179 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - My Little Sister 13
The end of summer was approaching, and Tina's Basic Knowledge 3 classes at the Menhishumi Church would soon finish as well. There were further courses like Application and Review, but about half of the commoners who studied that far stopped there. And to go beyond that, grades and tuition fees became necessary. Even the Menhishumi Church, which imparted knowledge, could not accept everyone.
"...Tina, what do you want to do about the Menhishumi Church from autumn?"
"What do you... mean, Leonyaldo-san?"
I spent time with Tina playing Reversi in the living room in the relaxed atmosphere after a meal. When we first started, I lost every game of Reversi, but now I could even win against Tina. The rules were simple, so it was just a matter of getting the knack of it.
As for Tina, even after she started losing to me, she did not seem particularly frustrated about it. She enjoyed it as a board game, but perhaps she was not interested in winning or losing. Prince Alfred and Dietfried-sama, who got worked up when they kept losing, were practically polar opposites of Tina. Lately, she had been learning from Hermine and Kalisa and practicing how to decide wins and losses at will without letting her opponent realize it in Saik. It was a necessary skill for noble socializing, but Tina said she wanted to remain a commoner.
...I felt like that was a bit of a waste.
I thought she suited nobility both in ability and personality, but Tina's voice cut off that line of thinking as it began. She asked what I meant by 'what' to do. It seemed my words had been a little insufficient.
"Once Basic Knowledge 3 classes are over, there are Application and Review courses, right? Do you want to keep studying them?"
When I added those words, Tina put a finger to her chin and made a show of thinking. The sight of a young girl, barely of age, making a serious face and thinking was a little comical and cute.
...If I honestly told her what I thought, she would probably kick me in the toes again.
"Since it is a chance, I was thinking maybe I should study all the way through? But what should I do, Leonyaldo-san?"
"If you want to learn, then you should learn."
Whether she lived as a commoner or became a noble, knowledge was something that would never be a burden once acquired. Rather, it would become a weapon for Tina's future life. If she had the opportunity to learn, it was better to learn early.
"Understood, deshu," Tina answered, and she seemed to have returned to the obedience she had around the end of spring. Ever since I made her angry at the beginning of summer, Tina's attitude toward me had been somewhat stiff, but lately it had softened considerably.
...It must be the Aurelia effect.
I had consulted Tina a little while ago about whether we could have Aurelia live at the Fortress Lord's Residence. Right after hearing the news, Tina looked at me with her blue eyes shining with anticipation, then seemed to remember she was angry and tightened her expression, before loosening her cheeks again. For Tina, Aurelia must have had enough effect to cancel out her anger toward me.
...Thank Aurelia for everything.
If she lived together with us at the residence, I would probably get hit with that staff every day, but if it made Tina happy, I did not mind. It took a year for Tina to warm up to me, but she became attached to Aurelia in less than a month, like a child adoring her grandmother. As I thought, there were limits to raising Tina on my own.
Since the quarrel in early summer, I had been observing Tina closely. Alf warned me that I was still 'only pretending,' but even if it was just going through the motions, even if it was only pretending, it was better than doing nothing at all.
It was because I started observing Tina like that that I noticed, but it seemed Tina had something troubling her. At certain moments, she would look up at me with eyes that seemed to want to say something. Whether she had something to consult me about, or whether I had unknowingly touched one of Tina's sore spots again... it kept me on edge. For a few days, I waited, thinking 'until Tina brings it up,' but in the end I could not stand waiting and decided to ask her myself.
"Is something bothering you?"
"Whah?!"
Feeling Tina's stare boring into me from behind, I asked without turning around. Perhaps she had not thought I would notice, because Tina let out a strange surprised noise, then answered hesitantly.
"...I never thought Leonyaldo-san would notice that something was bothering me."
...I really have no credibility, huh.
It could not be helped, but her evaluation of me was abysmally low. Probably rock bottom. She had so little faith that she thought I would not notice her staring at me with that wanting-to-say-something look, and she seemed genuinely surprised that I did.
"So, Tina, what do you want to tell me?"
"Hmm, there is something I want to talk to Leonyaldo-san about, but..."
I waited for a while in a listening posture, but Tina just made a show of thinking and did not voice her worry. From her attitude, I could tell it was not a matter of my trustworthiness, but rather something on Tina's own mind, so I stopped pressing deeply. It felt natural to think it would be better to wait until Tina brought it up herself, rather than forcing it out of her.
But even after several more days passed, Tina still did not say anything. I started getting worried and thought about what kind of worry Tina might find hard to talk about.
...Was her allowance not enough, maybe?
Recently she had been buying a lot of embroidery thread, saying she was going to draw pictures with embroidery. Maybe the contents of her black cat wallet were getting low.
"Huh? No, that is not it, deshu."
