143 - Spring at the Menhishumi Church and Alf's Catch
The snow in the garden had completely melted, and the fresh green buds on the trees were starting to stand out. It still felt a little chilly, but my coat had been switched to a lighter fabric. And even that coat, I took off more often than not while running around the garden with the puppy, since my body warmed up quickly as soon as I moved a little. I wanted to take off the costume tail that got in the way of running around the garden too, while I was at it, but that I was stopped from doing. There was a custom that children taken by spirits had to wear animal costumes until the Spring Flower Festival. It was a little charm to keep the spirits from taking them again. Even if it got a little in the way of running around, even if the puppy bit the tail, considering how my guardians felt, it was better not to take it off.
...Wait a minute? The Menhishumi Church classes start before the Spring Flower Festival, don't they?
At the possibility I belatedly realized, my feet stopped dead. At me stopping so suddenly, Kokumaro looked up at me as if asking if playtime was over.
...I really don't want to be the only one in a costume when none of my friends have cat ears on, you know!?
I dashed into the residence in a panic to confirm. I heard Kalisa calling after me, but that could wait. I knocked and burst into Leonardo's room, and he happened to be looking up from his documents.
"Do I really have to wear these cat ears to Menhishumi Church too!?"
I protested that it was embarrassing to be the only one in costume when it wasn't even the Divine King Festival, but Leonardo's reply was merciless. No, he said, just that one word dismissing my protest.
"If the cat ears bother you that much, want to start going from summer instead?"
"No way! If I shift the season, I won't get to see Mirshe-chan anymore."
"Then either go wearing the cat ears, or get Alf and Ms. Hartmann and Tabitha and Bart and the fifteen gatekeepers and Kokumaro to say it's fine."
"Kokumaro can't talk!"
I puffed out my cheeks in protest, but quickly calmed my anger. The names Leonardo listed were all people I'd caused trouble for when I got lost this winter. I could take it as him holding back by not telling me to go get permission from all the Black Knights yet.
"...Is it really no good no matter what?"
If pushing doesn't work, try pulling. I tried acting meek and begging this time, but Leonardo's answer didn't change.
"I told you why children taken by spirits keep wearing animal costumes until the Spring Flower Festival, right?"
"I heard you."
"Then, to ease even a little of the worry of everyone who was concerned for you, Tina wears cat ears until the Spring Flower Festival, even if it's embarrassing."
Besides, it's cute so what's the problem, Leonardo added, and I stuck my tongue out at him in spite. Leonardo blinked for a moment, then immediately broke into a wry smile.
"...Is something wrong?"
The place I was going to was the Menhishumi Church, where children from poor families to rich families, and even some adults depending on who you counted, gathered, so there was no need to worry about my clothes. But I couldn't stop being bothered by the cat ears on my head. And to make matters worse, a cat-ear hood that definitely hadn't been on my spring coat had been added to it.
Before leaving the residence, I appealed to Leonardo and Hermine over and over that it was strange to be in costume at a place of learning, but it was rejected every time. As a last hope, I looked up at Bart who was escorting me, but Bart's answer was no different from my guardian's. The costume was a charm for a child taken by spirits to keep from being taken again, and there was no need to be embarrassed about it, he said.
When I passed through the gate of the Menhishumi Church, Nils was waiting for me, just like in autumn. On his head, of course, there were no cat ears or other costume pieces.
"Nils, why aren't you in costume?"
You're a spirit's favorite too, aren't you? I asked, and Nils explained that his father had only noticed he was a spirit's favorite from his run of good luck, and that he'd never actually been taken by a spirit. So apparently he didn't need to spend the time until the Spring Flower Festival in costume like I did.
...I wonder why, among the spirit's favorites, some get taken by spirits and some don't?
As we talked about such things, we arrived at the classroom.
"...Huh?"
"Ah, Tina big sister!"
On Mirshe's head, who lit up when she spotted me, were brown dog ears. Sadly she didn't have a tail, but she was an adorable little girl with dog ears. If only the color matched her hair, it would have been perfect, but unfortunately Mirshe's hair color was the same as Teo's, black. The mismatch gave it a very "obviously a costume" vibe, but that was cute in its own way, so it was fine. Cute is justice.
...Yeah, sorry. I get it now, Leo. It's cute so it's fine. Little girls with animal ears are cute. No questions asked, they're cute.
I'd gotten angry at Leonardo for not letting me take off the cat ears even though I was going to Menhishumi Church purely for studying, and kicked his shin a few times, but I'd have to apologize for that later. Mirshe with dog ears was that cute.
"Tina big sister, I'm so glad! When you got lost, everyone in the city was looking for you, you know?"
It seemed the search for me, which had involved the city's residents, had more or less been resolved with Nils and Lusio acting as messengers. Lusio had apparently carried the message to the slums where Mirshe lived.
"...Thank you for worrying about me. I'm happy."
My heart felt gently warmed. I'd had a terrible time with children my age since going to the city of Mandez, but Mirshe's kindness and innocence healed my heart.
"By the way, what about your dog ears, Mirshe-chan? Were you taken by a spirit too?"
"Huh? When a friend gets taken by a spirit, the other kids dress up as animals until the festival too, right?"
