of the light and continued sitting on the ground as I waited for my eyes to readjust back to the light. Lutz and Gil watched over me as Damuel guarded my surroundings with high caution. Dad was armed with his spear and stood behind him along with Otto.

  “How about Tuuli?!”


  “She’s there,” Gil responded with rage and frustration.

  I looked towards where he gestured towards and saw that Tuuli had been taken hostage. The culprit had a knife to her throat and was trying to use her to escape. Tuuli looked at the knife utterly petrified.

  “N-no…” she begged as the colour drained from her face and tears poured down her face.

  I could feel the mana within me rising and my body began to hear up. In that moment I felt something break inside of me.

  “Sister Myne?!”


  I got onto my friend. My body was burning like scalding water, but my head felt clearer than ever. I had spent the last year offering my mana to the temple almost everyday, and there was the recent ritual too. All of these had given me plenty of opportunities to practice my mana. Back with the incident with the High Bishop, the Crushing had affected everyone around me, but I could now direct it towards a single person, that was what my body was telling me.

  “Hey. What on earth are you doing to my Tuuli?” I questioned the man who had his knife against Tuuli’s neck.

  The expression on his face changed from that of anger and anxiety to a purplish colour, as though he was suffocating. He struggled to escape from my Crushing, but he could not move an inch. He could only stare ahead with a panicked expression.

  “Take your filthy hands off my Tuuli and get lost. Otherwise, it will be you who will meet your end here.”


  It felt as though time was slowing down as I watched the man twitch and foam began dripping from his mouth. I continued to put more power behind my mana.

  “Kh… Ah!”


  He let out a groan when something launched towards him and pierced him through his arm.

  “What?”


  I was shocked by what had happened and came back to my senses. Dad, armed with a dagger, seized the chance to charge at the man. The man had yet to recover from the Crushing so he took the full brunt of the dagger.

  “Ah!”


  He yelled in pain as blood spilled from his wound. Dad pressed him against the ground and Tuuli fell to the ground.

  “Tuuli!”


  “Are you okay?!”


  Gil and Lutz dashed towards Tuuli and wiped the man’s blood from her face.

  “…I-I was so scared,” Tuuli cried as she crumbled onto the ground.

  I was about to run over to Tuuli when I caught a glimpse of something shiny in the corner of my eye. I flipped my head around to see the other man Dad had fought with and who was probably the one who kidnapped me, raising his hand towards the sky. He had a ring around his finger and the feystone in it was glowing. I immediately knew that he was channeling his mana into the ring. I turned towards Dad who was busy with the other culprit and yelled, “Dad! Watch out!”


  “Dad! Look out!”


  Dad turned back as Damuel screamed, “Gunther! Step back!” and launched himself towards Dad to push him away.

  “Ngh?!”


  He stood before Dad and released a shield over his left arm that blocked out the beam of mana that had been launched towards them. The man probably did not expect his attack to be negated as he retreated from Damuel in shock.

  “Gunther, this guy is a mana-wielder. I’ll handle him! All of you need to retreat to the temple and get Ferdinand!”


  “Got it! Otto, grab Myne!” Dad ordered as he carried Tuuli into his arms because she was too weak to stand and began running towards the main plaza. Lutz and Gil regained their sense and ran behind him too. Otto picked me up and we all dashed back to the temple.

  “Myne, there’s blood…”


  Otto said with a frown, looking sympathetic towards my pain. I looked at where was was looking and saw that blood was flowing from my knee to my ankles.

  “It was probably because I was thrown onto the ground.”


  I didn’t feel any pain because I had been so overwhelmed with emotions. It was only when I had seen the wound did I feel a sharp sting on my knee. The sight of my own blood made me recall the blood that had spurted from my kidnapper.

  “…Otto, this isn’t good right, like, we really need all the help we can get?” I was hesitant to ask as I watched everyone dash through the crowd in the main plaza.

  Otto responded in shock, “Are you joking right now?!”


  “I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble if we called for help.”


  I rubbed some blood from my knee onto my thumb and pulled out the necklace I had been wearing all the time. I pressed my blood-soaked thumb onto the obsidian-looking stone. For a brief second the stone shone yellow, but that was all except for the small yellow flame that was now burning inside the stone. This stone was likely a magic tool that would reveal my location to Sylvester, but there was no sure way to know what it was used for.

  “What is that?”


  “A protective charm. I’m supposed to use it if things get dangerous.”


  I tucked the necklace back into my shirt and could only wait to see what it would do. I could see that we were now approaching the Gilberta Company.

  “Tuuli, Lutz, go back in with Otto and stay with him,” Dad instructed them as he placed Tuuli in front of the door.

  Lutz responded with bated breath, “Mr. Gunther, let me—”


  “You’ll just make it harder.”


  Dad cut Lutz off before he could say he wanted to come with us.

  “But Gil is going!”


  “Gil is a temple attendant, not you. You can’t fight and will only be a burden,” Dad’s words were brutal, but it was for Lutz’s sake. Otto had placed me down when Dad turned around to face him with a heavy look

  “Otto, please look after Tuuli. I’m taking Myne back to the temple.”


  “Captain, Myne, please stay safe, alright?” Otto clenched his fist and raised it up. Dad returned the gesture and bumped Otto’s fist.

  “Nothing will happen, we have the Knight’s Order now.” Dad responded and raised his fist towards the sky.

  We raised our heads to see feystone highbeasts soaring above us, they were heading towards the direction of where Damuel was. At the speed they were moving, they were likely to reach Damuel soon.

  “Myne, let’s go.”


  Dad carried me and made a dash towards the temple.

  Volume 7, 8: Understanding Both Sides (Part 2)

  “Good morning.”


  “Welcome. Oh look who it is! Gutenberg! Lady Myne is here!” A smith I was unfamiliar with greeted me and shouted Gutenberg with a great big smile. It turns out that using the term Gutenberg here was now a norm. Johann trudged into the lobby of the workshop and muttered under his breath to stop calling him Gutenberg, but no one paid it any attention.

  “Lady Myne, how can I help you? The styluses are still in work.”


  I asked Johann to make lots of styluses to be used on the wax paper, so it would take a little longer before he was done with them.

  “I was thinking to have some apprentices work on these instead. I would like to make some small bells.”


  I began drawing out the blueprints for the bells as Johann watched on with zest. As I had predicted, Johann had never made such small bells but just those large ones.

  “Lady Myne, are you going to use these carvings just decorations?”


  “They are needed to make a certain sound. The carvings here don’t have to be that precise, but please try to make them as close as possible to the drawings. The gaps have to be small too so that the balls inside don’t fall out.”


  Bells made different sounds depending on the size of the gap on them, as well as the thickness of the metal, size of the ball and the type of metal used. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t remember the extact details. I only knew that the bells were made from putting small metal balls inside a bigger hollow metal case, such that shaking them made a sound. After all that was done, I needed him to put the small bells into another bigger metal case. We needed to put the bells into another case so that the sounds it made would be more prominent when stuffed inside a toy.

  “…Alright, they seem quite simple. Will you be using these for printing too?”


  “Nope, they are toys for babies. There are things I wish to order that aren’t printing related too,” I pouted.

  Johann gave a cheeky smile. “Wow, I never expected to you order something not related to your books or printing. I was sure that your mind was only filled with books,” he said that with some relief.

  Though my first priority was still Kamil, I was and always am thinking about books. But I wasn’t going to correct Johann’s misunderstanding. I would let him be satisfied with that thought. It was just then that Lutz interrupted.

  “That’s right. Books are the only thing Myne thinks about. It’s too soon for you to think about running away from your position as Gutenberg.”


  “You don’t have to tell me. Couldn’t you just humour me this time?” Johann complained sounding a little exasperated. Lutz gave him a consolation pat and told him to get used to me and that there was no escape.

  “That’s right. Lutz, remember that you’re my first and most commendable Gutenberg,” Lutz’s shoulders dropped just like Johann’s when I said this.

  What’s wrong? I was only trying to praise him. How odd.

  ~~~

  “I’ll be heading home right now,” I announced to Damuel outside the smithy. Just then, a flurry of bells rung throughout the entire town, these were the bells signalling an emergency. In the next instant, a beam of red light pierced through the skies from the direction of the east gate. That was the magic tool used to signal for help.

  Since Damuel was a knight, he was the first to notice the light. He locked his gaze on the red light with a frown and hefted me up into his arms.

  “We need to go now.”


  He began sprinting to my house right after he said down. He was sifting through the narrow alleys and roads at breakneck speed now that he had memorised the topography of the entire lower city. Lutz was doing his best to keep up with a confused look on his face.

  “I am familiar with streets. Lutz, you are free to return home or back to the company. Do whatever you wish,” Damuel spoke up while running. He would usually see me off at the well in the square in front of my house, but this time he brought me up the stairs and knocked the front door.

  “Yes, who is it— huh?! Myne?!” Mum moved to the side to let Damuel through so that he could put me down. Mum was absolutely befuddled when Damuel kept looking back and forth from me and her. He had a very grave expression.

  “Something is going on at the east gate, they have sent a signal for the Knight’s Order.”


  “The east gate?!”


  “The beacon was a small one, so I do not think it is anything serious. They have probably called the knights to assist on something pertaining to the nobles. As such, I shall stay her until we are fully confident of Myne’s safety.”


  Mum was still a little taken aback by the arrival of a knight, but she still understood the severity of the situation. “Please protect Myne.”


  Damuel stood guard at the entrance, ready for any potential danger that could come our way. Kamil started wailing, so Mum went to the bedroom to soothe him, and I took a glass of water to Damuel who was still panting.

  “Oh. Thank you, apprentice,” Damuel downed the entire glass of water in an instant and tried to calm his nerves. I was just going to be a nuisance if I stayed around him right now, so I went to the storage room. I was looking to see if we had any suitable clothes to make the stuffed animal on the rattle.

  “We have lots of white cloth, maybe I could make a rabbit?”


  I chose a few nice looking cloth. After that I sat at the kitchen table and began working on some new stencils. Just then, a white bird that resembled those magical ones burst through the wall towards me. That shocked the life out of me, seeing it appear this unexpectedly, but Damuel didn’t flinch and reached out to receive it. The bird sat on his arm and spoke.

  “Damuel, you are to return to the Knight’s Order after taking the apprentice shrine maiden back to the temple or her home.”


  The bird relayed the orders three times with a low male voice before transforming back into a yellow feystone. Damuel made his wand appear out of nowhere like how the High Priest usually did and used it to tap the stone and muttered some phrases. This made the feystone transform back into a white bird.

  “The apprentice is back at home and is safe. I shall make my way back promptly,” he said and shook his wand which made the bird fly through the wall.

  “Apprentice. I have to return to the Knight’s Order to receive further instructions. No matter happens, you are not to leave the house until I return. Do you understand?”


  “Yes.”


  Damuel warned me again that I not allowed to even step foot into the plaza, after that he made his way down the stairs. I was clueless as to what was going on, but if he had to return to the Knight’s Order, it meant that the situation might be related to me.

  “Myne, where did the knight go?” Mum had finished feeding Kamil and walked out the bedroom with a worried expression. It seemed like she had felt more secure with having Damuel around.

  Right now it was just me, Mum and Kamil, so there was no one to help us if a problem were to arise.

  “There was an order for him to return to the Knight’s Order. If Sir Damuel doesn’t need to be here, it must mean that I am safe, so I doubt that it is anything dangerous or serious,” I said to comfort Mum.

  Mum smiled a little in relief.

  “So he left because the problem has been resolved. That’s good to know.”


  Well we didn’t have to wait for Damuel to return with an explanation because Dad was the one to do that. He had been posted at the east gate this spring and witnessed everything that unfolded today.

  “Dad, what’s going on?”


  “Ah, I think it’s probably best for you to know about it too, Myne.”


  After our dinner, Dad drank his beer and told us, “Some noble from another duchy was causing a ruckus when coming into the city.”


  It turned out there was an emergency because a noble from outside had tried to force his way in. The High Priest had mentioned this before that as of this spring there would be more stringent rules for nobles moving in and out the city. One such rule made it so that the nobles from other duchies could not enter if they did not receive the archduke’s permission. Previously, the nobles could enter with a letter from a noble from the city, but that was no longer the case. The nobles from Ehrenfest were all aware of this because the archduke had briefed them about it during the winter gathering, but the nobles from other duchies were unaware about this. As so, the noble who was turned away by a commoner guard was overtly livid.

  “Those in charge must have expected this to happen so they were prepared for the Knight’s Order to take action if things got bad.”


  “Amazing. The archduke was very thorough about this, huh?”


  Dad continued explaining that he was the one to use the magic toll from the Knight’s Order to call for help. The tool was primarily made of two pieces. The first piece resembled a hammer with a red stone embedded in to and the other piece was another red stone. To activate the toll, you had to use the hammer-like tool to strike the other stone. Fran had probably used a similar one in the carriage back during the Spring Prayer.

  Nobles were free to do whatever they wanted to commoners, but things were more complicated if the nobles of the city got involved. The foreign noble had stomped off in rage when the Knight’s Order explained that he needed the archduke’s permission for entry.

  “Best to let nobles deal with nobles. Frankly, I’m thankful that the knights came to help.”


  “Even so, he tried to enter with a letter from a noble from Ehrenfest, right? So why did that noble even give him a letter if they were already aware that they needed the archduke’s permission?”


  “Who knows.”


  Maybe he gave the letter before spring. I cupped my head and pondered even though though I knew that I couldn’t figure out the answer. Dad turned towards me with a grave expression.

  “Myne, you have to take extra precaution. Do you still remember the High Priest’s words? You’re at risk of getting kidnapped by nobles from other duchies,” he said and I nodded back.

  “I will do my best to guard the fate and call for the knights if things get too dangerous with the nobles. Always remember to stay with your bodyguard.”


  Seeing that Dad was doing his best to protect me made me a little happy. Even though it wasn’t an appropriate thing to do at the moment, I couldn’t help smiling.

  Side Story 1: Ferdinand’s POV - Preparing the temple’s tableware

  “Ferdinand, we’ve got an estimate of the costs. This document is for the furniture that will be going into the room at the castle and this one lists all the costs of the preparations required for the baptism ceremony.”


  Karstedt’s voice reverberated through my room. Recently, he’s been visiting me every single day so I’ve gotten used to his characteristically loud voice. I stopped labouring away on my temple-related office work and glanced at the wooden board he had placed in front of me. The contents written on it were the budget estimations for Myne to become the archnoble lady, Rozemyne. She’s going to be baptised as the daughter of archnobles before being adopted by the archduke. However, unlike a normal archnoble child, the preparations go far beyond her room in the noble’s district. Her room and clothes need to be prepared before she can move into the castle and the same needs to be done in her High Bishop’s quarters. I was the one who originally proposed that Myne should be adopted by a noble. Hence, I can’t allow Karstedt to bear all the monetary costs by himself. As Myne’s guardian, I will be paying the costs for her room at the temple as well as any costs related to the baptism ceremony.

  “…Karstedt, what in the gods’ names is this? Why would you need two outfits for her baptism ceremony? That’s completely unnecessary.”


  “I’m just choosing to buy peace at home with a little bit of money. Wouldn’t you say it’s a necessary expense?”


  “Perhaps it’s a necessary expense for you but it’s unnecessary for Rozemyne.”


  “Fine. I’ll pay for the second outfit myself.”


  Rozemyne is currently away from the temple. I passed her over to Elvira so she could be educated in the ways of an archnoble lady while living in Karstedt’s mansion. She needs to have memorised all the knowledge and behaviour appropriate for a young archnoble lady by the time her baptism ceremony comes around. I’m obviously unable to teach her those things myself. It appears that she’s been getting along well with her new family. According to Karstedt, his first wife Elvira and third son Cornelius have taken a liking to her.

  …It would be a lot easier if I could just leave her be, but…


  Whenever Rozemyne becomes emotionally unstable, it’s easy for her magic to run out of control. She has so much mana that an incident like that could potentially be very dangerous. That has only been further exacerbated now that she has been separated from her commoner family. I visit and check up on her every few days and also receive regular reports from Elvira, however, there have been no signs of her emotional turmoil and her education has also been proceeding smoothly.

  …Personally, I’d like nothing more than to be able to lower the frequency of my visits, but I wonder if that’s going to be feasible?

  There’s a mountain load of work that I have to do while Rozemyne is away from the temple. In addition to my usual temple-related work, I also have to conduct interrogations of Count Bindewald and the former High Bishop, erase any and all traces of Myne when she was a commoner and do all of those things while preparing for Rozemyne’s baptism ceremony and subsequent adoption by the archduke.

  But with all that said, it’s still not a good idea to ignore Rozemyne while focusing on my work. I have no idea what she’ll end up doing if I don’t keep an eye on her. As soon as I turn around, it feels like she always catches a fever, faints and collapses or gets herself involved in some kind of troublesome situation. I’d be troubled if she causes even more problems that she does now. She’s the sort of person who must be kept under surveillance at all costs. As I was considering various things in my mind while carefully reading Karstedt’s wooden board, Fran entered the room.

  “High Priest, Lord Karstedt. There’s something which I wish to consult with the two of you about. May I have a little bit of your time?”


  It seems like some kind of problem came up while they were preparing the High Bishop’s quarters. I turned towards Fran and nodded to indicate that he should continue.

  “I know I was instructed to select Lady Rozemyne’s tableware with the utmost care, but…”


  As I listened to Fran’s words, I couldn’t hide the frown that naturally showed on my face. I recalled a time when Myne had asked to eat lunch with me so that she could use it as a reference for a stereotypical noble’s meal. Hence, I had invited her over to eat during one of her regular harspiel examinations. The tableware used at the time should have been no different from those regularly used by nobles. I hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but I believe there shouldn’t be any problems with using that as a point of reference.

  “Rozemyne can continue using her personal coat of arms which was embroidered on her apprentice blue shrine maiden ceremonial costume. I don’t think there’s anything worth worrying about.”


  “No, the problem here is that Lady Rozemyne hasn’t changed her tableware at all since joining the temple.”


  “But when I had a look, it didn’t seem like it was tableware brought from her commoner household. I remember receiving a report stating that the Gilberta Company had prepared various things for her kitchen and bathroom. Did they not also change all the tableware back then?”


  Fran withered under my stern gaze as if he found the topic difficult to talk about.

  “Until now, Lady Rozemyne has been using the tableware which Sister Margaret left behind in the orphanage director’s quarters. They’ve got Sister Margaret’s coat of arms on them, albeit in an inconspicuous location.”


  Looks like her bed wasn’t the only thing that Myne was reusing. Her tableware was also a hand-me-down.

  “Considering she’s supposed to be Karstedt’s daughter who was hidden away in the temple, it certainly will be a problem if others find out that she’s been using tableware with someone else’s coat of arms.”


  I had heard she’d been using the furniture which was already in the room, but I didn’t think she’d been using the old tableware as well. If she’s willing to pay one large gold to enter the temple’s library, I wish she’d also be as willing to spend that money on the necessary expenses to protect herself. This is giving me a headache.

  “From now on, Darmuel is no longer going to be her only guard coming in and out of the temple. You have to make sure to carefully select all the tableware she uses so that others don’t notice anything strange.”


  Darmuel knows that Myne was a commoner, however, from now on there will also be various female knights who accompany her. Although her retinue won’t be very big, it doesn’t change the fact that nobles will be entering her living quarters.

  Since the title of High Bishop has changed hands, there is also a high possibility of blue priests coming to visit her. If she has any guests, she’ll have no choice but to prepare tea for them so the matter of her tableware is something that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. That will be one more addition to the list of things for Karstedt to worry about. Fran turned towards Karstedt with the worry apparent on his face.

  “I understand that this is a matter of utmost importance, but we don’t have the authority to order something made with the coat of arms of Ehrenfest. I’m sorry to say this, but may I please burden Lord Karstedt with this task?”


  Only the castle’s exclusive crastman is allowed to make tableware with the duchy’s coat of arms. It’s illegal for anybody else to imprint the duchy’s crest on their wares. Karstedt nodded in understanding while saying “So that’s why you needed my presence as well”.

  “In that case, I’ll just order the same kind of tableware that they use in the castle. I’ll get it done now.”


  “There’s no need to be in such a rush, Karstedt. Order something different for the tableware she’ll be using in the temple. I want to give others the impression that she’s been using it for a long time. It’s best to not leave any loose ends hanging.”


  As I emphasised the importance of matching the fabricated tale of Myne being hidden and raised in the temple, Karstedt scrunched his eyebrows in irritation.

  “Are you telling me to order new tableware with my household’s crest? If we do that, it won’t match the narrative that I was keeping her hidden. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use the crest of Rozemary’s family, Joisontak?”


  “Elvira will be named as the mother at the baptism ceremony so it’ll be important to clarify the familial relationships. Besides, although we made up the setting that Rozemyne is the third wife’s child, we already decided that we wouldn’t publicise it. There will be problems regardless of what crest we end up using, but matching her family is probably the safest bet.”


  With Elvira’s warnings and advice, we ended up slightly changing Rozemyne’s background story from the original script. A certain degree of ambiguity will be necessary. But even as I gave him my explanation, Karstedt was apparently not willing to budge on his stance of refusing to get new tableware with his family’s crest. As Karstedt sat there frowning, Fran decided to speak up to him.

  “Lord Karstedt, there are plenty of blue priests and shrine maidens in the temple who have placed their family crest in inconspicuous locations. Even if most of Lady Rozemyne’s belongings have her personal coat of arms, the narrative will be more believable if Lord Karstedt’s coat of arms were also present in some discrete spots.”


  “Is that so…?”


  Even with Fran’s added explanation, Karstedt still looked skeptical, likely because he was unfamiliar with customs in the temple. At that moment, I finally understood the problem with Karstedt’s thought process. Among nobles, it’s commonly believed that a child who is hidden and secretly raised will eventually become a servant of the household when they grow up.

  “The status of a child who was hidden and secretly raised in a mansion in the noble’s district is different to that of a child who was entrusted to the temple. Most of the blue priests and shrine maidens in the temple have clear connections to their families. They receive an allowance from the archduke and will often carry the tithes that they collected during the Harvest Festival to their family’s domain. It would be very inconvenient for them if they had to hide their relationship to their relatives.”


  Even though blue priests and shrine maidens are not raised in the noble district, that didn’t mean they had completely cut off all connections with their family of origin. There’s always a chance that they’d be allowed to return if an emergency occurred.

  “I see now. It seems I had some misunderstandings. Very well. In that case there shouldn’t be any problems even if I were to use my coat of arms for Rozemyne’s tableware.”


  It looks like we’ve finally been able to ease Karstedt’s worries.

  “That will do for the coat of arms, but what about the design itself? I think it will definitely be strange if all the tableware is exactly the same as the ones we have at home. After all, children usually use their mother’s chosen workshop.”


  Karstedt’s concerns weren’t unfounded. If the mother’s identity was supposed to be hidden, then they couldn’t use the same designs as the ones at Karstedt’s house which had been chosen by his first wife Elvira. If that were to happen, it’d be the equivalent of saying Elvira has been hiding her own child from herself.

  “Well then, what kind of design should we go with…?”


  “High Priest, since you are Lady Rozemyne’s guardian at the temple, why don’t we use a similar design to your tableware? I don’t think it would be unnatural to assume that you were heavily involved in her decisions…”


  I carefully considered Fran’s proposal. Certainly, this doesn’t sound like a bad idea. It seems like Karstedt arrived at the same conclusion. He gave an impressed nod to signify his approval.

  “Ferdinand, what kind of tableware do you use?”


  “The same stuff as before. I haven’t changed my tableware in a long time.”


  I instructed my attendant Rotal to bring us one of my tea sets. I had been using it from way back, even in the castle before I’d been forced into the temple. As soon as Karstedt saw the large prominent Ehrenfest crest engraved on it, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

  “Did you really use this while you were in the temple…? I’m amazed that Lady Veronica didn’t throw a fit over it.”


  “Pfft, do you really think she gave permission? She gave instructions to the former High Bishop that people in the temple were not allowed to use anything symbolic of the archduchal clan. As a result, he complained to me about it all the time.”


  After chasing me out of the archduchal clan and taking away my inheritance rights, Veronica continued to complain, claiming that I shouldn’t use any tableware that hinted I was a part of the archduchal clan.

  “But as you know, I don’t actually have a mother.”


  During my baptism ceremony, that person refused to be named as my mother. As a result, she personally ruined any possibility for me to have a coat of arms other than the one for Ehrenfest. If she’d just swallowed her pride and reluctantly agreed, my coat of arms after entering the temple would have been her family, Gibe Groschel’s crest.

  “Besides, the mansion I received from my father upon reaching adulthood was the place where Lady Irumhilde originally resided. Obviously, all the crests in that mansion represented the archduchal clan. I don’t have any other crests I can use.”


  Lady Irumhilde was the daughter of the second wife of the archduke from two generations ago and hence was my father’s half-sister. She caught an illness during her childhood which left her unable to bear a child. Hence, instead of marrying into another duchy, she decided to work as an assistant to the archduchal clan and was granted a mansion in the noble’s district. If she hadn’t perished just before my baptism ceremony, she would have been named as my mother. But I only barely knew her for half a year so my memories of that time are rather vague. But I remember her being a kind woman with neat and tidy hair. She was very gentle and caring and I distinctly remember that on our very first meeting, she asked me “Do you perhaps feel any discomfort from being touched by me?” while stroking me with her slender white fingers.

  “Did Lady Veronica not think of instructing you to design a new coat of arms for personal use?”


  “Of course she did. But I entered the temple so I could cut my ties with that woman. Why would I need to follow her instructions afterwards?”


  She called the former High Bishop to the castle numerous times but Veronica never stepped foot in the temple herself. As a result, I made it my policy to ignore all her requests and let Sylvester take care of things on his end. Upon hearing my cynical explanation, Karstedt shrugged his shoulders while Fran smiled and decided to return to the topic of Rozemyne’s tableware.

  “A mere grey priest such as myself is unaware of the ins and outs of noble society, but if we imitate the High Priest’s tableware, wouldn’t it be rather fitting for a daughter of the archduke?”


  “Hmm… Put Rozemyne’s personal crest here and put Karstedt’s crest in some sort of inconspicuous location. Since I’ll be the one placing the order as her guardian, the design itself will resemble tableware used by members of the archduchal clan and it will be difficult to immediately spot the connection to Karstedt.”


  As he listened to my mutterings, Karstedt nodded and commented “We’ll go with that”.

  “Should we make Lady Rozemyne’s tableware a different colour to yours, High Priest?”


  Upon hearing Fran’s words, I stopped and contemplated for a few seconds.

  “Tableware for members of the archduchal clan are usually made in the colour of their birth season. If we follow that tradition, Rozemyne’s would be blue. However, since I’m not a child of the first wife, I wasn’t permitted to use the usual shade of green for mine and could only choose a dark green colour. Rozemyne is also a child who was raised in secret and isn’t the first wife’s child either. In which case, a lighter or darker shade… It might be a good idea to slightly change the colour.”


  “Hmm… Then how about dark blue? It would also match Rozemyne’s hair colour.”


  I simply nodded in response to Karstedt’s suggestion and said “That sounds good to me”.

  Fran also jotted it down in his notes.

  “High Priest, what is the meaning of the letters engraved inside this cup?”


  “They’re acronyms for my name. Everyone in the castle uses tableware with the same designs. This makes it easier for attendants to differentiate between them.”


  “Oh, so that’s what they’re there for? There are all sorts of fussy rules for the tableware in the castle and you can’t even make them to your own liking so I’d always let my attendants take care of those things.”


  Karstedt gave a deeply satisfied nod as though he had just solved some kind of mystery. This is only something I’ve heard about from others, but until Sylvester was born, Karstedt had been raised in the castle as an archduke candidate. Afterwards, he was probably stripped of the position by Veronica. I’ve heard people say things along those lines. Although, it does feel like Karstedt better suits the description of a knight commander rather than an archduke candidate. As such thoughts were running through my mind, I noticed that Fran was staring at a magic circle on my tea set which had lit up.

  “High Priest, I’ve noticed that many of the blue priests and shrine maidens have their clan’s coat of arms in the centre of their saucers or on the outside of their cups, but your tableware has magic circles on them. Is this something that’s necessary for Lady Rozemyne?”


  “No, she won’t need anything like that.”


  In a hidden spot on the bottom of my cup, I have placed a detoxifying magic circle. It activates if I touch it and supply mana to it. It’s currently activated since I’m holding it.

  “You actually made an effort to hide it?”


  “Of course. It’s amusing to watch the reactions of the person who poisoned it as they wonder why the poison isn’t working.”


  I couldn’t actually make an effective magic circle for this purpose until I was in my 3rd grade of studies at the Royal Academy. It was only in my senior years that I was finally able to hide my detoxifying magic circles without Veronica noticing. Personally, I wish I had this magic circle available to me before I got used to all the poison. Now that Veronica is no longer in power, it’s all gone to waste since there’s no longer any opportunities to use it.

  “Alright, I will order a new set of tableware with this design in mind. High Priest, Lord Karstedt, I gratefully thank thee for your generous advice.”


  “Fran, write it down on an order slip and pass it to me when you done. I’ll send it over to my exclusive craftsman.”


  Since I’m Rozemyne’s guardian, it’s more appropriate if I’m the one to make the order. Fran and Karstedt nodded without any complaints. With the topic of discussion finally over, Karstedt got up and walked from my work desk to the dining table.

  “That was a pretty tiring discussion.”


  It seems like he wants to take a break. I passed the tea set I was holding in my hands over to Fran.

  “Fran, it’s been a while, but may I burden you with the task of preparing tea?”


  “Understood. Would some reffel-scented Gruchtee suffice?”


  Volume 7, 8: Understanding Both Sides (Part 1)

  I was hit by the shockwave of Delia’s shouting “Geez!” when I reeturned to my chambers. Wilma exchanged befuddled looks. Delia was always happy ever since Dirk appeared in her life, so it had been a while since we last heard her this furious.

  “So you heard Delia too.”


  “What’s going on?”


  “Let’s go in, apprentice,” Damuel said with a cautious look. I quickly walked into my chambers and saw that Fran and Delia were arguing.

  “You can’t trust the High Priest!”


  “Yes, we can.”


  This didn’t feel like a two-way fight, but more of Delia grinding her teeth at him. This was such a weird combination that my eyes grew wide with surprise.

  “Fran, Delia, what is the matter?” I asked.

  That was when they had noticed my return. Fran made a shocked expression and quickly apologised to me.

  “Welcome, back Sister Myne. I apologise for letting you see this.”


  Fran had quickly went back to his professional attitude, but Delia was still furious and she ran up to me yelling, “Sister Myne! What on earth is he talking about?!”


  I was confused with what she was referring to.

  “Uh, what do you mean?”


  “Delia! You are not to be disrespectful to your mistress,” Fran berated Delia, but she ignored him and shook me by my shoulders.

  “I want to know what you mean that Dirk is going to be adopted!”


  “Delia, I’ve said this countless times, Arno mentioned that that will not be happening. Stop bothering Sister Myne.”


  Fran pulled Delia way from me whilst maintaining a calm facade. I was still confused with what she was talking about. I didn’t know anything about this too.

  …Is anyone… going to… explain?

  It turns out that Wilma was befuddled by this situation too, she just started at Fran and Delia wide-eyed.

  Uhm, what does one do in this situation? Ah yes, yes, I need to get both of their perspectives.

  I recalled the advise the High Priest had given me, which helped me to better handle this situation. I took a deep break and addressed Wilma first.

  “Wilma, I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to escort me back. You are free to return now. It wouldn’t be good if something happens in the orphanage if you stay away any longer.”


  “Yes, Sister Myne,” Wilma gave her goodbyes. She proceeded to walk out but kept looking back at Fran and Delia on the way out.

  “Sister Myne!”


  “I will continue speaking to both of you upstairs. Delia, please make some tea first.”


  I made my way upstairs with Fran while Delia left to boil some water for the tea, hopefully, giving her something to do would help calm her nerves. We met Rosina on the second floor, she was looking at the harspiel with droopy eyes. When she saw me, she stumbled a little as she got up to greet me.

  “Rosina, what’s going on?”


  “I do not know. Delia woke me up, but I don’t recall what she said.”


  Rosina woke up from her nap because of Delia’s yelling. Rosina’s words had a harsh undertone, which revealed her annoyance at this situation even though she didn’t express it on her face.

  “Rosina, feel free to rest a little longer in your room.”


  “Thank you, Sister Myne.”


  Rosina stumbled back into her room while I sat in the chair Fran pulled out for me. I was planning to hear his side of the story first.

  “Pardon me, but I couldn’t quite understand what’s going on. Would you kindly explain the details to me, Fran?”


  “Delia ran into Arno on the way back from the orphanage. Arno was on his way here with a message from the High Priest, so they walked here together. I was still resting in my room when Delia yelled for me and I came out to meet him.”


  Fran, just like Rosina, had been abruptly awaken by Delia, but he was made to meet Arno and listen to Delia’s yelling. If I had been there, I could have met Arno instead.

  “I apologise that I was not present to help.”


  “Please don’t apologise, Sister Myne,” Fran shook his head. “Even if you were around, I would very much like to be present when Arno is passing a message along.”


  It seemed that he felt like it was his responsibility to hear any messages from the High Priest, regardless if I was around or not.

  “I could have easily handled Arno who needed to pass on a message. Delia’s sudden outburst was what caught me off guard.” Fran turned his head towards the kitchen and sighed. I had never seen Fran this exasperated before, which goes to show how far Delia had gone today.

  “What did Arno say anyways?”


  “The High Priest tried to look for someone to adopt Dirk, but it wasn’t successful just as predicted.”


  Fran told me that the High Priest tried to find someone who could adopt Dirk after my request. Arno came over to pass the message; even though they couldn’t find a potential parent yet, there was still some hope and that we should continue caring for him in the orphanage.

  I was give up on this when the High Priest told me that baby boys were unpopular choices in adoption. Instead, I was planning to conjure up a contract with Dirk when I get adopted by a noble.

  It was painful for me to admit this, but I kind of forgot that I had asked the High Priest to search for someone to take in Dirk.

  Well, I’m really too blunt.

  I was taken aback by everything Fran said. Apparently Delia had heard everything he said while she was carrying the tea over. She slammed the tray of cups onto the table and glared at Fran with daggers in her eyes.

  “Why is the High Priest the one searching for someone to adopt Dirk anyways?!”


  Recalling how Fran explained himself, it was apparent that he and Arno didn’t know that Dirk had the Devouring. And based on my observations, Delia was angry that she was left out of the loop of Dirk’s potential adoption.

  I shut my eyes in thought. The High Priest advised me to keep the matter of Dirk’s Devouring under the rug. So there was no way for me to tell Delia that we were searching for someone to adopt him and prevent him from dying from his own mana, right?

  “The High Priest is having fun breaking families apart! He tore Sister Myne away from her family, and he’s trying to do it again with me and Dirk!”


  “How many times must I say that High Priest isn’t such a person?! There must a logical reasoning behind this.”


  From Delia’s perspective, she saw the High Preist as a monster who enjoyed breaking apart families. It wasn’t out of place for Fran to get livid when someone he greatly respected was being talked about in such a manner.

  “Delia,” I puffed out a sigh and took a deep breath before speaking to her again. “We do not have any shrine maidens in the orphanage who can properly care for a baby. As such, I made a request towards the High Priest to seek for someone capable of looking after him, that might be better for him.”


  I became the next target of Delia’s fury. “What?! Sister Myne was the one who wanted to tear us apart?!”


  I shocked my head and refuted what she said. “That’s not it. Do you not recall how you were initially against looking after Dirk? I did it because I thought no one would want to care for him.”


  I could tell that Delia remembered what she said in the past because her expression froze and she stumbled on her words. “T-that… was only on his first day here.”


  “Yes, and that was the same day that I went to talk to the High Priest about it.”


  Delia didn’t say anything else as her rage simmered down.

  “We do not have any experienced nursing gray shrine maidens, and we too, are not well-equipped to look after him. Since no wet nurses want to step foot in the temple, we have Fran and Rosina looking after him at night, which is taking a toll on them. I believed that it was in everyone’s best interest that I find someone to take him in.”


  Though Fran and Rosina had the time off in the afternoon to test and Delia volunteered to care for him longer than her shift, the first few days with Dirk were beyond chaotic. Delia was aware of that, so she didn’t argue any further.

  “I asked the High Priest for help and he did his best to do so. I didn’t set high expectations because he told me in advance that the possibility of finding someone to adopt Dirk was close to zero, but he still did his best.”


  “… Well, I understand it now,” Delia nodded as all her anger faded away.

  “I didn’t think you would be this proactive in looking after Dirk, so I’m thankful that we haven’t found anyone to adopt him yet. Anyways, Arno told us that we keep raising him in the orphanage, right?”


  “That’s right. The High Priest said that we should stay positive about the situation and continue looking after him,” Fran chimed in and Delia looked stunned. She gave me a side glance, as though she was signalling for me to give her the final reassurance.

  “…So you won’t separate us, right, Sister Myne?”


  “Definitely not. I know how much Dirk means to you, Delia, and I myself know how difficult it is to be taken away from your family.”


  “…That’s a relief.” Delia placed her palm against her chest and sighed in relief. “I can’t bear to be separated from Dirk. He’s… He’s the only family member I have…”


  ~~~

  It took Johann ten days to make the iron. Out of all the products I ordered, this was the first thing to be completed, I guessed it was because it was the easiest to make or maybe because it caught his eye the most. Since the iron was ready, I wanted to give improving the stencils with wax a shot, hopefully we could complete it before next production of picture books. It was alright for the wax to be a little thick because we didn’t have a cutter made yet.

  “We can print so much more with these!” I lifted up the stencil and yelled out, but Lutz just crossed his arms with a perplexed expression.

  “…Wait a second, Myne, the High Priest did say to cut back on the printing right? Are you sure we should be ramping up production?”


  “We can keep reusing the stencils with these wax paper, so we can print so much more.”


  “Don’t change the subject!” Lutz roared, but I wasn’t going to stop at stencils right now. I had plans to start woodblock printing for books filled with texts, but I needed to improve illustrations first.

  “This would make work easier for Wilma. Shouldn’t we try to fully utilise these reusable stencils?”


  Lutz was clearly aware how much time and energy it took Wilma to make the art and cut it out.

  He frowned and rubbed his temples. “These will only be used for the illustrations, alright?”


  I only upgraded the stencils for the artwork before giving them to Gil. He was now in charge or all the print work and the gray priests in the workshop.

  Lutz’s workload had lightened up now that Gil was helping out with managing the workshop. As such, Lutz, Damuel and I could take out time visiting the workshop, Gilberta Company and temple on alternate days. It was almost time for the opening of the Italian restaurant too, with only the door and windows left to complete. Every now and then, I would visit the restaurant with Benno before heading to the ink workshop to stay updated on Heidi’s research.

  “Myne, you stopped talking. Is there something on your mine?”


  “Yea, it’s about Kamil.”


  “Again?”


  Though I was practically swimming in work, I was always thinking about new toys for Kamil. I heard from the others in the orphanage that Dirk was completely entranced by the wood rattle I gave him, but it always crashed onto his face whenever he tried to hold it and he would burst into tears. I couldn’t bear to hurt Kamil’s cute face, so I needed to make something better.

  “Lutz, I would like to get some small bells.”


  “What’s it for?”


  “I’m planning to make a smaller rattle for him to hold.”


  Bells were not the only metal things here that made noises, but none of them were small like the bells you would find on an animal collar. It was easy to draw a blueprint of it for Johann but I doubt they were going to make nice jingling sounds.

  “Alright, time to go to the smithy.”


  The smithy was a short walk from the ink workshop, so I decided to pay a visit.

  Volume 7, 7: Delia’s Growth (Part 2)

  “Excuse me, apprentice, but where are your attendants? You can’t walk around without one right?”


  “…Huh?”


  I assumed that I didn’t need one since Damuel would be escorting me, but supposedly a bodyguard was not the appropriate choice. It would be uncouth for a lady to not have an attendant so I had to turn to my last resort.

  “Delia, I need to meet Wilma in the orphanage. I will need you to escort me.”


  “But Sister Myne…” Delia didn’t finish her words as her face drained off colour and she pursed her lip with a frustrated look. I could tell she didn’t want to accompany me but couldn’t reject me due to our positions.

  By now I would have backed down because I didn’t want to force Delia into doing something she didn’t want, but I couldn’t do that with a knight like Damuel pressing me.

  “I only need you to escort me to the entrance to the orphanage. That should be good with you, right? To make it easier on you, Wilma can walk me back here.”


  “…As you wish.”


  Delia walked in the front of us with her shoulders hunched. I was walking in the back but I could tell her whole body was stiff and her step was unstable. Though I couldn’t see her face, I was already picturing her sorrowful expression. Delia stopped right at the entrance to the orphanage.

  “Alright, I’ll take my leave now.”


  “Not yet, attendant. Open the door first. Are you going to make the apprentice, your mistress, open the door for herself?”


  Damuel berated Delia just as she was about to leave. I was not allowed to open the door myself, and a knight couldn’t do so too, that was why attendants were needed to do such work.

  Upon hearing that she had to open the door, Delia’s face completely froze and all the blood drained from her face. But she did her best to seem unaffected and walked towards the door. She closed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw and reached for the door with her trembling hands.

  The door creaked open. The door lead to the orphanage’s dining hall so the place was lined with rows of long tables. At the end of the dining hall laid a large cushion with Dirk on top of it. He was encircled by a group of gray shrine maidens and they all looked towards us when they heard the door open. They turned away from Dirk and knelt down with their arms crossed to greet me.

  “I shall take my leave now, Sister Myne,” Delia muttered with her head down so she didn’t see inside the orphanage.

  “Please do. I apologise for having made you do something you’re uncomfortable with. I give you my thanks, Delia.”


  “You’re welcome.”


  Delia swept her gaze across Dirk just before she turned around, but her eyes went wide and she whipped back around, sprinting right to the end of the dining hall.

  “Dirk!”


  He was close to completely turning over himself as half of him was hanging out the cushion, but he would have fallen off if he continued to roll over. Delia reached out to catch Dirk right before he fell off the cushion.

  “Hey! What are you doing?! Dirk almost fell off! He could have gotten hurt! You’re supposed to look after him!” Delia was burning with rage and she carefully placed Dirk back onto the cushion.

  She was yelling at the gray shrine maidens with good intentions but they were not entirely at fault because they had to keep their heads down when greeting a blue shrine maiden. I shook my head in amusement at Delia’s obsession with Dirk.

  “…Since you’re already in the orphanage, why don’t you stay here and continue looking after Dirk?”


  “AH!” Delia’s eyes and mouth went wide open when she realised where she was. She shot right up and I took the chance to place the rattle I was carrying into her hands.

  “This is a toy that rattles. I was planning to personally give it to Dirk, how about you do it instead? He’ll be happier to receive it from you than me.”


  Delia looked down at the red rattle and her eyebrows knitted together.

  “He can probably see the colour red clearly now. Or should I give it to him instead? But he would probably prefer to have his older sister do so, maybe…”


  I was about to take the rattle back from Delia but she tightened her grip around it and raised it high up so I couldn’t reach it.

  “I’ll leave it to you, then. Wilma, can I talk to you? Everyone else, please continue with your work.”


  Wilma and I sat at one of the tables behind Dirk’s cushion, after which the gray shrine maidens who were kneeling on the floor went back to work.

  “Dirk, look, it’s a toy from Sister Myne. How does it look?” Delia whispered to Dirk as she shook the rattle in front of him. Dirk’s eyes were glued onto the rattle, the colour and the sound was drawing his attention. .

  I wanted to see Dirk’s reaction so that I could predict how Kamil would react to it too. Seeing that Dirk was amused by the toy relieved me, Kamil would probably like the rattle too.

  “Wow, he’s really looking at it,” one of the shrine maidens commented.

  “Do you think he would like music too?” someone else said.

  The shrine maidens were extremely absorbed at the sight of Delia playing with Dirk because they were not experienced with babies. That was when Delia realised that she was outside and others could hear her. She jumped back up and turned towards me with flushed cheeks.

  “Sister Myne, I will take my leave now! Everyone, please look after Dirk.”


  Delia handed the rattle over to a shrine maiden who was standing behind her and ran out of the orphanage. This was the first time she stepped back into the orphanage, and I was pretty sure she would be coming back here more frequently, she was gradually overcoming her fear like Wilma.

  “Sister Myne, do you think Delia is fine? I am sure she is still suffering from her past in the orphanage,” Wilma asked with a worrisome face as she watched Delia leave.

  “…Well. She’ll probably be fine as long as Dirk stays around here. She believes she still hates the orphanage because of her memories in here, but the cellar looks completely different now.”


  Delia had been stuck in that old musky cellar for most her life before she was taken in by the Bishop after her baptism. In her memories, the cellar was a dark and horrible place. After becoming my attendant, she had only passed by the orphanage a handful of times. Delia needed to spend more time here to realise that the orphanage was a different place now. She could start off with getting used to the dining hall first. Moreover, she needed to get comfortable with visiting the orphanage if she wanted to see Dirk. Dirk would be moved to the rooms for pre-baptised children when he stops crying at night.

  “I really want her to stay together with her cute brother,” I said.

  “Every time I visit your chambers to fetch Dirk, Delia always tries to hold onto him as possible with such a sorrowful look. I always feel as though I’m committing a crime by taking him away. I sincerely wish for them to stay together, so it’s best that Delia gets used to to the orphanage soon.” Wilma gave a melancholic smile but she didn’t look exhausted like Fran and Rosina.

  “You don’t look tired, Wilma. Is that because the others here have been helping you?”


  “Dirk is only in my care during the day, and the others do help me too. Rosina and Fran have to look after him throughout the night by themselves, right? That must be tough.”


  Though Wilma only had to look after Dirk in the day, the other children were jealous of that and started acting like babies too. They would ask her to stay with them whenever it was bedtime.

  “You really are the mother of the orphanage, Wilma. It’s been tough on you, having to look after these many children.”


  “I still have memories of my mother looking after me in the cellar before I got baptised, so i want to do the same for these children who have lost their own mother. There’s nothing better than having the kids treat me like their mother,” Wilma cracked into a smile as she thought about the small kids. Seeing her this way made me truly thankful that I had placed her in charge of the orphanage.

