180 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - My Little Sister 14
"...You held out better than I expected, for you."
After I recounted the whole conversation with Tina, Alf praised me like that. I think it was praise, anyway.
Ever since I became aware that I am unfit as both a guardian and a brother, I have made it a point to honestly consult those around me about Tina. No matter how I look at it, going by my judgment alone has a high chance of being wrong, and while it would be fine if I just got scolded by Tina for my mistakes, there are times when I end up hurting her heart. I do not want to hurt Tina any more than I already have.
"If Tina had really wanted Mirshe, would you have bought Mirshe?"
"No, in that case, I would have talked it over with Tina a bit more."
As Tina judged for herself, buying Mirshe would be easy, but if we did that, I think Tina would be the one hurt in the end. Money should not get tangled up in friendship. Tina is working so hard to maintain an equal friendship after all. I do not want to turn that friendship into a master-servant relationship bound by money.
"For something involving Tina, that was a really sensible judgment. Rare for you."
"I will take that as a compliment."
At the words that were a compliment but also carried exasperation, I gave Alf a light glare. As for the glared-at Alf, he just shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"...I understand how the one being sold feels. If I were Teo, I would not want to be bought by Tina of all people."
Similarly, even if Mirshe could understand that it was done out of consideration for her own safety, she probably would not want to be bought by Tina. A relationship where they called each other 'Mirshe-chan' and 'Tina big sister' as equals would become 'Mirshe' and 'young lady.' I do not want to destroy their friendship.
"For making a rare good judgment, I will let you in on a little something."
With that, what Alf told me was information about Mirshe's circumstances that he had personally gathered.
It seems Mirshe is already working in the mornings, not even waiting for autumn. She goes out to work from early morning, attends the morning lessons at Menhishumi Church, rests a bit in the afternoon, and then works again from evening until night.
This is a little strange.
When Teo was around, Mirshe was the one keeping an eye on her brother. In other words, Mirshe originally did not work. Mirshe's family should have enough income to feed themselves without the children working, yet for some reason Mirshe is working now. Even though food expenses should have decreased by Teo's absence, and they should even have the money from selling their child.
"A father who barely works but only racks up debt, and a mother of loose morals who only works at night. Compared to her parents, Mirshe's reputation is good... but if you hire Mirshe, those parents will come around you, so there are few workplaces willing to hire her."
For that reason, even though she is working, Mirshe's workplace changes day by day. She goes to the market early in the morning to find work and earns pocket-money-level wages, a childlike way of working, but it is not the kind of job that leads to future employment.
"If we could find a workplace that would hire her as a live-in and separate her from her parents... I think there might be a chance she could get a good job in the future, but..."
Considering Mirshe's age, I know without even thinking that there is no shop that would hire her as a live-in. I know there is nothing wrong with Mirshe's character, but even without Tina being involved, I would not hire her either. Because if I were going to hire an eight-year-old Mirshe as a live-in, I would be better off hiring someone with more stamina and a fully developed body. If there were someone who would hire Mirshe as she is now, they would probably have a purpose other than pure labor.
"The future is important too, but first, it is the present."
As long as she cannot leave her parents, Mirshe is always in danger of being sold. At first, anyone would agonize over 'selling their own child,' but once you have sold one, after that it is just repeating the same process. By the time the money from selling a child and the guilt have faded, they start seeing their own flesh-and-blood children as goods that can still be sold.
"Come to think of it, is Mirshe's handwriting neat? If her letters are clean, I might be able to arrange some copyist work for her."
"What kind of information network do you have?"
I thought you were just investigating the family circumstances of a girl from the slums, but now you have potential work leads to pass to her. I could look for work for her too, but I would not come up with different candidates one after another like Alf does.
"Information is more valuable than gold. It is only natural to investigate."
"I understand that scouts are important in war, but... was it necessary to investigate even Mirshe's personal information?"
The vice-commander of Grenore Fortress gathering personal information about a girl from the slums feels rather unnatural somehow.
"Mirshe is Tina's friend. If something happened, Tina would be sad."
Alf, who started saying that if Tina is sad, then indirectly Aurelia would be sad too, is his usual self. He is probably trying to repay the debt he cannot easily return to Aurelia herself by protecting Tina. Even though Aurelia is not by Tina's side, I felt like she was protecting Tina better than I was.
"...By any chance, do you know where Teo ended up?"
"I was able to track him to around where he entered the Empire, but... I have not been able to get any word from around Anheim and Potsdahl."
"Why does information from the Empire's side come to you too?"
That does not make sense, I pointed out. Anheim and Potsdahl are names of cities within the Empire, across the border. Within the country, I could have people investigate, or gather information from towns and villages along the highway, but information coming in even across the border can only be described as abnormal.
"That area was our country's territory back when Bertrand-dono was still active. It is not like they can cross the border casually, but there are still people who work well for us there."
Alf says that from those connections, a small amount of information from within the Empire also comes through. That said, apparently the information commoners can secretly bring out is limited to the level of street gossip, like the whereabouts of the slave trader's carriage this time.
"I will search a bit more, but do not get your hopes up."
I will track him down for Tina's sake, but everything has its limits. If he cannot be found no matter what, eventually it is a search that gets called off.
"Sorry. I appreciate it."
Since this is a part I could not finish writing within the time limit for chapter 13, this one is short.
I will fix typos and omissions another day. I have corrected the ones I found.