When I could not stand it anymore and asked if her allowance was insufficient, Tina blinked blankly and gently denied it. The embroidery thread had been covered by the money Alf paid for the handkerchief, and she still had a lot left from the allowance I had given her before, she said, even showing me the black cat wallet. I did not feel like I had given her that much allowance, but sure enough, the black cat wallet was stuffed full. When I praised her for being good at managing her finances, she answered that it was just that her guardian bought her too many sweets, so she never needed to buy any herself.
"Then, if it is not that, what else might Tina be worried about... Could it be about Mirshe?"
"Why Mirshe-chan?"
From the way she tilted her head, it seemed it was not about Mirshe either. Rather, she seemed taken aback by an unexpected suggestion and latched onto it.
"If you consider Mirshe's home situation, it is uncertain whether she will come to the Menhishumi Church for the Application and Review courses, right?"
If that happened, the connection between Tina and Mirshe would be lost. In a different way from Teo, Tina would lose a friend.
"Huh? Oh, you... think so? Really?! I never thought about that, deshu!"
It seemed Tina genuinely had not noticed. A look of panic spread across Tina's face in stages.
...But it was not about Mirshe either, then.
I could tell Tina was acting like she wanted to say something, but I could not figure out what. I felt like throwing out guesses, but Tina's thoughts had already frozen, turning toward Mirshe instead of her own worries.
"Why do you think Mirshe-chan might not be able to come to the Menhishumi Church?"
When Tina started asking for the reasoning, I laid out all the reasons I could think of. Given her poor family circumstances, they might consider Basic Knowledge 3 sufficient education and send her to work. If she had completed up to Basic Knowledge 3, there was almost no deficiency for working in the city. She could even find work that was easier on the body since it used her head.
Though that was only if Mirshe was a little older.
In her current state, Mirshe was still an eight-year-old girl. No matter how much she could read, write, and do arithmetic, such an important job that required using her head could not be entrusted to such a young child. For a few more years, she would probably only be able to do work that was not much different from children who had not learned to read and write. In that case, a mother who would readily sell her children would probably judge that 'sending her to the Menhishumi Church to gain knowledge is completely useless.'
"...In about two more years, will Mirshe-chan be able to find a good job?"
"In Mirshe's case, there are other problems too, so it will be a little difficult."
Basically, jobs that required reading, writing, and arithmetic also meant the people around you would have received the same education. In that case, it would naturally become important to keep up one's appearance as well. In Mirshe's case, since she did not have the funds to maintain her appearance, it would be hard to get a good job. It would be nice if she could work as a child, save up funds, fix up her appearance, and then look for a good job, but in a family that would make an eight-year-old child work, it seemed unlikely that the money she earned would be saved. It would be absorbed as living expenses as soon as she earned it.
"Is there not something? A way for Mirshe-chan to attend the Menhishumi Church."
"...If Tina absolutely insists, we could hire Mirshe at the residence."
If we hired Mirshe, we could give her time off when Tina went to the Menhishumi Church, and let her attend the classroom together with Tina. If all I wanted to do was extend a hand, it was simple. I could just stuff a bag of gold coins and toss it at Mirshe's parents' faces.
At my offer, Tina's face lit up for an instant, but soon turned serious. She probably understood why I had not proposed this before, when Tina was afraid that Mirshe might be sold along with Teo. Tina was a clever child.
"Tina, do you want Mirshe?"
To be blunt, there was no benefit to hiring Mirshe at the residence at all. Being able to read, write, and do arithmetic was far too basic a skill for those who served at the residence, and having someone else do the work would probably be faster and more accurate than having Mirshe do it. In that case, we could have her work as a maid or a servant, but to have Mirshe work, we would have to teach her the job from scratch. Trying to teach an eight-year-old with no physical strength or stamina would only increase the burden on Bart and Tabitha.
As a result, if I hired Mirshe, it would mean nothing more than 'buying a pet to please Tina.' Knowing that, I had not proposed it until now. But if Tina absolutely wanted it, I could give Mirshe work.
"...I will pass, deshu."
After thinking for a long time, Tina forced those words out. She wanted to buy Mirshe's peace of mind, but she did not want to insert money into their friendship.
"I love Mirshe-chan very much, deshu. But I want us to be friends. I do not want to become a young lady and a servant."
Even as her face looked like she might cry, Tina reached that conclusion, and I was happy about it. Tina wanted to be an equal friend to Mirshe. An employment relationship should not be inserted into that.
"Then you should talk to Mirshe about it tomorrow, or sometime. All I can do is look for work that Mirshe might be able to do, but I cannot do anything without hearing from Mirshe herself first."
I had learned my lesson plenty from Tina about forcing my own wishes and failing. Besides, the power my words carried was completely different between Tina, who was treated as my little sister, and Mirshe, who was a child of the poor. Tina could say no to my words, but for Mirshe, my words would only be commands.
Hearing Mirshe's own wishes was the most important thing of all.
It did not finish... well.
Typos and errors will be addressed another day. I will skip the update tomorrow. If I have the energy, I might update a short continuation of today's chapter, but that is about the level of my motivation.
I found and fixed the typos and errors I spotted.