  We moved on from talking about Delia to the topic of picture books. I told Wilma that we needed the stencils soon as we would be starting production of the new picture books. Next, I informed her that the coloured ink was ready and that we would be incorporating it into future picture books. We would still be printing the same images, so we would need new stencils for coloured ones. After all that, I told Wilma that she could start drawing more detailed art once the wax stencils were done.

  “You really love books, Sister Myne. It’s amazing how you keep inventing new products to make them… I will make sure I make the best drawings for you.”


  “Thank you, Wilma.”


  Right when we finished our talk and that I had taken the stencils Wilma completed did Dirk get hungry. He was wailing for food and the gray shrine maidens moved instantly to prepare the goat milk before Wilma said anything. They were all used to doing this without Wilma’s help by now. I should take the opportunity to return to my chambers now, I didn’t want to trouble them by staying around because they hand to be mindful of their actions when I was present.

  “I know that it’s hard on you, but I hope that you can continue looking after Dirk. Wilma, will you escort me back to my chambers?”


  I returned to my chambers after exchanging a few words with the gray shrine maidens.

  Volume 7, 9: The Missing Two Persons (Part 1)

  Damuel didn’t return for two days. I was told not to leave the house so I had lots of time to spare. I decided to spend the time to brainstorm the contents for my third picture book and sew up the stuffed animal for the rattles with Tuuli. She wanted to give hers to Corinna’s daughter, Renate.

  “I will give it to her the next time we visit. We will see her soon, right?”


  “It would be impolite of us to not visit after everything the Gilberta Company has done for us, and Benno did give Kamil a gift when he was born.”


  I was planning to see Corinna after everything had been settled and the town was safe, Tuuli was looking forward to coming along too. Babies girls were probably cute too and I wanted to see how Otto fawned over his baby girl.

  “…Ah, this looks bad. Myne’s one looks cuter.”


  Tuuli compared the two rattles and pouted. Her rattled looked something like a polar bear while mine resembled a little bunny. They looked a little misshapened because we had to stuff them with cloth instead of cotton.

  “Your better at sewing them together.”


  My stitching looked bad and messy, but I had to agree with Tuuli that it did look cute. I puffed up my chest in pride at my craft when Tuuli leaned her head over and shook her head.

  “You’re not going to get married if you don’t improve your sewing.”


  “Who cares! I only need books in my life.”


  The ideal wife in this world was someone who was healthy, capable of doing chores and was good at sewing. I didn’t possess any of those qualities so I knew and wasn’t expecting to get married anyways. I would be just like I was as Urano, books would be my only companion in this life. Frankly, I’d rather make and read books forever than get married to someone and be forced to sew clothes for my family.

  We’re just missing the bells to complete these toys, I sighed to myself. But I was surprised by Lutz’s visit on the third evening of being stuck in the house.

  “Johann came over to deliver these. What are you going to use them for?” he asked as he rolled the bells around in his hand. They made a soft jiggle as the small balls moved inside.

  Wow. Johann does it again.

  “They’re small bells that will be going in these toys. They’ll make jiggling sounds when you shake them.”


  The bells had to be stuffed together with the toys so that they wouldn’t be ingested by kids. The eyes and mouths were made with thread, I did not sew on extra cloth so that they couldn’t be pulled off. I had left a small hole on the toys so that I could slip the bells in, and Lutz watched me swiftly complete the toy.

  I shook the toys and they made a cute jingle from the inside.

  Mission complete.

  “Kamil, look at this. Do you hear it?”


  I shook the stuffed rabbit next right at Kamil’s ears which made him blink curiously. He couldn’t raise his head up and look at the toy yet, but I could see his eyes swirling around to figure out where the sound was coming from.

  “Ah so cute! Kamil’s so cute.” I couldn’t help breaking out into a smile when I saw his reaction to the toy. And in the next second, he broke out crying. It seemed that I had lots to work on becoming the best sister.

  It took a total of five days before I saw Fran and Damuel again in the morning. They had came together to take me out my house.

  “Good morning Fran, Sir Damuel.”


  “Good morning, apprentice.”


  Damuel nodded his head to acknowledge my greeting and he turned around to address Dad. He was still home since he was only on the afternoon shift today.

  “Please pardon my intrusion, I am here to escort the apprentice.”


  “I leave her in your care, sir.” Dad saluted by hitting his chest twice with a first. Damuel returned the gesture with a grim expression before speaking.

  “Gunther, Lord Ferdinand has a message for you. The archduke has left the city on business and will not be present to grant entry to any nobles at present. There is a chance that you may come across forged passes, take extra precaution. Do you follow?”


  “Understood, sir!” Dad nodded with a resolved look. My dad always looked so cool whenever he was working.

  “I’ll get going, see you later, everyone.”


  “Take care.”


  ~~~

  Lutz was waiting for us in the square and we walked to the temple together. We were approaching the temple and I saw Fran from a distance and noticed that he had a grim look.

  “Are you ok, Fran? You’re frowning.”


  “I will brief you on the situation later. It is something that shouldn’t be discussed out here,” that was all he said before he went silent and pursed his lips.

  “Everything will be revealed later in the temple, you cannot avoid hearing about it,” Damuel spoke after.

  I raised my head and saw that he was wearing his noble smile, which was pretty much a poker face. His poker face didn’t reveal provide me any clues on what to expect.

  “Ok, I’ll get going first,” said Lutz.

  “Alright, see you.”


  Just like always, Lutz parted from the group at the front of the workshop and the rest of us walked back to my chambers. I waited and watched Fran open the door for me like a noble lady would, but I was stunned by the stillness in the room.

  “…It’s feeling awfully quiet in here.”


  It was quite an awkward tension in the air. If this were like any other day, I would be greeted by Dirk’s crying or Delia playing with him, or the sounds of people shuffling about the room. However, the room was completely still. It was so quiet that I could hear the chefs moving about in the kitchen at the other side of the room. I thought that the room was quiet because Dirk was napping and crept up the stairs.

  I walked up to the second floor and saw Rosina cleaning the table. The sight of that shocked me because Rosina was so careful with her fingers that she only played music and helped with the paperwork. That was why Delia took charge of lightweight chores.

  “Good morning Rosina. Is Delia not around? Is she sick today?” I asked and shift my eyes around to search for her.

  Rosina averted her gaze and set the cloth she was using down onto the table before walking to the closet.

  “Delia is gone. She has returned back to the High Bishop and took Dirk along with her.

  “What?”


  This was such a sudden piece of news that I struggled to understand it. I stared at Rosina with a blank look on my face as she held my robes. I could tell she was struggling to find the words to say. In the end, she just gave me a melancholic smile and said, “Sister Myne, we’ll talk more after you have changed. You will have to change before Fran can come upstairs.”


  I was assisted into my robes by Rosina, and she waited for me to sit down before ringing a bell. After which, Fran came up the stairs with some tea he brewed and poured it into a cup for me. I took a sip of it, Fran’s tea always tasted good, but this wasn’t the time for tea appreciation. I placed my cup back down and raised my head towards them.

  Rosina was the first to speak. “It all started yesterday. Fran and I had retreated back to our rooms to nap, but when we woke up, Dirk’s cushion and diapers were missing. Our worries were fueled on when we noticed that Delia was missing too. I went to the orphanage but Dirk was not there too. Wilma said that Delia had taken Dirk as she said that they had some family bonding to do.”


  Wilma didn’t think too much about it and let her go. She thought that Delia was working hard for Dirk given that she had practically forced herself to enter the orphanage she despised so much to see him. Never would she have ever imagined that my attendant would take him anywhere else but my chambers.

  “Rosina said the same to me too, so I quickly sought a meeting with the High Priest. I felt that the disappearance of an apprentice’s attendant was an important matter to report, and that a search was needed to be done as soon as possible,” Fran spoke in a hushed voice.

  I understood why he did that because Delia might have taken away by a blue priest. However, Fran said on his way to meet the High Priest when he saw Delia carrying Dirk, and she was walking next to the High Bishop. He approached her but was stopped by the High Bishop. In the end, he had to ask the High Priest about it.

  “How could he do that? I understand why Delia would return to the High Bishop since she used to be his attendant, but Dirk has to stay in the orphanage, right?”


  Just sometime ago, I had been told that Dirk couldn’t be taken out of the orphanage to meet the High Priest, and frankly, the High Bishop looked like someone who called children disgusting and lock them in the orphanage until they were baptised. It was extremely odd that Dirk was seen in the part of the temple for nobles only.

  That was when Fran revealed, “Dirk has been adopted.”


  “What?”


  Volume 7, 5: Learning How to Make Coloured-Ink (Part 2)

  And so the next day arrived. Gil, Damuel, Lutz, and I headed to the ink workshop with the paper, brushes, and the rest of our parue oil from the winter. Heidi was pacing in front of the workshop. It wasn’t hard to imagine that she had been dying waiting for us. The second she saw us, her face lit up and she gave a big wave.

  Heidi was impatiently pacing back and forth the workshop, she must have been fervently expecting us. When she noticed us. she dashed over with a bright smile and waved.

  “Good morning, Lady Myne. I was looking forward to seeing you again.”


  “Good morning Heidi. I’ve finished up analysing the data.”


  I showed her all the work I had done when we got into the workshop. She was excited to receive it, but her expression quickly turned into one of disappointment.

  “I can recognise some of the words, but I can’t read most of them.”


  “Well, this occurred to me when looking through my notes…”


  I began reiterating to Heidi all the things I wanted to try, and she approved it with an excited nod.

  “It didn’t occur to me that we can use parue oil too since they are only harvested in the winter. We might get some interesting results! Let’s work on it now!”


  Heidi and Joseph worked together to mix the parue oil with different materials. Heidi mixed in red things while Joseph worked on the blue ones. They grounded and poured them in and mixed it thoroughly, but there were no changes. They both produced the exact same colour as the material mixed in.

  “All the parue oil made the colours we were looking for. That’s fascinating,” I was so surprised that my eyes grew wide. So far, everything we did had made such weird colours that now direct and expected results surprised me. Heidi gave an impressed whistle at the final product.

  “The red looks really bright too. It would be great if parue was around even when it isn’t winter.”


  I agreed with Heidi. Our hands were tied when it came to working with parue oil since it was only available on sunny winter days. This was the best oil so far, but it could not be used for mass production.

  Heidi and I were wallowing in misery about this while Joseph interrupted us with the next experiment.

  “Shall we test the ink we’ve made on the paper, then?”


  Heidi and Joseph took out all the ink we had made. I whispered to Lutz while they worked on that.

  “Hey, Lutz. Do you think we can try making some parue plant paper?”


  I asked with high expectations since the parue oil had worked so well for the ink. Just like how trombes that were feyplants had made such good paper, there was a possibility that parue trees could do the same too.

  “That’s impossible. Parue trees melt away when they get close to anything hot. Nothing would be left if you tried to steam the wood, we wouldn’t get any bark from that.”


  “…Are parue trees that weird?”


  I was never allowed to go to the forest during the winter so I never got to see a parue tree. I hear from others that they were weird but beautiful trees that only existed on winter mornings that were sunny. But that was everything I knew about them.

  “Lady Myne, we’re done.”


  Heidi called out to us and I gestured for Gil to tag along so that he could test if the ink worked with his brush and paper. I brought along some failed paper that were made of volrin and trombe so we could thoroughly test them out. The picture books weren’t going to be made of trombe paper, but there was no harm testing it.

  “…Huh.”


  As expected, the ink’s colour changed when it was written on different types of paper. The colour didn’t change much on the trombe paper, but it appeared washed out on the volrin ones. You couldn’t really tell the different unless you compared them next to each other.

  I tried to brush it off, but the colours kept fading as the ink dried.

  “We might have to make and test other kinds types of paper.”


  I was close to tears when I saw the difference in colours on the trombe and volrin paper. But Lutz seemed unbothered by it.

  “We’re only able to use volrin paper for now, so why don’t we just use colours that work for it?”


  That sounded right. The Myne Workshop could only make trombe and volrin paper, so if we wanted to get the picture books done we needed to make coloured ink that worked well on volrin paper.

  “The red looked so rich and vibrant, but it looks really dark when it has dried on paper. We can draw blood with that.”


  “What use do we have for that?!” Lutz berated.

  I puckered my lips. Maybe a colour to draw blood wasn’t that bad after all. Stories from religion tend to be pretty brutal.

  “…This is getting real difficult,” Heidi blurted out and crossed her arms with her gaze boring down on the ink.

  “Now I know why all those paint workshops are so obsessed with trying to keep their paint recipes a secret.”


  Making ink from scratch and without help was a demanding task. Benno had previously mentioned that making paint was not restricted by any magical contracts, so anyone, including workshops, were free to make it. However the workshops tend to keep the recipes to paint a secret and they did not sell them in the lower city.

  All the paint ordered at workshops were made by nobles, and they had the paint delivered straight to their estates. Rosina was the one who told me this because she herself had served a shrine maiden who adored the arts. Certain colours could only be purchased from the original workshops, so Sister Christine had been a frequent of many.

  “Lady Myne, we should try to find out what is changing the colours.”


  “I said this before, we are only concerned about the final product.”


  I found it commendable that she was so passionate about researching, unfortunately my priority lied in trying to make the picture books for Kamil. I had no plans on getting sidetracked with research right now. I needed to get the ink ready right now.

  “We’ll experiment with layering the ink now. Please, Gil.”


  “Yes, Sister Myne.”


  Gil dabbed the pen in some blue ink and drew across the colours we had tried on the paper. The layered parts quickly darkened. The colours didn’t turn black, but it was definitely a shade darker that what it was previously. None of the new mixture of colours had a bright shade. This moment called for a “Warning: Do not mix ink” sign right now.

  “…Now what?” Gil asked as he held up the paper doused in ink.

  We were all stun locked by the results that we could only stare at it in silence. Joseph was the one who spoke first.

  “Looks like we will have to keep the inks separate for now,” he shook his head with woefully.

  “Painting will still require some ink to be blended together. There must be some secret to making the paint that art workshops make.”


  Heidi made a strong point. There was no way we could make paintings seen in the temple if all the ink turned black when mixed together. I had to find out what was the secret behind the paint in this world.

  “Let’s wrap it up then. All our efforts will be futile if we don’t figure out what turns the ink black.”


  We should consider taking a peep at the secret to making paint from an art workshop, I pondered. My shoulders drooped down, disappointed at how we couldn’t finish making the ink. Today was a failure because the ink was still incomplete.

  ~~~

  I made my way back home with a heavy heart and told Tuuli about what unfolded today as we prepared dinner together.

  “…The ink we made can’t be used. I’m at a loss right now.”


  “Yeah, the ink can’t be turning black when mixed.”


  “I know right? I’m at a dead-end right now. No matter what I do, the ink can’t be used for printing.”


  I pursed my lips as I continued to mix the ingredients into the soup

  Mum was watching us cook as she fed Kamil, after hearing this she cupped her cheeks and asked.

  “Did you not use a fixing agent when writing with the ink?”


  “…A fixing agent?”


  I did come across the word ‘fixing agents’ when reading about photos and paintings back when I was still Urano. However, I was absolutely clueless about what fixing agents were used for here. Mum could tell that I didn’t know about it, so she responded while looking at Kamil.

  “A fixing agent is a type of liquid we used to set the colours in cloth dye so that it doesn’t fade over time.:

  “Mum, could you explain more? How do you make a fixing agent?”


  My eyes lit up hearing about this, but Mum responded with a gaze of worry.

  “Will it be fine for me to tell you more?”


  “After this, I’ll go check if the recipe is restricted by any magic contracts.”


  “…Alright, it shouldn’t be a big deal anyways. I’m sure that you know how to take care of yourself.” Mum sounded a little hesitant but continued on anyways.

  It turns out that the fixing agent was basically made from extracting the sap from a genade tree and boiling it with the stem of a flower plant called heylene until it turns into a thick solution. After that you have to dissolve it down to one-twentieth with hot water.

  “But you need to alter it so that it can be used on paper, and not cloth.

  “Mhmm, thank you, Mum. I’ll do my best.”


  ~~~

  With this new profound knowledge in hand, I quickly got Lutz to gather all the ingredients we needed. Seeing how his look of surprise, Lutz definitely didn’t know about fixing agents too.

  “I never heard about that before. Thank goodness that Mrs Effa had works in a dye workshop.”


  “You’re right. I want to get all the things ready as quick as possible and get things cooking now that Mum has told me how to make them.”


  I was buzzing with excitement to start work, but was interrupted by Lutz and Gil.

  “You just need to tell us how to make it.”


  “That’s right, we should be the one making it. No need to go out of your way to make it, Sister Myne.”


  I wasn’t going to be able to get hands on with the fixing agent if we were going to make it in the Myne workshop. I pouted my lips in indignation.

  I made a request to Benno to see if the fixing agents were bounded by any magic contracts in the Merchant’s Guild. He also gave us his assist in gathering the materials we needed.

  On that very day, Lutz and Gil were about to erupt from sheer joy at what they were going to do. I had all the instructions written down on a board for them, and that was all I could do. But I wasn’t happy that I was left out, so I ranted about the coloured ink to Rosina after our harspiel practice to left off some steam.

  “It’s so unfair that Lutz and Gil get to make the fixing agent right now. Don’t you think so too?”


  I was expecting Rosina to sympathise with me, but she just looked at my in surprise that I didn’t know about fixing agents.

  “Huh? Sister Myne, you didn’t know about fixing agents?” she asked looking flabbergasted. “You need them for every painting. It’s near impossible to paint one without it.”


  I was left stumped, someone this close to me in the temple knew about fixing agents too. They were an essential ingredient when it came to painting. But Rosina didn’t know how to make them since she only every worked it pre-pared ones.

  “… Pardon my rudeness, but do you perhaps not know how to use fixing agents too, Sister Myne?”


  “Unfortunately not. Could I get you to teach me, Rosina?”


  Mum only used fixing agents for dying clothes, but I needed to know how to use it to paint art on the picture books.

  My blunt and desperate request made Rosina giggle.

  “You need to cover the paper with the fixing agent and set it to dry first. Drying it is important so ink doesn’t smudge when you put it on. Sister Myne, you always seem to be omniscient about everything, I was surprised that something this simple has slipped past your nose.”


  “Well I haven’t tried painting or making ink before.”


  “That is right,” Rosina whispered out. She clasped her hands together and gave me a gentle smile.

  “Well then, it would be much better to have Wilma instruct you how to draw once your ink and fixing agent are complete. Art is an essential piece in every woman’s upbringing.”


  “I will note it down.”


  I didn’t want to give a direct answer to her recommendation because I already made up my mind.

  No way, I’m already busy enough as it is.

  But some part of me was fighting that thought, that it would perhaps be a wiser choice for me to learn it now. I was becoming a noble’s adopted daughter in two years.

  With the recipe on how to make a fixing agent, paired with Rosina’s instructions with how to use them, we were able to paint layers of colours without any of them turning black or getting miscoloured. We had successfully made coloured ink.

  Volume 7, 5: Learning How to Make Coloured-Ink (Part 1)

  The edge of a small window was lined with bottles filled with a variety of coloured inks. Each of them was labelled with a small wooden piece that also listed all of its ingredients. Joseph was busy packing them into a short wood box.

  We didn’t plan on continuing our research because Joseph and Heidi started complaining about arm aches after mixing the ink for hours. It was almost lunchtime, but we had already used up the two diptychs we had brought along. We had used Lutz’s diptych after mine was completely filled with our research.

  I scanned both of the diptychs.

  “This is tough, it’s nearly impossible to predict the colours.”


  “But we did uncover some patterns, right? It’s amazing to see our data this neatly tabulated. It’s such a blessing to have you around because you write so well, Lady Myne! You’re amazing!” Heidi cheered on as she browsed through the diptych.

  Other than knowing how to read a couple of words and letters pertaining to her profession, she was pretty much illiterate. Before all this, she didn’t know how to tabulate her data and just memorised them.

  “I feel that you’re much more amazing to be able to remember all these results.”


  “Sadly, Heidi only has a good memory going for her when it comes to her work. She’s not that impressive,” Joseph let out a deep sigh

  Lutz looked at me and grinned snarkily.

  “Myne’s no different. She only works this hard as long as its related to books.”


  Lutz and Joseph seemed to have formed a camaraderie over this and patted each other to console themselves. It’s great to know someone who can relate to you. It makes things much more enjoyable.

  “Alright, I’ll finish tidying up all the data in the next two days.

  “Oh thank goodness. I’m completely useless when it comes to writing, so I’ll leave it up to you.

  Heidi and I shook each other’s hands and smiled before separating. I wanted to get home as soon as possible so that I could start analyzing our data, but Gil tugged on my sleeve with a pitiful look.

  “What’s the matter, Gil?”


  “Sister Myne, I would like a diptych…” Gil whispered with his eyes down.

  That struck me - I promised Gil that I would give him one if he mastered reading by spring time.

  “Alright, let’s drop by Johann’s smithy and place an order for you. After that I’ll head back home to wrap up these results.”


  The ink workshop was just a stone throw away from the smithy as they were both located one Craftman’s Street. Johann probably wouldn’t want to see us right before his break, but we were still going to crash over.

  “Good morning. Is Johann around?”


  The foreman looked away from his customer towards us. The moment he saw me, he sucked in a gasp and greeted me with a stiff “Hello” and told us to take a seat.

  “Wait here, I’ll call Johann,” he said.

  “Hey, Gutenberg! You have a visitor!”


  “Pfff!”


  Lutz and Gil covered their mouths to hold back their laughter. It seemed like Johann was permanently stuck with the nickname “Gutenberg”.

  “Boss, didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that!”


  I thought it would be an amazing feat to be called “Gutenberg”, but Johann thought otherwise. He stomped in from the backroom with a large frown on his face.

  “Good morning, Johann.”


  “Oh, welcome Lady Myne.”


  “I apologise for dropping by right before your lunch break. Could I make an order with you?”


  “…But I’m still busy with your last order,” Johann gave a troubled look.

  He was still busy making all the letter types I had ordered, but there was no rush to finish it now that the High Priest asked for the launch of the printing press to be postponed. Johann had all the time to finish them.

  “Please finish this order first. I would like to order a stylus for Gil. The stylus only needs to be like the previous ones.”


  “No problem!” Johann exclaimed and shot a fist up.

  “I haven’t made anything but letter pieces… It’s been too long…” he mumbled to himself and I saw tears welling up in his eyes.

  …Now I’m starting to feel bad. Sorry about that, Johann.

  Since I was his only patron, all he had been doing was making letter pieces. Furthermore, his foreman and colleagues had been teasing him with his new title “Gutenberg”.

  Maybe I should give him other things to do once in a while.

  “I’ll be sending in more orders soon and it won’t be letter pieces.”


  I needed an iron to flatten out the wax stencils, along with a new stylus plus a slicer for the mimeograph. I needed him to make lots of things, and they were mostly for printing.

  “I will look forward to making more things other than letter pieces.”


  Seeing Johann this happy for getting an order for a stylus made me feel kind of bad. However, that wasn’t going to make me change my mind that he was a Gutenberg.

  After finishing my order for Gil’s stylus, just as we left the smithy, the fourth bell rung to signal that it was noon

  “Are you heading home now, Myne?”


  “Yep.”


  “I’m getting hungry and I need to return to the store soon. I’ll carry you, hurry up.”


  Lutz crouched down so that I could get on his back. Apparently there would not be much food left if he returned late. I knew that I was holding him back, so I didn’t fight back and got on his back. He got up and sped up towards the square towards the well outside my house.

  “Just stay in and work on your test results after lunch. I have to drop by the Myne workshop and meet Mister Benno to tell him what went on today. Do not leave the house, alright?”


  Lutz set me down in the plaza and put his diptych into my hands before immediately running off toward the Gilberta Company. It looked like he really was worried about his lunch. After seeing him off, I turned to look at Damuel and Gil, who were both blinking in surprise.

  After Lutz had left, I looked back towards Damuel and Gil who looked flabbergasted by what had happened.

  “Sir Damuel and Gil, I thank you very much for accompanying me. You are free to head back to the temple, I will not be heading out anymore.”


  “Sure. You will be going back to the temple, right?”


  “Yes, please. I would like to visit the ink workshop again, but Rosina wouldn’t be happy if I missed harpiel practice again.”


  I stored Lutz’s diptych into my basket and walked up the stairs back home by myself.

  “I’m home,” I greeted under my breath as I slowly pushed open the door even though the door hinges didn’t make a squeak.

  “Welcome home, Myne. You’re early today,” Mum greeted me as I came in. She was probably getting ready to make lunch as she was near the stove.

  “Hi Mum, how’s Kamil? Is he sleeping? I didn’t wake him up, right?” I asked and peeked at the bedroom.

  “He’s doing well, don’t worry,” Mum nodded with a gentle smile.

  I tiptoed to the bedroom to peek at Kamil, after that I placed my basket down and washed my hands to eat lunch with Mum. We were barely halfway done with our meal before Kamil started to wail. Mum wolfed down her food and rushed over to get him.

  “Sorry Myne, but I need you to help me clean up.”


  I washed our dishes before sitting down at the table. I began to transfer our data from our experiments onto my notebook that was made from a stack of failed paper. The data made more sense once I neatened them up. Linseed oil made blue, misse made green, then bedgam made red, and ise made yellow. Term seemed to make a mess of colours, but they were all pastel.

  “Hm… Though there are some outliers to these rules, but I can somewhat predict how they work.”


  We could make lots of colours with different combinations and amounts. We only needed to compare which materials made the oils change its colour.

  “You’re so focused, Myne. What are you working on?” Mum asked me. She popped out of the bedroom with Kamil resting in the sling that was used to carry babies. He was wide awake now probably because he was satiated from milk.

  “I’m going to make a picture book for Kamil. It needs lots of colourful ink, I’m trying to figure out how to make them now.”


  “You’re going to make it from scratch? That will probably take some time, huh.”


  “I guess it would. So what did Kamil do today?”


  I gently patted his head and he stared at me with his large eyes. I wasn’t a formidable sister like Delia, but I was happy enough to see that Kamil didn’t cry with me around.

  “Kamil, Kamil. I’m your big sister, Myne.”


  I played with Kamil for some time before he started to get sleepy again. Mum carried him back to bed and I went back to working on the list I had compiled.

  “Wait a second.”


  Now that I had relooked the list, I realised that the very familiar parue oil wasn’t in it.

  “Maybe we should give that a shot, too. Who know what would happen? I should probably give some to the workshop too. We also need to check if the ink’s colour will appear different on paper and how long it lasts. On top of that, we need to check if the colours can be overlapped.

  I made sure to note down everything I needed to do, and I would share them with Heidi the next time we meet.

  Bluray OVA SS: New developments

  “Welcome back, Otto.”


  Having finished all my work in the morning, I was greeted by Corinna’s gentle voice as I returned home in the afternoon. My dear wife welcomed me back with a cute smile on her face. I doubt there’s any greater happiness than this. Complementing her cream coloured hair and grey eyes, her tidy clothes gave her a gentle soothing aura and suited her well. Her round cheeks and smooth nose gave her a bit of a babylike face, but it was adorable to see her worry herself over it.

  I really want to stand in the middle of the world and shout “My Corinna is the cutest girl in the world!”


  “I’m home, Corinna.”


  After having listened to the gruff voices of Captain and other men all day, Corinna’s voice healed my soul. Once again, I was made to understand Corinna’s greatness. I hugged my wife and indulged in the softness of her flesh, before breathing in her sweet aroma.

  …Haa… I don’t want to go to work anymore. I’d rather just hug Corinna all day long.

  “I wasn’t feeling too good today. If I can’t see Corinna’s happy smile I just… Hmm? You were here, Benno?”


  “I was talking to Corinna before you returned home but it seems like you completely ignored my existence.”


  Even though Benno said that with an exasperated look on his face, it’s only natural to not be able to see any guys standing next to Corinna. I don’t care if you’re her brother, don’t get so close to her.

  “What were you talking to her about?”


  “Who knows… Well then, Corinna, I’m going back downstairs.”


  Without answering my question, Benno passed me by and left. After she followed partway to see him off, I could hear Benno say “have a good think about it”. Recently, Corinna has been under the weather quite a lot. Could it possibly be due to something Benno said to her?

  “What were you talking to Benno about? It looked like he had something important to say to you.”


  “Otto, once I make up my mind, I promise I’ll tell you too.”


  Having been gently turned down, I replied “Okay, I understand” but in the depths of my heart I was thinking “Not again”. Recently, there’s been many instances of this happening. It feels like they’re sneakily plotting something behind my back whenever I’m away.

  …Corinna and Benno are hiding some sort of secret from me.

  Recently, due to necessity of keeping Myne’s circumstances a secret, I’ve often been asked to help out at the store or been taken along to business talks with the Merchant’s Guild. As a result of frequently coming in and out of the store, the leherls have all been interacting with me in a friendly manner and Mark even told me that he would soon be increasing the frequency with which I could enter the store, so I would like to think that I have earned a little bit of trust.

  …At this point, what kind of secret would they need to hide from me?

  Even if it were to be something business-related, considering it has caused Corinna to stop smiling for days, it shouldn’t be something that should be hidden from her husband.

  …Hmm? Now that I think about it, I was never told that it was a business-related secret. Since I wasn’t allowed in on the conversation, I just naturally assumed it was something related to the Gilberta Company, but neither Benno nor Corinna ever said it had anything to do with the business. If it’s something unrelated to work then that must mean it was related to Corinna’s private life. But I can’t imagine something which would require Benno to tell Corinna and then tell her to keep it a secret. There were times when Corinna would say “If you do that, I’ll divorce you” as a joke or when she would be angry with me, but I can’t imagine her actually going through with it.

  …I didn’t do anything that would anger Benno to that extent, right?

  It’s scary to be left completely out of the loop without any idea of what was going on.

  Was it a bad idea to say “Myne is Benno’s Goddess of Water”? Or did he get angry when I asked about his history with the Merchant Guildmaster? Is it because Myne took my advice to continue doing the work she had been doing and hence refused the invitation to join the Gilberta Company as an apprentice merchant? Or did they just not mention that it was business-related but had actually run into some sort of problem?

  As I continued racking my brain, I tried observing Corinna to see if I could find any hints.

  Is it possible that due to Corinna having been under the weather, Benno would tell me to “take responsibility and break up with her”?

  …No, I don’t think that…


  In that instant, I suddenly remembered something. It was something Benno told me before I married Corinna.

  “The heir of the Gilberta Company is going to be Corinna’s daughter.”


  The reason why a mere travelling merchant such as I was able to marry the Gilberta Company’s heiress Corinna, was because Benno wanted to find an excuse to turn down the Guildmaster’s advances and unify the store in a situation where he desperately needed allies. It wasn’t a marriage where I was desired for my qualities as a potential husband of the store’s heiress. I was only chosen because there weren’t any other options available.

  It’s already been almost three years since I married Corinna in those circumstances, but we haven’t been able to have any kids yet. There were no problems in my daily life with Corinna, but from Corinna’s standpoint, it would be troublesome if she were not able to give birth to an heiress. It would disqualify me from being her husband.

  …I would be cut off. It wouldn’t be something that could be appealed against by saying emotionally-driven words such as “we love each other” or “I don’t want to leave”. The company will always be the highest priority. Having discovered a probable reason why Benno might request a divorce, I tightly gripped my hand into a fist.

  “Otto, what’s the matter?”


  “Corinna, tonight I intend to put in even more effort than I have until now.”


  “…Eh? I don’t know what you plan on putting all your effort into but your eyes are scaring me.”


  At the very least, I have to make sure Corinna won’t divorce me. I’ll give my all to do anything Corinna asks of me. Seeing me burning up with motivation, Corinna made a worried expression and put a bit of distance between us.

  “Otto, you must be tired after having just returned from work. I’ll head to the workshop now so please take a nap until dinnertime.”


  As I was told to by Corinna, I took a nap to rest in preparation for tonight.

  “Master Otto, there’s a message for you from Master Benno. After dinner tonight, he wants you to head to his room together with Mistress Corinna. Apparently there’s something important he wants to tell you.”


  After I woke up from my nap, my servant Matilda conveyed Benno’s message to me.

  “Not his office, but his private room…?”


  From the situation alone, it was easy to tell that this was a very important discussion. The only time I was ever allowed into Benno’s private room was when I officially proposed to Corinna before our marriage. As long as I didn’t have business there, I would never go to the 2nd floor of the Gilberta Company which is where all the leherls lived. At the time of the marriage, one of the conditions was that I wasn’t allowed onto the 2nd floor where Benno lived so that people wouldn’t mistakenly think that a travelling merchant such as I was going to inherit the company.

  Recently I’ve been forced to do a lot of work related to Myne so I have been coming in and out of Benno’s office and have occasionally gone to the 2nd floor. There were insufficient personnel who knew about Myne’s circumstances and whom she wouldn’t be wary of, so I was needed to make up for the shortage in labour. But I had never been called up to Benno’s private room.

  “Corinna, do you know what this discussion is going to be about?”


  After finishing dinner, the two of us left our dwelling and headed down the stairs. I wanted to collect as much information as possible before arriving at Benno’s room but Corinna just softly giggled.

  “Of course I do. Brother is having this talk with us because I finally made up my mind.”


  “Because you made up your mind?”


  “Yep. Otto, you didn’t do anything wrong but I want you to be mentally prepared coming into this.”


  Corinna’s troubled expression was cute but I felt danger from those words and instantly all the blood drained from my face. My fears from earlier were beginning to feel more and more realistic.

  …Did Corinna make up her mind to divorce me!?

  “Corinna, does that mean…”


  Perhaps because my words were croaked out in a hoarse voice, Corinna didn’t pay me any heed and knocked twice on the door to the 2nd floor. Mark had apparently been waiting for us as he immediately opened the door and guided us inside. The leherls were still eating dinner but Benno had already finished and was waiting for us in his room. He probably chose to eat dinner separately because it was going to be a discussion that he wouldn’t want the leherls to overhear.

  “Take a seat.”


  As soon as we entered, Benno pointed at a chair in front of him with a complicated expression on his face. It was the exact same seat that I sat in when I talked to Benno before my marriage with Corinna. I instinctively tensed up and felt like my throat was dry. Back then, I felt ecstatic as if I was leaping headfirst into a bright future, but this time around, I was fearful and anxious that this happy lifestyle of mine was going to be taken away from me.

  “There isn’t a lot of time until the leherls finish eating so let’s jump straight to the main topic. It has been decided that Myne is going to be entering the temple as a blue-robed apprentice priestess.”


  “What?”


  I repeatedly blinked as I slowly comprehended the words which were completely different to my expectations. The topic wasn’t about Corinna divorcing me, but rather, Myne becoming a blue-robed apprentice priestess. Honestly speaking, I had no idea why this had anything to do with me. I don’t think it’s something that needs to be said in the privacy of Benno’s room.

  “Is this about her no longer being able to help me do calculations at the gate? Captain didn’t say anything but I don’t really think this is something that must be kept secret from the leherls…”


  “…Do I have to explain from there?”


  Benno looked annoyed but nevertheless gave me an explanation about the temple and orphanage and the difference between blue and grey robes. Having grown up as a travelling merchant, the only times I’ve ever visited the temple were when I bought citizenship and when I married Corinna, so I didn’t have the basic knowledge and common sense that a city’s inhabitants would usually have.

  “I now understand why Captain didn’t talk about Myne entering the temple… But what does all of this have to do with me?”


  “Quit your job as a soldier.”


  I became a soldier for the sake of marrying Corinna. If Benno wants me to quit, then that means…


  With the new products invented by Myne, the Gilberta Company had not only returned to its former glory but was now getting more business than it ever had in the past. Benno was also pleased that he now had enough clout to bark back at the Guildmaster. Considering we hadn’t had any children yet, it meant there was no longer a need for the heiress of the company to marry a mere travelling merchant.

  “Benno, I don’t care about your opinion. I’m never going to divorce Corinna! If you want kids then I’ll show you—”


  “Who told you to divorce? Idiot, finish listening to me before you talk! I want you to quit your post as a soldier and come work in this store. Due to the new products Myne introduced, we have a severe shortage of human resources. I need you to come help out.”


  “Huh? Eh?”


  Benno’s words were completely out of my realm of expectations, to the point where I was having trouble following the conversation.

  “The current Gilberta Company is already inseparable from Myne. Yet despite that, she’s become a blue-robed apprentice priestess at the temple which has strong links to nobility. I can not predict what kind of influence this will have on the company.”


  There was the risk of the company being crushed by the mere whims of a noble, but on the contrary, there was also the possibility of it becoming a store which nobles frequently relied upon. At the current point in time, there was no telling what would happen in the future, but Benno wanted to limit the amount of influence Myne’s actions could have on the company as much as possible.

  “I’m not only concerned about the influence of nobles. I’m getting a lot of petitions from that sh*tty geezer. I’m going to go independent with the stuff that has nothing to do with the Gilberta Company’s original line of business of clothing, such as Myne’s paper and the cooking industry that she’s going to be starting from now on. I will help Myne while she’s a blue-robed apprentice priestess. That’s why I want you to take my place in the Gilberta Company.”


  If Benno were to start up his own company, he would lose all the permits and reputation that he has built so far. As a new business owner, he would have no backing from the nobility nor any funding. He would no longer be treated as the owner of a large company.

  “…Does Myne have enough value for you to throw away your position as the owner of a large company? It only looks like a bad gamble to me. From your earlier explanation, I can already imagine that a commoner blue-robed apprentice priestess like Myne would be hated by the real blue-robed priests in the temple.”


  Benno folded his arms and said “Well, that sounds about right” as if I was only stating the obvious. It seemed like he was going through with the idea despite understanding the risks. I wanted to stop him because I didn’t want Corinna to feel sad if something went wrong. But Benno had no intention of changing his mind.

  “You know, I actually make bad gambles all the time. Even back when I gave permission for your marriage with Corinna, everyone around me was trying to get me to change my mind.”


  “And you’re really going to feel safe handing over the store to someone like me?”


  “I see… In other words, you want me to hand over the position of Corinna’s husband to someone else?”


  Having found a weakness he could attack, Benno’s lips curled into an evil grin.

  But his face wasn’t serious and it was clear he was only teasing me rather than seriously telling me to divorce Corinna.

  “I’m Corinna’s husband! Who the hell would give her up?”


  My relief at the discussion not being about divorce and my joy at being able to become a merchant again swept through my entire body. It was clear that Benno wasn’t going to change his mind, regardless of what I would say to him. In which case, it was in my best interests to ride this momentum.

  “If you’re motivated, then I plan on training you as soon as possible. When will you be able to quit your post as soldier?”


  “…As expected, I would need a turnover period to find a successor. I’ll talk to Captain so that I can quit the job as soon as possible.”


  “Ahh, there’s more and more issues popping up. Well, do your best to talk it out with him.”


  For the time being, it seems like I’ll be doing my job as a soldier while being trained as a merchant on the side. Even so, I was happy that I would be able to return to being a merchant and work to support Corinna from within the store.

  “It’s necessary to have people around who would be able to support Corinna while she’s pregnant. It would be troublesome if you, as her husband, weren’t able to act as her pillar of support.”


  “Eh? Then that means… the reason Corinna was feeling under the weather was…”


  I turned to Corinna and started trembling in joy. I raised my fist into the air and shouted.

  “Oh yeaah! Is the child going to be a boy? A girl? I want a daughter who looks like Corinna. What should we name her?”


  I was so happy about Corinna’s pregnancy that nothing else was registering in my brain. All of my worries from earlier had been completely blown away. I’m going to be a dad! Daddy is going to work hard for the sake of his family!

  “Otto, calm down. Do you remember what I was talking about?”


  “Corinna is going to have a kid! I’m going to be a dad!”


  “Wrong! There’s something more important before that. Quit your job as a soldier and come work at the store! Your training is going to begin! Do you remember everything?!”


  “Ah? Probably? More importantly, should we celebrate with everyone? I gotta tell the entire city that Corinna is pregnant with my child and have them celebrate together with us.”


  While my eyes had brightened up and my body language had visibly changed, Benno and Corinna made disgusted expressions.

  “I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d act like this once you knew…”


  “Nothing can be done about it, right? He had a dangerous look in his eyes today that was just like that time he went on a rampage when he wanted to marry me. I figured it would be safer to just tell him than have him act on any strange delusions. This way we can at least take countermeasures beforehand and keep the situation under control.”


  Corinna had a troubled look on her face as she sighed deeply.

  “Otto, you’re banned from telling other people until I give you permission. There’s always the possibility of a miscarriage.”


  Being lightly glared at by Corinna’s grey eyes, I had no choice but to promise her I wouldn’t tell anyone about it. I made a promise but, I really really want to tell someone! I want to tell all sorts of people! I want to tell everyone in the entire city who I pass by! I want to tell them that I’m going to be a dad. That the cute Corinna is going to give birth to a cute baby. I desperately suppressed my urge to speak, but I couldn’t help my mouth constantly loosening into a smile. If cute and cute were put together, just how cute would my baby look!?

  “Cheers to Vantole!”


  We collided our wooden mugs against each other. During work, I was scolded and told countless times to “shape up” and eventually, Captain brought me out to a bar for drinks. I wanted to quickly go back home and hug Corinna, but this was a good opportunity to talk to Captain about my plans to quit being a soldier. I guess it can’t be helped.

  “Pu~haa, delicious!”


  Captain poured his behelle down his throat and then looked at me.

  “…So? What happened?”


  “Corinna told me not to tell anyone yet, so sorry Captain, I’m gonna have to keep it a secret.”


  I waved my hand and kept my silence, but Captain (who also happened to be Myne’s dad), went “ahh” and looked like he had come to an understanding.

  “Hey, congrats on having your first kid.”


  “Wh-Wh, how’d you know?!”


  “What else would your wife tell you to keep a secret? Not too hard to guess from that goofy grin of yours, too.”


  …Was it that obvious? Well, I’ll be damned.

  The cat was out of the bag in a matter of seconds. But I wasn’t the one who leaked it.

  …Corinna won’t get angry at me, right?

  I had such concerns in my mind, but nevertheless, while I consulted Captain with all sorts of important matters, I also ended up listening to him tell me about his own experiences. There aren’t many opportunities to have a heartfelt talk with someone about fatherhood. The common sense I knew was all learned from my travelling merchant father and wasn’t very relevant to the experience of being a father within the city. Benno and Mark also didn’t have any children so it was a valuable experience.

  “Hey Captain, how did you come up with names for your kids?”


  Volume 7, 3.2: Plans For Dirk (Part 2)

  Next day, on the chime of the third bell, the High Priest came to my chambers, accompanied by Arno. Since we knew they were visiting, we had well-fed Dirk and changed his diapers beforehand. Well… he does dirty his diapers whenever we change them, but we couldn’t do anything about that.

  But there was something special about Dirk, he rarely cried. As long as he had clean diapers and was well-fed, he would always have a cheerful smile. He was easy to put to sleep and was generally easier to care for than most babies, which everyone was thankful for. Kamil was completely different, he loved to cry. He was very fussy whenever he was sleepy, and needed Mum to rock him to sleep in her arms. I didn’t know if their difference was due to their age difference, or if it was because they had dissimilar personalities.

  Right now, Dirk was in my room, napping on a small mattress we made from straw-stuffings. Delia sat next to him, watching over him as he slept. This tiny mattress was Dirk’s bed and was compact so we could easily move him to the first floor whenever it was Fran’s turn to look after him. After that, he would be moved to the second floor, into Rosina and Delia’s rooms respectively.

  I heard a creak at the front door and Fran’s voice, “Good morning, High Priest.”


  “Where is the child?”


  “He is upstairs, I will guide you there.”


  Delia seemed to have realised that the High Priest had arrived because her face hardened and she frowned at the staircase. I saw the High Priest as someone I could rely on whenever I was in trouble or in need, but Delia would beg to differ.

  “Thank you for coming here.”


  “Myne, have everyone step down.”


  Arno placed a magic tool onto the table, crossed his arms and moved away. The tool was a circlet with small mana stones embedded onto it, it resembled a divine instrument.

  “Everyone, please leave the room.

  I had everyone leave the room. But Delia tooked reluctant to do so as she kept her gaze onto Dirk as she slowly made her way down the stairs. With everyone gone, the High Priest passed me the sound-blocking mana tool.

  “Having everyone step down is insufficient, we will need extra reassurance to make sure we are not heard from downstairs,” he explained.

  I nodded my head and took the sound-blocking tool. I walked towards Dirk while the High Priest followed behind with the magic tool that measures mana. He placed the circlet on his head and it shrunk down to perfectly wrap his head. This small event didn’t surprise me anymore.

  “Oh, their colours are changing.”


  I was more than familiar with how mana stones changed colour whenever you sent mana into it. Apparently this method was used amongst noble children to measure the amount of mana they had at birth. The stones slowly stopped changing colour and the High Priest proceeded to remove it and count how many of them had their colours changed.

  “Hmm. It would seem that his mana is comparable to a higher-ranking midnoble.”


  “…A midnoble? I actually thought he had more mana than me.”


  Myne survived till five years old with the Devouring, so I had assumed that Dirk’s Devouring was much more severe since he was already in a life-threatening state, but that wasn’t so.

  “A baby is easily influenced by its own emotions, so it cannot compare to a girl who can repress her mana with sheer mental strength. Furthermore, you have been controlling your mana without any help before, right?”


  The High Priest enlightened me as to how people with control over their mana could better suppress their mana in their body. He hypothesized that Myne’s mana was strong enough to consume her when she was five. Dirk was probably born with more mana. Only when I took over her body did her mana get compressed down, which allowed more room for growth. Everytime the mana attempted to take over my body, I pushed it deeper down in me, allowing for more growth everytime. I had did this so many times that I now possessed a ridiculous amount of mana.

  The High Priest continued to explain that the amount of mana I stored in my body was beyond human comprehension. In fact, compressing mana was something only nobles were trained to do in the Royal Academy before they reached adulthood…


  “Wait, so every noble can increase their mana capacity if they start training at a younger age?”


  “Stop trying to make it look easier, you bonehead. Having your mana reach its capacity before compressing it with sheer mental force is playing with death itself. You’re more than familiar with that, am I right?”


  “Yes, you are.”


  I couldn’t recall how many times I had struggled to push the mana back into my body. As a result, my mana capacity had grown tremendously. It took me a year and a half before I entered the temple as Myne, and I had spent every day playing with death.

  “It is not an easy feat to compress one’s mana if they do not have sufficient mental strength. So of course nobles would wait for their children to reach of age before they teach them how, right? There have been countless students every year who fail to control their mana and end up in life-threatening situations.”


  Being so close to death was already part of my daily life, but nobles were different because they were given magic tools from birth to help them with this. They only needed to transfer their mana into these tools and they would continue to do so until they learned how to control it in the Royal Academy. Blue priests never got to go to the Royal Academy, so they didn’t know how to control or increase their mana, they pretty much spent their entire lives offering their mana.

  “Well, you’re an exception. Some nobles might be willing to adopt a child with lots of mana due to the current mana shortage situation. However, your safety is our utmost concern, so it would be dangerous if others were to learn that we are trying to find an adoptive family for a child with the Devouring.”


  If adoption wasn’t an option, I would prefer that Dirk signs a contract with someone who would take good care of him. I firmed my gaze towards the High Priest.

  “H-high Priest, would you offer a contract to Dirk?”


  “I am capable of doing so, but will not. I have no need for such mana.”


  The High Priest explained only nobles that lacked mana would offer a contract to a Devouring child. They needed this mana to manage their land and to activate their magic tools. They wanted to keep his contract hidden, so better cared for children would become servants or concubines-to-be, and mistreated ones would be locked away in the basements… So that was why the guildmaster spent an arm and leg making sure that Freida received noble-training. I bowed my head down in sadness, I was worried about Dirk’s future. The High Priest noticed this and sighed.

  “I can tell you greatly care for him. You can offer him a contract after your adoption by Karstedt.”


  “…Me?” I was completely stunned. I didn’t think that I could enter a contract with Dirk after I received my noble title.

  “You will receive the authority to do so when your adoption has gone through. You can keep his Devouring a secret and raise him carefully in the orphanage in the meantime.”


  “That’s great, thank you.”


  If I was going to offer Dirk a contract, no one could accuse me of being biased towards a single orphan. But I would still have to receive the High Priest’s and Karstedt’s permission in doing so (especially Karstedt because he was going to become my adoptive father). I only needed to keep his Devouring condition hidden until then. His future was looking much better now.

  I was overjoyed at this. The High Priest frowned at me though, seemingly annoyed.

  “Myne, do not get careless. The High Bishop will definitely do something if he were to discover that this baby has the Devouring. You are able to tarry his attacks, but a baby cannot do so. He will take actions to acquire him. To keep him safe, you must do well to keep his secret hidden.”


  It was not out of the picture for the High Bishop to exploit Dirk for himself. If the High Bishop demanded that I had him over, I was powerless to stop him.

  “Always keep this in mind, you future and safety in the temple depends on how well you can protect this baby.”


  “Ok, I understand.”


  The High Priest reassured me that Dirk’s mana would be suppressed for now because the mana measuring tool had absorbed some of it. He made his way out my chambers after that. After that Delia quickly rushed back to the second floor.

  “Sister Myne, what did the High Priest say?! Will Dirk be fine?”


  “He will be fine,” I continued on while shaking my head, “The High Priest said that we can continue looking after him.”


  “Ha… Thank goodness.”


  Delia’s shoulders slackened and she picked up Dirk, hugging him close to her body. Seeing this further entrenched in me the thought that I couldn’t let anyone else adopt Dirk, or enter a contract with him.

  “Sister Myne, I am here to pick up Dirk.” a voice rang out.

  “Thank you, Wilma.”


  Fran and Rosina usually took their breaks in the afternoon, they were always anxious around Dirk, so we thought it would be better for him to return to the orphanage. Delia looked depressed seeing Dirk leave with Wilma.

  “Delia, you are more than welcome to follow him to the orphanage.”


  “But Fran and Rosina aren’t here right now, and Gil is at the workshop. You would not have any attendants to tend to you if I am not around, Sister Myne.” Delia glared daggers at me when I suggested that.

  “I have no qualms tagging along.”


  “Sister Myne, I am sure you know that I do not wish to return to the orphanage ever again,” she shot me down immediately.

  “Yes, I am aware,” I gave a nonchalant reply and walked back to my desk.

  It was surely not a wise decision to leave my chambers without Fran or Rosina, so I thought that I should focus on thinking of a new black and white picture book for Dirk. Dirk was much older than Kamil. He was already old enough to start rolling over by himself soon, so he could see and recognize pictures soon.

  “Sister Myne, I wonder what Dirk is doing right now.”


  “He’s probably sleeping.”


  I used a pen and ink to draw some images consisting of circles and triangles on a blank piece of paper. After that, I would only need some of the hide glue we made over the winter to attack the paper onto a board. I had to wait for Fran to return from his break and ask him to get me some hide glue. Dad could punch some holes into the boards and tie them up with a string. After that, the book would be completed.

  “Sister Myne, is Dirk crying now, or maybe he’s feeling lonely?”


  “I doubt he would be lonely with the children around, but he might find it difficult to sleep with all that noise.”


  “But he needs to sleep!”


  “There’s no point telling me this. Frankly, I do not know if it is actually noisy there,” I continued to reply nonchalantly and focused on making my to-do list in my diptych.

  Number one, I needed to order as many types of wax available from the wax workshop. Mimeograph stencils were usually made from a combination of resin and wax, which also made them much stronger. This time I was only going to use wax to roll out the letter. How great would it be if that worked out?

  “Sister Myne, are you not worried about Dirk?”


  “Nope, I trust that Wilma will take good care of him.”


  Secondly, I needed to consult someone from an ink workshop about the idea of making coloured ink. The orphanage didn’t have anything good for making it, the workshop might have a better idea on that.

  “You can’t just assume that. Urgh! Sister Myne, are you even paying attention to me?” Delia erupted because I was so monotonous with my responses.

  I broke away from my diptych and sighed in annoyance.

  “I can tell that you’re worried about him, why don’t you head down and check it out yourself. Wilma will be glad to welcome you.”


  “…But I don’t want to be in the orphanage.” Delia bit her lip.

  I could clearly tell she was torn between wanting to go and not.

  “If that’s so, I can check on him on your behalf.”


  “T-That’s so unfair!”


  Delia tugged on my sleeve, and that sent me giggling. I said that because I knew she would fine it unsightly for me to leave my chambers without an attendant, and it would appear that she fell for the trap.

  “Then, will you accompany me Delia?”


  Delia’s pupils trembled and she shook her head, which sent her red hair swishing about. She looked back at me with tear-filled eyes and nibbled on her lip again.

  “…I don’t want to.”


  I returned a shrug and went back to my diptych, I wasn’t going to tease her anymore. Delia remained silent after that. She kept walking back and forth from the room. It was a little cute to see her this troubled, but I knew that she was inevitably going to give in and run to the orphanage.

  Volume 7, 4: Talks with the Ink Guild and Its Successor (Part 1)

  “Myne, Sir Benno wants to know when you will be free,” said Lutz.

  It had been ten days since Kamil’s birth and the Gilberta Company had requested to meet me. Benno had probably found a wax workshop that could fulfill be requests (or more like that was the only reason I could think of why he would want to see me).

  “He has arranged a meeting with the wax workshop, right? We should probably meet two days later in the morning, that way Fran can accompany me.”


  “Nope, it’s not that. Someone else wants to meet you.”


  “…Huh? That’s a shame.”


  My excitement was immediately extinguished. I was looking forward to finding a wax workshop, but it didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. I did agree to meet them, with some disappointment though.

  “It might be better to get Gil to come along instead of Fran. Sir Benno said that it’s a craftsman from an ink workshop who wants to meet you.”


  My excitement was revived with those words. I was looking for an ink workshop to talk about making a new type of ink, in hopes that they would be interested in making coloued ink.

  “Hehehehe. I’m so excited, Lutz.”


  “You sure are easy to please.”


  Lutz sighed, and that made me remember something. The late head of the Ink Guild had been trying to gather information about me. There was a chance that his successor was doing the same too.

  “…Actually, will it be fine for me to meet someone from the Ink Guild?” I asked with sweat in my palms

  Lutz looked at me, deep in thought and said, “If Mister Benno says so, it should be fine.”


  “Alright then. I’m looking forward to it.”