Saying that, Mirshe said Petrona had prepared the clip-on ears for her. Urged on, I turned my gaze toward Petrona, and saw Petrona and Elke wearing white cat ears, and Teo wearing the same dog ears as Mirshe. And if I might add, by the time I entered the classroom, Nils had also been given sheep horns and ears.
"Guide Anna said that to hide the child taken by spirits from the spirits' eyes, all their friends wear animal costumes until the festival."
"It's a little exciting to dress up even though it's not the Divine King Festival, isn't it?"
Saying this, Elke and Petrona came closer. I'd initially felt a bit intimidated by them, but now I found them reassuring.
...Having friends my age is nice.
The word "my age" brought Dietfried's face to mind. Dietfried's face was as cute as an angel's, but his insides weren't much different from the tyrant Teo of a little while ago.
...As expected, I'll stick to relationships that suit my station.
I don't need to be a prince's bride or a noble's relative. I'll just keep living an ordinary life in the city of Grenore, making friends I'm comfortable with.
I know I'm being self-serving, but once I knew I wasn't the only one in costume, my aversion to the cat ears faded. After that, I attended the Menhishumi Church as usual and steadily increased my knowledge.
And then, on a balmy spring afternoon when even the light coat was no longer necessary. I decided to write a letter to Aurelia, which I'd been putting off because writing too often would annoy her.
...That said, how should I write it to get past the Sedovara Church's censorship?
My recent reply in English, considering its content, had most of it deleted by the censors, I was sure of that. In particular, not mentioning the embroidered handkerchief at all was unnatural.
...Come to think of it, whatever happened with what Alf-san was plotting?
Wanting to ask about the progress of his scheme, I caught Alf as he was bringing reports to Leonardo, who was working in the residence.
"The letter to Aurelia? If it's about that, you don't need to worry anymore."
"Huh?"
I'd wanted to ask how the scheme was going, but it seemed it was already resolved, never mind the progress. Somewhere along the line, Alf had apparently wrung out permission to send letters freely without going through the Sedovara Church.
"...Did you do something?"
Getting permission to send letters to Aurelia, who was strictly watched to prevent her from leaking secret arts, without Sedovara Church censorship. Even a child like me could tell that wasn't normal.
I timidly looked up at Alf's face, and Alf wore his usual kind smile.
"From me, nothing in particular...?"
...From him, he says. Which means, thinking about it the other way, the Sedovara Church did something.
I couldn't figure out what the Sedovara Church could have done to create conditions where Alf could get permission for letters to Aurelia to bypass censorship. But Alf must have done something beyond what I could imagine.
...He's playing dumb, but when he checked the embroidery, he did say something about "fishing" or whatever.
I stared up at Alf, wondering what he'd done, and then Alf, perhaps to change the subject, told me to bring my wallet. Wondering what business he could have with my wallet, I handed my black cat wallet to Alf as instructed. Alf opened the mouth of the wallet and put some money in.
"I get an allowance from Leo, you know?"
"This isn't an allowance. It's payment for the embroidery Tina sewed for me."
Alf had paid for all the materials for that handkerchief. So I didn't need payment, but when I checked the wallet, my mind went blank.
"...Five gold coins, isn't that way too much...?"
No matter how many times I counted, the gold coins had increased by five. One gold coin was 10,000 Shivil, so that was 50,000 Shivil total. If I converted to Japanese yen, it felt like adding one more zero. Simply put, Alf had paid 500,000 yen for that embroidered handkerchief.
"That's not an amount to give a child!"
Frightened, I pulled the gold coins out of the wallet. I tried to press them back into Alf's hand, saying I'd return them, but Alf refused with a smile.
"...Actually, there was someone at the Sedovara Church who absolutely wanted that handkerchief. I sold it to him at his offered price, so this amount is his evaluation of Tina's embroidery."
"But that handkerchief had Aurelia-san's name embroidered on it! If it's a 'him,' that's a man, right? A handkerchief with a woman's name on it is..."
The more I insisted that he please take the gold coins back, the more something started to come into view. If I listed the unnatural points and connected them with lines, I was scared of what I might see about the method Alf had used to wring permission from the Sedovara Church to send letters to Aurelia.
In the end, Alf said the material costs had been properly deducted, and wouldn't take the gold coins back. At a loss over the too-large amount, I consulted Hermine, but she told me to accept it as proper compensation. Still, I couldn't just go "Oh, okay then," so this time I consulted Leonardo, but he also said it was money I'd earned, so I could spend it however I liked.
"It's too much for a child to have. I could accept it if it were about one silver coin."
It was an amount I'd be scared to carry around or even hide. In that case, I thought, I'd rather leave it with my guardian, or use this windfall to treat everyone to a feast.
...A feast?
One use for the money came to mind, and I asked Leonardo if we could eat out. Let's have a feast with this gold coin, I said.
"I can treat you to as many feasts as you want."
"That's not it. I don't want to eat with Leo's money. I want to eat a feast with my family using my first-ever wages."
I argued passionately that I wanted to have a meal with my family using money I'd earned myself. Leonardo hesitated at first, saying he couldn't let his little sister treat him, but in the end, he accepted my feelings of wanting to use the money I'd earned for the first time for my family.
By the way, the remaining amount was apparently spent on embroidery thread and saved in the small safe Leonardo had bought.
I'll fix typos when spring comes. I've fixed the typos I found.