Chapter 78 - Backyard of the Stray Priest Part 3
This is the third prequel story to the main plot.
I wake up before dawn, while it's still dark.
I must perform my early morning duties.
I quietly get out of bed so as not to wake my roommate, Beatrix, light a candle, put on my priest robes, and softly leave the room.
Descending the stairs without making a sound, I find the teachers waiting for me at the first-floor landing.
We exchange silent nods and head straight to the prayer room.
The candles in front of the Goddess statue have burned down quite short.
The teachers wake up in the middle of the night to replace them once, but a single candle only lasts two hours.
The Headmistress stands before the Goddess, with the three teachers lined up horizontally behind her, and I, the acolyte, kneel behind them to offer prayers.
Eventually, the sun rises, and by the time the Goddess's form is bathed in sunlight, the early morning duties are finished.
"Everyone, thank you for your hard work."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Now, let's do our best today as well. First, the breakfast preparations. Emily, Katherine, go around and wake the children."
The two teachers go around waking the students with loud voices. Katherine-sensei is in charge of the second floor, and Emily-sensei is in charge of the third floor.
Even though I say they go around waking them, they don't physically drag every single person out of bed. They just open the room doors and say, "Wake up." By the Headmistress's policy, any child who oversleeps and doesn't show up is given a punishment: ten parchment sheets of transcriptions from the scriptures. The parts they are made to write are things like 'Give thanks for your daily bread.'
Because of this, I always wake Beatrix, my roommate, myself.
As I was about to return to the room to wake Beatrix today, Jennifer-sensei stopped me.
"Jeanne. Tomorrow is the day Beatrix leaves the facility. Were the preparations for the move ready?"
"Not at all."
"As expected. She must move to the annex by the end of today."
"I'll manage to get her moved before we go to sleep tonight. I'll have the others help too."
"I'm counting on you."
When I return to the room, the mage is sleeping as usual.
The desk is cramped with various items, and clothes are haphazardly thrown into an open storage bag. I wonder where she got them all; several boxes are even piled up on the floor.
"Beatrix. It's morning, wake up."
I call out, but there's no reaction.
"Let's eat breakfast together."
She twitched in response. In the beginning, this was enough to wake her, but over the years she's grown accustomed to it.
I try shaking her, but she just says "Uun..." and shows no sign of waking up.
It can't be helped. I'm a bit busy today. I'll have to resort to emergency measures.
I cover her face with a wet hand towel I prepared.
It's a finishing move Jennifer-sensei taught me. However, she told me that if I count past a hundred, I should check her pulse.
Five—no change at all.
Seven—she started moving a little.
Ten—she's squirming.
Thirteen—she started to struggle.
I take the cloth off.
"Buh-ha!"
She finally woke up. Her breathing is heavy.
"Good morning. Beatrix, let's eat breakfast."
"You... you did it again, didn't you?"
She glares at the towel in my hand.
"Sorry. I'm busy today. We have to eat breakfast quickly and prepare for the move."
"It's Sunday, so let me sleep in."
"No. We don't have time for transcriptions."
"Ten pages of transcriptions don't even take an hour. More importantly, I wanted to sleep for three more hours."
"You sleep too much. Get up already!"
"Yes, yes."
She sluggishly sheds her nightclothes and puts on clothes she haphazardly scouted from the storage. In the meantime, I changed from my priest robes into work clothes.
"Even if you say 'moving,' it's just taking what's here over there."
"Since we're at it, you should wash all your clothes. Let's wash everything except what you're wearing today."
"Everything? Do you have any idea how many outfits I have?"
"How many do you have?"
"I don't know. I've never counted."
I'm appalled. Why is she so slovenly?
"Let's count later. If there are clothes you don't need, you should just give them to someone."
"I guess. If you help me, I might count them."
"First, breakfast. Let's go."
While eating breakfast, I ask my comrades about the number of clothes they have on hand.
"Hey, how many clothes does everyone have?"
"Dresses? Tunics?"
Alongside Beatrix, the fashionable Mary reacted immediately.
"Both combined is fine. You don't have to count coats or undergarments."
"About twenty, I guess. I try to buy good ones and make them last. Quality over quantity."
That's just like Mary with her preferences. However, having twenty outfits and saying 'quality over quantity' is a bit strange.
"I have nine. I wear leather armor during work anyway, so I have a week's worth of everyday clothes, one spare, and one slightly nicer outfit."
That's Beowulf. An idea typical of the guard.
The other girls were mostly the same. It was between ten and twenty outfits. Everyone receives basic clothing upon entering, but once they start earning money as apprentices, they return them to the orphanage and buy cheap clothes for themselves.
"So, what about you, Jeanne?"
The mage, who has so many clothes she doesn't know the count, asks me.
"Me? I have two sets of priest robes and two sets of work clothes."
"You only have four?"
"That's how it is. I'm always wearing priest robes."
The everyday priest robes are primarily white and are pulled over the head. They are simple, with only light blue stripes on the sleeves and hem. Because they are secured at the waist with a blue belt, they are easy to move in despite their length.
"And there are only two types, right?"
"That's right. Just priest robes and work clothes."
I only have two types of clothing.
Usually, I wear priest robes. For farm work and such, I change into all-gray work clothes so they don't get dirty. By the way, the belt color when wearing work clothes is dark brown.
"Wasn't there a time when the teachers were wearing something red?"
"Ah, those are the ritual vestments. They wear them during ceremonies."