  ~~~

  On that fateful morning, Lutz came to the temple and we walked to the Gilberta Company with Damuel and Gil. Mark was probably flooded with work, but nevertheless, he still came out to welcome us.

  “Good morning Lady Myne. Everyone is waiting inside.”


  “Good morning, Mark. I thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to welcome us, would you kindly take us to them?”


  Mark responded with his usual gentle smile and walked us to Benno’s office. We were greeted by someone I recognised and another who I didn’t. As always, the ink workshop foreman had on his usual frowning face and upright posture. As for the other lady, she was someone who had come of age because her bronze hair had been braided and tied up in a bun. She looked quite unkempt, so I guess appearance didn’t matter much to her. Her grey eyes sparkled with curiosity, which made her quite child-like.

  “Dad, dad. Is that the girl?”


  “She’s a rich lady. Don’t be rude.”


  It turns out that they were father and daughter. He lectured her in a serious voice, and that stopped her from pointing at me. But she still looked at me with those eyes burning with with curiosity.

  “Good morning, Miss Myne.”


  Benno greeted me and gestured me to sit on the spot next to him. I gave him a nod and glanced at Damuel, he stepped forward and lead me to my seat and placed me on it with poise. He was amazing as always.

  “Name’s Bierce. After Wolf’s death, I am now the new leader of the Ink Guild. I had no intentions of taking up this position, but now that I have, I want to do the most for the Guild,” the foreman explained the Ink Guild’s current situation, rubbing his forehead with a troubled expression.

  How Wolf had died was still a mystery, as such no foreman in the city was willing to succeed in his position. Instead, they all pushed the responsibility around until it reached Bierce, who had no choice but to accept it.

  My condolences.

  “I am not one to talk bad about the dead, but Wolf… really shouldn’t have done all the things he did,” Bierce dipped his head. He looked really troubled by having the clean up after Wolf, which he had to take full responsibility for now. He continued mumbling, even though he was quite a quiet man.

  “I want to make sure that all the workshops can continue working together. But as you can see, I’m not exactly great at talking. I’m not a businessman type of guy.”


  In the normal line of work, ink workshops just focused on making their trade of work, and the pitching of sales was done by merchants from the Merchant’s Guild or other related stores. However, Wolf had manipulated the market such that there was only one ink store in the lower city, doing so would allow him to monopolise the trade with the nobles.

  “The craftsman had no issue with how their ink was sold, but not the nobles. There’s no way a shabby man like me who was running the ink store can now easily talk to the nobles right now, right?”


  Business with nobles was surely profitable, but it came with its own detriments too. From the way I saw things, Benno seemed fine doing business with the nobles, but his nerves were a wreck whenever he had to meet Sylvester or the High Priest. And their meetings would always be followed by more stress-inducing tasks. That was expected, even messing up a greeting with a noble could ruin all your business connections.

  It will be absolutely cruel to demand a store that had only been doing business with the richer commoners in the lower city to now handle talks with the nobles. It was expected that a store owner, along with his apprentices and workers, would not know how to approach them. Not only did they not know how to greet nobles, they had to succeed in the position from someone who had an odd death. This situation was absurd.

  …No one wanted to be involved with nobles.

  Frankly, there were multiple stores in the city who had connections with nobles. Their numbers were already barely a handful, and it got even less if you narrow it down to those who knew how to manage business talks about ink.

  “The guildmaster’s store does do business with nobles, right? Why don’t you try asking him for help?” Benno had raised his eyebrow.

  Seeing how he had brought up the guildmaster instead of trying to sell the ink himself meant that the ink business wasn’t a very lucrative one, that it had its own problems or that it wasn’t a sector Benno thought was worth investing in. Bierce must have thought that Benno would be interested in this business, but now that it didn’t seem so, his shoulders dropped down and he shook his head.

  “If only that was possible. The guildmaster had a hand in this business before, but Wolf had snatched it away the moment he took charge of the Ink Guild. You already know what will happen if I go there now.

  Benno frowned, he could already predict how the guildmaster would act.

  “He will try to extort as much money as possible from you. I can already see his nasty smirk from here.”


  “That’s right. So I had no choice but to approach you.”


  Now that the Gilberta Company was selling books from the Myne Workshop, it wouldn’t be weird for them to sell ink too. Furthermore, the Myne Workshop was the one who invented ink and would surely order lots of them. However Benno shot it down.

  “That’s not possible. There will surely be lots of nobles approaching me to do the nasty stuff Wolf had been doing for them. Additionally, the guildmaster is going to crack down on me more if I start selling ink too.”


  I turned towards Benno.

  “So you will let someone else handle this business instead?”


  I could understand where Benno was coming from, but having someone else handle the selling of ink would mean I’d have to come into contact with them too. Frankly, it’s going to be a pain in the head having them not judge me for my appearance, and that will definitely delay us from getting the real work done.

  “We’re going to need lots of ink when we start printing in the Myne Workshop. To be honest, I prefer doing business with you over anyone else, Benno.”


  “Hear that, Benno? Even the girl agrees too.”


  “Hmm… But still…” Benno was still reluctant about it, but he was less impervious about it. Bierce seemed to have realised that too, so he pleaded at me.

  “Could you give him another push, girl?”


  “…Sure, I don’t mind, but under the condition if you help me make coloured ink.”


  “Coloured ink? What do you mean?”


  Bierce was utterly bamboozled, but the lady next to him raised her hand high up.

  “Let me do it! That’s why I came here!”


  “Uh… Pardon me, but what is your name?”


  “This is Heidi. She’s my daughter and she will be taking over my workshop in future. She loves developing ink and making new things. She’s still this childish even though she’s already twenty. Both she and her husband have been making all that ink you invented for your paper.”


  Looks can be deceiving, she looked around fifteen, but in reality she was in her twenties and married.

  Amazing.

  “Your ink was such a curious discovery, it really blew my mind. Nice to meet cha.”


  “My name is Myne. I can already tell that we are going to do some amazing things together.”


  “Your workshop is the only one but the ink for plant paper. So continue buying more, alright?”


  The real issue with the ink here was that it soaked into the plant paper to some extent. The ink didn’t cause much problems, so people could continue using them even if they bought the slightly cheaper plant paper. They didn’t have to spend more money to buy a different type of ink. Above all, the ink I had the Ink Guild made was a thicker type meant for printing, I was pretty sure I was the only one interested in buying them.

  “Well then, I should speed up on making the second picture book.”


  “Oh yes, I figured this out when making the ink for plant paper, but you can probably make coloured ink with this too.”


  It turns out that Heidi had thought of making coloured ink too, but when it came to developing it, her hands were tied. Bierce had told her that the Ink Guild had entered a special magic contract with the Gilberta Company to obtain exclusive rights to the black ink, and that the contract might have included coloured ink too. But Heidi was so desperate to make her own coloured ink that she begged him to talk to Benno. Benno was absolutely clueless about ink, so that’s how it ended up with a meeting with me.

  “You can make coloured ink. Feel free to go ahead and make as many of them as you like.”


  “Uh… but what materials should I use? I was hoping that you might have some suggestions. I gathered the ingredients used in paint and dyes, what do you suppose would go well with the ink?” Heidi asked me with eyes sparkling with joy.

  I opened my mouth and was about to answer, but stopped when Benno dropped his hand onto my shoulder.

  “Myne. You should know better, hm?”


  He was basically telling me with his eyes: Stop giving information for free.

  I quickly closed my mouth and nodded back at Benno. I turned back to Heidi

  “In exchange for my information, I want ten percent of the revenue generated from the coloured ink.”


  “That’s going too far! Developing and making the stuff before it hits the shelves is already going to cost us an arm and leg!” Heidi jerked out of her chair screaming. It turns out she was very well familiar with the costs of developing and making new ink.

  I crossed my arms and reconsidered it.

  “Well then, I will still take ten percent of the revenue but I will help pay for half of amount it takes to develop the ink.”


  “Great! I look forward to working with you!”


  Heidi shot out her hand, her face beaming.

  Mission complete.

  But before I could return her handshake, Benno grabbed my head and Bierce slapped Heidi’s hand.

  “Stop making decisions by yourself!”


  We both looked at our own mentors and grabbed our heads.

  “…What’s wrong? Wasn’t that a fair trade?”


  “No way. You were so generous that it was almost stupid. Since you’re going to provide them with information, covering a quarter of the research is more than enough.”


  “That’s right, that would be better.”


  Bierce agreed with Benno’s lecturing. After that, the two resumed the business talk by themselves. I wanted to continue discussing with Heidi about how we could start developing the ink, and judging by how she was shifting around her seat with a pleading gaze at me, she shared the same sentiments as me.

  Volume 7, 1: Looking After Baby Kamil

  Today was my first day as Kamil’s older sister. This was surely a life-changing event. I had made the resolve to act more like an older sister but sleep, my biggest enemy, was winning over me. Mum had gone into labour at dawn and Kamil was only birthed slightly before the third bell. I had gotten sleepy after lunch because of all the running around I did in the morning.

  No, stop! I can’t fall asleep now! I need to help Mum do the dishes and the other chores. Let me help out with some work until Dad or Tuuli comes back from the celebration to help out with the rest.

  I was doing my best to fight against the sleep but Mum patted on the spot next to her.

  “Myne, come and sleep if you want to.”


  “No, I won’t. I’ll stay awake until Dad or Tuuli comes back. I need to act more like a capable sister that can look after Kamil,” I responded to Mum.

  I didn’t feel like napping because Kamil was finally here. Though I had only carried him once, my feelings to look after him were strong. Mum gave an awkward smile to my little protest.

  “I’m glad you feel that way but I’m worried that you will fall sick. Rest if you feel tired, alright?” she replied and I gave a disappointed nod.

  Mum was exhausted after giving birth, I needed to stop creating more worries for her. After washing the dishes, I took off my shoes and got up on the bed. I made sure to stay closer to the edge so I wouldn’t squish Kamil. I flipped over to look at his sleeping face.

  Your sister will start doing her work tomorrow, alright?”


  It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. I vaguely felt Mum cover me with the blanket and stroke my head, I didn’t know what happened after that. Later, in the midst of my deep sleep, I was awoken by a high-pitch crying that sounded like a meowing cat. My sleep had been cut short, and I was annoyed at being awoken.

  Shut it… I want to sleep, I thought to myself and tugged onto the blanket to cover my head, but the crying just grew louder when I did that

  …Argh! Who is crying next to me?! Huh, oh! Kamil!

  I flung open my eyelids and Mum was in front of me with Kamil in her arms, it seems she was going to breastfeed Kamil now.

  She noticed me and smiled, “You slept well, love. The fifth bell is about to ring.”


  Though I had slept for a while, I was still feeling quite sleepy. After rubbing my eyes, I turned to look at Kamil. The small chub was doing his best to drink the milk. His scrunched face and dazed look, along with that tiny clenched fist was so cute.

  “I’m home. Is Kamil awake?”


  “Hey, Tuuli. Yup, he is drinking his milk now,” I shouted across the door towards Tuuli who just returned from the celebration.

  She poked her head in and walked to the bedside, she looked at Kamil and commented a “He’s so tiny.”


  “Both you and Myne were once this small too,” Mum gave a nostalgic smile.

  I was at a loss of words because I didn’t know how to respond to that. It was not like I could remember that. Just then, Kamil moved his head to the side and he let out a small burp when Mum patted his back.

  “Myne, you were so slow and clumsy when drinking milk, you always had milk all over your mouth. And after drinking some, you would sometimes puke it out,” Mum reminisced with a smile as she looked at me. She was pretty much saying that I was a troublesome one since birth, and I gave an annoyed face.

  “I couldn’t do anything about that. I was only a baby then.”


  “Actually…” Tuuli spoke, “You’re still just as slow when it comes to eating, and you always complain about stomach aches whenever you eat too much. Nothing has changed, really.”


  “Tuuli, you’re so mean.”


  “Oh, she’s right though,” Mum supported Tuuli.

  Now that she had started this, I wasn’t going to back down now. Thinking about it, the bread from here that we usually ate was too hard. I always struggled to chew into it, so I had to soak it in my soup or some sort of liquid first. It wasn’t my fault that the bread took that much time to soften. I was slow because the bread was that hard. It’s not my fault.

  “Why is it the bread’s fault when you’re the only one who is slow, Myne? You’re slow because you always wait for it to get soggy in your soup.”


  “I do that because it’s too hard to eat!”


  In fact, it was even harder for me to chew the bread at home now that I was used to eating the soft bread in the temple. Once again, I was having a new experience eating the cement-like bread again.

  Mum watched me and Tuuli incessant debate before turning us away with a troubled smile.

  “I think it’s time for me to change Kamil’s nappies…”


  “Oh, let me try! I want to do it!”


  Tuuli’s eyes lit up with excitement and moved in to help change his diaper. I just sat on the side and watched on, I wanted to watch and learn so that I could do my best as his older sister and help out too. Tuuli slowly took off the cloth on his bottom and used the clear part to wipe his bottom. After that she wrapped him in a clean cloth.

  Tuuli gave a relieved sigh and yelled a “Done!” with a smile. She finished the task swiftly, making it seem really easy.

  Maybe I’ll try it out next time too.

  Tuuli bundled up the dirtied cloth and threw it into a basket before looking out the window into the horizon.

  “Hey Mum… Was that the last diaper left? The sun is pretty much gone but if we don’t wash them now they might get wet in the rain later.”


  “Oh, yes. We should wash them now. Could you help me out? Gunther helped me tie up some rope in the kitchen to hang the diapers dry. They are quite high up so we might need him to help out.”


  While Mum and Tuuli busied themselves, I just sat by the window and leaned my head against the panel. There were some clouds hanging around, but the sky was pretty much clear. I couldn’t tell that if there was going to be an overcast, everything seemed normal like usual.

  “…How do you both know that it’s going to rain soon?”


  “It’s weirder that you can’t, Myne. If we can’t read the weather, then we can’t tell when it’s safe to enter the forest. Moving on from that, we need to wash the clothes now! Come on, Myne.” Tuuli tugged me towards the door.

  A sudden realisation struck me. Sir Damuel told me not to leave the house… I did think that it was fine for me to go to the well earlier that day, but I remembered him berating me that me leaving the house might put those around me in danger. Furthermore, with the sudden death guildmaster of the Ink Guild and the attack on Spring Prayer, I shouldn’t risk leaving the house now.

  Tuuli probably remembered this too because she was there was Damuel warned me, and I watched her shoulders drop in disappointment.

  “I don’t think it’s wise to ignore a noble’s warning, right? Well then, I’ll just do the laundry myself. You can help out with dinner instead, Myne. Since Dad and I ate quite a fair amount during the celebration, and the neighbours gave us some vegetables and meat, you can just cook some soup.”


  I looked at the ingredients that I was going to use to make the soup, and recalled that I only had some soup and bread for lunch. I stroked my stomach and said, “I am kind of hungry. I only had some for lunch after all. I haven’t ate the meat gifted from the temple, plus we need to make sure Mum eats well so she can make lots of milk for Kamil…”


  I was basically hinting that I wanted to eat meat. Tuuli pointed to the pantry and told me I could cook the bird meat.

  “Well then, I only need to marinate it with some salt and herbs, right?”


  Tuuli shook her head in response.

  “There are some herbs that post-natal women can’t eat. You only need to use the salt.”


  To be honest, I preferred eating meat with herbs to salted meat. I was quite sad about it, but Mum took priority first.

  “…Well since herbs can’t be used, I can try swapping it out with some of Dad’s wine,” I spoke to myself.

  I walked into the pantry we used to store food for the winter to search for the meat, after that I took Dad’s wine down from the shelf. Everytime I tried to use his wine for cooking, he would lose his mind and try to stop me. He would say that my food tasted delicious even without the wine, but I knew that was just an excuse to keep the wine to himself.

  …No matter what Dad says, I’m gonna use the wine!

  Meat tasted drastically different with and without wine. While waiting for the meat to be marinated in wine and salt, I proceeded to chop the vegetables. I wasn’t comfortable in handling the vegetables with poisonous parts, but at least I could tell the difference between the safe and dangerous ones.

  “…Huh? Is it me, or have I gotten worse because I’ve been stuck in the temple for so long?!” I cried out.

  I struggled to cut the vegetables evenly after living the life of a well-off girl in the temple for so many months. In fact, my hands trembled just from gripping onto the knife.

  “Argh, this is the worst. I was bad enough at doing chores before, and I’ve gotten worse now. I seriously need to start doing chores everyday again,” I mumbled to myself, disappointed at my poor skills while continuing to slowly cut the vegetables without nipping my fingers.

  “Oh, it’s fargel. It will taste better when cooked with butter rather than boiling them in the soup.

  Fargel meat looked like white asparagus on the outside, but it tasted like corn kennels. It tasted just like spring and was delicious when cooked with butter, soup or cream.

  “I’m home!” Dad announced with so much joy and stumbled in drunk. Tuuli was right behind him with the clean laundry in hand.

  “Dad, help hang these up. We’ll work on supper instead,” Tuuli passed the cleaned diapers to Dad and returned the empty basket back to the storeroom.

  Dad hung out the diapers onto the strings tied up high in the kitchen. I didn’t feel comfortable with him doing that while I was cooking, but I couldn’t help it because Kamil needed clean diapers.

  “If the sun was out right now, we could hang them outside.”


  “Yeah, the rain is so annoying. It’s hard to dry these out when it rains.”


  Frankly, it was disturbing to have diapers hanging up in the room. I wasn’t used to this, seeing them now really made me appreciate how convenient disposable diapers were. Moreover, these weren’t the white and new diapers I saw as Urano, these diapers were made from rags sewed together and strips of worn out cloth. The only good things about them was that they had softened because they were washed lots of times before.

  I wanted to search for something more hygienic, but we didn’t have much of a choice right now. And I could predict them saying that they didn’t need new cloth for diapers that would be dirtied frequently.

  “How is it, Myne?”


  “I tried to cut as much of the vegetables as possible. It’s probably the end of the season for fargels because they’re getting quite hard,” I lifted up the hard fargels for Tuuli to see.

  “Well, it’s almost the mid of Spring. Vargels grow better during colder spring days, but I prefer warmer days. That because you can get more stuff from the forest when it’s warm.”


  While Tuuli worked on the salted meat with the buttered fargels, I continued making the vegetable soup.

  “Myne, you can call Mum out now,” Tuuli spoke to me.

  I sneaked into the room as quietly as possible to not disturb Kamil. I saw him sleeping next to Mum. It might have been the dark room, but Mum looked really tired and frail. I didn’t want to wake her up now so I returned back to the kitchen.

  “Tuuli, Mum’s sleeping…”


  “It’s ok, we’ll let her sleep. Mrs Karla said that it’s important for mothers to have plenty of rest after giving birth,” Tuuli told me while preparing the table.

  Apparently she was taught about these things by the midwives when helping out earlier today. Mum looked like she wouldn’t have the strength to do any work, it was our turn as family to look after her.

  “You’re probably unaware about this because you weren’t around, but it was really hard on Mum. She bled a lot and it looked like she was in lots of pain,” Tuuli whispered to me and looked towards the bedroom with a worried expression.

  I didn’t see this birth and neither have I seen one as Urano. Though I had read about and heard of them a couple of times, I did not come close to witnessing a real one before. I knew for sure Mum was in lots of pain, and it was not unusual for me to think that she wasn’t doing too good right now.

  “We need to do our best so that Mum doesn’t need to worry about the house chores. She’s going to have a hard time recovering if she doesn’t get plenty of rest, so Myne, we’ll be counting on you too.”


  “Yes, ma’am.”


  That night, I once again woke up to Kamil’s crying. It was impossible to sleep through a baby’s wailing when they’re just next to you. I vaguely recall seeing Mum breastfeed him four times throughout that night. One thing for sure, I was sleep deprived. I woke up with a big migraine that day.

  “You’ll get used to the crying in a couple of days,” Mum gave a weak smile and comforted me by stroking my head.

  I told her that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, but I was proved wrong the next night. I had slept through the entire night without waking to the crying next to me.

  “…Hm. I might be more adaptable than I thought I was.”


  “You’re a carbon copy of Dad,” Tuuli shot me a glare with her droopy and sleep-deprived eyes. I looked towards Dad who was still snoring away.

  Volume 7, 4: Talks with the Ink Guild and Its Successor (Part 2)

  “Miss, would you like to come to my workshop? I’ve already laid out all the materials I wanted to show you. Dad wasn’t happy about that though.”


  “Yes, please! I would love to come!”


  I knew that Heidi and I already shared a special connection. We both got up from our chairs at the same time, but our own mentors pulled us back down.

  “We are still talking!”


  “Hold on, you blockhead!”


  Our guardians yelled out simultaneously. Benno was still gripping me and left out a deep sigh.

  “…Fine, I will take charge of selling the ink. We will only resume monopoly over the ink for Myne Workshop’s plant paper, as well as the coloured ink. We will let others take whatever else is left. That should keep the guildmaster distracted.”


  “Sounds fine. I appreciate it, thanks for everything.”


  That marked the end of Benno and Bierce’s endless discussion, we had finally decided on the new seller.

  “I can go to the workshop now, right?”


  “We need to start making that ink.”


  Heidi and I exclaimed, and Benno beckoned Lutz over and patted him on the back.

  “Watch over them, Lutz. Looks like we have two Mynes now.”


  “Mister Benno, you’re asking too much. One Myne is already enough for me.”


  Benno’s expression turned into that of worry, but I just brushed it off with a wave goodbye and made my way down to the ink shop. Of course, Heidi got impatient at the speed I was walking and ran off first so that she could set up the materials first.

  Bierce was worried that her actions offended me and apologised in her stead. But I didn’t mind it at all.

  “Hey, Lutz. What’s your thoughts on Heidi? I find her funny and talented, but she’s also kind of odd too.”


  “…The pot’s calling the kettle black.”


  Bierce led us into the workshop which looked more like a science lab you would find it schools, it didn’t look like a place to make ink. The place was packed with lots of tools and the craftsmen were using scales to measure out the amount of ingredients they would need to make ink. The ink for plant paper was made in another corner of the place.

  I noticed there were already a couple of containers filled with ink, and behind all that was Heidi getting reprimanded by a man who seemed to be in his twenties. He was pretty much telling her to ‘work first, play later.”


  “Bierce, does Heidi need to work on something else?”


  “…No, you don’t have to worry about that. Hey, Joseph! Stop scolding Heidi, she’s receiving a customer today,” Bierce yelled at him across the room.

  Heidi whipped her head around with a cheerful grin, but the guy who was supposedly Joseph was stumped.

  “Boss, are you right in the mind?! You’re letting Heidi receive a customer?”


  “This lady is an important customer who wishes to develop coloured ink and would like to pay for a quarter of the research’s cost. There’s no need to force Heidi to stop her research. We can let her do as she pleases as long as she doesn’t cause trouble.”


  The words they exchanged told me how the others saw Heidi.

  “Lady Myne, please meet Joseph. He’s Heidi’s husband and the future head of this workshop. It will be great to have the both of you working together.”


  “Hi, I’m Myne, the head of the Myne Workshop. I would like to buy the plant paper ink and help out with making coloured ink,” I Introduced myself.

  Joseph sighed in relief at my presence, he seemed to be worried about the poor sales for the plant paper ink.

  “This is everything we have made for now.”


  “Please deliver them to our store by tomorrow,” Lutz said.

  He was here to buy the ink on behalf of the Gilberta Company, after which it would be sold to the Myne Workshop. This seemed like a troublesome process, but it was a necessary one.

  I left Lutz to his own devices and went to look around the workshop. Samuel and Gil had tagged along to and seemed intrigued by the place too, they wanted to know more about life in the lower city.

  “Lady Myne, please come here.”


  I made my way over to Heidi and noticed that the table was lined with an array of materials. They have been crushed into a powder form, so I didn’t know what they were. I also noticed that there were different types of oil too.

  “Heidi, what oils are these?”


  “I tried to gather as much as I could find. Linseed oil might not be the best one after all, right?”


  “Yeah, I had the same idea too.”


  One crucial factor for making ink was the drying oil, but the closest thing to that available here was only linseed oil. I came to know of its existence when I saw the clothes in this world. Clothes were made from the same plant, in this case the oil was extracted from its seeds. However, linseed oil was expensive because of its limited supply. I wanted to find alternatives to it, so it would be good for me to know the various types of oils that existed in this world first.

  “There are some oils that become solid when left out, while others don’t. The former are great for making ink. They are called drying oil,” I explained.

  “Hm, only a few oils are like linseed oil. Misse, bedgam, ise and term oil,” Heidi grabbed the respective oils as she listed them out.

  I quickly took out my diptych to scribble down all the oils she mentioned.

  “I usually make ink by crushing the ingredients first, after that I’ll add in the oils. Here we go… this yellow powder should make an ink close to yellow and brown.”


  “Alright, we’ll try it out. Joseph, help us a little.”


  Heidi gestured towards Joseph and he came over to mix the oil and powder on top of the stone workbench.

  “…Huh? The colour is different!”


  “W-why though?”


  This yellow clay should have made a yellow-brown ink when mixed with the oil. But it had turned into a completely different colour, that was a light sky blue. I was completely bamboozled by this.

  “W-we can try another oil first.”


  Joseph and Heidi continued to mix the powder with the different types of oil. First was misse, then bedgam, and ise, finishing off with term. Only ise had made the yellow ink I was expecting, the others had made ink of red and a green-blue one. My mind froze at this. We just stared at the different colours on the table in silence.

  “What’s going on?”


  “I wasn’t expecting the oil to drastically change the ink’s colour. It was definitely a shock, but I guess there’s nothing wrong with being able to make this many colours with the same ingredient, huh.”


  Joseph was rubbing his sore shoulders and looked back at me with exhaustion on his face.

  “Didn’t expect you to be this optimistic.”


  “Well, we are trying to make coloured ink, I’ll be happy with everything we get as long as it isn’t transparent.”


  I recorded our observations on my diptych, hoping to figure out a clue to this absurdity. On the other hand, Lutz was looking at the ink with a hand to his face.

  “What’s going on? How did you even get these results?”


  “Are you interested? It’s such a strange thing, right? Don’t you want to know why too?!” Heidi cheered and gathered Lutz’s hands into hers. She had the smile of a mad scientist. She was someone who was interested in uncovering anything that interested her.

  I slammed my diptych close.

  “Heidi, we don’t need to know what’s going on with these ink right now. We should focus on figuring out what colours we can make from mixing them around.”


  “What?! Such an interesting thing is unfolding before your eyes, and you’re not even a tiny-winy bit interested in finding out why?”


  Heidi turned her gray eyes towards me, her gaze was mixed with shock and betrayal. Then Joseph reached out to grab her head.

  “Stop it! Lady Myne isn’t crazy like you!”


  “Crazy? That’s rude, man. Here I was thinking we would make great comrades.”


  I could understand where Heid was coming from, but I didn’t have the time to get sidetracked right now. My priority was to get coloured picture books for my younger brother, Kamil. Even though I didn’t have the time, I wasn’t going to disregard anyone who wanted to conduct research on this though.

  “I prioritise the result over the process right now. What’s important is that ise made the colour I wanted. We’ll try using the blue powder with isse now. We might figure out some patterns to develop the colours we are looking for.”


  I gestured towards the blue powder. Heidi nodded back to me.

  “You’re right. Let’s continue.”


  Ise had made the yellow colour I was intending for, but this time it made a bright yellow mixture when mixed with the blue powder that resembled lapis lazuli. This colour was great for painting sunflowers, but it wasn’t the colour I wanted. After mixing around, only linseed oil kept it’s lapis blue.

  “…We’re going to struggle a bit,” I commented while reviewing our results on my diptych.

  Everything I knew seemed irrelevant in this world now. With the number of ingredients and oils we have here, we might end up with a never-ending selection of colours.

  We have a long road ahead of us.

  Volume 6, Extra 2: To be a ‘Gutenberg’


  “How’s it going, Gutenberg?”


  “Would you stop calling me that?!”


  “We need to go now, the third bell is about to ring. Hurry up. Move it, Gutenberg.”


  The foreman laughed, completely ignoring my complaints and packed the goods into his bag before shoving the door open.

  I trudged behind him with a heavy box that stored the metal letter pieces. Today was the day my Ieherl task was due and I was bringing it over to the Smithing Guild for its evaluation. The others in the workshop sent us off with a polite smile.

  “Hey Gutenberg, remember to show off you work well.”


  “Enough with the ‘Gutenberg’! My name is Johann!”


  “Kekeke. It’s rare for someone to be bestowed a title from their contractor. It’s a huge honour worth bragging about to the guild.”


  …Ngh! Why does everyone keep teasing me?!

  Because of all the foreman’s teasing, everyone in the guild was calling me ‘Gutenberg’ now. But to be honest, the one who caused this was Myne, my only customer.

  Feeling the weight of the box in my arms, my thoughts went back to the title she conferred me this title.

  ~~~

  It all took place on the day I went to the Gilberta Company to show them the completed order.

  I would consistently bombard my customers with questions on their orders such that no one was willing to be my customer other than Myne. She was so small and one would doubt that she had been baptized already, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. What was more surprising was that she didn’t act like a small girl with the questions she asked, the blueprints she made and the amount of money she offered.

  She made an order with me to make some metal letter blocks. Each block needed to be precise down to its exact measurement, this was an exciting job but an insanely tough one too.

  …I hope Lady Myne will be happy with it, I pondered how she would react and pulled down the cloth to reveal the letter blocks inside to my only customer. I shut my eyes and waited for her response to it that would determine my future.

  “Amazing…”


  Myne’s eyes were glued onto the letter blocks, and they were sparkling with so much excitement. Her skin was very pale, likely because she seldom went out, as such the blushing on her cheeks were much more obvious. She looked like a girl in love as she clutched her hand against her chest and let out a sigh, there was so much depth in her eyes that you wouldn’t expect to see in a young girl.

  Her hands trembled as she carefully raised up a letter block and moved it across her small hand. She was treating it as though it was the most precious thing in the world.

  …Well, glad to see that she likes them.

  I released a sigh of relief at this and Myne’s gaze hardened to give her a more calm and serious look. She picked up another letter block and placed them next to each other on the table, she bent over to look at them at eye-level. She squinted her eyes as she began to check for any differences in their width and height.

  D-do they look fine?

  I started to get anxious again as I awaited her appraisal.

  “They’re perfect! You’re really the incarnation of Gutenberg!”


  “Huh?”


  “Johann, I dub thee “Gutenberg’!?

  …Guten-what?

  My jaw went slack as I stared at Myne with an idiotic epression. My impression of her as a fragile little princess, like a carefully raised, pretty flower, was completely shattered at this moment.

  Lutz was trying to get Myne to calm down, but there was no containing her. His attempts went ignored as she jumped up onto her chair and began babbling about something with an even more flushed expression.

  “But, this marks the start of the printing era! You’re now witnessing a historical moment right now! This is the rebirth of Gutenberg! The first’s given name was Johannes, and from today onwards he will go by the name Johann! What an amazing coincidence! A once-in-a-lifetime encounter! Praise thee gods!”


  …Yup, she’s not making sense to me.

  I recalled being forced to do this odd pose in the temple during my coming of age ceremony, but I have never seen anyone use this pose and thank the gods in their daily life. Everyone was still stupefied by this, but Myne continued on.

  “Gutenberg is a famous craftsman on par with a god, whose work forever reshaped history and the world of books. Johann is, without a doubt, the city’s Gutenberg!”


  I hadn’t finished rendering the supposed importance of this title I was given when Myne started calling Benno and Lutz the same way too. It would appear I had earned myself some comrades. But anyways, the main issue at hand was that we needed someone to stop her and save us from this weird atmosphere.

  I was sending a meaningful look towards the attendant behind Myne. He had a sort of arrogant looking face. Just then, Myne started posing again and was praying to the Goddess of Wisdom, Metisaura. In the next second, Myne collapse forward, locked into that praying pose with a blissful smile. She felt flat on the ground and the room went into an awkward silence.

  “…Ah?! Lady Myne?!”


  “Girl, are you okay?!”


  “Wh-What on earth?!”


  It appeared that only Myne’s servant, the foreman and I had been stunned by this scene. Her attendant ran up to her side to see if she was ok while the foreman and I stood stumped to the ground. Other than us, everyone else just sighed.

  “That took a while. I can finally relax again,” Benno said, he hadn’t even shifted from his seat.

  Benno, Lutz and the others in the room didn’t even flinch at this.

  “Fran, carry her to that bench. She will be returning to the carriage soon anyways.”


  “Yes, sire. Please excuse me, Lord Damuel.”


  The attendant named Fran lifted up Myne who was still unconscious and carried her to the bench that was next to the fireplace. I was confused as to why he took an extra step to lay a thick and cosy looking blanket over her though. His movements were so quick and precise that it made me assume that they had predicted this to happen.

  I hadn’t said a word since because I was too shocked. At that moment, Benno started drumming his fingers on the table.

  “Well then, let’s give the goods another look. I’ll take over for Myne since she’s unconscious. Would that be fine?”


  “What…? Aren’t you going to help her?”


  I shifted my gaze towards the bench where the unconscious Myne laid, completely confused with what we should be doing for the small girl who passed out out of the blue. This situation wasn’t sitting right with me.

  “Say something would you, Lutz?”


  “I suppose she will come to around sunset. She will probably end up in bed with a fever after this, but that’s her own fault, really.” Lutz said so nonchalantly. It appeared that he was used to Myne’s odd antics.

  “How long will she have this fever for?” Fran asked.

  “…It all depends on how long she’s going to stay this stirred up. I can’t say for sure since I haven’t seen her this excited before.”


  I concluded from their conversation that it wasn’t rare for Myne to pass out. But I still wished that someone had given me a heads up on this, because it felt like my heart had stopped for a split second.

  “Well, this order review should be an easy one. It must be spectacular given that it made it’s customer pass out from sheer excitement, huh.”


  “You can say that again, she was obviously excited,” the foreman added on. “Please do the appraisal, Benno. But it would be great to know what’s their use.”


  The foreman sent his gaze towards the box of letter blocks when the younger attendant of Myne’s jerked as though he remembered something and took out something he had been carrying.

  “Let me show it to you. Sister Myne asked me to bring this.”


  “What are you planning to do, Gil?”


  “Obviously. I’m going to put some ink on them and print stuff. Haha.”


  Gil was really excited by this as he whipped out the items he was going to use. He placed a rolling pin, some paper, a bottle of ink and an odd round looking thing onto the table. The rolling pin that Myne had ordered from me was entirely black now. But it wasn’t strange for it be so seeing how Gil was lathering it with ink.

  “Sister Myne said that the letter blocks are supposed ot be arranged in the order you want the text to look like on the paper. After that you put on the ink.” Gil explained while simultaneously using the roller to apply the ink onto the letter blocks, dying them from their previously shiny silver to a dense black.

  “Wait, wait, wait!”


  I jumped up in surprise when Gil started dirtying the letter blocks Myne ordered without her permission, but he ignored me and fixed a paper on top of the letter blocks.

  “The real process actually uses a press of sorts to spread the ink onto the paper. Since this just a demonstration of the letter blocks’ use we’ll substitute it with a simplified version,” Gil puffed up his chest in pride. After that he used the flat side of the circular thing to press the paper down, pushing it around in circles. It appeared that I was the only one who was disturbed by this because everyone was glued onto what Gil was doing with an excited look.

  “After making sure the ink has been printed on, you can remove the paper and set it aside to dry.”


  Gil pulled off the paper to display the lines of clear black letters on it. He continued this again to make an identical copy on a separate paper. Gil broke into a large smile and held out the two sheets of paper for us to see.

  …That’s it? I don’t get why this is supposed to be amazing. I only see it as a huge waste of paper, I thought to myself. But after looking at everyone else, it seemed like I was the only one who thought so

  Benno, the foreman and Myne’s bodyguard expression turned serious when they saw the paper. Especially Myne’s bodyguard, Samuel. He looked quite shaken by this, he couldn’t stop staring at the two sheets of paper with a grim gaze.

  “You made these in such a short period of time?,” he said. “Unbelievable.”


  On the other hand, the foreman took some of the clean letter blocks into his hand and arranged them together, saying “Each one of them is a letter so it’s easy for you to rearrange them and print any text you wish to make.”


  “Well, Myne said that they were supposed to be much easier to use than making stencils every time,” Lut’s comment made everyone scrunch their eyebrows.

  “Myne was right. This is revolutionary. I thought I knew everything about printing, but I hadn’t expected the letters to be this easy to use.”


  Benno shook his head with an exasperated voice, “What has this bonehead gotten herself into this time…?”


  What Benno said really reflected everyone’s thoughts. Everyone turned their heads simultaneously to look at the knocked out Myne. It seemed like I was the only one out of the loop here. But one thing I knew for sure was that by having Myne as my patron, my life was about to take a huge turn.

  “Myne did say that the printing press is currently in production, but it will take some time before she puts things into action, I suppose,” Benno sounded more cheerful this time, but he was shot down by the foreman’s next comment.

  “She said is going to place an order with the woodworkers soon, so I suppose that she has a rough blueprint for one. And if she managed to reproduce a detailed blueprint like the one she gave Johann before, we can expect to see a printing press very soon.”


  Myne knew how to think out her blueprints and make them precise. This was evident from how she made one for me that had all the details I could ever ask for. If she could make one for the carpentry workshop, making a press won’t take long.

  Benno scratched his head.

  “That might be true but the full impact of the printing press will take time to materialize. This is the one and only city to have started a plant-based paper workshop, and it hadn’t been long since we made a contract with the Ink Guilt to make the necessary inl. Furthermore, there aren’t enough materials so the speed of production cannot reach its full potential. But wait… the workshops in the other cities will only open up in spring, so I suppose the revolution is close.”


  He suddenly turned to glare at me. His reaction had changed so much that it made me freeze.

  “Johann, you will go by ‘Gutenberg’ from today onwards. Myne conferred you this title so you have no escape,” Benne spoke with lots of spite.

  I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded my head furiously.

  This is scaring me. I’ll do whatever she demands of me, so please let me go.

  Benno seemed satisfied with my response and nodded back. He clearly heard my inner plea of submission.

  “Good.”


  … I don’t have any other patrons anyways.

