103 - I Want to Send a Letter
I didn't have any real injuries to speak of, but living with bandages wrapped around me is surprisingly inconvenient.
The bandages get in the way even when bending my wrists or fingers, and my movements become slower.
Even tearing off a piece of bread at mealtime was difficult, and just putting a little force into it sent a sharp throb of pain.
...The skin wasn't broken, and there wasn't any bleeding, you know.
Even if she is just a puppy, I was bitten with a strength incomparable to a human's, so maybe it's like a bruise.
The throbbing pain didn't subside for about two days.
Kokumaro's dejection seemed to recover a little by the next day.
In the morning she sat at a distance from me, but as always, she followed me everywhere I moved.
As time passed from noon to night, the distance between us shrank, so by the time my bandages come off, she'll probably come back to her original distance.
When Kokumaro started curling up at my feet and sleeping again, the pain in my hand had completely faded.
Thinking "this should be fine now," I took off the bandages, but on the skin that emerged from beneath the bandages were two small scabs.
I'd been relieved since there was no bleeding, but it seemed I really had been injured after all.
It was the right call to have it disinfected just in case.
...Now then, what should I do?
The truth is, being banned from going out means nothing to me.
I was already refraining from going out because of the cold anyway.
At best, it gives Leonardo peace of mind knowing I won't come back injured from outside.
When I went to show my hand to Hermine, who had been in self-imposed confinement, saying "My bandages came off," the door to her room finally opened.
Hermine inspected my hand and immediately spotted the scabs, but said nothing in particular.
I'd knocked on her door numerous times while she was holed up, so she probably couldn't keep shutting herself in forever anymore.
Just like how Leonardo's overprotectiveness had exploded, my appearance as a little girl that stirs up protective instincts is dangerous.
Even if I say so myself, there's no adult who could keep refusing when a cute little girl shows them such affection and asks them to come out.
If I were in Hermine's position, I would have opened the door right away, and if I were Leonardo, I can understand not wanting to let me leave the house.
...But Leonardo-san goes a bit too far, though.
Thank you for giving birth to me so cute, I thought to my parents, and succeeded in pulling Hermine out of her room.
In particular, since I don't think Hermine was at fault for what happened at all, having her stay confined forever makes me uncomfortable too.
I want her to return to normal life soon.
Once the bandages were off and life returned to normal, something suddenly occurred to me.
...I wonder if I could tell Aurelia-san about what Jasper is transcribing?
While staring at the letters written on the writing board, I remembered Jasper's transcription work being done in the guest room.
I'd been avoiding the guest room to keep from doing anything careless, so even though it's a simple thing, it never occurred to me until now.
...Huh? But wait, Jasper is from the Sedovara Church, right.
Since Jasper is a member of the Sedovara Church, once the transcription is done and the Japanese can be decoded, there's a high chance the information would be sent to Aurelia.
In fact, it would almost certainly be sent.
Aurelia's medicine arts techniques are things passed down directly by oral tradition from the techniques of Saint Yuuta Hiraga.
Even if things were lost in oral transmission, Aurelia's techniques combined with the transcription might allow them to be restored.
...No good.
Before the Sedovara Church can decode the Japanese, I can only see Aurelia-san passing away from old age.
The Japanese book written by the person said to be called the foremost authority on Japanese research was full of typos.
I can't expect much accuracy.
...If I read it, would Aurelia-san be able to restore it?
At the very least, it should be faster than waiting for uncertain Japanese decoding.
I only peeked at the original research materials that one time, but while the handwriting was bad, it wasn't something I couldn't read.
It recorded experiment processes, observations, and detailed notes, so if someone who could do work as meticulous as Aurelia could read it, anyone could make the same medicine.
...The problem is that it would expose me as a Japanese reincarnator, though.
I think everything except that one thing would go well, but since that one thing is something I absolutely cannot compromise on, it can't be helped.
Everyone holds their own life dearest.
And especially if you're a child who can't even properly protect themselves, it's all the more unavoidable to resort to whatever self-preservation you can.
...I wish there was some good way.
At the very least, I think I should pass on a few types of treatments for Ward's disease.
I saw the treatment for Ward's disease in the transcription work I helped with just that one time.
If you count by number of sessions, I only helped that once, but those were characters I stared at for hours.
Even if I wanted to, I memorized the contents.
...Should I try asking Leonardo-san about it discreetly?
I wonder if there's some way to get in contact with Aurelia.
If I could get in touch with Aurelia, at least I could convey the prescription I was able to read the other day.
First, let's try talking to Leonardo, I thought, and waited until dinner time to bring it up.
"I want to see Aurelia-san, deshu!"
I'm aware I'm not the type to be good at bargaining, so I made a straightforward request.
At my too-direct request, Leonardo lightly pressed his temple.