You only receive ritual vestments for the first time when you are ordained as a priest.
They are registered, and it's a serious matter if you lose them. After I receive mine, I intend to leave them with the orphanage. Of course, when I leave the orphanage, I'll have to carry them myself.
"How often do you wear them before washing?"
"Every day."
"Every day?"
Everyone was shocked. It seems everyone else does it once a week.
"Because I wear the same ones, they get dirty quickly if I don't wash them every day."
"That's why they look so worn out."
In fact, my work clothes are covered in patches.
"That's tough. You keep wearing the same ones?"
"The number is fixed."
Everyday clothes and work clothes are only replaced if they are lost or damaged beyond use. Unless I'm excommunicated, the number of clothes I have will not increase.
"I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for you."
Mary grabbed my hand. Someone who enjoys fashion wouldn't understand. Poverty is a tenet for priests.
"I have some to spare, so should I bring some old clothes if you'd like?"
Even the tall Will sympathizes with me.
There's likely no clothing of hers that I could wear.
"I'm fine. Actually, I'm thinking of reducing Beatrix's clothes."
"Don't make reducing them the premise. I said I'd give them to someone if there were any I didn't need."
"No. You won't wear them anyway. Since the most anyone has is Mary's twenty, you should have twenty too. Let's give the rest to the other girls."
"If it's Beatrix's clothes, there might be some good ones."
"Mary. Not you. You already have enough."
She let out an "Ehh," but what's the point of raising the maximum? Things that can be reduced won't be.
"Why does it have to be like that? This is tyranny!"
"In exchange, I'll do all the laundry today."
This trade-off seemed to work. She crossed her arms and began to think.
"Make it forty."
"No."
"Thirty-five."
"Thirty-six!"
"Mary. Don't raise the number on your own. You're planning to negotiate and take some for yourself, aren't you?"
"Busted?"
Give me a break. Please consider the person who has to do the moving.
Wait? Hold on. The point is just to get the move done, right?
"I just thought of something good."
"Alright, everyone, please help out."
The move began. I gathered girls of about the same height and build as Beatrix in her room. If they carry one item of luggage, they can get at least one piece of clothing.
Since everyone acknowledges Beatrix's good taste, they are all hoping to get something nice.
Inside the room, Beatrix was desperately sorting through the clothes to keep.
As expected, a mountain of them appeared. Even if I distributed them to all the gathered girls, there would surely be some left over.
"Choose in the order determined by the lottery. Also, do the laundry yourself."
Wait, Mary. Why are you lined up too?
"It's fine, isn't it? Just one outfit."
"Can't be helped. Then, you help choose clothes that suit the girls who are receiving them."
"Got it. Thanks!"
Mary, who made a victory pose, sat down next to Beatrix.
"Beatrix and Mary are going to pick clothes that suit us!"
"Let's definitely pull a good one."
The ten or so girls lined up all had eyes sparkling with anticipation. Some were slightly larger in build compared to the petite Beatrix, but Beatrix has a large bust and usually wears loose clothing. If it's a tunic, a slight difference can be managed. The smaller girls were aiming for the dresses.
In the end, she had fifty-three outfits. Since she's keeping only twenty as planned, the girls who helped can choose from the thirty-three remaining. Each person gets three. The clothes that weren't taken were decided to be sold at the morning market.
"It's really decreased, hasn't it?"
The girls who tried on the clothes and got the OK from the two judges returned to their respective rooms with satisfied faces, holding today's haul. There were some that didn't fit the person's taste or the judging, but we managed to give two outfits to everyone.
Thanks to that, the move was also finished successfully. The things that were in the room were organized and carried away. There's nothing on the desk. The drawers are empty. The clothes that were overflowing from the storage are now neatly tucked away. After washing, Beowulf and Will decided to carry them over.
"Well then, I'll do the laundry for you. Beatrix, you wash your own undergarments."
I go to the washing area and immediately start the laundry.
While washing, I noticed something. There were two small outfits left that even the petite Beatrix couldn't wear.
"You... you still had these?"
"Well, yeah. It's a kind of memento."
One was a blue dress that Beatrix was wearing when she first came to the orphanage.
"How nostalgic. Back then, you wouldn't even smile."
"Sorry about that. But you also persistently kept meddling with me, didn't you?"
"Because I was born here. In a way, I'm the master, the master."
"The master is the Headmistress, isn't it?"
"Well, I suppose so."
I couldn't argue with that. This part of us hasn't changed since long ago.
"I think I was probably just being stubborn."
"Why is that?"
"Because it was the first time I'd seen a child who didn't cry or laugh, whose expression didn't change at all. Anyone would want to see a smile, wouldn't they?"
"A five-year-old?"
"Even a five-year-old."
Now Beatrix laughs often. However, she's only cried once.
"You were so persistent."
"You would only say 'Go away' to me."
"I finally got angry."
"We had a huge fight, didn't we?"
We laugh together.
"We both got scolded by the Headmistress."
"Later, when it was just the two of us, we cried our eyes out, didn't we?"
That was the only time, before or since, that I saw Beatrix cry. I'm the only one who knows.
"The promise we made then still continues now."
"That's right. I'm graduating tomorrow, so let's work hard and earn some money."
"Yeah."
After finishing one outfit, I decided to wash the other small piece of clothing. It was a red tunic, the first and only set of civilian clothes I had ever bought in my life. It was a gift I had given to Beatrix with my acolyte's allowance.