  ~~~

  Thinking about what unfolded at the Gilbert Company made me nibble on my lip in anxiety. Just then the foreman told me that we needed to return there to tell them the guild’s evaluation of the letter blocks.

  I flinched when he said this because I thought he had heard my thoughts but I was probably mistaken.

  We walked to the Smithing Guild together. The Guild was located in the central district of town, at the square of the town plaza. This square was filled with numerous guilds and the Merchant’s Guild was the largest of them all. To the southwest of the square was for the crafting guilds, ranging from the Smithing Guild, to the Carpentry Guild and the Building Guild. At the northwest was the Tailor’s Guild and the Dyeing Guild and to the south east was the Hotel Guild and the Restaurant Guild. As for the northeast, it was for the Merchant’s Guild and a building soldiers used for discussions.

  Spring was back again so the city was back to life with people making trips to and fro the various guilds.

  We entered the always busy Smithing Guild. Some were here with the intention to sell the things they had made over winter, while others were here to hand up their Ierhel work. Anyways, the whole place was bustling.

  “Sup, Johann. I heard that you found yourself a patron, hm? Congratulations, man.” the receptionist was always worried about me. I was pretty infamous here for not being able to find a patron.

  I titled my body back to raise up the box of letter blocks to let him see them.

  “Yup, they were well praised by my patron, too. Looks like things are getting better for me.”


  Now that I had a patron and they gave the completed order excellent views, I didn’t have to worry about losing my Ieherl job. Though the task still needed to be evaluated by the Smithing Guild, I wasn’t anxious about what they would say because keeping my job secure was the only thing I cared about.

  “That’s all you’re going to care about, huh? It’s a shame a talented man like you doesn’t try to be more ambitious,” the receptionist commented.

  Everyone around me said the same thing, but I thought otherwise. To be honest, having a bad or good appraisal from the Smithing Guild wasn’t going to help me get more patrons. That was because in the end it was the customers who determined the value of my work, not the workshop or the guild.

  The foreman and I made our way upstairs and we ran into a couple of Ieherls. It seemed like they all just had their coming of age ceremony too as they were all carrying on what was likely their Ieherl assignment and they were accompanied by their foreman too.

  “Hey, hey, hey, after complaining so much about not being able to find a patron, you still managed to finish your task in the end,” a boy with short and red hair approached me with an aggressive expression.

  Since he was here, I guessed that we were similar in age or a year apart. But there was no way for me to confirm that because everyone took different amounts of time to find themselves a patron and to complete their own assignments.

  Who was this?

  The only times I went out was to get some materials or to deliver orders under my foreman or colleague’s request, other than that I liked to stay cooped up in the workshop. Frankly, I knew very few people. This made the foreman nag at me all the time, he said that my cold attitude was why I had such a hard time finding a patron.

  “Who cares what you had to make because mine is definitely better than yours,” the strange boy continued speaking.

  I didn’t know how to respond to that, let alone talk to someone I didn’t know. I could only squeeze out a little, “Y-yeah.”


  He puffed out a chuckle and walked back to his foreman.

  “What’s going on?”


  “He’s Zach from the Farde’s Workshop,” my foreman told me.

  “He sees you as a rival. I’m sure you know that everyone is competing for the best appraisal, right? Stop acting like an idiot. If someone tries to pick a fued with you, strike them down first!”


  I was surprised by what the foreman said. Everyone knew that Farde’s workshop was the most famous and popular smithy in this entire city, if this Zack person was a Ieherl there he must be quite a talented smith.

  Hmm. Thinking about it the foreman did say something about there being a talented smith my age.

  After the third bell, a few of the guild members walked in to grade our tasks. We walked up to them when they called our names, then we each explained what our patrons ordered, what we did to fulfill it and their review of the final product. Finally, we would present them the order and pass up a physical proof of their review.

  “This is quite an order.”


  Well, Myne did send in a large order even though we met each other not that long ago. It was quite rare for a patron to send in their orders one after another this fast, and they didn’t order unusual things like Myne did.

  “Myne is very pleased with Johann’s work. And she is very detailed with the things she wishes to order,” the foreman chipped into the discussion and showed them a blueprint Myne gave me before. Since every guild member here was a smith too, they could understand how detailed the order was.

  “Anyways, who is Myne? I have never heard of her. What does her workshop do?” one of the guild members asked with a confused expression when he saw Myne’s name on the board. It was only then did I realise that I myself didn’t know what workshop my patron ran.

  “U-uhm…” I fumbled on my words.

  Just then the foreman patted me on the shoulder and gestured to a corner of the board with the appraisal.

  “Forewoman Myne has not come of age so Benno from the Gilberta Company is acting as her guardian. You should ask him or the Merchant Guild instead.”


  “She is tied with the Gilberta Company?” the employee muttered under his breath. The guild members were definitely impressed when they saw Benno’s signature on the board.

  The Gilberta Company was one of the biggest stores in the duchy of Ehrenfest. This wasn’t some old store with a dated history, but one that was constantly developing and increasing their profits every day. Since Myne had their support, it meant that she was quite a big-time patron.

  “Ok then, let’s see what you have made,” the guild member said now that they had confirmed the authenticity of my patron. Hearing so, I proceeded to take away the cloth in the box and reveal the contents.

  “What on earth are these?”


  Ha, I reacted the same way too.

  Gil had gone out of his way to demonstrate how the letter blocks worked, but I was still confused why they were an important item. I was sure that no smith could understand their worth when they first looked at it.

  “It’s called a letter block. Each of these are made of metal and have a specific letter on them. Johann, tell them more about the order.”


  “Yes, foreman. The most crucial part of this order is that each block needs to have the same dimensions. The height needs to be the same so that the top surface is completely flat when they are lined up together. I’ll demonstrate it.”


  I selected a few of the letter blocks and arranged them in a row, after that I bent over like what Myne did to see them at eye-level. The other guild members followed me and stared at the letter blocks.

  “That’s some precise work right there.”


  “I heard that they would shatter apart if they aren’t evenly made.”


  They didn’t understand the use of the letter blocks but they knew the level of difficulty of this task. The guild members nodded to express their appreciation of the work and praised me for being able to be this precise.

  “The Gilberta Company said that this is going to be a revolutionary piece of invention,” the foreman said. He had reiterated what Benno had said and everyone had mixed reactions to this; some laughed it off, thinking that it was a joke, and some grew nervous as they believed that his claims could be true.

  “Johann was dubbed the title of “Gutenberg’ because he made these. Apparently this title is only given to accomplished men and women that have or will leave their mark in history. Johann and the higher-ups of the Gilberta Company have been given this title.” the foreman announced this in a boisterous voice.

  Everyone grew excited by this, while I wanted to roll up into a ball and die of embarrassment.

  ~~~

  “So, how was it?” Benno asked.

  The foreman and I were back at the Gilberta Company after finishing my appraisal at the Smithing Guild. We were back here to deliver the letter blocks to Myne and to tell them the Smithing Guild’s appraisal of them. We were guided to the same room we were in last time, that’s where we met Benno who asked this.

  “Johann received the highest grade. But this was within my expectations because no other apprentice could do such precise work like Johann.”


  Myne was my only patron, but I had done so many orders for her and each of them were out-of-this-world and called for high-tech work to be done. Furthermore, they were worth lots of money. Adding on the fact that I was given a title too. Though everyone in the workshop and the foreman was using it to tease me, everyone else saw a title as something very honourable.

  But I don’t want this honour!

  It was because everyone was going bonkers about my title of “Gutenberg’ that Zach had scored behind me. Frankly, that wasn’t helping me because that made me earn his hatred. He burst into rage when he found out about his placement, saying that this was a mistake because I had such a notorious reputation for not being able to get a patron for forever.

  Believe me, Zach. I would gladly hand over this title of “Gutenberg” if possible. I just want to do things for my patron and improve on myself to make that possible, I don’t care for any titles.

  “Stop overthinking about this, Johann. It’s important to get a good appraisal,” the foreman patted me on my shoulder as he said this.

  Mark nodded at this too.

  “Your foreman is right. It’s important for one to maintain a good reputation for the sake of their workshop. As an Ieherl, you should think about what you need to do for your workshop’s future.”


  I only really cared about honing my skills that I never once bothered to think about the workshop’s future and its reputation in the Smithing Guild. It would seem that I needed to change my ways if I wanted to do my best as an Ieherl.

  “Anyways, merchants and craftsmen have their own sets of value. You can continue focusing on your work, Johann. That itself will help lift our workshop’s reputation. Don’t worry about it, I will take care of the workshop with the others. Continue working on yourself and get yourself another patron as talented as Myne.”


  “…Sir.”


  Though the foreman always did his best to tease me, he was still a reliable man. This made me tear up and I made an oath to work even harder.

  Mark broke into a gentle smile.

  “If that’s so, Johann, please take this chance to improve your abilities. These are from Myne,” he held out a stack of paper that was folded. I was careful in opening them up because these were precious blueprints that contained my new task.

  “Huh?!”


  The blueprints were for different types of letter blocks. Some were blank ones and others were symbols. I clutched onto the paper, I was not ready to go back to those hellish days of making letter blocks again.

  “What… what is this?”


  “These are additional orders from Myne, she said she would like you to make them if your first order was good. She also mentioned that she would order more versions of different sizes after you’re done with this order.” Mark said, trying his best to sound encouraging.

  But that wasn’t making me feel better. He looked like he was smiling because he was glad that someone was taking over some troublesome work.

  “Looks like you found yourself a very capable patron, right?”


  I felt the foreman slap my shoulder, and the weight of it felt heavier than the entire world. I glared back at him and came into contact with those eyes he always had right before he was going to tease me.

  “Your name is going down in history if you manage to finish all of them, Gutenberg~”


  “Boss, please stop calling me that!” I complained and clutched onto my head.

  “To think I actually looked up to you for a split second. Give me back my feelings!”


  Lutz shrugged and said, “Your luck ran out when you met Myne. Stop resisting, Gutenberg.”


  “Since you’re the first person she gave the title, you’re the real Gutenberg, Johannm” Benno chipped in with a frown.

  That sent a chill down my back. They were all trying to ditch this title and make me suffer alone. I wasn’t going to walk down this path myself… Or more like, I wasn’t going to let my comrades ditch their responsibilities. I knew what I needed to do now.

  “Lutz, Mister Benno, we are all Gutenbergs. Please remember that Lady Myne said this herself!”


  Benno clicked his tongue and shot me a glare, but I wasn’t going to back down this time.

  “You know, I think you would suit the position of the master Gutenberg, Benno. After all you are the wisest and oldest amongst us.”


  “Na-ah. Nice try, Johann. But nothing matters because you are the first one to receive the title.”


  “Where did that logic come from?!”


  In the end, no one wanted to take the position of master Gutenberg. When I brought this up to Myne and suggested that Benno should be the master Gutenberg, she brushed it off with, “Don’t worry. You are all Gutenbergs. It’s an equal position.”


  Ahh! I didn’t want that response.

  It is said that the historians recorded this moment as the birth of Ehrenfest’s Association of Gutenbergs. They were also known as the students of the Goddess of Wisdom, and would dedicate their entire life to developing printing and spreading books across the world.

  Volume 6, Epilogue

  Delia had filled a bucket full of water from the well and was in the midst of carrying it up to the second floor when Gil came bursting in. He didn’t usually return from the workshop this early. The only times he returned before Myne was when he needed to make a report from Lutz. Delia knew that he was back this time because Myne fell sick again.

  Really, Sister Myne? What did you do this time?! You finally returned home and you’re sick again!

  Delia continued lamenting how weak her mistress was on the inside while asking Gil if Sister Myne would not come to the temple that day. He jolted at her question and looked upstairs to where Delia was.

  “Well… she’s not going to be back for the next few days. Oh, Fran! Wait…”


  Gil was curt with his response and ran away to talk to Fran.

  “Slow down, Gil. Please remember to speak properly when reporting matters to others.”


  Delia continued climbing up with the bucket in tow, she was used to hearing Fran nag at Gil about the same things.

  She had finally reached the top and saw that Rosina was done with the work tasked by Fran and was busy tuning her harspiel now. She looked so pretty when she focused on tuning the instrument (she was used to moving with grace). Her nails were always short so that she could tune her instrument, and her hands were soft and pale because she didn’t have to do any laborious jobs. Her job responsibility only consisted of music tutoring and paperwork, she didn’t have to work physically like carrying around buckets of water.

  We are both such different people so it’s a given that we wouldn’t have the same job. It’s because of this that I need to work harder to pick up more skills, that way I will be favoured by the High Priest.

  Delia was even more resolved on this whenever she saw the glaring difference between herself and the other gray shrine maidens. She barely managed to get out of that horrible orphanage as kids around her dropped dead every time. She was going to live the rest of her life comfortably by earning the temple’s most powerful figure’s love, that is the High Bishop’s. With that goal in mind, she was going to watch Rosina to learn how to become more graceful and refined-like.

  I mean, Jenni managed to catch the High Priest’s attention and she used to serve Sister Christine.

  Delia thought this to herself as she brought a pail to the washroom. She proceeded to lift and pour the contents of the bucket she carried in previously into the pail. Water was absolutely necessary on the second floor as it was needed to clean the place and to clear their excrements. Delia found the job of carrying the bucket from the well to this place the most tedious one.

  “Hm, maybe we only need one more bucket?”


  They didn’t need that much water when Myne wasn’t around. After checking that there was sufficient water in the pail, she left the washroom with the empty bucket in tow. Right then she witnessed Fran asking Rosina to find a cloth of a certain length.

  “Would you like me to help out, Fran?”


  “Pardon me if I am wrong, but I take it that you are not done with transporting the water, Delia. Please continue with that first,” Fran smiled warmly.

  Delia was aware that Fran knew that she could find the cloth the quickest, yet he approached Rosina to do the task instead. She concluded that they were trying to hide something that needed to be hidden from the High Bishop.

  What’s going on? Delia was curious about it but she didn’t try to dig any further. She knew that Fran wasn’t going to let the cats out of the bag no matter what she did. Her best plan was to feign indifference so that Fran would not be suspicious of her, she could ask Rosina more details later.

  “Why do we need the cloth though, Fran?” Rosina probed.

  “To pack meat. The cloth doesn’t need to be a fine one.” Fran answered back.

  To pack meat?

  The empty bucket kept swaying as Delia made her descent down the stairs. She strained her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation, but it was too soft to hear and Gil’s (who was in the kitchen) voice now overlapped it.

  Strange. She thought that Gil would return to the workshop after passing the message.

  “We would want to make it seem like Sister Myne is very thankful to the people in the lower city who have helped her,” Gil said.

  “No problem, so how much should I pack?” Hugo asked.

  “Uhm… I don’t know about that. I’m sure you can figure that out, Hugo. Anyways, Fran said that it needs to be an amount that won’t raise suspicion amongst those in the lower city…”


  “Oh, so it needs to be an inconspicuous amount,” Ella interrupted them. She was so loud that her voice reverberated from the kitchen and out through the common corridor.

  “Well, since it’s supposed to be a celebration we can give them lots of deer meat and use the guise that it’s a gift from the workshop.”


  What celebration are they talking about?

  The only events a gray shrine maiden would ever celebrate was their baptism and their coming of age ceremony. But Myne wasn’t going to celebrate any of them right now.

  So something happened in the lower city. Something that calls for a celebration. Delia kept wondering about the possible events as she made her way out.

  When Delia returned to the chambers, the dust had settled. Gil was gone with the meat for the celebration. Fran was back to work with his monotonous face and Rosina was helping him because she didn’t need to tutor Myne today. The kitchen door was also closed now.

  On days when Myne wasn’t in the temple, Delia would be free for the day. She didn’t need to set out the table during meals, or steep the tea between meals. She didn’t have to help with the baths, or help with changing attires. Other than that, everyone would settle their own dishes and laundry with little issue.

  However, Fran was always busy regardless if Myne was present or not. Rosina supported him by helping out with the paperwork, but she occasionally took breaks to play the harspiel. As of late, Gil was always in the workshop and orphanage. The workshop needed to continue operations even if Lutz was not around because he had other matters to tend to. Gil helped out because he wanted to learn and expand his skillset.

  Delia was different though. She barely had any work to do. That was because she was planted her by the High Bishop so they didn’t want her finding out about important matters related to Myne.

  Delia was disappointed that she was left out, even so she was still proud to be a part of the the High Bishop’s association.

  “I will be going to the High Priest’s” Fran said this slightly after the third bell. He always left to help the High Priest even when Myne was absent.

  After finishing her task with the documents, Rosina picked up the harspiel.

  Delia was free until the fourth bell, so she took the chance to make her way down to the High Bishop’s chambers.

  “It’s me, Delia. I would like to make my report to the High Bishop,” she declared to the gray priest stationed at the chamber’s doors. After a while, the door opened and Jenny was standing inside, grinning.

  “Apologies, Delia. The High Bishop has left for the neighbouring lands.”


  “Hasn’t the High Bishop handed the chalices over to the Noble’s District? Why is he leaving the city even though Spring Prayer is over?”


  Delia was perplexed because it didn’t match up to the High Bishop’s schedule she had committed to memory when she was working to become his apprentice here.

  Jenny said that she was unclear of the reason too, she only knew that there was an invitation from one of the southern lands. Apparently one of the nobles that owned the land there wanted a discussion with the High Bishop.

  “Hence, I will be the one to receive your report,” Jenny continued.

  Delia made her report that there had been a celebration of sorts involving Myne in the lower city, and that they prepared some meat as a gift.

  Jenny scribbled down what she said onto a board before looking back at Delia with a smile.

  “Delia, you look more graceful and refined than you were.”


  Myne and Rosina always praised Delia for her hardworking spirit, but hearing it from Jenny was much more pleasing to the ear. That was because Delia looked up to Jenny who was her ultimate goal, that is being favoured by the High Priest.

  “I want to be more like Rosina so that I can become the High Bishop’s concubine.”


  “Of course, that’s an amazing dream. It’s been so long… I wonder if Rosina is doing well now.”


  Delia shifted the conversation to talk about Rosina and what she did as Myne’s attendant. She would occasionally talk about Wilma who was staying in the orphanage too. Jenny listened on with a very pleased expression.

  “Do take better care of your appearance, Delia. There might be a noble visiting soon.”


  “Do you suppose the High Bishop will let me meet them? Oh no… Fran’s not going to let come though. He always does this.”


  Delia’s pale blue eyes filled with glitter when she heard this piece of news, but it dissipated when she recalled her situation. Jenny gave her an amicable smile back.

  “I believe that this noble likes children. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the High Bishop will summon you over, Delia.”


  If Delia caught the attention of this noble, there’s a possibility she could become a noble’s concubine and not that of the High Bishop. If she was that lucky, she could even leave the temple.

  Though Delia knew that the chances of this happening was nearly impossible, she was still excited about it. She left the High Bishop’s room in high spirits, fantasizing about how amazing her life was going to be, so much so that she didn’t hear Jenny mutter under her breath.

  “It would seem like the noble is looking for a child with the Devouring.”


  Volume 6, Extra 1: Eating in the Temple

  The fourth bell rang and it was lunchtime. I made sure that the apprentice was back in her chambers before making my way to Lord Ferdinand’s room. Whenever I was in the temple he would send me an invitation to lunch with him. Of course I was so nervous when I first ate with him that the food had turned bland. Now that a whole season has passed, I was more comfortable dining with him, and frankly I began to anticipate our meals together.

  Well, that is because he gets to eat food that a lower-class nobility like me only gets to on rare ocassions.

  “Lord Ferdinand, thank you for your invite.”


  I was led into the chambers by a gray priest attendant. Our meal was being laid out on the table and I saw that Lord Feridnand was still busy with work. He only looked at me to acknowledge my presence.

  The first time I had been here, I panicked when I saw this because I thought I had intruded during an important time, but now I knew that this was just the norm here. While making sure I wasn’t going to get in the way of the attendants prepping our meal, I made my way towards Lord Ferdinand.

  “Damuel, what’s with that board?” Lord Ferdinand asked.

  “It has a couple of questions from the apprentice addressed to you. She would like you to answer them if possible.”


  Lord Ferdinand reached out and took the board. He scanned through the questions and shook his head. I heard him mutter under his breath with a twinge of annoyance, “So she’s reading an old bible this time…” After that he began scribbling down the answers.

  The apprentice wanted to ask him some words and things she didn’t understand from the books she was reading. She just picked up a bible that was written in an archaic language that even I, a graduate of the Royal Academy, could not decipher.

  The situation was completely bizarre because who would ever imagine a girl who just got baptized to be interested in such a book. It was surprising to see the apprentice flip through the bible with a cheerful grin, so engrossed in trying to learn this archaic language by comparing it with a more modern copy of it.

  “She said that she enjoyed analysing it alongside a more modern edition, and that she was thankful to even have the opportunity to read words.” I said.

  “Well touching a book is enough to please her.”


  “You couldn’t be more right. I was utterly stupefied on my first day at the temple and saw how much of a bookworm she was.”


  On my first day as her bodyguard, the first thing she had done was run to the hall of books. The room was freezing cold because there wasn’t a fireplace but she stayed in there for hours. She was already fragile enough that a gust of wind could knock her out but she sat inside reading for hours, while other people wouldn’t even want to set foot in here.

  Fran and I were at a loss, so we could only ask Lord Ferdinand to allow her to bring the books back to her chambers so that she could read it near the fireplace. If we didn’t do anything, the apprentice would just get lost in her book for hours in that glacial room. Plus, I would be stuck with her for the entire time. Now that was a risky situation.

  “She even reads when she’s sick in bed. Even when she needs to rest to recover, she insists that she needs books. She keeps begging until Fran gives in and hands her one.”


  “I’m not surprised by that bonehead anymore,” Lord Ferdinand gave a nonchalant reply as he continued writing his response to the queries about this language so ancient that even the Royal Academy did not cover it in classes.

  I was so impressed by Lord Ferdinand, everything my elder brother had said about him being a phenomenon, I was bearing witness to it right now. I was motivated to study more about the old languages because I couldn’t answer any of the questions from the apprentice.

  It’s kind of embarrassing that a noble can’t answer a commoner apprentice maiden’s questions. I might be a lower-class noble, but still…


  My life is feeling kind of surreal now. I was supposed to serve my punishment in the temple but now I’m studying more than I did at the Royal Academy.

  “High Priest, Lord Damuel. The food is ready,” an attendant addressed us, which meant that I had to leave his desk now.

  The whole table was adorned with a colourful myriad of appetisers, it was on a completely different scale than the food back in the knight quarters and at home.

  I took my seat with a grumbling tummy. I tried to hunker it down, I would be embarrassed if Lord Ferdinand (someone who I greatly looked up to) heard it.

  The meal was tauzschnitz today, this was a stewed-bird dish. Just from its looks, I could tell that it was cooked with lots of care and attention, the meat looked so soft that its juices would seep out the moment you put it into your mouth.

  “What went on yesterday?” Lord Ferdiand raised a question as he started on his meal.

  One of my job’s responsibilities was to give a daily report of what the apprentice did between our daily lunch. Though Fran was also giving his reports about the apprentice too, Lord Ferdinand wanted information from various sources. I was thankful for this responsibility of mine because it felt too awkward to eat with Lord Ferdinnand in silence.

  I gave my report, “Tuuli and a couple of people from the Gilberta Company came over yesterday afternoon. They were making plans on how to run the workshop without Myne over the Spring Prayer .”


  I said all this while cutting a portion of the softly stewed fargel meat and dipped it into the cream before putting it into my mouth. A burst of flavours came rushing in, the buttery cream washed over my tastebuds and the tender meat crumbled in my mouth.

  Ha… There’s nothing as delicious as some nice warm creamy fargel meat.

  It felt like springtime again for me, but this also meant that I couldn’t eat the parue cakes I had at the orphanage. These were commoner sweets that didn’t exist in the Noble’s District, but their taste was packed full with flavours. The apprentice said that this was the highlight of every winter. I guessed that she didn’t realise that I wouldn’t be her bodyguard anymore by next winter.

  And I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to harvest some parue with commoners. This sucks.

  I was trying to recall the taste of that delicious parue cake when Lord Ferdinand said, “Oh yes”. He must have recalled that he wanted to ask something.

  “I keep hearing about this person ‘Tuuli’, but who is she exactly and what does she does here? I don’t suppose she has as many things to do like the Gilberta Company.”


  Tuuli always made a frequent appearance in the reports, she always came with the Gilberta Company but would head off to the orphanage immediately. I only came to realise that I failed to give details on her because I believed that the Gilberta Company would do so.

  Tuuli was the apprentice’s older sister and was a thorough-bred commoner. They didn’t really resemble each other despite being siblings. I could tell that they were close but it was because they spoke and acted so differently that I struggled to believe that they were kin.

  “Tuuli helps tutor the orphans sewing and cooking in exchange for lessons on math and reading in the orphanage school. Now that spring has begun again, she has to get back to work so she only visits on alternate days. It’s quite important for the the apprentice to see her family members so that she will remain composed.”


  “Great. That sounds like splendid news.”


  Things had gotten out of hand during the severe snowstorms last winter. The weather was so bad that the apprentice’s family couldn’t make the trip down. She had gotten so anxious that she needed to stay by Lord Ferdinand’s side all the time, she resembled a small duckling following its parent.

  On the worst days, Lord Ferdinand had to take the apprentice to his studio. He was quite uncomfortable doing so but it was the last resort to cool her nerves.

  The studio was also known as Lord Ferdinand’s hidden room. Nobles saw their hidden room as their most secretive and elusive place. It was the only place they could seek solace and comfort in when needed, so they usually wouldn’t take too kindly to someone entering it. Though noble children would put their parents’ mana in the room’s roster so they could enter too, they would rewrite the barrier so that only they themselves could enter. That was why I was so shocked when Lord Ferdinand allowed someone he was not close to enter his hidden room.

  Then again, I could understand why he did so, the apprentice was not a noble so she could not have a hidden room of her own. As such, she had no place to relieve her stress without worry. Furthermore, being the future daughter of a noble demands her to maintain a calm and collected expression at all times.

  “Damuel, now that you have spent a season with Myne, how do you feel about her being Karstedt’s adopted daughter?” Lord Ferdinand raised a question.

  I paused with the knife in hand and recalled what happened with the apprentice last winter.

  “…She always looks so happy whenever she’s with her family and the Gilberta Company, it pains me to see how dejected she looks whenever they leave. Having to see such a young girl be separated from her family is a sorrowful sight to bear. Nevertheless, for her safety, it is crucial that she gets adopted. With the amount of mana she possess, her knowledge to start such a profitable workshop and her money sense, along with her crippling health, she will not survive as a commoner.”


  ‘“So we share the same sentiments,” Lord Ferdinand’s voice dipped a tone as he took a bit of his food.

  “I got the chance to see her run the orphanage and workshop in person, and I can say for sure that the apprentice is a peculiar person. It’s not an issue of whether she is a noble or a commoner, she’s entirely different from everyone.

  The hierarchy between nobles and commoners was established based on the amount of mana they possessed or not, as such they acted very differently from each other. Yet the apprentice was unlike any noble or commoner. It had nothing to do with the amount of mana she possessed, the things she did and the way she thinks was out of this world. The stark contrast between the apprentice and the other commoners was even more distinct when she interacted with her family or the Gilberta Company.

  “The most shocking thing was when she said that she started the workshop in the orphanage for pure satisfaction. I would never come to imagine that a commoner would choose to do something for pleasure, and not survival. Furthermore, she’s earning so much money that my mind cannot wrap around it.”


  During the times I was in her chambers, I would often hear her discussions with the Gilberta Company and see her working on the reports with Fran and Gil to calculate the workshop’s revenue. It has barely been a year since she got baptized but she is earning more than a laynoble’s annual salary, using myself as the comparison.

  “No matter which angle you see her from, the apprentice is an odd one, indeed. But I firmly believe that she needs Lord Karstedt’s protection if she wants a smooth-sailing life.” I finished my conjecture.

  There was nothing better than having the commander of the Knight Order protection, adding on to the fact that he is a relative of the archduke too. Being with a noble like Lord Karstedy was much better than a violent and horrible mid-noble like Shikza. And the best thing would be that if she became the daughter of an archnoble and entered the noble society, she could improve my situation by showing her favour to me again. My life would be back to how it was before I screwed up that time. For now, I wanted to continue serving the apprentice as it would help me in my future endeavours.

  “…To think that you would speak of Myne so fondly, you must be quite used to life in the temple and serving her now. You look much different than last time,” Lord Ferdinand commented.

  I gave a wistful smile and continued to eat my food. Feeling the meat crumble apart in my mouth truly resembled how my life was like last autumn, my life was literally crumbling apart. My whole life had turned around during the mission to kill the trombe.

  “I was looking forward to my first mission to exterminate the trombe because I couldn’t participate in them before my coming of age. I know I am just a low-ranking knight, but I always did my best to memorise the prayers on Darkness for weapons.”


  “I do have some vague memories about the knights getting overjoyed at being able to use weapons with Darkness for the first time,” Lord Ferdinand gave a nostalgic smile.

  Apparently he was excited for his first official mission as a knight too. I didn’t know why, but hearing that made me kind of happy.

  “I understand why Lord Karstedt chose me to watch over the apprentice then. I had just graduated as an apprentice knight and had no prior experience with trombe extermination. Furthermore, I didn’t possess much mana. Even so, I wished that he didn’t select Shikza as my partner.”


  Shikza was a mid-noble that left the temple after the last civil political restructuring. He used to be a priest with little mana, so the noble society looked down on him. The only thing that comforted him was his status that allowed him to trample on those beneath him in status, that is the lower-ranking nobles. No matter how much I hated it and was vexed by it, there was no way I could go against a midnoble.

  “Shikza believed that his status allowed him to freely harm the apprentice with no consequences. Though the only punishment I received was a demotion and not an execution, my life had turned for the worst. I was sent into debt and had to seek out my older brother to pay for my portion of the apprentice’s clothes. My engagement with my ex-fiancee was dissolved because I had been demoted to an apprentice knight and my new job was in a temple that required me to guard a commoner apprentice shrine maiden. The temple was seen as a dead-end for those without mana, even the other knights in the Order would crackle over it.

  A single event had pushed me over the cliff in an instant. I had earned everyone’s gaze of sympathy, they knew I was in this position because of Shikza, but that didn’t make me feel any better. My reputation as a knight was stained now that I would forever be remembered as the knight who failed his mission and was exiled to the temple.

  I finished recounting how I had suffered as interesting as possible. After that, Lord Ferdinand placed down his utensils and his face hardened.

  “I feel that you were truly unfortunate and that you did not deserve to be a victim of this horrible event. But at the same time, I cannot entirely agree with the notion that you were punished because of Shikza’s foolishness. You have made mistakes too and it appears that you have not realised them yet.”


  …I made a mistake?

  I only thought that I was just unlucky to have been dragged into someone else’s problems. Everyone around me told me I was just unlucky but no one said I had messed up too.

  I was utterly bamboozled by this, “Someone like me can’t do anything but obey orders from those above me in status. I couldn’t do anything, right?”


  Lord Ferdinand raised his eyebrow.

  “Damuel, you should have used rott the moment you realized that Shikza was getting out of hand.”


  “Rott” was a magic used to signal for help. It was conjured by the schtappe and produced a crimson light. Lord Ferdinand explained that I should have used rott to call for backup from the other knights involved in the fight. But frankly, when it came down to choosing between protecting a commoner shrine maiden and eliminating a dangerous trombe, the altter seemed more important.

  “…To think of using rott, that did not come to my mind at all then.”


  “If you were guarding an archnoble or an archduke’s daughter from another duchy, you would have done so, right?”


  He made a point. If I was guarding the daughter of an archnoble, there was no doubt that I would have done everything to stop Shikza’s attack. If I was not strong enough to subdue him, I would have resorted to using rott. So I had subconsciously been undermining the apprentice like Shikza because she was a commoner. My mind went into shock.

  “You must always put the subject of your protection before yourself. When you find yourself in a situation where you cannot do so, you should have used rott. Seek the aid of nobles of a higher status when you find yourself oppressed by a tyrannic midnoble. But you did not do any of them. You just accepted the situation in cowardice rather than fulfill your duties, and now you complain that you have suffered before of your misfortune. That is why you are at fault too.”


  Though Lord Ferdinand looked quite serious about it, his tone was quite soft. He was trying to reassure me that he would have come if I had asked for help.

  What he said stupefied me. This was the first time an archnoble had offered me his help.

  “…The upcoming Spring Prayer will greatly require your support. There has been a disturbing amount of rumours circulating around as or late. Cowardice and arrogance will not be tolerated for this mission.”


  “Yes, sir! I promise that I will protect the apprentice this time.”


  ~~~

  After our lunch, I was planning to return to the orphanage director’s chambers when I was halted by Lord Ferdinand.

  “Hold on. You mentioned that you had to resort to borrowing money from your older brother. Is that going alright?”


  Nope, it’s rather bad.

  I had been demoted to an apprentice so my salary was obviously that of an apprentice’s now. Furthermore, most of my savings had gone to my soon-to-be-wife’s expenses back when I was still engaged.

  I wanted to ask if I could receive some money back, but my older brother dissuaded me from doing so now that the engagement has been dissolved. And even if they returned it back, it wouldn’t amount to much because it couldn’t settle my debt.

  “Frankly, my financial situation is worse than what it was back when I was still a Royal Academy student. Back then I had earned some money on the side from duplicating books and selling notes I made.”


  “Duplicating texts and selling notes…? Why would a knight like you do the work of a scholar?” Lord Ferdinand was perplexed. His surprise at this just made me feel ashamed.

  It was a common belief that knights earned money from hunting fey-wildlife, such as feyanimals, feyplants, etcetera, and sell the feystones and materials they extracted from them. It just that lower-ranking knights like me didn’t have the luxury of an enormous amount of mana like the archnobles, so it was tough for us to kill strong feyanimals. With that in mind, we could not get our hands on good materials, and the lower-ranking materials didn’t amount to much.

  “It’s much more profitable for me to sell some academic notes on knight courses than to take to hunting materials.”


  “Interesting… Seeing that you have derived quite some business from selling your notes, can I assume that you are quite dexterous with scholar work?” Lord Ferdinand asked.

  I gave him a nod. I helped with my brother’s paperwork whenever I returned home, and that helped me earn a fair share of money. I didn’t mind doing the work of a scholar. When discussing my future with my brother who worked as a scholar, I made the decision to become a knight so that we can widen our family’s connections and scope.

  Ferdinand’s eyes lit up in surprise before giving a calculative grin.

  “Damuel, will you be interested in working for me too after the Spring Prayer? I promise that I will give you a decent salary.”


  Ngh!

  My mind kept dwelling on the phrase “decent salary’, but I wasn’t going to fall for it. This might be a trap for me, furthermore, I wasn’t a scholar but a knight.

  “Thank you for your kind offer, Lord Ferdinand. But I have to turn it down because I am not a scholar.”


  “Do you not wish to earn money to the best of your abilities?”


  “I do, but I am after all, the bodyguard of the apprentice. I do not think it’s possible for me to do more work during my punishment…”


  I was conflicted over my pride as a knight and the harsh reality I was being forced to face right now. I was desperate for more money, this was the worst position to be in.

  Lord Ferdinand probably saw through my dilemma because he narrowed his eyes and spoke again.

  “Of course, you will only help out whenever Myne is in my room. I do not suppose it is presumptuous of me to say that she will be safe with me around.”


  That sent me into silence, I couldn’t argue against that when he pretty much told me upfront that he was stronger than me. Lord Ferdinand picked up a board and took this time to do write down some numbers.

  “I suppose you are aware of my busy work schedule. I would gladly accept any help that comes my way. Hm… How is this salary if you worked from the third to the fourth bell? If you do well, I would be glad to give you a pay raise.”


  He was offering me a salary similar to that of an adult knight from the lower-rankings, that is if I worked for a full month. The salary was more than I was given during my term as a bodyguard in the temple. An apprentice’s salary was truly pathetic, adding on a side job to my current one would be ideal.

  I gulped.

  “…I-I’ll be glad to accept your offer.”


  I needed to accept reality rather than try to protect my pride as a knight. Lord Ferdinand seemed pleased with my response and didn’t mock me at all.

  “Make good use of this opportunity. If you do not clear your debt, you might find it difficult to get engaged again when you return to the noble society, I suppose.”


  That felt like a stab in my heart, but I knew that Lord Ferdinand meant good intentions. Even so, money wasn’t the issue to worry about the most when it came to find~ing a new fiancee.

  Where would you find a girl who is willing to marry a guy who came from the temple?!

  Volume 7, 2: The Child That Was Abandoned

  After all the celebration in the plaza was over, everyone resumed their daily work. I would be returning back to the temple today too. Damuel and Fran fetched me from my house, but we made a stop at the Gilberta Company first. I wanted to thank them for their gifts and to show off to Benno that Kamil was cute. And if possible, I wanted to resume our discussion about the plans for printing.

  “He’s so tiny as a newborn. He gets so red and wrinkly whenever he cries, he’s so cute. I never would have thought that my baby brother would be this cute,” I indulged in remembering how cute he was. I told Benno the same thing I did for Lutz, Fran and Damuel when walking here.

  Benno just cringed and massaged his temples.

  “I get it. I’ve been hearing this nonsense from Otto everyday. Just start talking about your plans for printing already.”


  “Wait, what? Has Corinna given birth? I didn’t hear of this! When did she give birth?!” My eyes grew with surprise at this news.

  Benno frowned in response.

  “Did I not tell you? Well, I might have forgotten to because you were stuck in the temple for so long. Otto has been fawning over his kid so much that I thought that your dad, Lutz or Leon would have told you about it,” Benno explained and looked at Lutz who shrugged.

  “Leon told me that we shouldn’t be going around talking about your private matters, that’s why I didn’t tell her.”


  “Hm, you’re right, I guess. Well, I did meet Myne a couple of times after the baby was born, but… it probably slipped my mind because we were so busy. We had to finish the letter blocks and then there was the visit by the blue priests,” Benno reminisced with a tired look. He was drowning with a heavy workload, so he probably didn’t have the time to announce that Corinna had given birth. .

  “Well, I might as well say it now. The baby arrived right before winter ended. She’s called Renate and she will be the heir to the Giberta Company, so treat her well, yeah.” Benno said all this in such a nonchalant way that I was baffled. He was acting the complete opposite of Dad right now.

  “You don’t look excited about this, Benno. Weren’t you desperate for a successor?”


  “I am, but Otto can be excited in my stead. He’s surely going to blindly spoil her, so I need to be strict with her or the Gilberta Company won’t hold when she inherits it,” Benno smirked, but I had my suspicions that he was going to spoil her too even after all that talk.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”


  “Oh, it’s nothing. I feel like you’re going to spoil her as much as Otto.”


  “Watch what you say,” Benno shot me a glare but I ignored it.

  “Corinna will raise Renate into a fine lady. She’ll become a capable businesswoman who can keep a poker face when securing a good business deal.”


  Corinna might have a sweet demeanor, but there were a couple of occasions where she pulled out valuable information from me without my awareness. If this happened with Benno, he would berate me for being so gullible and for trusting others too blindly, but Corinna didn’t do any of that. She would just try to take as much information with me with a gentle smile. Freida was the complete opposite when it came to business, she was very blunt with her words that it was slightly annoying. Corinna got everything she wanted to know by chatting.

  She’s much scarier than Freida when it comes to business-related things.

  Frankly, Benno was the nicest merchant I have met so far. Perhaps training me as his apprentice had brought out his sense of duty to look after me, so he would subconsciously act nicer around me.

  “I practically raised Corrina myself, you do realise that right?”


  “Well, the Gilberta Company has a long and bright future then.”


  “That’s obvious,” Benno was pleased with my comment and continued, “Speaking of business, you mentioned that you have some news for the printing business?”


  “The High Priest said that I needed to postpone using the new printing presses for now. If we are too hasty with printing, we might risk clashing with some nobles. And we have no way of winning against them now?”


  “…So nobles might get involved? Well then, it’s best for us to pay heed to his advice.”


  Benno was aggressive when it came to fighting for profits, but he was definitely not going to risk fighting with nobles. I felt relieved that he felt that way, so I continued to tell him what else the High Priest had told me.

  “Lots of nobles copy books, so we can’t make thick and wordy books for adults (Ria says: I couldn’t really understand what the author was trying to say here.) The High Priest said that it was ok to make children books. So anyways, I’ll be going all out with making children’s books for the next few years.”


  Benno frowned at this, “Going all out… ? Well then, I would like to hear your plans for this.”


  I nodded and explained to him my plans for the workshop.

  “I’ll be upfront with this, I want to make coloured ink to colour the pictures. After that, I want to make some wax stencils that will speed up stencil printing. We need to step on it if we want to get everything done in time.”


  “What are you preparing for?” Benno asked and I responded with a proud grin.

  “I will need to make books for Kamil at different ages. I will be working my hardest for him, so it would be great if you could find me a wax workshop.”


  “Have you received the High Priest’s permission for this?” Benno had an exasperated and doubtful look on his face. I wasn’t that impulsive to start things before asking Benno and the High Priest because they would always nag at me to report and ask them for permission before doing anything first.

  “The High Priest said that the books for children won’t incite any hard feelings from the nobles, to be honest, he was the one who suggested colouring the pictures. He said something along the lines of ‘It’s such a waste to see Wilma’s art in black and white only, art needed colour, etcetera, etcetera…”


  “I will be happy to help you as long as you have received permission. I will arrange a time for you to meet a foreman as soon as possible.”