"...Tina is banned from going out right now."
"I remember, mashu. What I'm saying nyo is, I was wondering if I could go to Aurelia-san's place during the winter when Leo-san is away, is what I mean, deshu."
Tonight I was intentionally in a begging mood, so I consciously called him "Leo-san."
Leonardo is happier when I call him "Leo-san" than when I call him "Leonardo-san."
It seems being called by a nickname makes him feel more familiar.
...As for me, I've only ever been called by my nickname since we met, though.
It can't be helped, I'd assumed my nickname was my real name.
If it got any shorter, I'd just become "Tea."
"You have Ms. Hartmann as your guardian while I'm away, don't you? You don't need to go all the way to Aurelia's house.... Besides, Aurelia is a person managed by the Sedovara Church. She's not someone you can meet just because you want to."
"Is it no good, deshu?"
"It's no good."
Leonardo gave a wry smile at my puffing out my cheeks.
No matter how much I begged, he couldn't agree to this, he said.
"...Aurelia-san hurt her back, and I haven't heard anything about how she's doing since then, so I was wondering if she's okay, is what I mean, mashu."
The truth is I want to contact her, but this is also true.
She had thrown out her back right before I left, so I'm worried about whether she's fully recovered.
Back then, she was busy making medicine and putting her own health last.
"I'll keep in mind that you're worried about Aurelia's condition, but going to see her is difficult. Even sending a letter would be difficult, I think. For one thing, it's questionable whether Aurelia can even read."
...I wasn't really worried about that part.
She could speak the local language just fine, so I think she can probably read too, right?
She said she was sold to the Sedovara Church as a child, so at least until she memorized all the oral traditions of medicine arts, she probably lived in the city.
If that's the case, there's a possibility she learned reading and writing as basic knowledge at the Menhishumi Church.
...But I see. Aurelia-san is being watched, isn't she.
Aurelia is constantly watched under the term "management" to prevent her from carelessly leaking secret arts to the outside.
Even if sending a letter were permitted, it would be safer to assume there would be censorship.
...It seems like secretly consulting with Aurelia-san is impossible.
I thought consulting with Aurelia, or conveying the contents of the transcription, was a good idea.
But it looks like it'll be difficult to realize.
As I furrowed my brow and started thinking about whether there was any good way, Leonardo, who was sitting across from me, reached out and patted my head.
"If you're that worried about Aurelia's condition, I can at least have one of the Black Knights go check on her."
The Restham Knights who serve as the watchers of Waiyakku Valley have Leonardo as their Commander.
As Commander, if it's in the form of a report from the Restham Knights, he can at least find out how Aurelia is doing.
"If you do that, I feel like the knight who goes to check on Aurelia-san would get chased around with a staff, mashu."
"I think so too."
I felt bad for whoever the knight who'd be chased around by Aurelia would be, but since I really was worried about her condition, I decided to ask Leonardo to do it.
Ideally, sending a letter would be best, but I can't be too persistent and risk arousing suspicion, so I had no choice but to back off at a reasonable point.
"...You want to send a letter to the wise woman of the valley?"
When I brought up my rejected idea to Jasper in the guest room, he asked the obvious question of why I was so concerned about Aurelia.
So I summarized that she took care of me for a while after I left Mey Village, and I think of her like a grandmother, embellishing the story a little.
At that, Jasper closed his eyes for a brief moment as if thinking, and when he opened them again, he said, "Go get some paper and a pen."
"There's paper and a pen in this guest room already, deshu yo?"
"The paper and pen in the guest room are for transcription, so you can't use them for personal letters. Just go get them. I'll write a note to the Sedovara Church, so you get permission to send the letter from the master of the fortress."
"Is it permission to write a letter to Aurelia-san, deshu?"
"Permission for me to send a letter outside."
"Your permission, Jasper?"
I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant, but he just said "just go get them" and chased me out of the guest room.
Having no choice, I did as I was told and brought back paper and a pen. When I returned to the guest room, Siegwald was standing beside Jasper's desk.
"...Huh? Jasper, are you being scolded by Sieg-sama?"
"No. Since I'll be sending a letter outside, the knight is here to witness and confirm its contents."
"Just give me the paper," he said, and when I placed the paper and pen in Jasper's outstretched hand, he immediately began writing the letter.
The content started with the relationship between Aurelia and me that I'd just explained, and that I was worried about Aurelia's health.
In the middle section, words I hadn't learned yet increased, so I couldn't read it accurately.
If I tried to interpret from the words I could pick up, it felt like it was written that they'd have me persuade Aurelia.
The latter part concluded by suggesting that perhaps they could permit correspondence as a special exception.
"...If you send this letter to the Sedovara Church, will I be able to write to Aurelia-san, mashu?"
"We won't know until we try sending it."