  That was all I had to discuss with Benno. Now that I had found a possible craftsman from a wax workshop, I left the Gilberta Company in high spirits.

  ~~~

  “Good morning. I’m back.”


  “Welcome back, Sister Myne.”


  I was greeted by Delia and Rosina in my chambers, they proceeded to assist me into my blue robes while I told them more about Kamil.

  “My little brother was just born. He’s called Kamil. He is so tiny and gets all red and wrinkly whenever he cries. He’s just so cute.”


  “Sister Myne, the way you describe him doesn’t sound cute,” Rosina chuckled at me. It was true that Kamil looked really cute when he got all wrinkly, but I just wasn’t good with my words.

  “Sister Myne, I don’t think it really matters to us if your brother is cute or not. Why do you wish to tell us about him?” Delia tilted her head in confusion.

  “I want more people to know about him. I was told that it is important for people to remember when he was born.”


  After all my talk about how cute Kamil was, it was time for me to head to my harspiel practice. But it didn’t take long for Rosina’s class to get interrupted by a knock on the door downstairs. Shortly after, Fran had made his way upstairs.

  “Pardon my intrusion, Sister Myne. Wilma would like to seek an audience with you.” he announced, sounding slightly anxious.

  “Please let her in,” I replied.

  If Wilma had come all the way here, it must mean that something important had happened in the orphanage.

  Delia helped me keep away my haspiel and I sat by the table to welcome Wilma. She came upstairs carrying a baby that was bigger than Kamil. Wilma and Fran gave me a troubled look.

  “Wilma, whose baby is that?” I asked.

  I had stayed in the temple for quite some time, but I hadn’t heard of any of the gray shrine maidens getting pregnant. It was common for blue priests to send their pregnant attendants back to the orphanage, so this baby definitely wasn’t from here.

  “The baby was abandoned. He was left with one of the guards…”


  Wilma explained that one of the patrolling guards at the lower city’s gate was approached by a lady out of the blue. She pushed a bundle of cloth into his arms, claiming she wanted to present an offering to the gods. It wasn’t unusual for people to offer gifts or donations to the gods, so the guard accepted it without any suspicion.

  “It was only when the guard opened up the bundle that he realised there was a baby inside.”


  It was part of the guards’ protocol to check the contents of an offering before passing it to the temple.

  “She wanted to give her child to the gods…?”


  Parents who were unable to kill or raise their child would usually turn to the orphanage as a last resort, hoping that the gods will look after the kid. This baby was bigger than Kamil and he could move around his head, but he was too young to walk by himself. ‘I was indignant at how a mother could so carelessly abandon their child.

  “Since you are the director of the orphanage, I decided to bring him here first. What should we do about him?”


  The orphanage needed the director’s permission before they could take in a new child, but since this was my first time handling this, I was unsure what I needed to do.

  “Apologies, but I am unclear on such matters. I have not done this before since I first stepped into the position of the direction. It seems I have to consult the High Priest. Fran, would you help send a request for an emergency meeting on my behalf?”


  “Certainly,” Fran bowed and turned around.

  This was probably his run into such a situation because he left the room frantically. While all this was happening, the baby was still sleeping soundly in Wilma’s arms, completely ignorant of our worries.

  “This baby is such a deep sleeper,” I said. His small and sleeping look reminded me of Kamil, and that made me smile.

  This baby is cute, but my Kamil is the best. Absolutely.

  “We are fine now because he is still asleep, but I do not know what I should do when he wakes. We do not have any gray shrine maidens who have children. What shall we do about the baby’s milk…” Wilma was at a loss.

  Whenever a baby was brought into the temple, they lived in the basement and the post-natal or still pregnant gray shrine maidens would feed them. They would practically take in their children as their own. But with all the pregnant shrine maidens gone, we no longer had anyone in the basement to share their knowledge with us.

  The rest of the shrine maidens and apprentices were girls who had never offered flowers before. They have been living in the orphanage for their entire lives, so they didn’t have any parents to teach them about pregnancy, childbirth or child care. In other words, no one knew how to look after a baby.

  “Do you perhaps know how to look after a baby, Sister Myne?”


  “I know that you can swap out breastmilk with goat milk. If I’m not wrong, goat milk is much better than using cow milk. It will be a slow process, but we can feed the baby with a spoon,” I said.

  I reiterated everything I read from a fictional book set in the medieval times, but Wilma looked as though she had been enlightened. Her eyes glistened with awe and respect.

  “Thank you so much, Sister Myne. I will go get some right now.:

  “Remember to prepare some clean cloth for diapers and clothes for the baby too,” I told her what we did for Kamil.

  “We still have some old cloth from the babies we used to raise. We should be fine with what we have for now.”


  “Alright.”


  Some time later, Fran returned from the High Priest’s chambers and I asked him to bring over some goat milk. All of a sudden, the baby woke up and started crying.

  “He’s probably hungry, I think,” I said.

  Wilma slowly brought a spoonful of milk to the baby’s mouth. He was initially resistant to it because he realised that Wilma wasn’t his mother, but he eventually succumbed to his hunger and started sipping on the milk.

  Everyone let out a sigh of relief at this. At least we knew that the baby wouldn’t die of starvation for now.

  The third bell rang and the baby flinched in surprise, but he didn’t cry because he was too occupied with satisfying his hunger.

  “Fran, we will head over to the High Priest’s right now. Sir Damiel, please look after me.”


  We all sped our way down to the High Priest’s chambers. My sisterly-instincts were screaming at me now that Kamil had been born, I wanted to make sure that baby could live here comfortably as soon as possible.

  “High Priest, I have an important matter to discuss with you.”


  I informed the High Priest about the baby that was abandoned and seeked advice for him on what I needed to do.

  “Why don’t you go about it the way it has always been done?”


  “That is why I am here, we do not have any experienced gray shrine maidens in caring for babies in the orphanage anymore,” I explained and the High Priest flashed a look of surprise.

  “Yes, I see. But we cannot ask for the impossible right now. There are wet nurses… Unfortunately, I do not know how to care for children.”


  “So we can hire a wet nurse?” I asked with glee in my eyes.

  It would be much easier on us if we had one, but sadly, the High Priest shook his head.

  “…Where would you find one willing to enter the orphanage?”


  “That’s going to be difficult.’


  The High Priest was probably giving his input as a noble. But likewise, it was difficult to find anyone in the lower city who was willing to enter the orphanage because the place was frowned upon. Mum might help out, but she needed time to recover first. I wasn’t going to ask her to help out with her current state.

  Least to say, it was nearly impossible to get a wet nurse to help out. I could only ask my attendants to look after the baby. It was going to be a gruelling task for everyone but we did not have any other alternative right now.

  “What should his name be? The mother didn’t indicate his name anywhere on his clothes.”


  “Do as you like. As long as he does not have the same name as another orphan, anything will be fine.”


  “Alright.”


  We finished up our talk and I quickly returned to my chambers. The baby was giggling, satisfied with how it had been fed and changed into a new set of diapers.

  “We will take turns to look after him. It will be too hard on Wilma to look after him alone.”


  The situation wouldn’t have been this bad if we still had some mothers or pregnant ones in the basement, but now we had to make do with the current gray shrine maidens. They had no experience in carrying babies and there was no one to seek advice from. I wasn’t going to leave Wilma alone in caring for the baby when she had no one else to rely on. Anyone in that situation would be utterly drained of energy.

  “He will go hungry in the night too. So we will need someone to be on night duty, and someone else needs to wake up earlier to take over.”


  In the end, we decided that Wilma would take the day shift and look after him in the orphanage, and the rest of my attendants would take turns looking after him in my chambers at night. Rosina was a night-owl, so she took the midnight shift while Fran would sleep earlier to take over. After that, Delia would look after him until it was Wilma’s turn again.

  “Hey! Why must I look after him too?!” Delia fumed.

  She was fine with listening to orders from her master, but she wasn’t willing to care for an abandoned baby everyday. I could understand where she was coming from, but the baby needed our constant care if we wanted him to survive.

  I peeked at Delia from the corner of my eyes.

  Maybe I could say something to convince her otherwise? Something that will make her happy to care for him.

  I ruminated for a while before a sudden idea struck me. Delia looked jealous the other time when I talked about my family. She was probably keen on having her very own.

  “Delia, you are responsible for looking after him. Don’t forget, you are his big sister.”


  “Huh? Big sister?” Delia was stumped and looked back at the baby and me.

  “You are too young to be his mother, so of course you are his sister, right Delia? Care for him like you would for your family. Afterall, you are a family.”


  “A…family?” she stressed those words, still shocked by the meaning of that to her.

  “I just became a big sister the other day, and you are one too now, Delia. Who do you think will be the better sister?”


  “Of course, it will be me!” Delia declared with lots of confidence and puffed up her chest. Now it seemed like she was going to give her all for the baby, she looked like she would be a good sister.

  Deep down, Delia was a forthright and a hardworking person who would put her best into everything she did. My other attendants were happy to see Delia this excited. With someone as diligent as Delia went all out in looking after the baby, caring for him would be much easier for Fran and Rosina.

  “Well then, let’s give him a name. He cannot have the same name as someone else in the orphanage, so it’s up to us to decide one for him. Any suggestions?”


  “I want to give him a similar name to mine. Something a family would do,” Delia spoke as she continued looking at the baby in Wilma’s arms avidly.

  Maybe that will make her like him more.

  I tried to think of a name that similar to “Delia”.

  “Something like ‘Delia’… What do you think about ‘Deta’ or ‘Dirk’?”


  “Deta… or Dirk… I like ‘Dirk’ better!” Delia chirped with a happy blush.

  “Hello Dirk, I’m your big sister,” she greeted Dirk and stretched out to pat his head. He gave an awkward grin when she did so.

  “Sister Myne, did you see that?! He’s smiling!”


  “…That’s amazing Delia. Kamil always cries whenever I carry him,” I replied, a little jealous that Delia was already a better-like older sister than me.

  I was very determined to win more big sister points, so I would rush to look after Kamil whenever I got home, but with Mum and Tuuli around, I could barely help out. What made it worse was that I couldn’t grasp the technique of changing his diapers. Whenever I tried to help out, Kamil would pee out and that was havoc.

  “Oh, the orphanage is looking after an abandoned baby? It must be tough since you don’t have an experienced lady to help out,” Mum said while breastfeeding Kamil.

  “Mum, is there any other way for me to help?”


  “Taking power naps in the day will make it easier on them to feed him at night. First off, you can try making sure those looking after the baby get more sleep in the day.”


  She was giving us advice based on her experience and wisdom, so there were no protests on my part.

  “Alright, I’ll get better at changing Dirk’s and Kamil’s diapers so that everyone can get more sleep.”


  “That would be great. But frankly, I’m not expecting much from you,” Mum gave a cheeky smile.

  ~~~

  When I turned to the temple on the following day, I saw that Fran and Rosina looked extremely sleep-deprived. It must have been hard for them to alter their sleeping schedule and wake up to feed Dirk in the middle of the night. They definitely needed naps.

  “Fran, Rosina, please take a bell-long nap after having your breakfast. You need more time to rest now that you are going to wake up at night.”


  “As per orders, thank you Sister Myne,” Fran and Rosina gave their thanks.

  It was already tough on mothers to raise children, so I can’t imagine it will be any easier for anyone else to look after a baby that had appeared in the orphanage out of the blue.

  “Anyways, Sister Myne, there’s something off about Dirk,” Delia looked at Dirk with lots of concern in her gaze. But he seemed perfectly fine to me, he was just snoozing away.

  “This morning, Dirk started crying and we couldn’t pacify him because we hadn’t prepared the milk. His head started heating up and some bubbles appeared on his cheeks. He went back to normal when he got his milk though. Anyways, we have no clue what’s wrong with him,” Fran explained to me whatever he saw. I was confused because he looked perfectly fine to me now.

  “We’ll have to make him a little hungry and cry. It’s tough for me to make a judgement without seeing it in person. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone here to tell us if this is normal among babies.”


  We waited for Dirk to start crying from hunger. And just as told, he started burning up as his wails got louder.

  “Look, Sister Myne, he’s burning up.”


  I placed my palm onto his forehead but was jolted away by what felt like a volt of electricity. Dirk started crying harder when that happened.

  “Sister Myne, his cheeks are bubbling again.”


  “Delia, quick, give him his milk.”


  “Yes. Here’s your milk Dirk,” Delia slowly lifted a spoonful of milk into his mouth.

  Dirk stopped crying when he felt the milk in his mouth. He started taking small sips, and his cheeks and fever quickly settled down. I didn’t feel that spark of energy again when I touched him.

  “Fran, send a request for a meeting with the High Priest now. It is an urgent one,” I ordered seriously.

  He rushed out of the chamber while Delia looked at me with trepidation, “Sister Myne, what’s going on?”


  “I am not too sure about this, and I do not want to make it worse for you by making wild guesses,” I looked down and shook my head.

  I prayed that whatever I was thinking was wrong, but it was unlikely. Dirk had the Devouring. What was more devastating was that his mana was strong enough to kill him.

  Delia narrowed her eyes in worry upon hearing the uncertainty in my voice, and she hugged Dirk closer to her body

  Volume 7, Prologue

  Spring had just begun and the Spring Prayer was over. The green shoots were getting greener by the day, they no longer resembled their once withered form. The morning sun was shining bright but a rain shower had started right after noon, this was truly a rain of blessings. The farmers thanked the Goddess of Water Flutrane for helping to water their fields. After their lunch, they spent their time on craftwork.

  Down the road in the middle of the now empty fields was an opulent looking carriage. The side of the door had a metal carving of a family crest, displaying to the outsiders that the passenger was of high status. It was just that today was an unlucky day because the bad coincidence of the rain had made the roads muddy which made it hard for the carriage to move. And inside the carriage was someone who was frustrated at how the roads here were much slower than that of the city’s stone pavement.

  “…I guess Flutrane doesn’t feel like being amicable today.”


  Out of all the possible days, why would you choose to make it rain on the day I leave? Bezewanst lamented to Flutrane and also cursed at the shaky carriage.

  He arrived at Klaus’s summer manor just before the fifth bell. The manor was located near the border of the Central province of Ehrenfest.

  “Welcome to my humble abode, Lord Bezewanzt,” Klauz greeted Bezenwanzt who was making his way down his carriage. His large belly would sway every time he stepped down.

  He was guided to the large dressing room that was filled with the chatter of about ten nobles. It was just that the vicinity was clear of any other carriage, so he must have been the only one to have taken one. The others here were full-bred nobles that had used their highbeasts as their mode of transport, they did so probably to avoid anyone (including their own servants) from finding out about this secret meeting,

  Bezewanzt saw Klauz’s shifty eyes and knew that he had been forced by Noble Gherlach to be the host of the meeting at his own manor. It was quite common for archnobles and midnobles to make the lower-ranking nobles host meetings in their own territories.

  Bezewanst didn’t find any of this unusual and made his way down to the highest seat of honour and sat down like this was the most expected thing to do. While receiving the greetings of the other nobles, he noticed that Klaus was talking to a noble he hadn’t seen before.

  “Count Biendewald, the man over there is Bezewanzt, he is the High Bishop of Ehrenfest,” Klaus gestured over.

  “Oh, the High Bishop, is that so…?”


  In actual fact, Bezewanzt wasn’t a real noble because he was sent away to the temple. If this was a normal case, the nobles in this mansion would never let a man from the temple sit at the highest seat of honour, but they yielded it to Bezewanzt because his mother and father were once candidates to inherit the archduke position, in other words, Bezewanzt had the blood of a pure archnoble.

  The sole reason why Bezewanzt was sent to the temple was because he was ordered to by the previous head of this land, Leisegang. Bezewanzt had a surprisingly little amount of mana for someone in his family and his mother died shortly after giving birth to him. Now that there was no one left to protect him, Leisegang, who was from the same family as his father’s current wife, had asked his father to send him to the temple. As such, he wore the robes of a priest since he was a baby. Ever since he was a baby, he was raised to be a priest, not a noble.

  It was just that his older sister from the same mother saw him as his only blood-related family so she greatly treasured him. That was why the nobles here dared not to mistreat him as his trust was necessary to gain connections to his older sister.

  “Lord Bezewanzt, this is Count Biendewald from Ahrensbach. He is a supporter of our faction.”


  Despite being introduced as a count, Bezewanzt knew that this individual was an archnoble in his own duchy. Bezewanzt knew that he was a fairly large individual, but he realised that Biendewald was not that dissimilar in figure. He had very shifty looking eyes, he had the look of an impulsive criminal.

  Bezewanzt ignored how Biendewald was not trying to hide how he was looking down on him even though he was the High Bishop, and he tried to return a polite nod. He was the most powerful person here today, so it was natural that guests take the initiative to greet him.

  “May I offer you a blessing in thanks of this honourable meeting that has been decreed by the iridescent streams of the Goddess of Water Flutrane.”


  “Please do.”


  The ring on Biendewald’s left middle finger began to grow a faint green light. This ring was something every noble had because the parents would give one to their children after their baptism.

  Bezewanzt’ felt his heart tighten when he saw the ring. If it wasn’t for the Leisegans, he wouldn’t be in the temple, and he would have a ring of this himself. The one he had now was from his older sister who gave it to him after this coming of age ceremony, but that did not change the fact that he didn’t get baptised in the Noble’s District and that he didn’t get to go to the Royal Academy.

  Bezewanzt could see the blatant difference between him and Biendewald glaring back at him, this greatly infuriated him, but it also made him feel good to see nobles like him kneel before him (even though he knew that they just wanted to win his sister’s favour).

  “Count Biendewald is the one who has been helping to deliver the letter from Lady Georgine.”


  The nobles gathered here had told him that Biendewald was the intermediary between him and his niece who had been married to a noble in Ahrensbach, located to the south of Ehrenfest. His niece had asked him to help fill some chalices with mana, but he had only heard from her through middlemen from Ehrenfest. He had never met a noble from Ahrensbach before.

  “I pray that our meeting will be blessed by the Goddess of Time Dregarnuhr.”


  None of them were truly sincere with their prayers. Nevertheless, the prayers continued until the start of lunch and some well-brewed whisky was brought out. The reddish-brown liquid was poured into everyone’s cup, filling the room with its sweet scent.

  Klaus took a sip first to show that the whiskey was not poisoned. After that, Bezewanzt lifted up his heavy silver cup. The smooth liquid effortlessly flowed down his tongue and it left behind a stinging sensation. He licked the insides of his cheek to relish in that feeling before swallowing it down. That burning feeling in the back of his throat made him sigh with satisfaction. Klauz had really gone out his way to acquire such an exquisite whiskey for his guests’ enjoyment.

  “Excuse me, Lord Bezewanzt. May I know if the commoner shrine maiden is here?” Gerlach had asked after seeing that everyone had taken a sip of their drinks.

  Bezewanzt took another sip while everyone shifted their gaze towards him. They had asked for the commoner with Devouring because they wanted to buy her, but she was not in sight.

  “I did not bring her here.”


  “W-why?”


  Bezewanzt returned a contemptful gaze to the nobles that had a surprised look.

  “Why do I have to ride a carriage with a commoner like here? I will not stay in the same space as her, let alone prepare another carriage for her.”


  “I would have been glad to prepare a carriage if asked…”


  The nobles were disappointed at this, but Bezewanzt found it difficult to take away Myne without getting caught by the High Priest first. He had intended for Delia to bring her out, but that was impossible because the meticulous attendant that used to serve the High Priest never left them together. That plan would definitely fail and it would make it harder by raising the High Priest’s guard.

  Why on earth does someone like me, who carries the blood of an archduke, have to put myself in danger for them? Bezewanst was pensive and thought out his excuse to put the blame on Gerlach

  “In fact, they have tightened their security because of the failed attack during the Spring Prayer. It is already a blessing that I managed to avoid their suspicions.”


  “…I see, that is a shame. The plan to attack her using Count Biendewald’s soldiers with Devouring was not successful.”


  Their attempt to kidnap Myne during the Spring Prayer had failed miserably. It would have been a trivial task for nobles with mana to kidnap a commoner shrine, but their failure was no doubt attributed to the intervention of the High Priest Ferdinand. Afterall, he was a noble who had mana too.

  “It’s all because of that annoying High Priest.”


  “What bad luck. I want to make that peasant girl suffer, make her and Lord Ferdinand writhe in pain,” Viscountess Dahdolf cursed Myne and Ferdinand with deep hatred. It was all because of Myne that her beloved son was punished after the trombe extermination.

  Bezewanzt had condemned Ferdinand and asked for his sister to lessen Shikza’s punishment on her behalf, but truthfully, he cared not for the man at all. Bezewanzt hated Shikza for getting the chance to leave the temple during the political confusion in the government.

  “Lord Ferdinand appears to be a more formidable opponent than we had hoped for. If Myne had stayed at the Leisegang’s manor during the kidnapping attempt, we could have put the blame on them instead…” Gerlach trailed off and he looked at Bezewanzt with a bitter look.

  Useless imbecile, Bezewanzt cursed him on the inside. He wanted them to kidnap Myne during the Spring Prayer, doing so would wash him clean of that troublesome commoner and he could use the chance to condemn the High Priest. Bezewanzt was eagerly anticipating the news of the attack from the temple, but they had returned without any harm. That greatly annoyed him.

  “We instigated the residents living near our borders to join in on the attack but none of them returned. They had all been obliterated in the fight, even though half of the force consisted of Ehrenfest people,” Biendewald added on. His words made Viscount Snitzern, the noble of the neighbouring land Garduhn, knit his eyebrows in worry.

  “Even so, Viscount Garduhn did not say anything about the mass disappearance of his people. Was it possible he didn’t see the attack because it was off to the border…?”


  “That does sound quite strange…”


  Was the attack only directed at those from the other duchies? Was that even possible? They wanted to find out more but Viscount Garduhn was close to the Leisegangs. He did not attend the gathering and was unaware of what unfolded during the Spring Prayer. With no living witnesses at hand, they had no way of finding out what happened that day.

  “The commoners were not the only casualty. Half of my Devouring forces perished. There were even a couple of them who could wield mana and its tools at the level of a lower-ranking noble. They were a crucial force to do work on the hidden side that helped me keep myself clean. It is such a shame to lose them. I wanted to acquire that shrine maiden to increase their numbers,” Biendewald gave a hefty chuckle, and it sounded awful, like a croaking toad.

  Bezewanzt frowned at this, showing his dispreference to selling Myne to him. They nobles around Biendewald exchanges looks and moved to flatter him with fake smiles.

  “Lord Bezewanzt, it would be a tremendous honour if you could assist me as the High Bishop in making that commoner shrine maiden sign a submission pact with me. Having your wisdom and power would be tremendously helpful,” one of the nobles said.

  “We all understand how irritating it must be for you to be near that arrogant commoner. A partnership between us will be mutually beneficial, no?” another noble chipped in.

  Indeed, Bezewanzt did find Myne annoying and dangerous, having her disappear would settle his nerves and he would love to see the reaction of Ferdinand, who was supposedly her ‘guardian’ when that happened. But Bezewanst knew not to be the one to take action. Ferdinand would surely try to get back at him for forcing Myne to sign a submission pact, and he would need lots of luck and the brains to avoid him.

  “We are only dealing with a commoner anyways. She’s not that different from a gray orphan, don’t you think so?” one of the nobles asked.

  “That is not so, she might be a gray apprentice maiden, but she had the mana of a blue robed noble. It is unusual for a commoner to have the ability of Crushing.”


  Bezewanzt had been a victim to Myne’s Crushing, so he was clear on how much mana she possessed. He did admit that he had put down his guard, but it didn’t change the fact that she did not have a pathetic amount of mana a Devouring commoner her age would usually give. Her vast mana was further proven when she assisted Ferdinand in the Dedication Ceremony. That was a ritual that could only be performed by two individuals with a similar amount of mana.

  “She is a precocious thing, I do not wish to experience her Crushing again. All of you have sufficient magic tools at hand to protect yourself, but I do not possess the resources to defend myself against a Crushing. Why would I ever endanger myself to sell a commoner?”


  Biendewald stroked his thick chin and he thought to himself, after that he fished out a round thing wrapped in a cloth from his hip pocket. He proceeded to carefully unwrap its contents.

  “What is this…?”


  ‘This is a darkness-attributed manastone that absorbs mana. The Crushing of a commoner will be rendered useless with this. May I present this to you in commemoration of our meeting?”


  Bezewanzt smiled at the dark and opaque stone. There was no way a mere commoner child could do anything to him with this. He would make her sorry for offending a man of an archduke’s descent.

  Biendewald saw that Bezewanzt was very pleased with this stone, he smirked at this and raised it towards him.

  “Will I take that as a yes?” he asked him with a wicked look in his eyes. He knew that this was enough to convince Bezewanzt to sell Myne to him.

  Bezewanzt didn’t like to bend to someone else’s demands, but he had been driven to the edge by Myne who wanted nothing more than to sell her to another duchy. He also wanted to push her parents (those disgusting imbeciles who dared to stand in his way) into the darkest abyss of despair. So of course he was tempted to take the black mana stone Biendewald offered.

  Bezewanzt tried to alter his way of thinking; he wasn’t bending to Biendewald’s demand, but he was just doing this for his sister.

  Ferdinand had publicly declared to the Knight Order that he would take Myne under his protection. There was no doubt that taking her away would deal a big hit on Ferdinand’s pride, his sister would surely be overjoyed to see him duffer. Furthermore, that would appease the mourning Viscountess Dahldolf

  Furthermore, the nobles with me would surely be happy to see me strengthen my relationship with Count Biendewald.

  Now he had no qualms with taking the stone because he had a valid reason for doing so. Bezenwanzt gave a nefarious smile to Bienwald’s craft gaze.

  “I will be glad to welcome you at the temple whenever. My older sister will support us too.”


  Bezewanzt consent at this alliance made the nobles burst out in happy chatter. Some expressed their delight at this matter. Bezewanzt was aware that they were excited to be associated with his sister’s authority, but he paid it no heed.

  “Ah, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us,” Bezewanzt made a cheering motion with his cup. He shifted his gaze out the window and saw that the rain over Ehrenfest was getting heavier. But the sound of the upcoming storm pleased his ears.

  Volume 6, 20: Our Family Has a New Member

  It was daybreak when Dad heard Mum groaning from the labour pains and this made him jump out of bed.

  ‘Tuuli, Myne! Your mum is going into labour. I need to get the midwife! Quickly get dressed and help out with the rest!” Dad instructed us as he quickly dressed himself and left the house in a flurry.

  Everyone knew what to do except for me. While I was sent in a clueless daze, Tuuli had already got dressed and ran out the door.

  “I’m going to call Karla! Myne, stay here and look after Mum!”


  “I will!”


  I nodded back out of reflex but frankly, I wasn’t sure what I needed to do for Mum. My mind was filled with so much panic that I stood there frozen.

  “Uhh, uuuuhmm…”


  “Myne, could you, get me some water?” Mum asked me in a broken bated breath.

  I ran to the kitchen to pour her a cup of water from the jug and ran back to her. Mum gave me a gentle smile in thanks and took a sip of water. Sweat was beading on her forehead, it was when I left the room to grab a cloth did something important pop into my mind.

  …Hygiene! Sanitation! It’s important to keep clean!

  Our place was much cleaner than the average household here. Mum and Tuuli believed that I was so obsessed with cleanliness that they would clean the house daily. Furthermore, everyone now made washing hands a habit. But I did not expect the midwife and the other mothers helping out to do the same.

  “W-w-what am I going to do?!”


  I wanted them to at least clean their hands with some alcohol, but there was no way we had any alcohol for disinfecting at home.

  “Maybe I could use some alcohol instead… Uhm… uhmmm…”


  We didn’t have any alcohol home that was strong enough like vodka that could be used as a disinfectant. There was the wine that I used to make the ____, it was pretty strong but there was too many things in it that lowered its effectiveness. If I got to leave the temple earlier, I could have asked Benno to help me find some pure alcohol.

  “…But it’s better than nothing, I guess.”


  I would choose to day the impure alcohol over the dirt from outside on any day. I dug out the bottle of wine and a clean rag, ready to start cleaning.

  “I’m back. I’m heading out again to get some water.”


  Tuuli was heading out again with a bucket right after getting back home. Following her return was Karla and a few other mothers came back with buckets of water from the well. They poured out the contents into a tub and heated it with fire until it boiled.

  “Tuuli, everyone needs to clean their hands first. And the tools need to be sanitised with boiling water. Also—”


  I flooded Tuuli with my worries right before she left the house.

  “Yes, yes. We need to be clean. I know. I’ll remember it. Now just stay by Mum’s side, Myne.”


  Tuuli wasn’t taking my words to heart because I wasn’t going to be much help when Mum starts pushing later, so she just pushed me towards the bedroom and left. I moved closer to Mum and clutched onto her hand. She was panting heavily because of the labour pains, and she would grip my hand with every contraction that it felt like my hand was going to break.

  “Mum, when you’re going to start pushing, you can try breathing in and out like this, “hee hee hoo’. It’s called Lamaze breathing.”


  “La… what?”


  Though she was in so much pain, Mum still returned a bright smile.

  “Uh, it’s a way of breathing that can help ease the pain. Sorry, I’m not too sure about it.”


  Back when I was still Urano, the idea of getting pregnant or having to see someone give birth never came to mind before, hence I never found it necessary to read more about pregnancy. Though I knew about the Lamaze breathing, I had no idea what it was supposed to do or help with.

  “So it’s, hee-hee-hoo?”


  This made mum giggle and we started breathing together as the intervals between her contractions shortened. After a short while, the midwife and the other mothers who came by to help walked in. I was shocked by their arrival and ran to the foot of the bed with my arms spread wide in an attempt to stop them from approaching Mum.

  “Wait, you have to wash your hands first before you can come in!”


  “Oh yeah. I forgot how obsessed you are with cleanliness,” Karla was annoyed at my demands, but she did leave the room with the others to wash their hands. After that, I had them clean their hands again with the cloth soaked in wine.

  I hope this helps.

  “Alright, Myne, go to the kitchen. You’re not going to help much anyways. Also get that bonehead of a Gunther to stop panicking and take out the chair. He’s already had these many children but still can’t follow our instructions. Geez.”


  Seeing how dirty the cloth had gotten when I cleaned their hands made my face scrunch up. It meant that whatever I did to clean their hands was not enough. I wanted to try another method but I was pushed out of the room before I could do anything. Now that I had nothing better to do, I just told Dad what Karla told me and helped to get the chair.

  “Dad, why do we need this chair?” I was perplexed as to what this filthy looking chair was going to do. Dad proceeded to explain that Mum would sit here to give birth. I finally understood that this was supposed to be a delivery table, and I was stumped. Without any second thought, my arm reached for the cloth and alcohol.

  “…I need to clean this.”


  “Hey, wait, Myne! What on earth are you doing with my wine?!”


  “Mum has to sit on this, doesn’t she? I need to clean it.”


  I didn’t bother about Dad’s complaints and quickly wiped down the chair with the cloth and alcohol. I continued on until one of the mums came back out to retrieve it. She gave a hearty chuckle when she saw this.

  “So you need to clean this too? *sigh* you’re such a clean freak. Gunther, we don’t need any more help. Why don’t you make your way down?”


  Men were not allowed to witness the birthing process. Dad has already did everything that the fathers needed to do so he left the house.

  “I’m going to stay here.”


  “No, you’ll go down too, Myne. You’ll just keep bothering us with your pleas to keep clean.”


  “But I’m not joking around, it’s really important!”


  “Yes, yes. You can go now.”


  Tuuli could still stay around and she was busy making trips in and out the room to help. On the other hand, I was chased out of the house. The door has been shut so I was locked out.

  “Mum…”


  I couldn’t believe that they were weirded out by me even though I just emphasized the most basic hygiene rules. Thinking about how high infant mortality was in my past world, my blood went cold. I wanted to thoroughly wipe down everyone inside the house for Mum’s and the baby’s safety, but I was practically helpless.

  The labour pains started right on daybreak, but now the sun was almost entirely up in the sky that it almost lit up the entire square. When I left the building, I noticed that some of the townfolks were butchering some fresh birds.

  I noticed Dad pacing around the well and ran up to him.

  “Dad, what’s going on?” I gestured towards the other men.

  “…Since men aren’t allowed to watch the birth, we are in charge of the Naming Celebration.”


  “What’s that?”


  Since children weren’t allowed in the temple other than for their baptism, I wasn’t expecting there to be a religious celebration for newborns. Hearing the title of this ceremony, I assumed that it was just a local celebration.

  Dad continued to explain that the men were supposed to buy some birds, pluck their feathers and cook them for the Naming Celebration. It was just a minor ceremony, on these occasions the men would cook for themselves because their spouse couldn’t do so. Conversely, the women that helped out with delivering the baby would get some food in exchange. All in all, this was a celebration for the birth a newborn.

  “Why do the both of you keep walking around so frantically?” I heard someone’s voice. I spun around and saw Lutz in his apprentice uniform. He had a large grin and he looked like he was going to burst into laughter any moment now.

  “Lutz!”


  He looked up towards our house.

  “…Is Mdm Effa ok? It has started, right?”


  I have a nod.

  “Well then, I don’t suppose you will be going to the temple today. I’ll inform them later.”


  “Thanks, Lutz.”


  “Maybe I should take a day off today too. After all there’s a Naming Celebration, right? That baby is gonna be a big and healthy one. I need to get a good look at him,” Lutz had a smile across his face.

  Dad smiled back too and nodded fervently. We both said our goodbyes to Lutz and went back to pacing around the well.

  “Dad, do you not need to inform the others that you can’t make it to work today?”


  “Al helped me inform them when he went to get the birds. There’s no way I’m leaving here.”


  “I see.”


  After a few moments, Deid, who was Lut’z dad came over and roared at us.

  “Gunther, Myne! If you’re just going to walk around then at least help us out. You always do this, Gunther, you’re such a pain in the butt.”


  Deid wanted the both of us to help out with washing the veggies. We squatted at the well and washed them while talking. I didn’t know what was the mortality rate of births here, I needed to keep myself distracted or I would definitely stomp back into the house.

  “Dad, how long does it take for one to give birth?”


  “I only know that it took forever for you and Tuuli. I think I was out here for the entire day.”


  “Both of ya’ll were quite fast. Al’s one took much longer,” Deid responded with a shake of his head. He had walked over here to fetch a pail of water

  Only Dad felt that it was long, but everyone else said that Mum was one of those who was quick with the birthing process. Hearing that helped soothe some of my nerves, but Dad’s eyebrows were still knitted together, I felt really bad for him.

  “I don’t care if it’s quickor not. If waiting is all it takes for Effa and the baby to be safe this time, I can do it forever…


  “This time?”


  I blurted out my question. Maybe he had said that because he wanted a healthy baby and not a weak one like me.

  “We lost out first kid to a miscarriage. Our second was a boy, but he didn’t even make it past his first year. You and Tuuli are ok now, but our kid after you didn’t make it past winter. And the last one was a miscarriage too. I pray that the baby will live through this time.”


  Everything he said gave me a gripping sense of surrealism about infant mortality here. I did read books about the high death rates among infants centuries ago, but the reality never set in until now. I only came to realise its severity when Dad talked about my short-lived siblings. I was so scared that I went back to staring up at our house. Right now, right there, Mum was doing her best for the baby and herself.

  “Mum will be fine, right?”


  “…Myne, please say a prayer for her.”


  Without a second thought, I went into the praying pose and said the prayers will all my might.

  “O Goddess of Birth, Entolindage and the retainer of the Goddess of Water, please bless my mother with your divine protection.”


  Lutz had returned from the Gilberata Company and orphanage; he was carrying a large open-top basket behind him. He placed it down and took out what was inside.

  “Myne, Mister Benno wants to give you all some cloth. Your chambers and the workshop also know about this. Hugo prepared some of the meat that Brother Syl got from the other day.”


  “…The baby is not even out yet.”


  Even so, I was happy that everyone was so caring and generous.

  “I’ll save the smaller parts of the bird meat for Mum to have later. For the naming celebration, we can use up the rest of the bird meat and the deer meat. We’ll have them after she’s given birth and we can share it with the other ladies too. Lutz, take some too, after all you were the one who brought it here,” I said and took out some of the meat for Lutz.

  Dad was very pleased with whatever I said and nodded along. Just them, Tuuli came running out into the plaza and her hair was bouncing along with every step, she was smiling brightly.

  “Dad, Myne! Everything is good! The baby is a boy!”


  “Waaaaa~ Congrats!”


  Everyone around the plaza roared out with words of congratulations. And with that, we commenced the naming celebration and began feasting. The fathers from the neighbouring houses gulped down their booze and started grilling the meat on the grills they brought over.

  “Dad, Myne, you can go back in. Come one.”


  Naturally, the first ones to see the baby were the closest family members. Dad picked up the basket Lutz carried over and carried me into his arms. He skipped up the steps by two, speeding up the flights of stairs because he was so excited.

  Dad practically busted down the door, he gave his thanks to the women inside who had helped out and were cleaning the place now. They also gave their congrats and complimented that they baby looked very healthy.

  “Dad, keep the germs out of the bedroom!”


  I wasn’t going to let Dad into the bedroom like this. I dragged him aside, made him put down the basket and cleaned his hands. Though the other women were teasing me for being a clean freak again, I wasn’t going to listen to them. After that I cleaned my hands too.

  “Mum, we’re coming in, ok?”


  “Gunther, Myne, look it’s a boy.”


  “Thank you, Effa! I’m happy that you’re both safe!”


  Dad knelt by Mum’s side and took her hand into his, he left a trail of kisses from the back of her hand to her fingertips.

  The baby was sleeping soundly on Mum’s chest. He was so small and wrinkly all over, his skin was flushed red, but that was a sign that he was healthy. My heart welled up with so much joy when I got to see the baby get cleaned and wear the newborn clothes Tuuli had worked hard to make.

  “Well, have you decided on the baby’s name?”


  “You thought of one already? What’s his name?” Tuuli was between Mum and Dad. She was so excited and bouncing all over the place.

  They both nodded back in sync and exchanged looks before looking back at the baby and stroked his head.

  “His name will be ‘Camil’. How does it sound?” Mum looked at us to see our response.

  “Camil? Camil… hehehe.”


  Tuuli gave a little giggle and poked Camil’s cheek. Mum smiled when she saw this and turned to look back at me.

  “Myne, would you like to carry him? Tuuli had her turn just now.”


  I wanted to, but at the same time I was afraid that I would drop him.

  If I’m not wrong, newborns weighed roughly three kilograms. Am I strong enough to hold him?

  While I was caught up worrying about that, Mum’s expression sank.

  “Do you not want to?”


  “No, no, I want to. But… I don’t know how to properly hold a baby, and what if I drop him?” I told them my worries but Dad just gave a chuckle. Before I knew it, I was up in his arms. He was still laughing the whole time he moved to take off my shoes and plopped me onto the bed.

  “You can hold him on the bed, you can be at ease then.”


  I squeezed myself next to Mum and gently took Camil into my arms. He was so tiny and light that I didn’t have much trouble carrying him. I saw his face twitch and his eyelids slowly opened. He looked at me with a dazed look. He was so warm that it melted my heart.

  “Camil, Camil. I’m your big sister.”


  I whispered to Camil, and his face started to scrunch up. In the next moment, he burst out crying.

  “M-Mum. Crying, he’s… Camil’s crying… W-what should I do?”


  “It’s ok, sweetie. Babies cry all the time. Don’t worry about it.”


  She said that to comfort me, but it wasn’t doing much because I was still confused with what I needed to do. My eyes kept scanning around the room for help. I felt like crying from my helplessness until Dad, who was still smiling, finally stepped in and took Kamil into his arms. Kamil pushed out a few more whimpers before settling down. Dad did it all so easily. .

  “Ok, Camil is going out to meet everyone else.”


  “Wait, what? You’re going to take a newborn outside?”


  “Of course. Everyone needs to meet Camil, right?”


  It was unspeakable for a newborn baby to be exposed to the outside elements because it could prove fatal for it. There was no way I was letting it happen on my watch.

  “Dad, must you really insist on taking him outside?”


  “Yes, I am. What’s the matter?”


  “It’s dangerous for a newborn to go out. He might come into contact with all the bad germs or fall sick from the cold. It’s really bad for him!”


  I tried to explain everything as seriously as I could. Dad frowned and his gaze turned profoundly deep. I could tell he was considering my words, but in the end he shook his head.”


  “I know that you might be right, but we can’t just forget about traditions.”


  “If we really have to take him outside, could you do your best to keep him warm and stop anyone from touching him? Their hands could be very dirty. After that please try to bring him back in as fast as possible. Remember to also—”


  “You’re overreacting, Myne. Nothing will happen,” Tuuli brushed off my anxieties. But I wasn’t overreacting, newborns are really weak. They are very susceptible to anything, especially in a place like this. Thank goodness Dad was resolved to keep his baby safe as much as possible this time, so he snuggly wrapped Kamil in a thick cloth.

  “So I just have to be quick with this, right?”


  “Mhm. Try not to let anyone else touch him.”


  “You’re both too paranoid about everything,” Tuuli was getting quite annoyed with us, “Everyone else takes their babies out all the time.”


  What she said was not false, but it was better to be safe than sorry in a place like this. There was no harm with trying to be overprotective in this case.

  We all descended down the stairs to the ground floor; Dad was holding Kamil in his arms. We noticed that the neighbours had started the grilling party in the square (that is the naming celebration). Right now the ladies who helped with delivering the baby would receive their rewards and the baby would get to meet everyone here. This celebration was also a means to keep track of when the baby was born and when they needed to get baptized. There was no birth registry for commoners so everyone had to rely on their memories.

  “Everyone, take you for all your help this early in the morning. My son is safe and healthy. His name is Camil. Please bless him with your well wishes.”


  Dad loudly broadcasted this across the plaza and lifted Camil up above his head so that everyone could get a glimpse of him. After that he passed Camil over to Tuuli and told everyone he needed to go back in as he might be as weak as me. No one opposed this as they all knew that I was so weak that I could pass out at any time.

  “That would be horrible if Camil was as weak as Myne.”


  “She does fall sick once in a while, but she’s much better than before, isn’t she? She will surely grow up nice and healthy now that she’s been baptized.”


  Just as I was about to head in with Tuuli, I heard a couple of the neighbours talking about how they didn’t expect me to live past my baptism since I kept tethering close to death.

  To be honest, I wanted to eat inside because I was too worried about who had touched the food at the grill. And I was also warned against going outside with any protection. Given that I had spent quite some time outside waiting for the birth, it was best to head back as soon as possible.

  “Tuuli, what’s Mum going to eat?”


  “I’ll help take some food for her from the grill outside,” Tuuli responded back. She was probably looking forward to the party downstairs because she zoomed back down right after passing Camil to Mum.

  I lit the fireplace and heated up the leftover soup from yesterday. As I left the soup to boil, I walked over to the basket that Dad just ditched in the corner of the room. I fished out the bird meat from Hugo that he had stored in the pantry. After that I folded the cloth from Benno and stored it at the side.

  “Mum, are you hungry? I’m heating up the leftover soup. You need to eat plenty so that you can make lots of milk.”


  “You’re right, thank you for preparing it.”


  I poured the soup into two bowls. One for Mum to take in bed, and another for me. I dragged a chair next to the bed so that we could eat together.

  “Do you not want to join the others, Myne?”


  “Nah, afterall Sir Damuel said not to go outside without him.”


  “Is that so,” Mum’s voice had dipped an octave, she seemed troubled that I wasn’t close with our neighbours.

  I didn’t like this situation too, but if they understood the importance of hygiene and cleanliness they surely wouldn’t want to eat their food there too.

  “Oh, I almost forgot. Lutz helped bring over gifts. Benno got us a cloth and my attendants cut us a share of meat too. Do we have to prepare something to thank them back?” I asked Mum because I didn’t know how things worked here.

  Mum shook her head and said that gifts were only given when a child is born. I kind of found it pitiful because Benno was a single man and it was hard for those in the temple to get married.

  “Anyways, Myne, could you kindly tell them more about Camil? I hope that more people will remember when Camil was born.”


  “Sure, leave it up to me,” I puffed up my chest and nodded enthusiastically. I admired the sight of my little brother sleeping next to Mum. He looked so cute snuggled in that huge cloth. The corner of my eyes went up.

  “Camil is so cute.”


  “I know, right?”


  My time with Camil was limited. We would get separated even before he turns two, he might not even remember me at all. I wanted to at least make him all the picture books and toys he will ever need, so that he would get by fine without me. Maybe they would even help him remember his big sister.

  …Now that I can only make picture books for children, I’ll just go all out and make dozens of them for my adorable brother.

  Until he’s three months old, monotone picture books will do for Camil, but I would like to make some with colour before he’s six months old. But first, I would need to figure out how to make coloured ink and some new ideas for its contents.

  …Hold on. Doesn’t that mean I have lots to do? Maybe I’ll get much busier than expected for the next two years?

  Now that I wanted to make as many picture books as I could for Camil, I might not have the time to think about making text-only books. It’s ok if I couldn’t use the printing press, I’ll just work on improving the stencils.

  …I don’t have that much time left. I need to work harder. Camil, your big sister is going to do her best!

  Volume 6, 18: The Orphanage and Workshop’s Visitors (Part 1)

  One day after my return from the Spring Prayer, everyone worked together to clean the orphanage and the workshop. Time passed quickly, and it was the day of the visit. Sylvester and the High Priest would arrive on the third bell, so everyone rushed to clean at daybreak.

  “Sister Myne, can ya come here? Uhm, I mean, do you have a moment?”


  “Yes I do, Gil. You’re doing a good job.”


  When I returned back from the Spring Prayer, I learnt that Gil had been trying to improve his manner of speech when I was gone. The gray priests who used to be attendants were teaching the kids better behaviour, and they would help Gil with his speech when they were in the workshop.

  “The children told me that since I am your attendant, I seriously need to work on my way of speaking so that I don’t make you feel embarra— Uhm, kehum. I mean, I need to speak politely so that I do not bring shame to you.”


  I was happy that the children were interested in changing their manner of speaking for their own sake, but I found it understandable why Gil didn’t like how they were making fun of him.

  “It is true that as my attendant, you would need to learn the proper way of speaking. It is very admirable for you to do this.”


  “Sister Myne, I will work my hardest… I don’t wanna— Uhm, I do not wish to be replaced.”


  Gil knelt in front of me. His brows were all scrunched up, I could tell he was vexed at himself, but I felt that his worries were needless.

  “What? Wait a moment, Gil. Have you been worried about that the whole time?”


  “There are plenty of people who are better than me,” his voice sounded strained as he said this, and he looked pitiful with his head hung down.

  He explained that the other children wanted to become my attendants after seeing that a troublemaker like him who frequented the detention room become one. They said if someone like him could become one, they could do the same too. He was anxious that he was easily replaceable and did his best to work on himself to best the kids.

  …Was that the reason why he spent so much time in the workshop? He wanted to learn new skills and because of that he also saw Lutz as his rival?

  Because I was sitting down, I was at the perfect height to pat Gil’s head. I stretched out and gently stroked his flaxen hair.

  “I know you have been going your best, Gil. I may hire more attendants depending on the circumstances, but you are irreplaceable to me.”


  “R-really…?”


  His face relaxed up with relief. Being an attendant was a tough job because they were replaceable to their masters. The thought of replacing Gil never occurred to me because he was quite good at his job.

  “Anyways, did you not want to speak to me about something, Gil?”


  “Yes. Should we continue our work in the workshop when the priests arrive?”


  “Yes, we will. They are here to see what we have been doing in the workshop. I know that everyone gets jittery with me in the room, and I imagine that it would be much worse when the High Priest and the other blue priest are here. But I hope that everyone will do their best. Will you please tell them that?”


  “Yes, master.”


  ~~~

  Shortly after Gil left, Fran returned with a few people from the Gilberta Company. The group consisted of Benno, Lutz and Leon. Mark was not around because he had to look after the store.

  “Good morning, Sister Myne. It is my honor to be able to receive an invite on such a nice morning.”


  I led them to the second floor of my chambers and told Rosina and Delia to make their way downstairs. This was so that they would not hear us speaking casually.

  “Here you go, Myne. I got the clothes you needed. I decided to get a pair of shoes too.”


  “Thanks, Lutz.”


  I received the set of clothes and shoes, these needed to be given to Sylvester later today. Until then, I kept them on my work desk and walked back to the table. Benno was wearing formal clothes he usually wore to meet nobles today, and he was glaring at me now.

  “So, what do you know about this other blue priest?”


  “Nothing, really.”


  “Seriously?” Benno looked even more unhappy.

  I knew he was desperate for more information about Sylvester, but I seriously didn’t have any information he wanted.

  “It’s not like I would know anything about Brother Sylvester’s family, would I?”


  “You could have asked him. You need to learn how to get information for your own sake, fool.”


  It might be important for a merchant to get information about a customer’s family, but not for me, I just wanted to know how to avoid Sylvester. But I knew Benno’s scolding awaited me unless I said something, so I told him as much I had learnt about him from the Spring Prayer.

  “He’s kind of a weirdo. I’d use someone else’s way of describing him, that is he might seem bad on the surface, but he has a good heart deep inside.”


  “Come on, I don’t care for that. I need to know his family, who they are connected with, his status in the noble society, and any other beneficial information that will help me get him to buy my stuff and earn me some money.”


  “Oh shoot, my bad. I just spent the entire trip avoiding him as much as possible, so I can’t help you there.”


  I told him how I felt about Sylvester from the get go, which made Benno drop his head in disappointment.

  “You can learn all you want from him when I introduce you two to each other at the workshop. I’m sure that’s much better than hearing about him from me, Benno.”


  “You’re right, I shouldn’t have set such high expectations for you. I will just be glad that you still remembered to introduce me to him. I should be glad that you didn’t panic over their visit and forget to inform me of it,” Benno nodded to himself.

  I could say anything against that, which made me kind of disappointed in myself.

  “Right. I’ll see you later. Try not to mess up.”


  Benno’s interrogation with me turned out fruitless, so he left for the workshop with Lutz and Leon .

  ~~~

  The third bell rung in the middle of my harspiel practice. I got up from my chair, sweating in nervousness. Fran took the set of clothes Lutz had bought under my request and walked in front while Damuel and I followed close behind.

  “Rosina, Delia, I trust that you both will look after my chambers.”


  “Yes, Sister Myne. We will wait for your safe return.”


  We arrived at the High Priest’s chambers, he was busy writing something at his desk while Sylvester was chilling in the room, seemingly prepared to leave anytime.

  “Pardon my tardiness,” I said.

  “Ok, let’s go,” Sylvester gave a short response.

  He looked so excited as though he was about to go off on some great adventure or a major quest of sorts. I didn’t know why he was acting that way because I didn’t think the orphanage and workshop would be that fun. Maybe it was because the Noble’s District did not have a workshop and this would be his first time seeing one.

  “Brother Sylvester, before we make a move… I have the clothes you requested for and prepared some wooden shoes that commoners wear in the lower city.”


  “You’re quite the fast one, ain’t ya? Not bad.”


  “They’re secondhand clothes. So we didn’t have to get them made.”


  Fran passed the clothes and shoes over to Sylvester’s attendant, who had a very complicated expression.

  I know you don’t want to touch a commoner’s secondhand clothes, but your master is the one who wants it.

  “You will all remain here. Fran and Damuel will suffice. The rooms will be too cramped if everyone tags along,” Sylvester ordered Arno and his own attendants. The orphanage was not that small, but it would be a little claustrophobic if everyone squeezed into the workshop.

  “Alright, let us depart.”


  The High Priest had completed his work and we made our way out. Fran was the guide, while the High Priest and Sylvester walked behind him, and Damuel and I stayed in the back.

  When we were walking to the orphanage, Sylvester could no longer stand my walking speed. He turned around and pointed at me to say “Damuel, grab her. She’s ridiculously slow.”


  “…Couldn’t you have been more tactful about it? You could have used the term “carry” instead.”


  “A bodyguard should always have their hands free, but since I’m stronger than Damuel everything will be fine.”


  Even though Sylvester had said all that, I was trying the hardest I could to walk faster. It was because of Sylvester and the High Priest’s height that they walked much faster than my maximum running speed, so I struggled to keep up. Thankfully, Damuel was now carrying me because I was getting breathless.

  “This is the orphanage,” Fran announced as he opened the squeaky doors to the dining hall in the girls’ building.

  Inside the hall, we saw Wilma, two gray shine maidens and gray priests kneeling at our arrival. Behind them, the children who had yet to have their baptism started gathering. They were a little hard to see because of their size, but I could see them kneeling onto the ground. Benno advised us to stop the children from working today because it was kind of illegal for pre-baptised children to work.

  “Welcome, we are extremely honored by your visit to the orphanage.”


  “High Priest, Brother Sylvester. This is my attendant, Wilma. She oversees the affairs in the orphanage and is the sole caretaker of all the pre-baptised children.

  The High Priest gave an impressed look and nodded.

  “If my memory serves me right, you must be the artist for the art in Myne’s books. Your work is outstanding.”


  “T-thank you for your praise.”


  Wilma was surprised at having been praised by the High Priest, so her voice sounded a little wobbly. She was surprised that the High Priest would remember a mere gray shrine maiden.

  Her hair was neatly tied up high on her head, so her crimson face and ears were in full view.

  “I expected the orphanage to be messy because of the children but it’s surprisingly clean.”


  Sylvester had walked right to the middle of the room and spun around.

  “Well, it’s because everyone here always does their best to keep it spick and span,” I declared with pride.

  The orphanage was always this clean thanks to Wilma’s efforts, she took charge of the cleaning here and taught the kids how important it was to keep themselves clean.

  “Are all the kids here as small as you? There’s no one younger here?”


  “…No…”


  There were no more littler ones because they had died of starvation and prior poor conditions. Sylvester should be aware of that, I was angry at how he playing the fool, but there was no point telling him off because that would not bring the dead back.

  “Rather, you seemed to have forgotten this again, Brother Sylvester, but I’ve had my baptism already.”


  “So? You’re still just as small as them.”


  When summer comes, it would mark one year since my baptism, yet I was still shorter than most of the children here. Sylvester ignored me who was puffing my cheeks in anger and drifted off to the other side of the dining hall. The boxes piled in the corner of the room had caught his attention.

  “Myne, what are in these boxes?”


  “They store all the books and toys that are used to teach the children how to read. These were all made here.”


  Sylvester fished out one of the children’s bibles and flipped through them. He then turned towards the karuta and the playing cards before frowning. The High Priest had also been looking at the toys, he picked up a set of karuta cards and gave me a glare.

  “Myne, I did not hear of these.”


  “They are called karuta. A type of card game for learning words. I initially made a set for my attendant who wanted to learn to read, but I decided to make more for the orphanage. I did not tell you about them because I didn’t think they would be important, they can’t be mass produced after all— Wilma has to draw all the art on every card manually.” I explained to the best of my ability.

  The High Priest pondered about something as he rubbed his chin.

  “…I would like to double check this, so you have not been selling these?”


  “Yes, though I did patent them to Benno, he is not planning to make them anytime soon.”


  Benno said that the cards were profitable, but I knew he was not planning to put them in the market yet. It might be because he’s having trouble finding a talented artist.

  “Anyways, it was because I had to read the bible that I learnt the names of all the gods and their divine tools, that I could make the karuta cards. The orphans are quite adept in this game, they have memorised all the cards.”


  “Really? Then I would like to see a game in person. Go on.”


  Sylvester had made a demand out of the blue, which sent the children into a nervous fit as they looked frantically between me and Wilma. I had a strong feeling that Sylvester was going to say that, so I was quite calm. I picked up the karuta cards and gave a gentle smile to the children.

  “I will go ahead and read the cards, will everyone handle the rest themselves?”


  “Yes, Sister Myne.”


  The children were very nervous around the unfamiliar blue priest, but they started to relax when they fell into the beat of the game.

  “This child took the most cards, so she wins.”


  “Well done,” Sylvester praised the winner.

  The High Priest watched the children pack up the karuta cards. He bowed his head down to look at me.

  “Myne, you can remember all of these? And the children can read all the words on the cards?”


  “Yes, the children can read the cards and the children’s bible too. They learnt how to over the winter.”


  “… Just over the winter? Seriously?”


  Sylvester got a huge shock that his eyes widened. I was proud of the children and bobbed my head up and down.

  “That’s right. There’s nothing much to do when you’re stuck inside because of the snow, right? The older kids could work in the workshop, but not the little ones, so they just studied the books and played karuta. The other set of cards helped them learn the numbers too. They can now do some simple calculation.”


  With my head held high, I listed the impressive feats the temple school achieved over the winter. But the High Priest did not seem impressed, instead he just held his head between his hands.

  “Myne…” he sounded extremely troubled, but I was sure Fran had reported this to him.

  “What’s the matter, High Priest?”


  He hesitated to say more, he just let out a sigh and said “It can wait” instead.

  He looked like he was trying his best to hold back.

  …Why does it feel like I’m going to get scolded? Something feels really off.

  I dropped my head to the side, expressing my confusion. Just then Sylveter patted my shoulder.

  “Anyways, let’s go to the workshop.”


  “Sure.”


  I continued walking at my usual speed and made my way down the stairs of the girls’ building to the back exit.

  “Sister Myne, I do not think it would be appropriate to bring a guest through there…” WIlma told me with an anxious voice.

  I realised what she was referring to and froze before turning back around. It was definitely not appropriate to take a guest there. But my movements earned the suspicion of the two priests that I was trying to conceal something from them. This made their faces turn grim as they looked down the stairs.

  “Wait. What are you hiding behind that door?” the High Priest interrogated me.

  “It’s just a back exit to the workshop we usually take from the orphanage. Since you and Brother Sylvester are visitors, it is only appropriate that I guide you there in the right manner. It just slipped my mind,” I explained.

  This made the High Priest frown.

  “…An orphanage with a back exit? I have never heard of such a thing.”


  “We will go through there.”


  And so we went down the stairs with Wilma in the lead, followed by me.

  The kitchen was located in the basement of the girls’ building and they were cooking lunch right now. We could hear lively chatter and a pleasant smell wafted into our noses. The chattering stopped when they saw Wilma rushing down the stairs. When the priests and I arrived in the kitchen, the large pot filled with soup was unattended and boiling, and everyone had lined up against the wall, kneeling.

  “Hm, so this is where you cook for the orphans?”


  “Yes, but we only make soup here most of the time.”


  I began telling them we needed the soup because the divine gifts were too little. The two priests had likely never stepped into a kitchen their whole lives because they kept staring at the pot like a curious cat.

  “This soup looks just like the one we had during the Spring Prayer.”


  “It is, I gave them the same recipe.”


  Sylvester squinted his eyes to glare at me.

  “I don’t see why orphans should be eating this every day?”


  Those words made me angry. The reason why the orphans had been forced to enter the forests to earn their share of money and cook their own food was because the number of blue priests and priestesses had been dwindling, such that they did not have enough divine gifts. But there was no point telling all of these to Sylvester.

  “Anyways, I heard that you make commoner sweets of sorts here, am I right? Damuel reported that to me.”


  The High Priest words made Sylvester dumbstruck.

  “Sweets?! That’s going too far!”


  “You might think that we are going overboard, but these are not the sweets that use the sugar and honey the nobles buy from stores. We can only make these sweets when we get the necessary fruits on clear winter mornings. They are rarely made. The orphanage has so many children that each person can barely get a mouthful. But the sweets are worth the effort because of their amazing taste. You think so too right, Sir Damuel?”


  Damuel nodded his head fervently as he looked back and forth between Sylvester and the High Priest, they both stared daggers at him. Sylvester’s gaze was particularly violent because he was jealous of Damuel.

  “It must be nice here, hm Damuel?”


  “I very seldom get to come here. I have suffered more, really.”


  Damuel had a tough job being my bodyguard, his soul would leave his body everytime I passed out and he was so traumatised whenever with these nobles glared at him.

  “The soup will get burnt if we stay any longer, we move on to the workshop.”


  I was trying to urge them out of the room because I didn’t want Sylvester making another unreasonable demand that he wanted to eat a parue cake.

  We walked past the chapel towards the boys’ building.

  “We have arrived at the Myne Workshop” Fran announced and pushed the door open.

  Volume 6, 16: An Ambush

  Next morning, the High Priest met Baron Bron to give him one of the small chalices. We only needed to do that for the towns the nobles were in charge of. Things were different in the past when there were more priests and shrine maidens in the temple. The excess people would head down to these towns. But that was no longer possible with the shortage of mana Ehrenfest was facing and that we had to lend our mana to the other duchies,

  The Central District was the land that the archduke ruled directly without the need of another noble as a proxy leader. The chief of the towns in these areas would gather at the Central winter mansions, where they would directly receive the large chalices from the temple. For the other areas ruled by nobles, they could handle the distribution of mana stored in the smaller chalices by themselves.

  …If all the nobles had the mana to fill up the smaller chalices, why did the temple need to go out of the way to hold a Prayer Ceremony just to hand them the filled chalices? Even if there were some circumstances that prevented the nobles from filling it up themselves, why couldn’t we just pass the chalices to the nobles before they left the city, that would save so much time and energy? This all made no sense.

  I pretended that I understood all these, but in actuality I did not. In the end I just chose to keep these thoughts to myself, they probably had their own reasons why they had planned all these troublesome things.

  The High Priest returned from his meeting with the Baron, and we just spent the rest of the day visiting the large farming towns in the Central District, where the duchy primarily produced its grains. We performed the Spring Prayer at the five winter manors under the duke and another one ruled by a noble and we also stayed there.

  We repeated this for 2 more days and we had finished the Spring Prayers for the Central District.

  “As of tomorrow, we will only be visiting the lands ruled by nobles,” the High Priest declared with a serious expression.

  Throughout the trip, our main mode of transport were the highbeasts, that was beyond my expectations, and we would rarely ride the carriages. Before we reached the noble mansions, we would board the carriages at a short distance from it to pretend that we had been riding them the entire time.

  Everytime we visited the mansions, the High Priest would tell me to remain hidden under a veil made for noble girls. When the bumpy carriage stopped at the mansion, only the High Priest, Fran and me went in, while Sylvester and the knights would wait outside in the carriages. I thought that Sylvester would kick up a storm since he always wanted to be the centre of attention, but this time he would wait quietly in the carriage.

  “We will be heading to Viscount Gellach’s mansion next, we will board the carriage later. Let’s move,” said the High Priest as we boarded the highbeasts.

  It was still early in the morning, we had just passed the chalice to a noble and were off to catch up with the carriage that left first. The High Priest said that the carriages had a magical tool that acted as a tracking device, allowing him to track their location wherever they went.

  We caught up with the carriages without any problems. We split up such that Karstedt and Sylvester sat together, while I sat with Damuel and the High Priest. This was the best seating arrangement to maximise our defense and offense power. There was no way I had experience in combat so I just followed their instructions

  “Viscount Gellach might approach you with intentions, Myne. He personally requested you to carry out the Spring Prayer in his land. He has some connections with the High Bishop, so you best be careful around him.”


  The High Priest seemed very worried and agitated about this, he even told me to pull the veil lower to cover more of my face.

  As soon as we arrived, we were told to meet Viscount Gellach inside. The High Priest, Arno, Fran and I descended the carriage and made our way inside.

  “Ah, my Brother Ferdinand! Thank you for travelling this far to visit my mansion. Is the rumoured apprentice shrine maiden I’ve heard so much about?”


  He was probably trying to suck up to me, so his voice sounded super sticky and disgusting. His face was not in view because I was kneeling down and my vision was limited by the veil. I could only see his shin from my peripheral, that was enough to tell me that he was on the bigger side in terms of size.

  “I take it that you will be spending the night here? I am glad to have you!”


  “Unfortunately, we have a very tight schedule today and will have to take our leave now. Our accommodation for the night will be at Count Lesiegang’s estate.”


  After presenting the chalice, the High Priest gave a curt reply and left the room. He finished the entire meeting without me even needing to see Count Gellach’s face.

  We made a prompt leave from the mansion before noon, and we only arrived at Count Liesegang’s mansion late in the evening, which was in the next province.

  Because I was so used to riding the highbeast, it was only now did I realise how slow the carriages were. The High Priests said that we had swapped to the carriages so that our attendants would have ample time to make sure our rooms are ready. But seeing how he kept looking behind the carriage, there was probably another reason.

  The land Count Leisegang ruled over was the largest amongst the rest of the nobles in the duchy, but the room for priests that visited biannually was just as small, and my room was the one for the servants.

  I was forced to drink of the High Priest’s hand-made potions to make sure that my exhaustion would not take a toll on my health. With the potion I fell into a deep sleep until the morning and felt much more refreshed.

  That joyful morning, the High Priest had me summoned to his room and pushed over the magic tool that blocked out sound.

  “Intruders were in Karstedt’s room last night,” he said, but it appeared I was the only one who was confused by this. Everyone else frowned and had a serious expression, so they probably knew what was going on.

  “Intruders? Like thieves?”


  “No, they were kidnappers with you as their objective,” Karstedt explained.

  “There were two of them and they tried to leave when they noticed that the person sleeping was too big to be you. I got out of bed immediately and tried to subdue them, but…”


  Karstedt didn’t finish his lesson and turned to look at me, as though he was hesitant to tell me the full story.

  “Did they escape?”


  “No. I managed to get one of them and handed him over to Lord Ferdinand before moving off to track the other, trying to gather all the information I could from his whereabouts. He rode away on one of the two horses in the forest to the east of the mansion, but when I took out my highbeast to give chase, there was an explosion and he died.

  “Bweh?”


  I was having a hard time processing what he just said. He exploded and died? What on earth is he talking about?

  Sylvester noticed my shocked expression and continued, “Ferdinand was disarming the other man when he killed himself, and the other died from an explosion, that was everything that happened.”


  “I was hesitant to tell you this, but since you are their target, you have the right to know about this,” the High Priest continued. “Only a few are aware of your whereabouts, so Viscount Gellach must be the mastermind behind this. Myne, be careful.”


  He had pointed out the culprit in such a curt manner. I took a look at everyone else, clutching a hand close to my chest, feeling fearful and anxious.

  “…So there is no way that Count Leisegang is the culprit?” I asked, but Karstedt shook his head.

  “That is impossible. He and his family are relatives from my mother’s side, they would never endanger those around me.”


  We all forced ourselves to swallow down breakfasts despite our poor appetites before leaving Leisegang’s mansion. We would spend the night in the residence at the province to the south of the duchy. Our carriages took its leave to the residence while we spent the rest of the morning and afternoon visiting the other noble mansions.

  ~~~

  “We’ll catch up with the carriages now.”


  We finished our work for the day without any issue. The High Priest rode his highbeast to follow the road that our carriages were travelling on towards the southern end of the duchy.

  A minute later, a red light pierced straight through the sky. Everyone’s face turned grimmed because that was the signal for help from the Knight’s Order.

  “Ambush!” Karstedt yelled with urgency. His highbeast sped up towards the source of the red light.

  “Keep following!” the High Priest ordered as he raced past us.

  Worried that we would lose track of them, I gripped onto the reins and looked towards Damuel.

  “Sir Damuel, let’s hurry!”


  “…My mana is too little to go that fast.”


  “Then I’ll give you mine.”


  I was desperate to catch up and gripped on tighter to the reins, sending my mana into the highbeast and it sped up instantly,

  “Thanks!”


  We dashed through the forest and a wide open field, and we soon saw a group of carriages far in the distance. Fran, Rosina, Hugo and Ella were sitting inside… but there was a weird black mist surrounding them.

  “What’s that black stuff?!” I asked Damuel.

  We had rejoined the others but it would be hard for them to hear me at this speed.

  “That is the God of Darkness’s barrier. The barrier nullifies magic, so magic attacks are useless. Those that ambushed the carriages must have a noble behind them to carry out such an attack. It will be hard for us to enter the battle until we know what mana we’re up against,” Damuel explained in a tense tone.

  Suddenly, a group of roughly a hundred people (who were probably farmers) carrying weapons came charging towards the carriages from the forest. My mind throbbed seeing Fran and the others in danger. I made Damuel ride his highbeast next to the High Priest.

  “High Priest! Your magic doesn’t work on the barrier so please use it to subdue those men!”


  “Hold up! Do you not realise they could be people from this duchy?!” Sylvester objected to my suggestion looking shocked, but I just glared back at him as harshly as possible.

  These criminals were going to hurt those I cared about. Who on earth cared about who they were?!

  “Fran and Rosina’s safety are my top priority! I need to chant my prayers to release magic, right?!”


  I was deciding on which god I should dedicate my prayers to while releasing the mana I had built up. The mana started coursing through my body, and to the ring and bracelet I was wearing, making them glow.

  “Ferdinand! Stop her from releasing her mana” Sylvester yelled urgently.

  “She’s unstoppable now!” the High Priest shouted back in response.

  “Is there nothing we can do?! Who knows how many fatalities there will be if she releases such a powerful attack! There might be a war if the attack hits the neighbouring duchy! For the bare minimum, just buy me time to strengthen the border’s barrier!”


  “We can’t do anything about her, but we can redirect her target,” the High Priest muttered.

  He flew his lion closer to the highbeast me and Damuel were on, turning towards me.

  “Myne! If you want to protect those you care for, make a prayer to the wind!”


  I easily pictured the Goddess of Wind who I imagined as Wilma because I had yet to decide on a god to pray to, and it was also because I had done my own research on the gods.

  Schutzaria, the Goddess of Wind, was once the Goddess of Autumn. After the passing of the Goddess of Spring, the Wind shielded her sister, the Goddess of Earth from the revived God of Life. She summoned her shield of winter to block the God of Life’s ice and snow, holding him back until the end of the Autumn Harvest. She boasted the strength of her divine and impenetrable defence. Her defence protected the Goddess of Earth, unlike the Goddess of Water whose powers of melting the snow and ice only served to weaken the Goddess of Earth.

  Praying to the Goddess of Wind was the best option for me. I turned my raging line of sight back to the black mist and took a deep breath.

  …I will be the one to protect Fran and everyone else!

  “O Goddess of Wind, Schutzaria, the divine guardian of protection. The twelve goddesses that act as her retainers…”


  I began my prayer by saying her name and could instantly feel the mana swelling within me take shape—power meant to protect what’s important to me, not attack my foes, flowed from my entire body to my left arm, where it began to stir like a whirlpool.

  Just by saying her name in my prayers, I instantly felt the mana in my body manifesting, this was the power to protect those I loved, and it will not injure my enemies. I allowed the mana to flow to my left arm and it began to take the shape of a whirlpool around my arm.

  “Myne! Form the shield over the God of Darkness barrier, so that your mana isn’t consumed!” warned the High Priest.

  “Myne! Put the shield around the mist so that your mana does not get nullified!” the High Priest gave his advice.

  I gave a small nod while keeping my eyes on the mist beneath me. Thanks to the prayers I had been forced to memorize for rituals, the words flowed easily out of my mouth.

  I nodded my head slightly and locked onto the mist swirling. It was because I had been forced to memorise all the prayers for the temple affairs that I could recite it easily.

  “Please hear my prayer and lend me your divine strength. Grant me your shield of wind, so that I might blow away those who mean to cause ill.”


  “Hear my calls for your divine powers - your protective wind that will gush away those who harbour malicious intents.”


  The yellow feystone on the bracelet the High Priest had given me shone the brightest, for it was the divine color of Schutzaria the Goddess of Wind.

  The yellow feystone embedded in the bracelet was shining the brightest because yellow symbolised the Goddess of Wind.

  My mana was building up and it shot out a bright beam of light towards the carriages. I imagined my mana forming a dome over the black mist without making contact with it, the dome formed smoothly without any issues. With the finished dome, a sharp sound of metal clinking rach through the air. From the bird’s eye view, I saw that the carriages and back mist were encapsulated in a clear but red dome.

  “HAAAAH!”


  The attackers continued charging, completely oblivious to the newly formed shield, or maybe because they were too engrossed in trying to attack. The first ones to hit the barrier were all hit by a strong gust of wind and were launched into the air.

  “Nguh?!”


  “Huh?!”


  “W-What just happened?!”


  Some were sent flying far back, while some fell over and crashed into the others behind them. They just looked shocked and stared at the shield, confused by what just happened to them.

  “…That’s amazing,” Karstedt looked down at what just happened with amazement. He approved of the shield I had set up to protect Fran and Rosina.

  “Really?! You find this amazing right, Lord Karstedt?! This really is the Goddess of Wind’s shield! I offer my thanks to the goddess who has protected Fran and Rosinga!”


  I yelled and shot my hands up in the posing position. I was well surprised how powerful the shield I made was.

  “Enough with your prayers!” Sylvester roared when he saw all these.

  …But isn’t it right to offer my prayers and thanks for the goddess who has granted me her power?

  Of course, I didn’t say that aloud and just continued looking on below me, where the men kept charging back into the shield.

  They were repeatedly sent flying back by the winds and the crashed into those standing behind them. They finally gave up after a few more tries.

  “There’s mana coming from the forest,” Damuel said out of the blue and everyone looked at him. The fact that someone else’s mana was present meant that they were trying to tamper my shield or to assist the men in their charges against the wind.

  I learnt that those with more mana had more difficulty detecting those lesser than theirs, as such Damuel, a laynoble with less mana could sense the mana that the others couldn’t. This made everyone’s gaze serious, just then the High Priest gave orders to each of us.

  “Sylvester, Karstedt and I will enter the forest. Damuel, you will keep your position here and continue protecting Myne.”


  Damuel nodded at his orders but Sylvester protested with a “No!”, shaking his head.

  “Damuel, come closer!” Sylvester said as he stood up from the lion and he jumped onto our flying horse’s wings, like a swift and professional ninja.

  “AHH! What are you doing! That’s so dangerous!”


  Since the horse was made out of stone, it remained strong and sturdy in the air even with Sylvester on its wind. With his arms spread with for balance, made his way to us swiftly

  “Don’t block me,” Sylvester said and squeezed his hands under my arms, pulling me up from my seat and I started to sway around.

  I was still trying to process what just happened to me when I saw my vision swirl. I could do nothing but blink.

  In the next moment, Sylvester yelled “Ferdinand, catch!” and I was thrown up into the empty air.

  Volume 6, 16: An Ambush (Part 2)

  “Um?”


  I was set up into the air without any warning. I froze and stared straight ahead into the broad blue sky that stretched beyond the horizon. I didn’t bother struggling because there was nothing for me to cling onto.

  “Apprentice?!”


  Everything around me slowed, I watched Damuel trying to stretch out to catch me, he looked shocked to see me launched in the air, all while Sylvester jumped and sat behind me.

  I stopped for a while in the air as I reached the highest point of his throw, but I soon began plummeting down because of gravity.

  As I began falling, the wind caused my hair to slap against my face, my face starting throbbing from the pain, the pain pulled me back to my senses. I gave a yell when I realised I had been sent on a one-way bungee jump, that my safety and mental health had been neglected.

  “GYAAAAAAAAH!”


  “Got you.”


  The High Priest knew where I would land by deducing the trajectory, he flew his highbeast over to catch me.

  I only dropped for a meter, but it felt a hundred times more. I clung to the High Priest, trembling in fear for having just been helplessly falling through the air a moment ago. I knew I was now safe, but that didn’t stop the trembling.

  “I-I was… so scared…”


  “I am sure you were.”


  The High Priest tried to sooth my nerves by patting my back. But the culprit of my suffering, Sylvester’s voice, made me feel terrorized again.

  “Ferdinand, stay here! We don’t know if the person in the forest is a decoy!”


  “Very well.”


  “The border is closeby, we need to hurry before they cross it. Let’s go, Karstedt!”


  “Yes, sir!”


  Karstedt responded back and they zoomed off on their highbeasts, heading towards the forest.

  I heard the High Priest mumble as they flew off.

  “He made a very reckless decision, but he did it with the intention of protecting you. Please forgive him, on my behalf.”


  “Wah?”


  “Damuel is needed there to detect the culprits in the forest. In any likelihood that they are decoys, it would be too dangerous to leave you with Damuel alone.

  The High Priest continued to watch our surroundings with his guard up. I knew that I was in a very precarious situation right now, but that didn’t mean I should back down in fear.

  “Myne, will you offer them a prayer for a successful battle?”


  The High Priest suggested what we could do as we stayed back from the battle in the air, and I took the suggestion with a nod. It would distract me from my fears right now.

  The High Priest quickly taught me the prayers and we chanted it in sync.

  “O God of War Angriff, and his loyal twelve retainers, we offer our prayers so that you may give them your divine protection.”


  With our chants, the bracelets on our wrists began glowing with a blue light, and a ray of light was emitted from the blue feystone embedded in it. The lights swirled together and shot out towards the others who were rushing to the scene.

  Sylvester took out his shining wand and swirled it, summoning a large red bird that flew towards the forest.

  I watched the phoenix looking bird spread its large wings before disappearing into the air.

  Right where the bird disappeared, a red and clear wall manifested itself. He summoned another similar bird, but it was yellow this time. The yellow bird circled the vicinity, scattering glowing powder as it slowly disappeared.

  While the red bird had manifested a wall, Karstedt had his wand transformed into a double-edged two-sided sword. The enormous sword began glowing with multiple colours and he raised it up with a battle cry.

  “GAAAAAAAAH!”


  A beam of light came down with the swing of his sword and he slammed in down into the forest.

  “Bweh?!”


  A shrill and deafening sound ripped through the air, as if a meteor had cut through the sky and crashed into the earth. The explosion from his swing created an earthquake and it obliterated a portion of the forest. The effects of the blast made an impact on the shield I made, draining away some of my mana.

  “He overdone it…” the High Priest’s comment pulled me back to my senses.

  I looked back up at him and asked anxiously, “The carriages! Are the carriages alright?!”


  “They appear fine because of the protection of the Darkness and Wing shield.”


  “Ha…” I let out a breath of relief that the carriages were safe. As I no longer felt anxious, a wave of nauseous washed over me and I clung onto the High Priest for support.

  “What is the matter, Myne?”


  “My body seems to have lost all its strength when I realised everyone is safe. I kind of feel cold.”


  When I told him how my body now felt weak and cold, the High Priest just gave a confused look and placed his hand on my neck.

  “Your body does feel cold. Did you overuse your mana?”


  “…Huh? Oh, maybe.”


  I recalled that this had happened to me before at my first offering in the temple. I didn’t feel this bad the last time because I still could use my leftover mana to circulate around and heal my body. I tried to do that again this time, but I must have used all my mana to summon the wind shield and perform the Spring Prayer rituals. I had always been struggling to contain my mana in a box, not having sufficient mana to do something was a first, so I was completely clueless at what I should do now.

  “High Priest, I think I ran out of mana, I can’t make it flow in my body,” I explained and the High Priest looked at me with shocked eyes.

  “You’re out of mana? I have potions for serious cases like this but they are currently being stored in the carriages. We will need to wait until it is safe before we retrieve them. Until then… you can drink this. It is not the best solution, but you will have to do with it.”


  The High Priest dug through the storage under his belt to take out a golden ornament that resembled a test tube. He placed a small circular stone on it and it popped open. He moved it towards me and its contents didn’t smell like that horrible potion. I took a big mouthful and was surprised by the sweetness that ariated my mouth.

  The potion tasted a bit familiar, like the one he had me drink before searching my memories. And I also started feeling sleepy too.

  “Relax and just fall asleep. The next time you’re conscious, you will get scolded and drink the potion you dislike.”


  I did my best to nod my droopy head before sleep finally took over.

  ~~~

  “Sister Myne, have you come to?”


  “…Rosina.”


  I woke up to see Rosina looking at me, she seemed to have been guarding me the entire time as I slept deeply

  I slowly raised my body when I saw her, but my vision started spinning, it felt as though I was anemic. In the end, my body slammed back into the bed.

  “Please don’t move around so recklessly. Do you remember that you overexerted yourself to protect the carriages and placed yourself in danger. The High Priest seemed quite angry about it.”


  “I’m ready for whatever lectures I have coming from him because he already said so before I fell asleep. Anyways, that’s not important, how are you, Rosina? Is everyone okay? Did anyone get injured or suffer in any other way?”


  I was worried about everyone’s safety, if I had done my job to protect them. The thought that I could have been in danger from overexerting myself did not cross my mind at all, not even the torturous lecture and horrible potion that awaited me concerned me right now. It would be pathetic for me to think that selfishly.

  “Everyone is safe. No injuries at all, nothing was damaged or stolen too.”


  “Really? Thank goodness.”


  My whole body relaxed when I heard about everyone’s safety from Rosina.

  Apparently, the carriages stopped when the darkness enveloped them. When everyone looked out the window to see what was going on, they were stunned when they saw the armed men charging towards them. They were ready for combat but the men just got pushed back by an unknown force.

  There was a bright light, then they heard shouts followed by an explosion. But the explosion didn’t nick them because of the force surrounding the carriages. They only realised they had been saved when they saw the High Priest arrive with the rest.

  “You were the one who went through the most, Sister Myne. You were unconscious and your body was so cold that you shivered uncontrollably,” Rosina continued on as I felt my consciousness fading again.

  “…Usually, the farmers take more importance than gray priests, because they contribute food and taxes. It was only because of you that we were saved, thank you so much, Sister Myne.”


  ~~~

  When I came to, the High Priest came over and handed me a bottle with that horrible tasting green potion.

  “Drink it.”


  “Urgh…”


  I wanted to scoot away but I was still bedridden. The High Priest just gave me a stern look, telling me to stop running away because I needed the potion anyways.

  “Has your mana returned yet?”


  “…Not yet.”


  “I thought so. But we cannot continue staying here. Will you wait for me to pinch your nose and force it down?”


  We were stuck here until my mana was back. I didn’t want to become a burden because of that, so I had to force myself to take that horrible and awful potion.

  The High Priest stretched out his hand again and I took the potion with trembling hands, gulping it down as quickly as possible.

  “Ngh- Uergh!”


  My whole body spasmed and I covered my mouth with my hands, tears were welling in the corner of my eyes because of its taste.

  The High Priest observed all these and nodded with satisfaction.

  “Just hold your mouth shut and listen while you wait for the potion to work its effect.” He explained that they were unable to find out who was behind the dark barrier and attack.

  It sounded absolutely ludicrous, but apparently Karstedt’s attack had been so powerful that the enemies were completely obliterated, with whatever leads they had on them. There was no definitive proof that Gellach was involved. They only information they found was from Damuel, who detected two enemies, so that meant the culprits behind the attacks didn’t have much mana. They were incapable of summoning a barrier from the God of Darkness themselves, so nobles must have had helped them, and they could have been from another duchy.

  “How do you know that?”


  “Half of the men who attempted to attack the carriages did not come from our duchy.”


  He had no intentions to tell me how they figured out their identities. He continued to explain that there was probably a noble at the scene, they had summoned the barrier and fled back to the border before Karstedt’s attack.

  “…Wasn’t Lord Karstedt trying to catch the attackers?”


  “He said that he used his normal strength, but it turned out stronger than expected.”


  Karstedt was the most shocked by his own attack. The High Priest looked away with a trouble looked, and that alone told me the cause.

  “…Were our prayers not needed?”


  “Maybe, but do not bring it up unless someone asks you.”


  “Okay.”


  He proceeded to tell me that Sylvester and Karstedt had returned to the city immediately on their highbeasts as they needed this incident to be reported and investigated as soon as possible.

  “It’s out of this word for people to attack priests on the carriages, right? Was that why they needed to alert this to the archduke?”


  “…You’re right, I guess.”


  The High Priest gave a nod with a grim look before turning his gaze towards me, he asked me in a serious tone as I shifted my sitting position.

  “Myne, are you really intending to stay with your family?”


  “Yes, of course.”


  ‘`Then why did you let your mana get out of control again?” he questioned me and I gasped in response.

  “It was just… I was worried about Fran and Rosina.”


  “There was little damage this time because you directed your berserk mana into making a strong shield, but you still imposed a great threat to the others. And you were only ok because of the magic tool you had on hand that allowed you to make a prayer to manifest a spell. Without all these you would have died from your mana going on rampage.

  Basically, if one wished to use their mana, they needed to channel it through a magical tool. Magical tools were so crucial to children with Devouring, that if they didn’t have one they couldn’t channel their mana. Their mana would continue to grow and eventually kill then

  I was lucky to have been able to release my mana in the temple, but I would not be so lucky to survive if I go berserk with my mana.

  “Do you have any idea what happened to those who die as a result of their mana going on a rampage?”


  The High Priest proceeded to describe every detail to what happened to nobles who lost control of their manas. What made it worse was his indifferent reaction to it.

  “Their mana will slowly seep out from their body before exploding out. Their body will be unable to withstand their mana and it will begin its self-destructiion. Their flesh will swell and bubble - you can say, just like boiling water. The skin will finally reach its limit as the body pops and sends all the flesh and blood - “


  “GYAH! GYAAH! GYAAAAH! I’m not listening! I don’t want to listen! NOOOOOOO!”


  I blocked my ears with my hand and burrowed under the sheets. The High Priest just cruelly pulled the sheets off and plucked my hands away.

  “Control yourself, Myne. I’m not done.”


  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again! I’ll never let my mana get out of control again! Please, I beg of you, have mercy on me! I don’t want to bubble! I don’t want to explode! Please stop!!!”


  I knelt down and slammed my head as close to the bed as possible, being completely traumatised. The High Priest nodded with a satisfied look.

  “That’s good. If you lose control again, I will bind you down to a chair and force you to listen to my full explanation. You’ll have no chance to block it out with your hands or run away.”


  I saw myself being strapped down and forced to hear every single traumatizing word. I shook my head furiously to desperately force it out of my head.

  “I’ll never do it again! I promise!”


  My sincere promise made the High Priest grin like a villain.

  “This will be useful for another time,” he said to himself, and that sent shivers down my spine.

  Volume 6, 13: Spring Prayer Preparations

  The temperature outside was increasing, and almost half of the snow in the city had melted. The thickest of winter was over, and everyone worked together to shovel the snow in anticipation of sprint’s arrival. Since Tuuli had to resume work, the times she could visit me lessened down to alternate days.

  With Lutz as the middleman, all of the orphanage wintercraft was sold to Benno. The money earnt would help ease the orphanage’s financial situation.

  There was too much snow in the forest, but it would not be long till the snow melts away and we can resume collecting wood to make paper.

  Until then the orphanage would focus on studying, gray priests with past experience as attendants would be in charge of teaching the children proper manners. Apparently, the gray priests were worried that I was setting a bad example to the children. Because they always spoke casually to me, they feared that they would act improperly to the other blue priests too. All the lessons were held in the dining hall, so the workshop was empty, except for me, Lutz and Damiel.

  “I plan to use the printing press for the next edition of books, at most, I would like to have the texts printed.” I said

  “I’m cool with that,” replied Lutz. “But we don’t have the printing press ready yet”


  “Hmm… My plan was to just modify the press we already made.”


  I dug out my rough drawings and passed them to Lutz. I vaguely recalled that the first printing press by Gutenberg was based on grape presses for making wine. I had some confidence that I could copy it a little, but I was struggling to pull it out from my memory.

  “Put the letter pieces like that, paint on the ink, put the paper below… and you press it down.”


  I attempted to describe how to use the press with my hands (since I couldn’t use the actual press because I was too short). I was stuck in the temple so it was up to Lutz to order the stuff we needed and to pass the messages to the workshops.

  “Guess we’ll have to decide on how big the thing where you lay out the types—the, uh… forme1? Yeah, how big the forme will be,” said Lutz.

  “We need to write down how big we should make the thing that holds the letter pieces… uh, the forme? How big should the forme be?”


  “We’ll make it according to the books we already have.”


  I used the ruler to measure the necessary stuff and wrote it onto my blueprint, while continuing my discussion with Lutz. I made a list of things to note for, like “make the board to hold the paper slanted” and “needs a holder for the ink”.

  Lutz read it all and shook his head.

  “Uhm, Myne. Can’t we just do all that extra stuff later?”


  “Extra? But these are all necessary.”


  Knowing myself best, I knew I had forgotten more than I remembered, and there were probably some unnecessary things I wrote down subconsciously. But Lutz just took his head again at my words.

  “Not that,” he pointed to a part of the blueprint. “I understand why we need a place to hold the ink, but I can tell you’re not even sure where to put it. So why don’t we just keep the ink separate on another table?”


  There was nothing for me to object about that. We just needed to include these important parts; a forme for the letter pieces underneath the press. Other than that we only needed to do the minimum, even if doing the minimum would slow down the printing.

  “You’re just overthinking everything because you’re only thinking about the final product. Don’t you remember how we first made paper with some random tools? We’ll just continue doing that too. We only need what is actually necessary, the rest can come later.”


  “…You’re right. Since you mentioned this, our biggest hurdle to overcome right now would be asking the craftsman to make a press for the children to use.”


  We finished up the blueprint as we talked. We finalised on a simple sketch for Ingo’s carpentry to make and the order would be sent through Benno.

  “Moving on now…”


  Since we were done with the printing press’s design, I wanted to talk about the forme and composing stick, but Gil barged into the workshop right at that moment.

  “Sister Myne!”


  “Gil, what’s up? Do I have to go to the High Priest’s room now?”


  I did not have any harspiel lessons today because my female attendants were preoccupied with the Spring Prayer preparations.

  “Nope. Rosina asked me to get you. It’s just that, she’s mad that you have only been caring about printing presses and unbothered that we’re not done with Spring Prayer preparations. I mean, she’s trying not to show it, but… she’s definitely angry.”


  Why did it seem like she was venting her anger on me because she can’t play her harpsiel and I was going around doing whatever I wanted…


  I got the impression she was simply expressing her frustrations at me since she had less time to play the harspiel, but I was free to do anything I pleased.

  “Ah, ok. Can you take the fall for me then?”


  “Sure! Wait… Wait a second. Certainly not! I don’t want to!”


  It took Gil a while to process what I said and he turned it down strongly. He acted so hilarious that me and Lutz bursted out laughing, and Gil glared back showing that he would drag me back no matter. So, it appeared that I had to subject myself to Rosina’s anger no matter what too.

  “…Oh well, looks like I have no escape now. Lutz, can you finish up the rest?”


  “Sure thing. You have important things to do, right? Good luck. You’ll definitely do well.”


  Lutz rubbed my head, but I just nodded back in dread of what was to come. I walked back to my chambers with a sulky Gil in the lead.

  ~~~

  I got a shock when I saw the horrible state my chambers were in. There were luggages filled with shoes, clothes and beauty equipment. They were accompanied with towels, cloths, utensils and dishes, writing tools, paper and diptychs my attendants would need.

  It felt like I was moving houses again

  The main had a few crates filled with food supplies and some empty ones that would be used to store the utensils from the kitchen needed to cook my meals for the trip (they would be packed after today’s meal).

  I walked up to the second floor to see my even more wrecked room. I saw three boxes on the floor, one each for fabric, clothes and shoes. My table had lots of items strewn across. And in the centre of all this chaos was Delia, Rosina and Rose.

  “Sister Myne, please do not leave your chambers for the workshop when preparations for the Spring Prayer are still incomplete.”


  Though Rosina had said that, I knew that they would scold me if I tried to lend a helping hand. I had been lectured constantless times that laborious work was my attendants’ responsibility, so I was not supposed to do anything. My job was just to sit, not move, and watch my attendants do the work.

  “Hey! You’re supposed to be excited about this! This is your huge responsibility, Sister Myne!”


  “…But, I already believe that everyone is capable of packing everything without my supervision.”


  “That’s not the point.”


  A few of my attendants would come along for the Spring Prayer. First was Fran since he was there with the High Priest’s past ones, then Rosina because a girl was needed to tend to me, Hugo and Ella would come too as they needed to prepare my meals. Delia, Wilma, and Gil stayed behind to man my chambers, the orphanage, and the workshop respectively. Food would be prepared for those in the temple by Todd and the other chef, with Nicola’s and Monika’s assistance (they both had been trained by Ella last winter).

  “Anyways, there’s way too many things to bring,” I muttered to myself unknowingly. There were just too many things I had stored to cover me for the winter.

  Rosina looked perplexed though. “You have much less luggage than others. Sister Christine would have 2 more boxes for her clothes, and more boxes for painting and her musical instruments.”


  Wilma agreed and continued, “Sister Christine’s preparation took much longer. Whenever she had to go to the Noble’s District, we struggled so much to pack everything.”


  Rosina’s eyes enlarged as though she remembered something significant when I was still trying to process how amazing Sister Christine had been.

  “…Sister Myne, if you don’t mind me asking. “May I also bring a harspiel?” She asked cautiously.

  I shook my head, my gaze falling on the harpiels sitting in the corner.

  “I believe it will be better to keep them here, even more so because they are not mine.”


  It was not a good idea to bring them along without permission because they were the High Priest’s. I would have to pay a hefty sum if they got damaged, missing or stolen.

  Rosina, on the other hand, was adamant about not giving up. She continued speaking as she looked at the haspiels.

  “Could you please ask the High Priest for his consent, for my sake please?”


  “No worries, I will give it a shot.”


  “Thank you so much, Sister Myne.”


  ~~~

  As expected, me being around had no purpose because I could not help out, so came up with an excuse that I needed to see the High Priest, and Fran and Damuel tagged along.

  “It is quite difficult to prepare for the Spring Prayer. A request from the Knight’s Order needs to be seen to immediately, but as an attendant, preparations are easy because there is not much to be done.”


  Fran said that the Spring Prayer preparation was considerably more difficult because our mode of transport was carriages, not the highbeasts we rode on previously.

  As for me, thinking about the travel there made me much more sad than the packing. I lost all of my excitement for the trip when I heard that we would ride in a carriage. That was because I knew that the travelling would drain me of all my energy before we reached the first time. I can see myself being so dead tired that I wouldn’t be able to do anything.

  “Can I just skip the whole Spring Prayer?” I let out a sigh.

  “How can you say that, apprentice? The Spring Prayer is a sacred ritual,” Damuel remarked in disbelief

  I was well aware of its significance. But…


  Can’t he just let me off this time , I need to vent some of my frustrations.

  “I know it is important, Sir Damuel. I’m just not looking forward to me passing out because of the journey there.”


  “…Hm. Seeing how you can barely get by everyday, I sort of understand your feelings. But I doubt Ferdinand-sama will let you skip out.”


  I was fully aware that there was no escape for me. But, as a last ditch effort, I waited till the High Priest was back before presenting my thoughts to him.

  “High Priest, is it a must for me to go to the towns for the Spring Prayer? I am confident that travelling in the carriages will take a toll on me.”


  “You are right. I will prepare more potions for you,” the High Priest gave a nonchalant response

  I squirmed when I recalled the potion that was forced down me when I had a fainting spell because he still needed me around.

  “…You mean that effective but disgusting potion that makes you want to drop dead with its horrendous taste?”


  “Yes.”


  “Gah… I don’t want to go more now.”


  This was how everything would unfold: I will faint on the journey to the town, be forced to drink the High Priest’s horrible potions, dragged to complete the ritual while the potion still lasts, and then faint again before we move on to the next town. An endless loop of suffering would await me with every town we visited. I was getting sick thinking about it.

  “High Priest, please fix the potion’s taste. Or just make me take a sleeping drug so that I will be out for the entire journey, or let me on those magic statues the knights use. Can you please try something? I beg of you.”


  I was so desperate that I tried to give every solution I could think of and proposed it to the High Priest.

  The High Priest nodded, a little disturbed.

  “…Since you look that desperate, I will try my best.”


  “Thank you so much. Oh and, would it be ok for my attendant to bring a harspiel though I know that’s not possible.”


  I did not want to damage a valuable instrument so I had hoped he would say no, but the High Priest accepted it without hesitation.

  “Contrary to that, it would be better to bring it. Rosina’s playing throughout the trip will definitely be calming throughout the deep nights.”


  “Wait, you’re serious?” I was taken aback. “I heard we could be in danger because of bandits and monsters. Won’t this precious instrument be damaged if we get attacked?”


  The High Priest looked befuddled by what I said.

  “No bandits will be willing to target blue priests and nobles in charge of the Spring Prayer, unless they are foolish enough to do so.”


  “…Wait really? No danger at all?”


  I presumed that bandits will be happy to select wealthy nobles as their target, but apparently that was not so.

  “Myne, most bandits are just farmers.”


  “Huh? Aren’t bandits something like thieves that make a living from robbing others?”


  “Fool. If that was so, the merchants would stop travelling to these targeted areas. Even if they did take these paths, they would hire guards and this would make robbing them much more difficult. If they continued robbing people, the Knight’s Order would take action. It is simply impossible to live on robbing others.”


  I had the false idea that merchants travelled frequently. The High Priest got annoyed at how little I knew about this world.

  “It is not unusual to see some commoners turn to the thieving trade temporarily to exhort money and goods from merchants, but it would be foolish to attack nobles as that would mean that their land would no longer receive chalices. As such, no farmers will dare to target nobles or priests. And even if they did, winning is impossible.”


  So it turns out bandits did not dare attack nobles because of the consequences their actions would have on the farming towns, and also because the nobles could easily defeat them with their mana.

  “So the trip will be completely safe?”


  “…Yes, supposedly.”


  I wondered why there was some hesitance from the High Priest, nevertheless, I was relieved that our trip would be much safer than expected, but that was the only thing I could be glad of.