When Jasper folded the finished letter and put it in an envelope, he handed the envelope to Siegwald.
I thought I would be the one to take it, but right before my eyes, Siegwald opened the letter and began reading it.
"Why is Sieg-sama reading the letter, desu?"
"Because under normal circumstances, sending a letter wouldn't be allowed at all. There's no way I'd be allowed to contact the outside right now."
Jasper is the one doing the transcription work on the national treasure-level original research materials of Saint Yuuta Hiraga.
He's been permitted to create a transcription, but he can't recklessly spread that information.
That's why he's been stationed in the guest room, doing the transcription work with his movements restricted.
Any information leaving the guest room, no matter what it is, requires confirmation and approval from the Silver-White Knights or the master of the fortress.
In other words, the letter I had Jasper write was nothing but something that undermined the work of the Silver-White Knight standing guard.
"What I mean nyo is... I apologize for the trouble, mashu."
I followed the letter as it was passed around to all the Silver-White Knights like a circulation board for content confirmation, bowing my head each time it reached someone else's hands.
It was just something I'd done on a simple whim, but I ended up inconveniencing the Silver-White Knights unexpectedly.
And once this circulation was finished, the letter would also trouble Leonardo's hands, and if approval was granted, it would be sent to the Sedovara Church.
...Somehow, I feel like I've just been causing trouble for other people with my whims ever since the other day.
The confirmation work among the Silver-White Knights was finished, and the letter was allowed to leave the guest room safely.
The letter that left the guest room was carried by a Silver-White Knight to Leonardo, where confirmation work was done again.
Finally, Leonardo pressed a seal and a confirmation stamp onto the envelope, and at last the letter was handed over to Bart.
After that, Bart would deliver the letter to the Sedovara Church.
"I'm sorry, mashita. I only wanted to send a letter to Aurelia-san, but I ended up increasing everyone's workload, mashita."
I saw off Bart, who went out wearing a coat in the cold, and went around bowing my head once more to the knights and Jasper who I'd put to trouble.
Finally, I apologized to Leonardo once more, and was placed on his lap and had my head stroked.
"...Well, if that letter has any effect, you'll be able to send letters freely from now on."
A week later, downcast at having caused trouble for so many people.
Alf came to the residence carrying a letter from the Sedovara Church.
Alf already seemed to know what kind of letter had been sent, and seemed curious about the reply.
"Leonyaldo-san, please read it, kurashai."
I opened the seal myself, but once opened, the letter was written in such fine brushwork that I couldn't read it, not just because I still couldn't read characters perfectly, but also because the handwriting was too exquisite.
It felt a little unfair that Alf peeked from beside Leonardo as his eyes quickly scanned the letter he'd been handed.
Even though I was the first to open the letter, I couldn't read it.
"...To put it simply, it says you may send letters to Aurelia."
"Really, deshu!?"
I burst with joy and instinctively hugged Alf.
Leonardo furrowed his brow, but since he was sitting in a chair, he couldn't hug me on the spot.
If he gets sulky, I'll give him a nice long hug later, I filed that away in the corner of my mind, and urged him to continue.
"However, the condition is that both letters from Tina and letters from Aurelia must be opened and censored at the Sedovara Church."
"Is that so... deshu."
...In that case, I still won't be able to send secret letters, it seems.
Even so, just being able to know about Aurelia's health is something to be happy about.
I decided not to be too greedy and just honestly be happy about that part.
"Also, this is also a request from the Sedovara Church."
"A request, deshu?"
I wondered what it could be, but couldn't think of any business the Sedovara Church would have with me.
However, I'm pretty sure the letter Jasper wrote mentioned something about persuading Aurelia.
...Am I supposed to persuade Aurelia-san? About what?
The answer to the question that arose was quickly given by Leonardo.
"The Sedovara Church is also worried about Aurelia being elderly. So they want you to persuade Aurelia to move to the city rather than staying cooped up in the valley forever."
If you only heard the idea, it was wonderful, but the request from the Sedovara Church was an incredibly difficult one.
My mouth hung open in a daze, and Alf, the absolute supporter of Aurelia, turned to look at me with sparkling eyes.
...Even if you look at me like that, I think it'll be difficult!
[Author's Note]
I feel like I can see the end of Chapter 4 approaching.
From Tina's perspective, the adults' circumstances are quite hidden from her.
If there were a Jasper side story here, it would talk about his harsh transcription work in the guest room (lol).
If it were a Silver-White Knight side story, it would be a Little Girl Peeping Diary (idiot).
Tina approaching the guest room should have been stopped by the Silver-White Knights, but they were a pushover for the little girl.
Since Tina had been avoiding the guest room, their resistance had lowered. If she begs, they're a pushover.
I'll fix typos and errors another day.
I found and corrected the typos and errors.