  ~~~

  I had a busy morning before our trip for the Spring Prayer. I took a bath and put on my ceremonial robes and hairstick. Since Fran said the farming towns would be muddy, I decided to wear my new pig leather boots, though I doubt the towns would be worse than the lower city, but I still gave it the benefit of the doubt.

  After prepping myself, the rest of the items were stored in boxes and tied up with ropes. And with that I was ready. Fran and Gil worked together to load the boxes into the carriage, and Rosina just clung onto the harspiel case, hugging it gleefully.

  Since I had nothing to do in my very bare room, I took the chance to say my goodbyes to the rest of my attendants.

  “Wilma, I entrust the orphanage to you.”


  “Yes, Sister Myne. I promise you that before your return, the children will be polite little angels. When the time comes, please praise them.”


  As I nodded to the request. Gil knelt down and looked at me as though he was saying “My turn now, praise me”.

  I stretched out and patted his head, “Please look after the workshop, Gil. I take it that you will do a good job?”


  “Yep, leave it up to me!”


  “Please look after my chambers while I’m away, Delia.”


  “Of course… Geez! Why are you so worried?! I’m more concerned that you won’t be able to carry out your duties properly, Sister Myne.”


  Delia scowled and her crimson hair seemed to be raised like a lion. It’s not that I was worried that she couldn’t handle looking after my chambers, but I dreaded the horrible carriage ride.

  “Ngh… I’m worried about the ride.”


  “Geeeez! You’re making me even more worried!”


  “Uh-uh, I’ll do my best,” I stammered.

  Delia was probably losing all hope on me, which she probably didn’t even know she had in me initially.

  Fran walked back to me once he noticed that I had finished my pleasantries. “It is time for us to depart, Sister Myne.”


  “Sure. Let’s go.”


  “Goodbye. We pray for your safe journey.”


  Some of my attendants said their goodbyes and I left the room after Fran, with Rosina and Damuel after me. We walked to the side of the temple where the nobles resided, the main entrance was close there, where the carriages were stationed.

  “Rosina and I will double check the belongings and then discuss our plans for the trip with Arno. Please rest in the resting room with Damuel. The High Priest will be there too.”


  I followed the instructions and left for the waiting room, with Damuel behind. On route, I ran into the High Priest who was with his attendants.

  “Good morning, High Priest.”


  “Good morning. Myne, please head to my chambers. There is something important I need to tell you. Wait there until I am done briefing my attendants. Damuel I take it that you understand what to do?”


  “Yes, sir!”


  We finished our talk and the High Priest took quick strides to the carriages. Though he was moving quickly, he was moving with so much grace. I exchanged looks with Damuel before we left for the High Priest’s chambers.

  We entered with ease as some of his attendants were there to welcome us. We took our seats, and the High Priest returned quickly.

  “Thank you for the wait.”


  “High Priest, what is the important thing you mentioned?” I asked in curiosity

  My head tilted to the side and watched the High Priest close and lock his cabinets filled with paperwork.

  “There has been a change in plans. We will be riding highbeasts. I have ordered the carriages to depart and wait at our next accommodation…”


  “…Is something going on?”


  “Hopefully, it’s nothing,” he said, he held into a bunch of keys as he walked into his hidden room, returning with a ring that had a yellow feystone in it and a bangle with embedded seven multicoloured stones

  “Myne, put them on.”


  “Lord Ferdinand, that’s—”


  “As a safety precaution, Damuel.”


  The High Priest was wearing a similar bracelet and a ring on his middle finger, the ring looked like the one he lent me for the Knight’s Order mission. It proved to be helpful then, so it would probably do the same again.

  I was glad to use them both, putting on the ring on my left ring finger like the High Priest’s.

  “Also, as much as I don’t want to say this…”


  “Yes?”


  “We will have… another blue priest with us,” the High Priest mumbled with a conflicted expression.

  I was surprised by the sudden announcement and the door opened at the same time. Karstedt came in with an unfamiliar blue priest.

  “That will be me, Sylvester. I see, you’re the apprentice shrine maiden that is a commoner?”


  He analysed me with his thick eyebrows and profound green eyes. He had bluish purple hair tied up with a silver rope. I kept looking at the rope he used to tie his hair. Though he was shorter than the High Priest, he was more well-built, he looked more knight-like than the High Priest who used to serve as one. He looked similar in age as Benno and the High Priest, but that did not help because the latter two were far apart in age despite their looks.

  “…You’re so small but you’ve been baptised? Have you been lying about your age?” Sylvester laughed and gave me a vulgar stare.

  I was so tempted to shout back, but I held myself back. No matter what, Sylvester was still a blue priest. I had no power to argue back.

  “Hey. Say ‘poowee.’”


  Sylvester poked out a finger after staring at me for so long. The finger poked my cheek and burrowed in deep.

  “Ow!” I gave a shout of pain, but he only shook his head.

  “Yes, but not quite there. Try again, say ‘poowee.”


  He did it again but with less strength. I looked at the High Priest out of desperation. But he just looked away and sighed to say he could do nothing.

  “Myne, though he might seem horrible, he has a good heart underneath that horrid rot. Your only choice is to give in to his requests. And Sylvester, Myne is actually extremely weak. If you keep pushing her she might die. Anyways, Karstedt, come over and look at this.”


  The High Priest took out and unrolled a map.

  “Yes, sire!”


  Karstedt walked to the High Priest, leaving me with Sylvester and Damuel who had gone pale. No one was going to save me now…


  “C’mon. Do it.” Sylvester stared at me deeper and still kept his finger on my cheek. There was no way I could say no to a noble.

  “P-Poowee.”


  I just hardened myself and gave a “poowee” like he wanted…


  Sylvester was satisfied with my response and nodded before poking me again.

  “Good. Continue again.”


  “Poowee~ Poowee~ Poowee…”


  I dreaded the trip even more now, knowing that I would be stuck with this blue priest for the entire Spring Prayer.

  1. forme: (from wikipedia) in typesetting, a forme is imposed by a stoneman working on a flat imposition stone when he assembles the loose components of a page (or number of simultaneously printed pages) into a locked arrangement, inside a chase, ready for printing.

  Volume 6, 19: A Discussion with the High Priest and the Trip Back Home

  Having to sit through another lecture with the High Priest and finally getting the chance to return home was like entering hell and heaven together. I was looking forward to seeing Dad and Tuuli later in the day when they would fetch me, but that also meant I had to sit through the High Priest’s migraine-inducing lectures.

  “Follow me, Myne.”


  “Yes…”


  Fran and Damuel accompanied me to the High Priest’s room. When we arrive there, just like what he had stated in the letter, the High Priest immediately told me to follow him to the hidden room (but it might as well be called a detention room now)

  I plopped myself down on the usual bench, while the High Priest walked to his desk to pick up a pen and a wooden board. He opened up a bottle of ink before taking a seat on his chair. He crossed his legs and bored down an intimidating stare.

  “I will not be lecturing you today. I hope you can recall how I said I had some questions. Let’s start. First off, I would like to know what are your future plans with the printing press.”


  So it turns out that he had made a list of questions he was unable to ask me during his visit at the Myne Workshop. He had summoned me here so that he could personally ask me his unanswered queries about the printing press book production’s potential and the speed it could produce them. Unfortunately, I could not give him an exact number.

  “We have yet to make a completed printing press. I will need to make much more metal letter pieces before we can produce books that only consist of words. In fact, we cannot begin the book production without securing a large supply of ink and paper, so it will be difficult to estimate how fast and much a printing press can do right now.”


  “I see…” the High Priest mumbled as he referred back to the questions on his board.

  “Moving on, I would like to talk about it’s impact on the world. When you start mass-printing, what impact will it have on those who copy books manually? Could you talk about what happened to these people in your past world?”


  “It was still around, but as a hobby, not a job. It’s not a very viable job because machinery can replace them easily. This process was a gradual one, but it took about two centuries before this job went out of date. It definitely wasn’t as fast as two decades.”


  My words made the High Priest knit his eyebrows together and he continued jotting down on his board.

  “Though you did mention that everyone in your country could get an education, and that it was the norm for people to be able to read, I don’t suppose that it was that way since day one. What was the impact of the widespread distribution of books and a boost in literary rate in your world?”


  “It was a revolutionary event. The impact it had on each country and its culture differed, but it’s not necessary to know the details because likewise, the impact on this world will be different.”


  “May I know what were some of the changes?” The High Priest prompted and I tried to pull out some examples from Urano’s world.

  There were quite a few examples I could think of, but I hesitated to tell it to the High Priest because. After all, he didn’t have the necessary knowledge so he would probably struggle to understand it.

  “There have been a couple of cases in history where the working-class peasants teamed up, learning and sharing knowledge together, so that they could gain the capabilities to overthrow the and set up their own ruling system. Conversely, some have used printing to mass-produce and distribute propaganda to influence the public’s sentiments. One thing for sure is that commoners becoming literate will influence how certain information is spread. I cannot answer who and how someone might take advantage of that.”


  “So you mean to say, it’s impact on society will be so drastic that predicting it is simply impossible. That sounds worrisome…” the High Priest words trailed off as his hands busied away writing on the board.

  “But this world is different from mine because mana is crucial here, right? There’s no saying the same thing will happen here even when books are more widely distributed and literary rates jump. Moreover, books can be used to inform the public how hard-working and crucial the nobles are to society’s well-being. Of course, things won’t turn out good if the nobles and priests are just telling black lies.”


  “What do you mean? The High Priest didn’t seem to quite understand what I just said. I gave him a shrug and continued.

  “Those living in the lower city have no means to find out what the nobles do. Only those in the farming towns get to witness the nobles and blue priests provide them with the mana-filled chalices that support them during the Spring Prayer. As such, they are much more religious and have a stronger faith in the gods than those in the lower city. This is just my speculation, by the way.”


  “The thought of the commoner’s faith in the gods has never occured to me, let alone telling them what the nobles do. I am very intrigued by what you have said, you provide new perspectives on untouched topics.”


  Because I was a commoner and had memories of another world, the High Priest seemed very interested in the new profound perspectives I could offer, be it literally or figuratively.

  “Hm… If that’s so… This is my decision now that you have answered my questions. Myne, the printing will have to be delated.”


  “Huh? Why?”


  “Though we can suppress any uprisings from the commoners with magic, the nobles won’t take the idea of printing too well.”


  The High Priest proceeded to explain that copy bookings manually was a stable and lucrative job. As such, it was a very crucial job for priests, shrine maidens and Royal Academy students of a lower-income background. If I were to introduce my books that only required printing, I would surely be despised by local laynobles.

  “…That means only the nobles’ might perceive this negatively?”


  We had never had run into conflicts with nobles till this point, and frankly, this terrified me. I felt a shiver run down my spine when the High Priest nodded,

  “You have only been printing books for the children and you did mention that printing has been limited because of your limited supply of paper. As such, there have limited impacts on the priests and nobles that would force you to halt production. But the situation will differ with the finished printing press, right?”


  The rationale behind the production of letter pieces was to rid the tedious process of manually cutting out every letter by hand. It was much better for text-only books to be produced with the metal letter pieces. This very idea was used back in Earth, and also caused manually copying books jobs to turn obsolete.”


  “So how long will we have to delay printing…”


  I asked in trepidation, I was surely going to suffer knowing that I could not print even if I a completed printing press on hand. The High Priest turned his golden eyes to me.

  “Until you have been adopted by Karstedt.”


  “Bweh?”


  “Any commoners that are a hindrance to nobles will be eliminated immediately. But things will be different if you are an archnoble’s daughter. Your business will receive the archduke’s support, as such it will prove difficult for the other nobles to target you.”


  A commoner girl like me was just a nobody, an easy target for any noble. But if I became the adopted daughter of an archnoble and seek the approval of the archduke, I could turn my business into a state one. In that case, the nobles that copy books for extra income could no longer attack me. Furthermore, the High Priest mentioned that I should attempt to drag the laynobles to invest in the printing business to remove any further opposition to mass-printing. Things were getting so serious that I couldn’t wrap my head around it anymore.

  …Am I really going to be able to wait two whole years to print, even though we already have a ready-to-do printing press? It’s already been two and a half years since I became Myne. Could I wait that long again with just printing picture books for children?

  The High Priest probably saw through me, he looked at me and lifted the corners of his mouth.

  “How about this instead, Myne? You could become Karstedt’s adopted daughter right now. That way you can start printing now.”


  I know he was trying to tempt me, and it did work for a split second. But the next moment I shook my head.

  “No… I can finally return home… I can’t bear to not see them again.”


  “Are you against becoming Karstedt’s adopted daughter that much?”


  “That’s not what I meant. Lord Karstedt is an amazing guy. Not only is he valiant and very dependable, he is an archnoble too. I can’t find a better adoptive father elsewhere.”


  But no matter what, I wanted to stay with my family. Two years was already a short time, I couldn’t bear to make our last time together even shorter.”


  “It’s a given that you would be homesick after being separated for this long. Well… do reconsider this when you get back home and have your share of love and affection with your family. Who knows, you might change your mind.” the High Priest gave a cheeky smile.

  He was totally doing this because he expected me to succumb to my love for books, and eventually proceed with the adoption before I turn ten. This made me clench my fist and glare right back at him.”


  “I won’t change my mind. I want to be with my family for as long as possible. Afterall, you are the one who made me realise how horrible I had been in my last life when I chose books over everything else and that I needed to better treasure my new family.”


  His magic tool was like a figurative slap in the face, it deeply engraved into my mind that once you lose something, you can never get it back again. I wasn’t going to become the person i was that abandoned everything around me for books.”


  My response made the High Priest’s grin change into a melancholic one.

  “You have a very strong conviction, I doubt you will go back on it. Very well. Have fun printing a sum of picture books for the next two years.”


  “…Thanks.”


  ~~~

  “Myne, we’re here to pick you up,” Dad cheered.

  “Have you finished your talk with the High Priest?” Tuuli asked.

  I ran into Dad and Tuuli waiting in my chamber’s hall when I returned from the High Priest’s room.

  “Dad, Tuuli!”


  The moment I saw them, I felt the stone that had been weighing down my chest since the talk with the High Priest disappear. I ran towards them and leaped into Dad’s arms, leaving behind Fran Damuel who were still standing at the entrance.

  “Hold on!”


  Dad was prepared for me running to him and hoisted me up into the air. He spun me around before putting me back down and gave me a ruffle on the head with his warm hand, turning my hair into a messy nest.

  “Oh no, Myne, your hair is so messy now,” Tuuli gave me a big charming grin.

  She pulled out my hair stick and used her fingers to comb my hair. The relaxing feel of having Tuuli sift through my hair made me clench onto the hair stick.

  “Hold on, I’ll go get changed first,” my voice rang out with bliss as I ran back up to the second floor. Delia helped me get dressed. I quickly took off my blue roobs, along with the frilly and puffy shirt that young rich girls would wear. I picked up the Gilberta Company uniform for apprentices and stretched my arms through its sleeves. It had been a while since I last wore this and it felt a little small, but I was probably just mistaken.

  During the winter, I was holed up in my chambers and could only step out if I had a thick coat on, but today the weather was much warmer and I didn’t need on anymore.

  “…Excuse me, Sister Myne, but are families really that amazing?”


  Delia had her head tilted to the side as she buttoned up my shirt, she looked very perplexed.

  “No matter how much we do our best to attend to you, you always look forward to leaving the temple. Does your family matter that much to you?”


  “My time here was quite enjoyable, you all worked hard for me. But no matter what I still miss my family and would do anything to be with them.”


  I knew Delia and everyone else was doing their best as my attendants, but I could not forget about my family. I wanted to be with them.

  “I’m sorry, Delia.”


  “Please don’t apologise, Sister Myne. I… I just can’t understand. What does a family even mean?” Delia raised her question with pure curiosity rather than anger for me leaving them behind.

  Delia grew up in the orphanage with scarce memories of her family. She also avoided the other orphans she knew from the orphanage so she had never experienced anything remotely close to a family.

  “Well, what family means differs for everyone, I suppose. For me, family is home.”


  “Home?”


  “That’s right. My family is the place where I feel the most relaxed.”


  Delia responded to my answer by darting a look of jealousy towards the stairs down.

  “…That sounds really nice to have.”


  I was finally dressed and quickly packed up all the things I planned to bring back home. Rosina was surprised how unpoised I was and reminded me to move with grace.

  “Your haspiel playing has greatly improved over the winter, and you are better able to move with more elegance. However you easily succumb to your emotions and forget about your surroundings. Please remember everything you have learned, even if you are back home.”


  Rosina was turning into another High Priest, she was constantly reminding me things I needed to commit to when I returned home. She lectured me so much that frankly, I was about to ask her to jot it down for me. I doubt I could even remember half of whatever she said. And I felt that she was getting a little paranoid, we were still going to meet again soon.

  “Rosina, I will only be gone for a day. I don’t suppose all of these is necessary?”


  “Ah… that’s right, you will be back tomorrow.”


  Rosina gasped and used her hand to cover her mouth. This seemed to have completely slipped her mind. After calming her nerves, she gave me a soft but sad smile.

  “I was thinking that this would be the last time we will get to meet. Perhaps I was acting this way because I never got to see Sister Christine again after she returned home.”


  Rosina looked so melancholic that a statue of her could be enacted in the centre of a church right now. It appeared that her last master leaving had a deeper impact on her that I had initially imagined.

  “Rosina, I will be back in a blink of an eye.”


  “Yes, we look forward to your return.”


  I wasn’t planning to bring back a lot of things. I didn’t need any extravagant clothes or shoes, and my family already had their own needs covered. I was only going to bring back my woven basket.

  I made my way down the stairs with my basket in hand. Delia and Rosina trailed after me as they planned to see my off at the entrance to my chambers.

  “Dad, Tuuli, we can go now.”


  I saw that all my attendants were waiting in the hall. Gil looked as though he had rushed back here from the workshop while Fran was dressed differently like he was planning to accompany me back home too.

  “Alright, let’s go. Everyone, I can’t thank you enough for looking after Myne over the winter,” Dad thanked my attendants.

  “You don’t have to thank us, sir. As her attendants, it is given for us to do so,” Gil returned Dad a large grin.

  Hearing Gil made me smile, he sounded both polite and casual. After that I looked back towards everyone.

  “Alright then, please look after my chambers while I am gone, everyone.”


  My attendants knelt down and placed their arms across their chest.

  “We pray for your safe return.”


  Damuel would be following us back as he was acting as my bodyguard, but since this would be his first time, Fran tagged along to teach him the way there. We rendezvoused with Lutz at the workshop and made our way back together.

  When I finally stepped out of the temple, the first sight that came into view was the stone pavement that was now free of snow. The very sight of this filled me with nostalgia. It had been a while since I last came to the city on foot, and this time I was holding hands with Lutz and Tuuli too. Holding hands was not allowed in the temple. Their hands were so snug that it warmed me up.

  Dad walked behind us with Damuel and Fran, and they were talking about security affairs and my safety.

  “Haven’t got to walk this slow in a while, Myne.” Lutz chuntered with sarcasm.

  “Hey Myne. Uhm… Did you get slower or something over the winter?” Tuuli asked.

  “Huh, what?! I’ve gotten slwoer?!”


  Fran and Damuel never rushed me in the temple, and if we needed to get somewhere quick they would just carry me. Perhaps it was because of this that I had slackened and went back to a slower speed that I better preferred.

  “Wait, so how fast did I walk before? Like this?”


  I was moving my legs as fast as I could, but this just made Lutz laugh and shake his head.

  “It’s fine, Myne. You don’t have to be so harsh on yourself. Let’s just take it easy and enjoy your walk back home, hm?”


  I dragged my feet and we soon came across the Gilberta Company. Seeing it reminded me of whatever the High Priest said about delaying printing.

  “We might have to see Benno tomorrow…”


  “Did something happen?”


  “The High Priest said that printing will have to be delayed. It’s probably best for me to inform Benno about it,” I gave a deep sigh.

  Tuuli’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “Wait, what? Why, though? Weren’t you really looking forward to start printing?”


  “It’s because it involves nobles.”


  “…Oh. That sucks.”


  Tuuli gave me a pat on my head, and I closed my eyes to relish that feeling.

  “It’s not like I can’t ever print. He told me to wait for two years so I’m still ok.”


  I was content with my decision. A printing press wasn’t going to pat my head or comfort me like this whenever I was feeling down.

  ~~~

  “Alright then, I’ll be back here tomorrow at the second bell to take you back to the temple. Do your best to stay home,” Damuel gave me a very stern reminder when we arrived at the town square. Looks like I would not be leaving the house anytime soon without a bodyguard.

  “Yes, I’ll be careful, Sir Damuel, Fran. It must be quite troublesome to have walked this far and back, but thank you for doing this.”


  “No worries. Please have fun with your family tonight. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow,” Fran said his goodbyes and placed his arms across his chest.

  “Thank you so much Fran and Sir Damuel, we will see you tomorrow.”


  Fran and Damuel started to make their way back to the temple. I said my goodbyes to Lutz and proceeded to climb the stairs up to our home that was the fifth floor. But it didn’t long for me to start panting.

  “Come on, Myne, you can do this. We’re almost there.”


  It was nearly impossible for me to walk home on my own two feet without Dad and Tuuli cheering me on. This was evident how weak I had gotten over the winter. My body was crippling weak and I didn’t want to lose any more of the stamina I had worked hard to build up.

  “I’m home, Mom.”


  I missed seeing my house’s entrance, when I opened the door I was greeted by the delicious smell of food. Mum probably heard us outside because she was preparing the table. The aroma of Mum’s cooking sent a smile across my face.

  “Welcome home, Myne.”


  Mum had her hand under her belly for support and she was placing a plate on the table. She looked up and gave me a smile. Seeing her smile welled up so much joy and nostalgia in me that it washed away all the things that weighed down on me.

  “I haven’t been outside for so long. I’m hungry.”


  “You can put down your things first and help me with the table.”


  “Yes~~”


  I put my woven basket back to its usual spot and went to clean my hands. After that I helped to prepare the table with Tuuli. I was enjoying all of these because I hadn’t got to do things for myself in a while.

  “Hey Mum, is the baby coming soon?”


  I asked as I turned my gaze to her bulging abdomen. She gave it a gentle pat and smiled.

  “Anytime now. Maybe the baby was waiting for you, Myne.”


  If that was truly so, I would be beyond ecstatic. I gently stroked Mum’s belly and cheered, “Big sister has returned.”


  All of a sudden, I felt a kick, almost as though the baby had heard me.

  “Wow! I felt the baby kick! It responded to me!” I exclaimed in surprise which sent my whole family bending over in laughter.

  I gobbled up everything Mum cooked, played with Tuuli in the bath, and squeezed into the tiny bed that I would crash into Tuuli if I tried to flip over. I ended the day by tucking into the bed with my family.

  The next morning, Mom started groaning from labour pains.

  Volume 5, Extra 2: An Apprentice Chef in the Temple

  As everyone in the orphanage had left to butcher the pigs, Hugo and I stayed behind to teach Monika and Nicole how to cook. These two new apprentice gray shrine maidens would assist us over the winter.

  Nicola had braided her large volume of orange hair, they shined so brightly that they seemed to glow red. She enjoyed cooking and looked really cute because she always smiled whenever she worked. Conversely, Monika was an introverted and serious girl who always tied her dark green hair. I was putting lots of attention in teaching them as they would help me throughout the winter with Hugo gone. They both learned fast.

  During lunch with Nicole, Monika, Hugo and the new chef Todd, Nicole asked me, “Ella, why did you decide to become a temple chef?”


  “Ella, why did you want to be a chef in the temple?” she asked.

  Hugo looked away because he knew my circumstances, while Todd leaned in with curiosity, but Monika just looked down on the table.

  “People from the lower city don’t have a good impression of the temple, right? It’s pretty noticeable when walking to the forest. But you still chose to come to the temple. You don’t even mind teaching us to cook. I find it really perplexing,” she continued speaking. My thoughts travelled to my meeting with Benno who caused all this.

  …Wow, he looks really rich.

  My uncle had made me make a trip to the Dining Guild to request for an extension on our tax payments. I noticed a man sitting in the most prestigious seat in the guild. His clothes were a class above those normally seen in the Dining Guild. I continued staring at him and was curious why someone as rich as him was here. I strained my ears to hear what he was discussing with one of the guild members…


  “Have you found anyone to be Hugo’s assistant?”


  “Hmm… I know this job is too hard for Hugo alone, but as I’ve mentioned before, Benno, nobody wants to take this job.”


  From their conversation, it seems that the rich man was Benno and he was here to hire an assistant chef. My heart gave a thump. My fists tightened as I felt the blood coursing through my blood burning up with excitement… Was this a blessing from Cuokokalura, the God of Cooking?!

  “Ella, I said this before, we can’t wait this long… Hey, are you even listening?” I zoned out when talking to the guild member in front of me.

  I turned back at him in surprise. He had slipped off my mind momentarily. I pointed at Benno and whispered in an urgent voice, “Hey, is that rich-looking man looking for a chef?!”


  “Huh?… Oh, Mr Benno. He’s hiring a chef for the restaurant he’s planning to build. But he’s not looking for just any chef, he wants them to be trained in the temple to cook for the nobles.”


  “…Wait, did you say the temple?”


  Everyone wanted to avoid anything to do with the temple unless it was absolutely unavoidable. No one knew what the consequences would be if you offended a noble. Anyone from the temple orphanage was treated like slaves by the nobles. People have said that the nobles could easily kill anyone without repercussions, and that the girls there had to sleep with them.

  …What’s the difference from being a waitress? I worked as an apprentice chef at my uncle’s bar during the night. I was helping out in the kitchen for now, but when I came of age I would be a waitress. My cousin Lea, who was uncle’s daughter, also became a waitress when she came of age, so I expected the same. The men in the bar would harass and catcall me, some had paid my uncle so he would make me serve them in their rooms.

  Even though I hated the job, I couldn’t run away from my fate as it was the family business. I had to choose between a high-risk job assisting a noble’s chef or to save sufficient funds for my own store before I came of age. I strived to be like Leise, she excelled at being a noble’s chef that she was now the head chef for the Merchant’s Guild. There was a possibility I could be like her if I trained in the temple to cook for the nobles.

  “Excuse me, sir. Do the temple chefs work as waitresses too?” I asked Benno from a distance. His deep red eyes look at me in surprise. His expression quickly changed from that of a stunned one to a frown, his sharp eyes locked into mine.

  “…No, they don’t work as waitresses. The apprentice shrine maidens are served by their attendants. You only have to work for just one shrine maiden and they don’t want that service. Honestly, they don’t want commoners speaking to them.”


  This was beyond my wildest dreams, to serve a rice noble girl as an apprentice chef and I didn’t need to work as a waitress.

  “I’m only an apprentice chef, but I would love to help out. I’m pretty confident in my skills.” I slapped my arm with a large grin.

  Benno turned back to the guild member and pointed at me, “How good is she?”


  “Ella has nailed her basics, you probably want someone better skilled to cook for a noble but she would be capable enough to be Hugo’s assistant. She aspires to be a noble’s chef, I can assure you that she has all the motivation and spirit needed.”


  “Hm…” Benno thought deeply as he looked at me.

  The guild member who was with me yelled in a serious tone. “Wait, Benno! It’s already a thing to hire a man for the temple, but a lady? It would be nearly impossible for her to get married. Ella, please reconsider this with your own future in mind. Don’t be so impulsive to jump at any opportunity that comes at you, you’ll just be played like a fool!”


  I bit on my lips in response. I wasn’t dumb, I was very well aware of my actions. I didn’t want to be a waitress, even if it was for the family business. I wanted a different future.

  “My uncle will force me to be a waitress when I come of age. I don’t expect the temple to be any different. And he mentioned that the employer is a blue shrine maiden, so she must be a rich noble girl. I have always dreamed of being a noble’s chef if I ever left my uncle’s store. There’s no problem working in the temple for that dream.”


  I said my piece as Benno looked on. He nodded to show his approval of my determination.

  “…Fine. I’ll hire you.”


  ~~~

  “My uncle was strongly against it, but Mum was very supportive. Mum had to work as a waitress after Dad died, even though she was so reluctant to. Now she is just glad that I’ve found a new opportunity in life…”


  “Oh, so waitresses had to do something like how we offer flowers here. Well, we can’t refuse a blue priest if he asks for flowers, I can relate to you when you said that you wanted another path in life,” replied Nicola.

  “One of the reasons why we cook here is so that we can get closer to Sister Myne. We hope that one day she will ask us to be her attendant.” Monika continued on.

  So it was true that the gray shrine maidens from the orphanage were made to work like waitresses here. Now I understand why Nicola and Monika were trying so hard to improve themselves to avoid ever having to offer flowers.

  “That person you called, “Mum”, sounds awfully kind,” Nicola praised and Monika agreed with a grin. I had to fight the impulse to laugh and explain their misunderstandings because they seemed earnest. I had no idea how to describe families to them because the idea of families were so familiar for me and everyone else I knew. I could only brush off their words with a smile and continued speaking.

  “I’m not of age yet, so I can’t change my workplace without Mum’s consent. She accompanied me to the Dining Guild to sign the contract with the Gilberta Company. I also met Hugo that day too.” Nicole and Monika looked at Hugo who smiled back.

  “I never would have imagined I’d work with another person who had yet to come of age like Ellla. I was so surprised when I saw her.”


  “I was so happy to know that you were a nice person, Hugo.”


  Hugo was now my colleague and teacher. He looked very friendly because of his chestnut coloured hair and brown eyes.

  “I’m always being seen as just the nice guy because of my looks!” Hugo ranted, saying that it was because of that he couldn’t find a girlfriend. But Nicola and Monika just looked surprised.

  “Is being a good person a bad thing? Or is it a troublesome thing?”


  “Can’t say the same for me,” I laughed while looking at Hugo.

  “And the both of you don’t have to worry about it too.” Hugo had broad shoulders and buff arms, most chefs looked like this because of all they heavy lifting they had to do. He had calluses in his hand because he handled the knife for a while. On our handshake during the first meeting, I noticed he had calluses like me too.

  I saw that he was looking at my hands too. I smiled back and so did he.

  He said this back then, “Not bad. You have my approval for now.”


  … That sounded pretty cool. He had such a cool expression when he said that, and he also looked cool whenever he worked. When he was cooking, he always looked so serious and refined. A guy who had a job and performed it well had a certain coolness about him. He most likely didn’t have a girlfriend because he had no female coworkers at the restaurant he worked at.

  “I signed with the Gilberta Company to avoid becoming a waitress. But ever since I’ve worked at the temple, I’ve been constantly surprised by everything. Isn’t that right, Hugo?”


  “Yea. Though I’m used to it now, those first few days were insane. This place is worlds away from the city,” said Hugo, and Todd nodded along.

  “I still get surprised everyday. My hands get covered in sweat and tremble so much at the thought that a noble might see me. It gets so hard to work.”


  “Todd, that sounds bad. You need to learn how to relax sometimes.”


  My life as a temple apprentice chef was nothing like my usual life. I didn’t expect to be taught about cleaning my hands, personal cleanliness, and general hygiene before learning more about cooking. Hugo and I had glanced at each other with shocked eyes before processing the idea that we had to clean ourselves before visiting the orphanage director chambers.

  Fran first instructed us that, “You will be expected to maintain a high level of hygiene.”


  “The Italian restaurant that Sister Myne is planning to open will demand the same level of cleanliness, so the sooner you get used to it, the better. At your current state, I cannot allow you to meet Myne and start your job.”


  “Hugo, Ella. This is Fran, he is the head attendant of the shrine maiden you will be serving,” explained Benno. “You will heed his every instruction. Fran, I will wait in the room. Please do me a good job and teach these two the rules in the temple.”


  After that, Benno went into the room first, leaving us with Fran. Even after we started working at the Italian restaurant, it appeared that we would keep in touch with Sister Myne. We had no choice but to clean ourselves.

  Fran brought us to a well. First off, he gave us a thorough examination, then he made us wash our hands and faces repeatedly. He was so nit-picky that I honestly wanted to point out how wasteful he was being for making us waste that much soap. Despite the fact that we had both showered the night before because Benno insisted that we needed to be clean when meeting the apprentice blue shrine maiden (because she was a noble), Fran seemed dissatisfied at everything. I did not want to imagine what would unfold if we did not try to clean ourselves before

  “Please take a bath the night before you go to the temple.”


  “Huh? Wait, so we have to bathe every day? I asked. Hugo muttered a soft “Seriously?” next to me. I was shocked too. We could get by in the summer because we could just haul the water over us, but in the winter we would have to build a fire first to heat the water over. Hugo and I shuddered at the thought, but Fran nodded as if it that was expected from everyone.

  “Sister Myne is very particular about hygiene when it comes to cooking. Furthermore, you will come across other noble blue robes, so you must always look clean before you come to work. This applies to everyone else in the temple, even for priests and shrine maidens in the orphanage who aren’t attendants.”


  …So to say, this Fran person showers everyday. That’s supposed to be normal here? Aaah…


  After we were clean to his standards, Fran nodded and escorted us to the hall where Benno was waiting to introduce us to our new master, Sister Myne. He then ascended the stairwell to her personal room on the second floor.

  After Fran left, I moved over to Benno.

  “Benno, what’s going on? He said that everyone in the temple cleans themselves and their clothes everyday. Do we really have to do that too? That would be excessive,” I resisted this fact. Benno’s eyes widened in surprise, but Hugo continued on.

  “I agree with Ella. It’s impossible to tell if our clothes will dry by the next morning. The one set of uniform you provided isn’t enough for this.”


  Hugo worked at a typical lower-city restaurant, so he was not affluent and I didn’t have sufficient clothes needed to work in the temple. I felt a bond with Hugo about our predicament, and I complained to Benno that cleaning clothing every day would be outrageous because we didn’t have any servants to help us like he did.

  “Yea, Lutz said the same too. Fine, I’ll sell you some cheap clothes.”


  “Whew, thank you.”


  “Oh. Shush, Ella. Sister Myne is here,” Hugo warned me. I quickly shut up and glanced at the stairs to see a small girl in blue robes descend the stairs with poise. So that was Sister Myne.

  Wow! An actual noble girl! This is my first time meeting Sister Myne. She’s such a cute girl. Her dark-blue hair looks like the night sky, it was silky straight and swishes nicely behind her, it was totally different from my messy curls. Her nose, eyes and mouth gave her a small, pretty and cute face.

  “Sister Myne, this is Hugo, the Gilberta Company’s chef. Ella is his assistant. Hugo, you’ll learn how to cook like a nobleman here. Pay attention and study hard.” Benno spoke politely. His polite demeanor made it evident how that Sister Myne was of noble status…


  “I shall guide you to the kitchen, “Fran said, and we were guided to our new workspace.

  …Amazing! It was a large kitchen that had all the tools one could ever need. There was even a huge furnace oven that you only see in bakeries. I needed to master all these tools if I wanted to get hired at the restaurant Benno was preparing. This place was the best place for us to cultivate our skills.

  The kitchen was sparkling clean, it was completely different from my uncle’s store. Hugo seemed excited by this too. A kitchen like this could not be found anywhere in the lower city. It was true that nobles live in another world from commoners. But everything will change for me from this moment, my work will now be as amazing as this kitchen.

  “As I’ve mentioned, you must understand the importance of practicing good hygiene. Always keep your utensils and dishes clean. The kitchen must always look the way it is now.”


  Fran was now our instructor. He held up the wood board and repeated the words Myne instructed us. He was an orphan and a gray priest here, but he was literate as he could read the words on the board. His way of speaking was so polite and graceful that I was beyond impressed. I could immediately tell that he had a proper education and was thoroughly trained. He was acting beyond my expectations of what I heard about orphans from the city

  But we continued to be surprised. The instructions he gave us continued on, each of them were equally shocking. He told us to wash our hands often when cooking, the recipes had lots of prep work and the order in which the food was made had to be strictly followed

  “You will use the broth to cook the food. Do not throw out the water after boiling the vegetables.”


  “We’re not to toss out the water?” The idea that we were not to pour out the water after using it to boil the vegetables seemed like a bad idea. All the soil and first would contaminate the water, it was a common fact that boiled water causes miscarriage or made you infertile.

  I glanced at Benno and he nodded back. I recalled him instructing us to follow Fran’s every order, so I held back my distaste at this and continued cooking.

  However, when I tasted the soup with a bowl, I never had something like this before. The vegetables’ flavor was stronger and the tiny amount of salt enhanced its sweetness. It created a balance of delicate flavors that wafted throughout my entire body.

  My eyes glistened, and it felt as I discovered a new realm to cooking and this shone an amazing light onto me. I could feel my universe growing, and I couldn’t control myself even though Sister Myne was still present.

  ~~~

  “I’ll never forget how surprised I was the first time I drank the soup for nobles. It’s a pain to make, but it tastes amazing. It was absolutely out of this world.”


  “Oh? But the soup we cook here isn’t the same as what nobles have,” Monika said in bewilderment and looked at Nicola who nodded in agreement.

  “Out of all the food we’ve received from the nobles as divine gifts, the soup here is the tastiest.”


  Hugo, Todd and I all exchanged looks of surprise. We all assumed that the recipes were weird because they were for nobles, but it appears that it was only because they were made by Sister Myne.

  “So it’s only Sister Myne’s food? Not just her soup, but all the others are like this too…? No wonder Benno made us sign the contract that we could not make these food outside from the temple without his or Sister Myne’s approval. These recipes must be a big deal” I thought.

  “Urgh, this sucks. I didn’t need to know about this big secret now,” Todd replied as she shivered from fear, he was terrified at the thought that he was now connected to and knew about some important secret.

  But Hugo just gave an amused grin. “Ha. Food that not even nobles know? This is getting more interesting.”


  His confidence was such an inspiration to me. I placed my hands on my hip and puffed up with pride. “Hugo, glad to see that you’re this excited, but I’m the one who will learn all of Sister Myne’s recipes.”


  Hugo was bewildered by my remark and I continued on with a proud expression, “Well, I’m going to be living here throughout winter, so I’ll be doing all the cooking. She’ll definitely teach me new recipes. We’re going to give our best, Nicola and Monika. You two need to become Sister Myne’s attendant, and I’m going to beat Hugo.”


  “Yea!” Nicole and Monika gave a heated response, they exchanged smiles and I looked at Hugo.

  “Oh, I have no issues teaching you the new recipes during spring. Of course, if you’re nice about it.” Everyone started laughing but Hugo was disappointed and sighed.

  ~~

  …I’ll get to cook lots of dishes this winter, learn new recipes, and finally overtake Hugo!

  Autumn was ending and everyone was preparing for winter, but I was motivated with a new goal in sight.

  Back then, I was still clueless as to why I was so fixated on Hugo and so obsessed with trying to catch up to him.

  Volume 5, Epilogue

  Due to the potion and the magic tool, Myne fell into a deep slumber. Ferdinand looked at her in silence. He moved to pick up the hair stick that Myne dropped from her slacked hand. Even though it was just a mediocre stick made from wood, Myne always tied her hair with it. He initially believed that it was a norm amongst commoners, but not one of the many hairsticks he saw at the Baptism Ceremony were poked through bundled hair. Only Myne used the sticks this way.

  Myne was a strange kid. She carried herself in a manner as though she had been educated in a very academic place, but yet she was so clumsy with herself. She had mentioned someone named “Melvil Dewey”, who invented a system for sorting catalogues. But after a deep investigation, this man she spoke of and his system did not exist. Inventions necessary to her popped up incessantly. She rebuilt the orphanage and made the children work, so that the labour they provided would help pay for their necessities. She was so deeply infatuated with books that she even made bibles for the orphans.

  There was no denying that Myne was a strange one. Not even a noble child, who received a strict education, could replicate what Myne had done. She didn’t resemble the stature of a small child who had just received her baptism. Although she was weird, her actions carried no malicious intentions.

  If Myne’s actions were only that of curiosity, the Archduke would not hand over the magic tool to Ferdinant. However, during the Healing Ritual, Myne had demonstrated an immeasurable amount of mana. It was nearly impossible for a typical child with Devouring to refill the land that did not have any mana at such a fast speed. He suspected that she possessed more mana than the Archduke. No one could tell how much mana Myne would have when she reached her adulthood.

  A commoner child with this much mana and the wisdom to produce so many priceless inventions. Just to gain the rights over her, the nobles might just go to war. To help secure Myne some safety, Ferdinand declared that she was in his custody, but it won’t take long before rumours of her spread amongst the nobles. For now, he could give his assurance that Myne would be safe, but he did not know if she was important enough to deserve his protection.

  The Archduke was aware of all these, so he offered him the magic tool to comb through her memories to see the world in her dreams that she previously mentioned. He had to judge her worth, and evaluate the possible harm she may or may not cause.

  “Well then, at least allow me to verify that she means no harm…” It was easy to judge if someone was a criminal by looking through their memories. However, for Myne, by reading her memories, he had to determine if she was worth it and to foresee her future plans, both of which were difficult to do.

  “…What’s hardest is that Myne will not be happy about it.” After all he was using a magic tool to look into her memories, so of course she would be on edge around him and avoid him whenever possible.

  To be a noble, one had to bury away their feelings and be extremely careful with their actions, so that they don’t put themselves into danger, hence there was no one in the noble society who had all their thoughts plastered on their faces like Myne. The rules applied to Ferdinand in the temple too Ferdinand had to always be on his toes around everyone while he determined if they were close to the High Bishop and if they were trustworthy. Yet he did not feel the need to be cautious around Myne. Even though she was a pain in the neck sometimes, her pure nature made her thoughts and feelings predictable and easy to read. This comfort made Ferdinand put down his defences.

  This was beyond my expectations, but it seems that I am quite fond of Myne, sighed Ferdinand.

  He placed an ornament in his head that looked just like that of Myne’s, and then knelt beside the bench Myne was on. After that, he pressed the jewel on his crown onto Myne’s one. He gradually allowed his mana to flow into her which allowed their minds to sync. It was typical for anyone to resist a foreign mana. The potion Myne drank served to weaken this resistance, yet she accepted the mana without any side effects. Although this was convenient, Ferdinand had the urge to chastise her to be a little more defensive and less trusting of others.

  He clicked his tongue and said,“Myne, can you hear me?”


  “What- I can, High Priest, but where are you?” Ferdinand expected Myne to be afraid or disgusted by this, but she gave a nonchalant expression like this was nothing strange. He wanted to chastise her again.

  “I am connecting our minds. You seemed to possess more mana than I expected. You mentioned that all the knowledge you have is from the world in your dreams. It is necessary for me to evaluate the effect of your actions on this land, whether it is for the good or bad. I am deeply sorry, but I will have to look into your memories.”


  “Oh, I see. I don’t mind,” responded Myne without concern which shocked Ferdinand. She had no concerns that someone had barged into her mind to look at her memories.

  “To clarify this, I will be seeing your actual memories. Are you really fine with that? Do you not feel that this is intruding on your privacy?.”


  “Of course, uhm, it’s not a pleasant thing, but… you looking at my memories will raise my chances of staying alive. It’s much better to let you do so than to be executed for some treason I didn’t commit. Plus, I’m already privileged enough that you’re willing to look through my memories and not be sentenced to death right now, right?” said Myne.

  As they were mentally linked, Ferdinand knew that she was being truthful. Should he be impressed that she was understanding or reprimand her for not being careful around others? Of course the latter, but he would save the scolding for after. He wanted to finish up Myne’s inspection as soon as possible as the process was likely to be draining.

  “Now then, would you take me to the said world in your dreams? Try to recall it and we should be able to go there.”


  “Wait a moment, does that mean I can go anywhere I want?”


  …Why?! Why is Myne so excited that her own memories are about to be searched?!

  Myne was looking forward to being searched and these feelings of her’s were sent straight to Ferdinand, and this did nothing but worry him.

  This doesn’t look good. I have a bad feeling. Will I be able to stop Myne if she loses control? If I don’t firm myself, she might drag me on tour across all her memories.

  “Myne, you only need to show me what I’ll need to see. First, show me the beginning of your knowledge.”


  “No problem! We’ll start with my favourite place - the library!” Myne exclaimed in joy.

  In the next instant Ferdinand found himself in front of a large and exquisite building. He wanted to look up to see how tall it was, unfortunately could only look through Myne’s eyes, so his point of view was limited. Instead, what came to view was a neatly paved stone pathway, and a gentle gust of wind flowed across his skin. There was no wretched smell of manure like that of the lower city, so the building must have been in the Noble’s District.

  “Aaah, it’s been forever!” Myne’s voice reverberated around them.

  Ferdinand realised that they were approaching the building. She was relishing in nostalgia as she skipped into the building, so this was likely the world she always talked about. A glass door he had never seen so transparent slid to the side with a humming sound, but Myne did not use any mana to activate it, let alone touch it.

  “Myne, do you use magic here too? But if I remember correctly, you said that the Dewey Decimal System didn’t have a section on magic.”


  “Ah… Magic doesn’t exist here. It’s an automatic door that runs differently.”


  They don’t have magic, but they possess something else that fulfills the same purpose. How strange but interesting.

  “Myne, what country is this? I haven’t heard of a place like this before.”


  “It’s called Japan. I used to live here. I died here because I was crushed by books. Before I knew it, I was in Myne’s body.”


  Ferdinand was completely lost with what Myne was talking about. But he knew that Myne was speaking the truth due to her honest personality. Never before did Ferdinand come across someone so difficult to understand because they were honest.

  “…You died, from being crushed by books?”


  He could not imagine how she could be crushed to death because he didn’t believe that there were enough books in existence to crush someone.

  Next off, he found themselves surrounded by towering bookcases, each of them were filled to the brim with books.

  “…Where’s this?”


  “The local public library I visited all the time.”


  It was a library packed with an impossible number of bookshelves, lining the halls as far as one could see. Not even the Royal Academy could par up to this. Now it seemed plausible how someone could be crushed to death by books.

  “Is everything here… books?”


  “Mhmm, this is a library. Oh, but over the last couple of years, libraries also have videos, CDs, and DVDs. Ah, I’m so happy. This is it! This is the very paradise I have been looking for!”


  Ferdinand could tell that Myne was about to breakdown from sheer bliss. She ran across the bookshelves to her favourite spot. All across the library’s floor, a soft carpet had been laid out and it muffled the sound of her footsteps. Ferdinand felt his head throb just thinking about the insane amount of money it took to build this place .

  …I see. Seeing how much she loves books and has memories of a library this amazing, I can sort of understand why she was so disappointed at the temple’s book room.

  The books here were treasured items, everything was completely different from his world. The books at this library were not chained, so Myne was able to pick up and read any book she wanted. Each of them had designs similar to those she made in the temple.

  The library was filled with people from all walks of life - men, women, seniors, and children. Everyone wore a vibrant array of colours, some wore intricate garments that displayed their wealth, while others wore rough clothes that showcased that they were from the poorer side. But even the seemingly poorer ones were touching the books. From Ferdinand’s point of view, it was baffling that poor people were allowed to touch books.

  “Myne, is that woman insane? How can a crazy person like her be allowed here?”


  “A crazy woman? Who?” Myne’s eyes swept across the hall.

  “To your left. She’s a grown woman but her knees are exposed. She must be too poor to afford better clothes, but she continues to dye her clothes. Why doesn’t she just stop dying them? I can’t understand her.”


  “Don’t worry. In this world, women can wear anything they wish to, so everyone’s just wearing whatever they want. Anyways, this dream is simply amazing. I can still retain my sense of touch and smell.”


  Myne lost interest in the woman and returned her attention to the bookshelf. The books on the shelves had paperbacks similar to those Myne made, but their designs were more intricate. Furthermore, there were more of them than Ferdinand could ever imagine.

  Myne looked across the shelves before taking a book off of the bookshelf. She hugged it close to her body and took in a deep breath, taking in its scent. As their minds were linked, Ferdinand smelled the scent of paper and ink, and he felt that sense of satisfaction Myne had too. He wanted to quit this now.

  Myne walked to the end of the shelves and sat in a snug sofa, she flipped open the book and began reading. The book was not like the ones he knew with boards tied up together. The chair was soft and very nice to sit on. It was unlike Ferdinand had ever experienced. As always, his sight was only limited to Myne’s, so only the book, floor and bookshelf was in view. He could see inside the book, but they were filled with unfamiliar letters mushed together. The book was mostly likely printed with the method Myne mentioned before. The pages looked just like the ones she made, they were just black and white

  “Do the books from your dreams not have pictures?”


  “Wah-?! Huh? Who is… Oh, wait. It’s just you, High Priest.” Myne let out a surprised yelp when Ferdinand asked her.

  …I can’t believe this fool. Even though I’m still here, she got lost in her own world.

  “Um, pictures, right? The pictures are usually in artbooks and photobooks.” Myne pulled out a heavy book with pages full of coloured pictures. The pictures had so much colour to it and had the tiniest of detail to it, it was outstanding to look at. Ferdinand was amazed by it, but Myne shut the book immediately.

  “Can I go back to my reading, High Priest?”


  “No, you’re not allowed to. Is this one of those picture books for children that you made before?”


  “This is an artbook, a collection of art pieces from a famous person, and they have compiled them in a book. The children’s section is over there,” said Myne as she resumed her tour around the library.

  “This is a picture book, and this is what the story about Cinderella is supposed to look like.”


  Ferdinand was confused by the art in the picture book and the story Myne had told him before. No one in the world had eyes that occupied so much space on their face, and no one would have clothes or hair like that. Or, well, there is a possibility such a person exists here.

  “…The story is even more ludicrous with this drawing now, but it utilises quite a number of bright colours. You need to put color in yours too.”


  “I have plans to do so, but ink is too expensive, and it’s not that easy to make. How I wish I could just buy the stuff I need here,” said Myne, and in the next instant they moved to somewhere else with bookshelves too. Instead of being lined with books, the shelves had strange… things littered with those weird letters and colours.

  “Oh, we’re in an art supply store. High Priest, will the stuff I buy here still be with me even after I wake up?”


  “Of course not, you fool. Where are we?”


  “It’s an art supply stop that I frequented with my mum. This is called paint.” Myne’s world was filled with such a wide array of things, anything from books to paint. Furthermore, the sheer quantity and quality of them was outstanding. Of course, he could know of things Myne showed him, but the amount of culture in her memories was enough to blow him away. Or, to put it another way, her actions were erratic because her thinking were chaotic.

  “There are so many different shades of paint.”


  “Mhmm. They sell lots of things here. But I prefer bookstores to this.” Once again, they teleported to another place. Myne’s thinking seemed to be as chaotic as her actions. Maybe it would be better to say that she acted this chaotic because of her way of thinking.

  “Where are we?” It was a place with shelves full of books, just like the library. Unlike the library, however, there was loud music playing, and the light was so strong that Ferdinand want to squint.

  “A store that sells new books. Hehehe, let’s see what’s new… Wait, nooooo! There’s only books I can rememberrrrrr!”


  Myne suddenly became unhappy and yelled something incoherent. It was exhausting to be forced to feel her mood swings. Perhaps the frequency with which she collapsed was because of the severity of her rollercoaster emotions.

  “Myne, why is it so bright even though we are inside a building?”


  “Oh, that’s because of electricity.” Myne raised her head, above the bookshelves was a row of miniature suns that emitted a strong light.

  “How do they work?”


  “Um, the lights go one when you flip a switch. It will be tough for you to understand the concept even if I try to explain it. It’s just like how I can’t understand an explanation of magic without trying to study it first.”


  Myne’s interest went back to the shelves. Since she didn’t look around, he could see books. There were some intriguing and foregin things in her peripheral, but it didn’t seem like she would turn her attention to them. This investigation didn’t seem like it was going to be a meaningful one.

  “Myne, let’s move on from the books.”


  “Awww, why? All I want to do is look at books. I can’t have such realistic dreams on my own.” Myne was dissatisfied to the core. She only cared for books.

  Ferdinand never expected to find nothing but books in her memories when he decided to look into her mind. All of this would have been for naught if he didn’t force her to think about something else. He needed something else than her knowledge about this world’s books.

  “Myne, do you recall my purpose for being here?”


  “How I wish I could forget… Fine. What would you like to see next?” Myne let out a deep sigh. Ferdinand pondered it for a moment before asking what piqued his interest the most.

  “Well then. I would like to see the place you received your education.”


  In an instant, their surroundings changed. They were in a small room with desks lined up across the floor. Behind each of them were people wearing the same clothes, sitting and writing on them.

  On the small desks, there were books filled with thin pieces of paper, and the paper had weird letters and symbols on them. There were metal containers with many colourful sticks on the table. The people here would look up every now and then as they scribbled letters with the sticks, which they used as pens. An adult stood at the front of the class, writing on a giant slate, he was likely explaining what he was writing. This person was probably a teacher in this school.

  “Myne, what’s going on?”


  “We’re in class. If I’m not wrong, this is a memory from high school? It’s math class now. This is so nostalgic but I never really enjoyed studying math. I’m more of a language person.” Their surroundings changed again. It was still in the same room, but an older woman was walking around while reading a book.

  “This is how everyone gets educated in this country. We start way before the age children get baptised and continue until we reach adulthood.” As she spoke, the room altered again and again. Each room had people studied, but their ages and the instructor who taught them were different each time. It was true that they continued studying from a child to an adult.

  “Is studying all you do?”


  “Umm, we do study a wide range of subjects, some of them are more practical.”


  Their surroundings were rapidly changing. They were outside, where students dressed the same ran around a track. A man was almost naked dove into water. Next, a body of students were playing a song he didn’t know of on an odd-looking flute…


  “So you have studied music before…”


  “Yup. Though schools don’t teach music in depth. I didn’t compose the song I played on my harspiel, I learnt the song from school.”


  Ferdinand finally understood why she was able to play a tune on the first ever harpspiel she had touched. Myne’s extraordinary abilities were a result of the world’s knowledge and the rigorous education she obtained here, so it was only natural that she would be unlike any other commoner.

  “The education system was introduced by the local government, it makes sure that everyone here is able to read and do calculations. I’d like the orphanage to be educated this way so that everyone be literate, write and do simple calculations.”


  “Why would you do so?” Ferdinand did not understand Myne’s view that everyone should be taught to read. Myne quickly responded to his question.

  “If more people are literate, there will be more people to read books. And people need to be literate so that they can write books. If I want to enjoy reading for the rest of my life in your world, I first need to get everyone to read.”


  Until now, Ferdinand had been wondering whether there were some malicious intentions to her acts, that she was acting on the command of some evil plot, but now that they were linked, he was completely sure that she was just addicted to reading books and nothing else. That was reassuring in some ways, but it still gave him a headache for other reasons. Nevertheless, her memories tied up all the loose ends he had about her.

  “…I knew that you learned to read at an exceptional pace, but I see that was because you were used to being educated.”


  “Being used to learning? Hm, I guess so. I’ve never really put much thought into it, but it seems that I’ve been studying for my whole life. Anyways, I forced myself to learn the letters because I wanted to read books that badly.”


  Ferdinand soaked up whatever he could see. It was nice seeing students studying peaceful, neatly dressed in identical clothing. There was no evident filth everywhere in this premise.

  “Myne, this place is truly lovely.”


  “That’s because it’s a new building. But what’s the best about this school is that it has the largest library of any of the nearby schools. That is why I chose to attend this school

  They had returned to another library. There was no doubt that this was the school library she praised with glee. The unmistakable dusty smell in the air indicated that there were many old books here. Myne enthusiastically breathed its scent in, but Ferdinand had grown tired of smelling books.

  “Myne, we’re done with the libraries. Take me outside.” Their environment changed into a peaceful and pretty garden. There was a stoned pathway, a green patch of grass, and flowerbeds that laid adjacent to a row of trees.

  “Is this the Noble’s District?”


  “Mm, yes and no. I’d say that the entire Japan closely resembles the Noble’s District than the lower city. We use tools similar to magic tools here.” The concept of a world that utilised magic tools that didn’t run on mana fascinated Ferdinand.

  “Oh? Such as?”


  “I guess, we can use our vehicles as an example.” Myne turned upward and pointed at something white in the sky. It was soaring in the sky while making a deafening clamor. She turned around to look at small metal structures travelling together at a fast pace along large pavements.

  “What are those? It must cost quite some mana to move these metal structures at such a speed.”


  “I said this before, these aren’t magic tools that run on mana. They use something else to work. Honestly, I find jewels that glow and move on mana much stranger.” After giving some thought into it, magic stones that changed colour and shape would be strange for Myne who came from a world that operated on no mana. She was always surprised by everything when she was with the Knight Order. .

  “What other tools do you use here?”


  “Mmm, it would probably be home electronics?” Myne muttered, and they teleported into another building.

  The windows were draped in a fine lace linen. Using a laced curtain as a plain one suggested that they were in an archnoble’s dwelling. A modest light streamed through the curtains, and the room was further brightened by a so-called “lightbulb.” In front of it was a leather couch was large black rectangle on top of a short cabinet.

  …What?

  Myne’s heartbeat started to accelerate. Her back was drenched in sweat, and her face turned pale. Myne was getting overwhelmed with anxiety, tension, and terror. Yet, deep down, there was a mixture of joy and reminiscence building up. Ferdinand’s brain reeled as a result of her emotional outburst.

  “Myne, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”


  “This is the living room in my house. It’s so nostalgic…I’m feeling some… pain.”Myne murmured in a hoarse tone as her chest tightened. Ferdinand could tell she was on the verge of crying. He had mostly dismissed it the first time she said it since she was so engrossed in her books, but Myne had explained that after dying here, she had become Myne in his world. In that scenario, it was only natural for someone to feel this emotional when they returned to their old home. But he wasn’t going to let himself be manipulated by Myne’s feelings

  Ferdinand coughed to clear his mind before speaking to Myne. “There’s a lot of stuff on that shelf. “What are they?”


  “…Those are my mother’s works.” She gets interested in anything, but she gives up easily, she moves onto something else after making one or two of them. Of course she can’t make anything great if she doesn’t practice more…”


  Even after saying this, Myne reached out to a careful graze across them which contradicted her previous disdainful remarks. “This is a hairpin, and this is a coaster made of lace. These hairpins are now available for purchase at the Gilberta Company. This was the inspiration for the elegant hair stick I made.”


  Ferdinand remembered that Myne wore a hair stick when she assisted the Knight’s Order. Hers was better, and it looked a lot like the hairpin on the shelf.

  “These baskets were made out of ad papers coiled up into sticks. I used my experience making these to make the baskets for my winter craft. The bag I always carry around was made the same way. Mom, on the other hand, got tired of it after making half of it so I finished it for her instead”


  Myne bit on her lips and pointed at the basket.

  “These are dolls and plush animals, I know they look shabby. She only finished the head of the white and spherical one, it’s supposed to be a snowman. Here’s an uncompleted patched tapestry…”


  The shabby basket was used to store many unfinished projects. Myne removed them and spoke about the past with each one. With each one she touched, their surroundings shifted to a different scene. They all had a black-haired woman who was either persuading Myne to accompany her or complaining that she was done with it. This lady was most likely Myne’s previous mother.

  “All her artwork looks the same,” Myne added as she walked out of the room and into a tiny corridor. The hall suddenly lit up when she touched a rectangular thing.

  “What just happened?!”


  “Oh, that was electricity. The same thing you saw at the bookstore.” Myne raised her eyes and pointed to a white light that was considerably smaller than the one he had previously seen. This rectangle thing used something similar to mana.

  Many works of art hung on the walls of the now-bright hall. Each was crudely constructed, to the point where Ferdinand agreed with Myne when she said her mother’s skills were lacking.

  “Aren’t they all over the place?” She made her own watercolour and oil paintings, and even a nihonga, she wanted to prove a point that her other paintings were bad due to the materials. She used coloured pencils as a last ditch effort before giving up on art. She then moved on to calligraphy, she thought letters would be simple. She took me to the tea ceremony and flower arrangement class because she believed they were skills I needed to get married. In the end, she was the one who gave up and stopped attending them.”


  Myne chuckled as she wiped away the tears that welled up. Ferdinand could sense that she was feeling an indescribable sense of yearning and love. He struggled to relate to her as he was estranged from his family.

  “There was a period when we attempted to do everything ourselves in order to save money and to get closer to Mother Nature. She got so wrapped up in it that I hoped she’d stop bothering me, but… it’s because of her that I could survive as Myne.”


  Myne mentioned that she first learned to make the rinsham, soap, hide glue, ink, and the others here. Her vision began to blur as she began to tear up.

  “I’m sorry, High Priest. It’s been a while…”


  Myne covered her face with her hand beneath her eyes as she dashed into a small room. She stood in front of a porcelain bowl underneath a cabinet and had a metal rod protruding from it. She picked up a nice and fluffy cloth. She then gripped and twisted a handle on the metal rod.

  “What?! Water?!” Water gushed out of the metal rod. Myne splashed her face and wiped it dry with the cloth. The cloth seemed to be used as a towl.

  …The cloth feels nice to the touch. If only there was a way for us to bring it back.

  “Myne, what is this room used for?”


  “It’s a bathroom. Over there is the bathtub. That long thing is a showerhead.” Just after she spoke, they appeared inside the bathtub filled with a perfume scented water. She splashed around in the bathtub like a child which made her bare skin peek out of the white hot water. She was completely indifferent to what Ferdinand thought about this.

  “Amazing! A bath! The bath salt smells amazing. This peach scent was my favourite.”


  “Do you have no dignity, you fool?! What part of you is supposed to act as a chaste and prim lady?!”Ferdinand screamed but their minds being linked forced him to continue watching. Myne didn’t care and continued dipping her face in the hot water.

  “It’s fine, I don’t mind. I’ve lost all my pride the moment I became Myne. You don’t have to worry about it. I’m a kid anyways, there’s nothing to be ashamed about.”


  On her third day in Myne’s body, she was forced to change her clothes by a guy who didn’t see her father yet. Nothing changed no matter how much she sobbed or screamed in embarrassment. She had no choice but to accept her predicament, and her ability to feel humiliated died that day.

  “I’m not your father!”


  So she claimed, but having Ferdinand be bothered about her body and her washing in front of him were two irrelevant things. He hadn’t expected her to be as lacking in shame as she was in caution.

  “I’m more concerned about your lack of shame!”


  “It’s not like I won’t regain my sense of shame when I grow older.” Myne got out of the tub, her body was covered in scented bubbles as she began washing her hair while singing.

  “Haaa, there’s so many bubbles! I love it! This is the best feeling ever!” Myne trembled with delight and happiness as she pulled on what she called a showerhead. Water streamed out of it like rain when she yanked on it in a certain way.

  “Nghaaah?!”


  “This washes away the soap.” Myne washed the bubbles out of her hair in the shower. Ferdinand had found it odd that she bathed alone, but now he realized that cleaning oneself here did not require the assistance of others.

  “It’s not like washing it here will do anything in reality.”


  “But I’ll feel so much better. Tralalala…”


  Myne wiped her body with honey-scented soap after washing her hair. Its texture, scent, and amount of bubbles were of a better quality than the soap used by the royalty.

  Myne’s heart swelled with joy once she finished soaping herself and rinsing everything off with water.

  “You’re happy enough, Myne, but I’d prefer to move on from this.”


  Their environment changed again and they were standing in front of the identical white tub they had been in previously. Myne selected an interesting item off an adjacent shelf. The item was blue and shiny. Ferdinand couldn’t tell what it was made of. He couldn’t come up with an idea of what it was made of because it didn’t look like metal. When Myne moved her finger, it made a loud, irritating buzzing sound and a hot gush of hair, enough to burn the skin, flowed out of it.

  “What on earth is that?!”


  “A hair dryer.”


  There was even an exquisite mirror in the bathroom. Myne appeared to be the daughter of a noble of a higher status than he had expected.

  “High Priest, this is a hair tie made of rubber, and it can be used to tie the hair like this.” After putting the noisy hair dryer, Myne began to tug and shrink the “rubber” hair tie in some way. “Have you ever come across something that can stretch and contract like this?”


  “…Not in Ehrenfest. But I heard that something called the gumbak bark does this.”


  “Wait, so there’s something like this?! Where?! How much does it cost to import it?” She was thinking like a merchant.

  Ferdinand sighed as he watched Myne try to invent a new product at this time. She was definitely trying to invent a plethora of new things that mimicked what she knew from this world. She definitely went through a lot of trouble to gather the right materials needed.

  “Gumka trees are way too far north, and because they are feytrees, you’ll have to fight and kill them before you can collect their bark. They carry mana in the same way that trombes do, but they fight in a different way.”


  “Trombes, huh…” Myne sighed. She tied up her long and night-sky-colored hair in a bun. The hair tie seemed strange to Ferdinand because he was used to seeing her bundle her hair with a stick.

  “So this isn’t a hair stick?”


  “Oh, I only made a hair stick as a substitute. I usually wear a hair stick with a Japanese kimono. Mmm, I guess an occasion like that would be the Coming of Age Ceremony?”


  Myne combed through her memories, and made their surroundings transform to a snowy day. The air was cold and there was a large group of youths dressed in garishly colored costumes that Ferdinand had never seen before. He guessed this was something like the Royal Academy’s graduation ceremony because she called it a Coming of Age Ceremony. The clothes were lovely and the cloth was long, everyone here must have been a noble

  “There’s something called ryuusuimon here. It’s a type of pattern on the kimono and I embroidered it on my ceremonial robes.”


  “Ah, I see. It does look similar.”


  There was a woman wearing a hairpin that was more detailed than Myne’s hair stick had. She wore a red dress decorated with embroidery that looked like waves and flowers, the design looked like that on Myne’s ceremonial robes.

  “Myne, is that embroidery?”


  “Umm, some parts of a long-sleeved kimono uses embroidery, its quite rare to see embroidery on the sleeves. We typically draw it on the cloth with yuuzen dye”


  “Drawing on the cloth? How does that work?” Ferdinand only believed that the paint would smudge and blur out, before damaging and destroying the entire cloth.

  “…So that doesn’t exist in the Noble’s District?”


  “We do change the colour of threads for sewing and embroidering. I’ve never heard of a method that draws onto the cloth.”


  “Oooh, that’s interesting. Benno could profit from this.” Myne giggled. She was coming up with ways to take advantage of this

  “I understand. You are just as valuable as the knowledge you bring from this world.”


  “My mother was the one who taught me though.” Myne laughed.

  They returned to the hall and opened another door. Inside, Ferdinand found himself in a strange room filled with unusual objects.

  “This is my house’s kitchen. We prepare and eat there. This over here is a gas stove. You just need to push down on this to make a fire. Convenient, right?”


  Myne pressed a weird looking squared object, it made a clicking sound and fire appeared. The blue flame swayed back and forth. The flames in this world appeared to be blue. What was bewildering was that the fire didn’t go out when Myne withdrew her hand. Starting a fire was a simple task if you knew magic, but maintaining it required a lot of wood and mana.

  Ferdinand’s eyes widened in surprise, of course in his imagination, when he discovered that the fire burned without any wood or mana, Myne pressed the button another time and the fire was extinguished, as if it had never been there at all.

  “…Myne, what is that large white box?”


  “That’s a refrigerator. It keeps the food inside cold, so it doesn’t go bad that quicklyt.”


  When Myne opened the door, a cold gush of air rushed forward. Ferdinand didn’t know any of the colorful items inside, but the fridge didn’t startle him as much as the gas stove did because he was familiar with the idea of preserving food with cold temperatures. He was only impressed by its miniature size.

  “Aaah, an ice room.”


  “Wait, you have a refrigerator?”


  “You didn’t know? The ice room in the temple is much bigger than this room. I believe that Fran uses it quite frequently.”


  “I always found it weird that you always serve more milk whenever you have visitors, but I didn’t know that they came from the refrigerator. Why didn’t I know about this…,” Myne trailed off in melancholy.

  “I could have made more food.”


  Fran did tell Ferdinand what sort of food Myne was eating, but he couldn’t tell what it was with his description, he just knew that she had quite a variety. Was she planning to expand her collection?

  “…I’m aware that you eat lots of food in your room. Are they from this world too?”


  “Yep, I’ve been trying to recreate Western dishes here… Wait, will the food here taste just like how I remembered them to be?! Should I try it? I think I might be hungry.”


  Myne was getting happier by the moment as she took in her surroundings. Then something popped into her mind, and their environment shifted once more. They were in the same room, but had moved to the other side and there was some noise from the back.

  “If you’re hungry, hurry up and eat. I can’t wash the dishes if you haven’t eaten them, right?” A woman’s voice came from their back. Myne’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned stiff like a stone. Though she was reprimanding Myne, the woman’s voice felt soothing to Myne, but it was most likely because Myne was feeling emotional. Myne clenched her fist and turned around. They saw a black-haired lady places dishes on the table, she was the same black-haired lady who had been appearing in Myne’s memories.

  “…Mum.”


  “I made your favorite food tonight. Eat it before it gets cold.”


  Myne nodded slightly and made her way to the table large enough for four. Myne’s memories were recreating a full lunch on the table that wasn’t in the kitchen moments ago. The dish was so nostalgic that the sight alone made Myne tear up, but Ferdinand had no idea what it was. It was black and brown, and he didn’t find it very appetizing.

  “Are you sure this is food, Myne?”


  “Yes. It’s everything I’ve been craving for. There’s a bowl of hot white rice, miso soup with tofu and seaweed, plus lots of scallions. There’s some teriyaki, along with mom’s meat and potato stew with hijiki and her pickled veggies.”


  Myne took in a breath of the food, relishing in its scent to fully enjoy her native cuisine. Her eyes were full of tears and had her hands clasped together. She bowed her head as though she way praying

  “I’m home.”


  The tears that welled up in her eyes finally trickled down her cheeks as she deftly used the two sticks with a red tip to bring a morsel of food to her mouth.

  “Nnn… This taste, it’s really Mom’s food…”


  Every inch of her mouth was lined with those delicate flavours. Ferdinand had never tasted such good food before, and a wave of emotions washed over him. He felt nostalgia for a mother’s cooking, joy at the prospect of eating it again, grief at the realization that it was all a dream…


  “It’s delicious, Mom.”


  “Oh my, you hardly ever praise my food. Is there something you want, like a book?” The woman chuckled. She was eating in front of Myne and she widened her eyes in surprise at her daughter’s praise. Her eyes had the same overflowing, protective love that was there when she was dragging Myne along with her to do arts and crafts.

  “There are a lot of books I want, but that’s not it. The food just… really is that good.” Myne cleaned her plate, leaving nothing behind.She then clasped her hands again like she was praying

  She had those eyes filled with so much love and protectiveness, it was the same expression when she forced Myne along to accompany her to make some artcraft.

  “There are some books I’m interested in, but that’s not it. It’s just that… the food is that good.” Myne cleared everything on her plate such that there was nothing left on it. Her hands came together again.

  She said with a bowed head as though praying, “Thank you for the food”.

  Myne finally lifted her head and looked at her mother in the eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Mum.”


  Myne’s mother raised her head. Myne looked down again as tears continued rolling out her eyes

  “I’m sorry for dying before you. I’m sorry for being an idiot that I only noticed how much you loved me after I died. You raised me with so much care. You always let me do what I wanted to do, but I died before I could repay you. I’m sorry.”


  Myne’s feelings of remorse, shame, and nostalgia pierced Ferdinand hard. Even more so with her overwhelming love for her family. The maelstrom of emotions was unbearable for him, and he cut off their link as it couldn’t take it anymore.

  For the entire time, Ferdinand had been next to Myne, he stood up and moved backwards by a few steps before falling to his knees, he shook his head.

  “…I have never felt this awful before .”


  He had been too deeply in line with Myne. Even he started to cry, despite the fact that the feelings didn’t belong to him. Myne would wake soon as the synchronization had ended. Ferdinand raised his sleeves to wipe his eyes. Myne’s eyes were still closed, but he noticed tears trickling out of her’s too.

  Myne’s eyelashes trembled before slowly opening. She blinked a few times, she slowly lifted her head and shifted her eyes towards Ferdinand.

  Myne got up as she used her sleeve to wipe her tears away. Now that Ferdinand was on his knees, she was at his eye level as she sat on the bench. Her golden eyes were still trembling and watery as she gave a pleased smile.

  “Thank you, High Priest, for showing me my memories… They were getting hazier the longer I lived here.”


  Her memories that had been so deeply entrenched in her mind had been recovered. This was thanks to the use of mana. It was natural for most people to struggle to recall their memories as they grew only, so it was expected that Myne’s memories would fade too

  “…I never believed that I would get to eat Mum’s food again, even if it was just in my head, I finally got the chance I thought I would never get to apologise to her. I’m just so, so relieved.”


  Myne had displayed such gratitude towards him, but Ferdinand couldn’t find a proper reply. He didn’t know what words would be right right now. He could still feel Myne’s flurry of emotions, he was afraid of saying something that wasn’t heartfelt.

  “Um, did you perhaps feel the same thing I did, because our minds were linked?”


  “Of course, but you are not at fault. It’s just the work of the magic tool.” Ferdinand gave a sigh.

  Myne got up on her feet, “High Priest, I’ll give you a big squeeze.”


  “What? I don’t understand. What is a big squeeze?” Ferdinand froze, he didn’t know what to predict next

  “This is a big squeeze. Squeeze~~~,” Myne’s voice echoed as she hugged his neck with her arms. “Whenever my dreams get me too emotional, Tuuli calms me with her squueze. I have Lutz and my family, but you don’t have anyone to hug you, right?”


  Myne’s voice was full of pride. It rang in Ferdinand’s ear and he stiffened in surprise. He could have easily dismissed her and reject her sympathy, but he struggled to do so. He was exhausted from the barrage of emotions. Myne was almost certainly just as fatigued as he was. As she clutched to him, he could hear her hard breathing slow down. After calming down, she sighed and eased her hug around his neck.

  “High Priest, please use this again in future. There are books I want to read, and Japanese food I want to eat.”


  “I absolutely refuse. Having to be synced with you is tiring.”


  This time Ferdinand had no trouble separating from Myne. He got to his feet and removed the magic tool from his head. He had no desire to sync with someone who had such tiring emotions. Myne, on the other hand, refused to take off her magic tool, saying, “I won’t give it back until you promise to do it again,” before kneeling and covering the tool with her hands. This made Ferdinand blink in shock.

  …Now, how do I go about telling this fool to the Archduke? Her weird infatuation for books is enough to stop her from thinking about anything bad or crimes. She lacks common sense, dignity, and the wariness needed to protect herself. I can’t imagine what she would do if no one watched over her.

  But she possessed a vast amount of mana, far more than the Archduke, as well as information from a much more advanced world, both aspects are equally priceless. Ehrenfest would prosper if they could fully utilise her like Benno did. The most they could do was to not let anyone take her away. She needed someone to keep an eye on her and make sure she stays on track.

  “Yes, she needs to be locked up. Books will be bait.”


  “Oh? So you’ll link with me again?”


  Is she deliberately misinterpreting me, or is she that detached from reality…? Myne had a bright smile but Ferdinand ripped the circlet from Myne’s head and stared down on her harshly.

  Volume 5, Extra 1: The Attendant of an Apprentice Blue Shrine Maiden

  “Rosina, always keep your emotions hidden. Your smile must always be beautiful, your smiles must never faze. Emotions are only used to elevate your art. Play a sad tune on harspiel whenever you’re feeling down. If something beautiful captures your heart, capture it in a painting. When your soul is touched, you will express yourself with poetry. You must always look poise when you make art,” Sister Christine would constantly repeat this with a calm smile.

  Sister Christine was an apprentice blue shrine girl. She was here to seek refuge from her father’s first wife, who detested her. She was a late-sleeper, even after I took my time to get dressed and make my hair after the second bell, it was almost impossible to wake her up.

  “Rosina, what shall we play today?” Wilma looked away from her sleeping master to face me with a troubled smile.

  The other attendants began suggesting tunes, and I chose the one that Sister Christine probably liked the most and started playing. I alternated between playing the harpsichord and the flute. The instruments I played were determined by my emotions that day. Sister Christine would always wake up after the first song finishes and would smile as she asked for another. The grey shrine maidens would dress her as she listens to the music I play from her requests.

  She might have to attend lessons with a tutor at the third bell or return to her house in the Noble’s District. I frequently worked with attendants from Sister Christine’s household. While she was occupied, we cleaned her room and made requests to the gray priests on what they needed to restock. Additionally, the gray priests would bring to us the letters and documents that required her signature.

  It was time for an early bath once the studying and chores were done, and lunch would be between these two. One gray priest would bring her hot water for her bath. After supper, any other visitors they received would be turned away with the excuse that Sister Christine was preparing for her sleep.

  The time between preparing for sleep and going to bed was the best part of the day with Sister Christine. We kept ourselves entertained with writing poetry, making art, and playing music until Sister Christine got sleepy.

  “I get enough studying from home and with the tutor. I want my time in the temple to be relaxing. Gray priests are capable of doing the chores themselves. That’s their job.” She said that gray priests were in charge of the chores, while blue priests were in charge of the temple, and blue shrine maidens and their attendants’ jobs were to create art. They only needed to enjoy their lives…


  “To only see the beautiful, to listen to the beautiful. Refine your creativity. Take a look at this. Is it not beautiful?” Sister Christine would constantly repeat this as she showed us the new and unusual items she had brought back from the Noble’s District. Sheet music of all sorts of tunes, more paint and more parchment for art they could ever wish for, as well as magic tools only for the nobles filled her chambers.

  …Why doesn’t Sister Myne understand the proper life of an apprentice blue shrine maiden?

  Sister Myne had been appointed as a temple maiden. She had a pretty face, was cheerful and cute. But her facial expressions changed too sporadically and she didn’t move gracefully and carefully. Her manners were poor and had trouble speaking formally. She had a joy for reading but not for art. She was completely different from Sister Christine. That was why the High Priest asked me to attend Sister Myne. My experience from serving Sister Christine could translate to helping her. My job was to teach Myne, but now I was being told to do chores and chastised for playing the harspiel for reasons unknown.

  “Rosina, think about your answer by tomorrow morning. Return to the orphanage or accept that serving me will be different than serving Sister Christine, what will you choose? No matter what you say, I’m not going to be Sister Christine for you.”


  Sister Myne’s words shocked me but still did not understand the predicament I was in. She was definitely serious about making me return to the orphanage if she wanted my answer by tomorrow.

  Sister Christine instructed me to always smile gracefully to hide my fear in my heart, but my emotions were visible with the haste with which I walked to the orphanage and knocked urgently on Wilma’s door.

  “Please enter.”


  When I got inside, I noticed Wilma stopped her paintings on thin boards needed for the karuta to look at me. I lost control and burst into tears the instant I saw her familiar calm smile.

  “Wilma, listen to me please. You’re the only one who has served Sister Christine with me, only you can understand how I’m feeling now.”


  Wilma put down her tools and moved her chair to face the bed. I moved and sat on the bed with my body facing her, I started ranting about the attendants bullying. First off, Delia insulted my harspiel playing that it was annoying because she was angry about being illiterate and couldn’t understand art. Gil was another one of them, he always sided with Delia and spoke in the most coarse. Last of which was, Fran who was always forcing me to listen to him.

  “I lived as what was expected from an attendant of an apprentice blue shrine maiden, they have no experience serving an apprentice maiden but they made no effort to understand me. They don’t see that it is necessary for me to continue playing my music, talk about poetry and make beautiful paintings so Sister Myne can perform her duties as a blue shrine maiden better…”


  Sister Myne didn’t need to bother herself with paperwork as the High Priest had sufficient assistance from the other blue priests like he did in the past. With regards to the orphanage, Wilma could manage the work there, and Gil and the Gilberta Company could be in charge of matters regarding the workshop and the lower city. Sister Myne did not understand that books or libraries are not needed to lead a proper life, instead she should invest herself into the arts.

  “Sister Christine always said that life is only enjoyable when you understand and love the beauty from the arts. You do understand that, right Wilma?” I said, but Wilma just scrunched her thin eyebrows, her gaze made me seem like I was a troublesome child.

  “I understand that dedicating oneself to the arts is enjoyable, but young children like them need sleep over music late at night. I would be bothered if you played your music late into the night when the children are trying to sleep in the orphanage.”


  I blinked in surprise, I did not expect Wilma to refute me.

  But why? I was in so much confusion.

  Wilma placed a hand on her cheek. “Sister Christine wakes up late, but not in Sister Myne’s chambers. Everyone there wakes up as early as we do in the orphanage, right?”


  I lowered my eyes, my thoughts ran back to how Delia would always knock at my door early in the morning to wake me up. It’s not proper to be walking around that early in the morning, but everyone always insisted that “We always wake up at this time in the temple”.

  “Did Fran say anything about this? I’m sure that being a former attendant to the High Priest, he will always keep a neutral stance, unlike the children there.”


  “Fran and Sister Myne’s trust in each other is mutual, but he is completely clueless how a blue shrine maiden and her attendants should act. He is a gray priest but he does not listen to me at all. Thinking about it, he even ordered me to do chores when he himself does not do the manual chores he is supposed to do. What an annoying man.”


  It was bonkers that an attendant priest would dare order around an attendant maiden. The former’s duty was to do the manual chores while the latter supports her master with her artistic talents. Even so, Wilma seemed to be surprised at this.

  “Is it not a given that Fran gives you orders, Rosina? He is Sister Myne’s head attendant, while you are an apprentice attendant who just began serving her.”


  “Rosina, what part of Fran giving you orders is not right? He is Sister Myne’s head attendant, you are only an attendant who just started out.”


  “But the harspiel…” I started to protest, but Wilma slowly shaking her head made me stop.

  “Rosina, you have to understand that Sister Myne and Sister Christine are not the same person. You cannot harbour the same expectations on how Sister Myne should treat you.”


  “…To think you would say the same thing as Sister Myne, Wilma,” I murmured in shock.

  Wilma sighed. “May I ask what else Sister Myne said?”


  “She told me to stop playing the harpiel after the seventh bell so that I do not disturb the others at night. She understood how much I treasured my hands for playing instruments, so she suggested that I assist her in writing rather than do the chores. Lastly, she asked me to assist Fran in looking through the financial documents of her place, the workshop and orphanage to help lessen his workload.”


  All attendants knew how to read and do math, so I was able to help Fran. But work of that sort was entrusted to the gray priests. All the gray shrine maiden under Sister Christine busied themselves with painting and poetry, so I had no clue on handling business affairs. I was lacking in the math sector, so I doubt I could provide much assistance. I was just an attendant who did her job in the arts.

  “If she hopes to lessen Fran’s workload, why not hire more attendants?”


  “Sister Christine was a noble, but Sister Myne is not. She is a commoner, thereby she lacks sufficient money to care for ten or more attendants. Truthfully speaking, she is the sort of person who would teach the children in the orphanage to work for their fill if they wanted food.”


  I was slightly dumbfounded by what Wilma said. I could never fathom the idea that an apprentice blue shrine maiden did not have sufficient funds to hire more attendants. Weren’t blue shrine maidens all about being able to get whatever they wanted?

  “But even if she is a commoner, she is still a blue shrine maiden. How is it that…”


  “The blue priests in the temple have five attendants, do they not? Sister Christine was just an exception.”


  Sister Christine had two attendants that accompanied her from her household, six gray shrine maidens that did art with her, and the remaining four gray priests were in charge of all the heavy work and chores. There were also multiple chefs, assistants and tutors to assist her for everything. I did not know that that was not the typical standard here.

  Sister Myne was a commoner, she and Sister Christine were completely different. I always assumed that her way of life was because she came from a different place. I believed that my job was to help her live a life like Sister Christine. It never occurred to me funds would impact them.

  Wilma just looked at me with her lively brown eyes in silence, she sighed again, “Rosina, honey. Do you think that you lack the skills to serve Sister Myne?”


  “…She asked me for an answer by tomorrow. To choose between returning to the orphanage or to accept that I will not receive the same treatment I did from Sister Christine”


  “I see. Rosina, you will have to make the final call. I believe that Sister Myne will try her best to make it comfortable for you. If you cannot see yourself serving a master who has taken their time to accommodate your needs, I believe that you will struggle to serve anyone else except Sister Christine. If that is so, before you stir up more problems, it would be best for you to return to the orphanage before.”


  Wilma’s words hurt me. She served Sister Christine with me so I did not expect her to be this harsh.

  “Wilma… Don’t you think it is wrong for a shrine maiden to do the work of a priest?”


  “No, I do not. It is the norm for shrine maidens to do the chores and work in the temple, only Sister Christine’s attendants had it different. If you had to serve other blue priests as an attendant, you would not get an instrument at all. Worst of all, you might have been made to give flowers. Do you still find serving Sister Myne unpleasant after considering all these?”


  It was impossible for a gray shrine maiden to argue with a blue priest for an instrument, or for her to not offer flowers because she was educated. She would just be completely ignored. In actuality, there would be no room for negotiation as they would not allow any disagreement to happen.

  …I knew that attendants were specifically trained to suit the needs of their masters, but I never took the effort to fully understand why. I just did the minimum so that I could serve a blue priest without having to go through any hardships, but it seems that I was naive.

  I slowly shut my eyes as tears ran down my face. I tried to leave my current master Sister Myne because I kept reminiscing about my life with Sister Christine. I was so infatuated with turning her into a master I wanted, completely ignorant that it was me who needed to change.

  Sister Myne did not need what Sister Christine did from her attendants. It was such an obvious fact but I had been too stubborn to acknowledge it. No matter who I served, I kept trying to reject everything because I could not accept that idea that I could not go back to the past.

  With my eyes still shut, I recalled all the times spent with Sister Christine. The strumming of harspiels. The music we played. Those peaceful times when lovely laughter filled the room as everyone engrossed themselves with the arts. That was probably the best and most fulfilling moment of my life.

  After Sister Christine returned home, I was sent back to the orphanage, and I remembered how depressed I was there. I was heartbroken about not having enough instruments, the miniscule amount of food, and my damaged hands from all the manual work. Every day, I imagined myself playing the harspiel, pretending there was music in my dim life that was deprived of anything beautiful. I prayed so badly to be able to serve a blue shrine maiden again.

  …Should I learn how to do chores under Sister Myne or go back to the orphanage without a harspiel? My doubts were answered the moment I recalled how happy I had been after playing the harpiel again. The instrument’s comforting weight made me relieved and the touch of strings made me break into a smile, being able to play music again was such a blessing that I was on the verge of crying. I would choose chores over giving up a life devoid of music again.

  “Wilma, I want to fill my life with as much music as possible. So I have decided to continue serving Sister Myne. I will learn to work.”


  “Sister Myne will be glad to hear that you will do your best, just as she had been when she rewarded those in the orphanage who worked their hardest. I could not do much but listen to your worries, but I sincerely wish you the best.”


  ~~~

  Since that day, I have been studying to complete paperwork as Sister Myne’s attendant whilst overcoming my apprehensions about math. Instead of continuing to wish to be Sister Christine’s attendant again, I would do my best under Sister Myne.

  The first thing I discovered was that Sister Myne excelled at paperwork. Although she was so young, she was far superior to me in mathematics and far more helpful to Fran than me. The paperwork would be easier with Sister Myne around, but she was busy with the religious work, as well as her education and training as an apprentice blue shrine maiden. Fran told me to do my best so that Sister Myne could rest more.

  “Rosina, please hand these to Wilma.”


  “Understood.”


  Sister Myne was not used to disguising her feelings and reading other people’s faces. But Fran was not like her, he could see through me and noticed whenever I was getting tired from work. During such occasions, he gave me a break by sending me on errands to the orphanage or the workshop, or by educating Sister Myne on the gods.

  I put the pen and ink aside and made my way to the orphanage. It was my first visit to the orphanage since deciding to dedicate myself to becoming Sister Myne’s attendant. I owe Wilma a huge debt for encouraging me to change my own mindset rather than attempting to change Sister Myne’s.

  “Is Wilma here?” I asked Lizzie, who stood by the orphanage door. She gestured into the dining hall and said that she was looking after the children who were eating.

  Those in blue robes, such as Sister Myne, ate first, followed by their attendants. The food was passed to the orphanage, where it was distributed according to status: first the adults, then the baptized children, and finally the pre-baptized ones. As a result, the youngest kids were the last to eat. Although it had been a long time since I had eaten, it appeared that the children just got their share of food. Wilma sat at the back with six other children.

  “Has everyone finished their meal? Now then, let us give our thanks and praises to the gods for their blessings. I offer thanks and prayers to thee, O mighty King and Queen of the eternal sky who have graced us with thousands and thousands of lives for sustenance, thee O mighty Immortal Five who look over the mortal realm, I shall grateful partake in this blessed meal,” Wilma chanted, and the young children repeated after her before digging into their food.

  They all wolfed down their food, most likely because they were hungry. Wilma already had her fill, so she spent her time teaching them proper table manners and cleaning up their mess, but it appeared that looking after six children was too much on her plate.

  “Food is always so good now. One of the children exclaimed, “I like this soup.”


  “The vegetables are so evenly cut, Lizzie must have been the one cooking, right?” said another child.

  “We get to enjoy this soup now because Sister Myne taught us the recipe. She also taught us to go to the forest to get our own food. We also get to buy the rest of the stuff we need from selling the paper she taught us to make.”


  “Wilma, you keep repeating that. I’ll finish your words. ‘You all need to thank Sister Myne,’ right?” giggled the child who spoke first.

  Sister Myne was responsible for allowing the pre-baptism youngsters to dine together in the dining hall rather than being confined to the cellar. She was also the one who provided all these bowls of soup on the tables on days with little divine gifts.

  Sister Christine never cared for the orphanage. If she had seen the starved children in the cellar, she would have probably wrinkled her nose and walked away. She wouldn’t spare an extra second to look at anything ugly. She would never have considered helping them. Even if she had the intentions to do so she wouldn’t see it in the end.

  Ever since I started changing my mindset, I saw all these good points about Sister Myne I failed to see before. I used to think that her being attached to the lower city, manning the workshop and having plans to help the orphanage were just obstructions to her lessons. Little did I realise that the orphanage and I had been saved by them.

  Wilma saw me and got up to speak to me. “Oh, Rosina. How are things now?”


  I smiled and passed her the boards from Fran.

  “I have been busy studying all that math I used to despise so much. Also… Sister Myne said that she admired the way I poised myself with my words and actions, she also mentioned that she wishes to do her best to act like me. Did you ask her to say that, Wilma?”


  “I only mentioned that you were the attendant that tended to Sister Myne the most and that you were the best role model to learn from.”


  One of the strengths Myne had was her humility to ask to be taught the things she was unfamiliar with. But I was always too reluctant to ask Fran questions…


  “Wilma, I have started to believe that working to overcome my shortcomings is a good thing, and I have found myself some little joys in the orphanage director’s chambers.”


  “Oh my. What little joys?”


  “Maybe because Sister Myne is a commoner, she knows so many lyrics and music I have never heard before.”


  Sister Myne would occasionally sing a tune I had never heard before while bobbing her head to the beat. She frequently hummed or sang quietly, which made the song difficult to understand. But, much to Fran’s chagrin, whenever I heard the music, I would subconsciously stop my work to listen to it.

  “Additionally, Delia might be interested in harspiels. I have seen her looking at me whenever I play.” I had till the seventh bell to play music, but Delia has been accompanying me before bed to play music. I found it repulsive that she aspired to be a concubine. But according to Myne, Delia was a dedicated attendant that always strives to do better, even though I still question the purpose of her improvement.

  “I see. I am happy to know that things are going well for you. Rosina, I think your commitment to overcoming your weaknesses is admirable.’ Wilma laughed and remarked, “I’m sure Sister Christine would strive to keep your dedication to the arts.” My efforts would not be immortalized in art, but they would be in Sister Myne’s paperwork.

  “I’m sorry for all the trouble, Wilma. I think I will be fine now.”