182 - Secret Delivery Method
The materials Arabella showed me were truly fascinating.
Records of the incident that became the basis for the Repentance Festival remain in every region, and it is interesting how some versions share the same outline but leave a completely different impression, while others reach entirely different conclusions from nearly identical stories.
Perhaps instead of researching myths, it might be more fun to look into the historical records and verify where the distortions by those in power began.
...But none of the documents mention any woman the Divine King-sama seems to be searching for, do they?
If there is anything resembling a woman's presence, it would be the existence of the Goddess Itsurateru.
Aside from that, there is only a description suggesting the youth who committed a crime had a younger sister.
...I understand now why he said they had the same eye color.
Apparently those strangely tinted blue eyes are a color that only appears in the Divine King's lineage.
According to another document, that very color was supposedly given by the gods as a mark of being "chosen by the gods."
It seems that members of the lineage always bear that color, and when the bloodline thins, it becomes ordinary blue, and eventually children with other colors like black or green are born.
...Huh? That would mean Remihio-sama is part of the Divine King's lineage?
I recall the gentle-faced youth I met at the Recollection Festival and tilt my head, dissatisfied with the answer the documents have led me to.
The Divine King and Remihio do not match in image aside from their hair and eye colors.
Even if they are of the same lineage, the blood should be far removed, not just distant cousins, so I think it is natural for the image to differ, but still, I have a vague conviction that something is "off."
"As I thought, reading while cleaning is the best, isnt it..."
I hear Arabella's soft chuckle and snap back to reality.
Come to think of it, it was me who insisted on cleaning before doing research, given the absolutely terrible state of the room.
And here I was, having started reading through any materials I could get my hands on, my cleaning completely halted.
When I hurriedly apologize, Nils gives a wry smile, and Arabella laughs it off like it happens all the time.
In fact, apparently people had tried to clean this room before, but everyone ended up reading the materials just like me, and the room ended up not getting cleaned at all.
That, in a sense, is the truth of why dust has accumulated in this room.
They are lovable research maniacs, in a way.
I switched my mindset and resumed cleaning, but in the end, within the short time until my escort arrived, I stopped cleaning three times.
I want to believe this is not because I am particularly lazy.
I walk alongside Leonardo, who came to pick me up, holding Mirshe's hand.
Once I see her off to the Three Crows Tavern where she works, all that remains is the return trip to the residence.
"...Should I start working soon too?"
After parting with Mirshe, I ask about something that had been on my mind for a while as I walk hand in hand with Leonardo now.
I think working at Mirshe's age is too early, but by the time children turn ten, it is common for commoner children to be working.
I think I have gained enough knowledge of this world by now to start working too.
"Tina can eat well enough without working."
"Thats not about your salary, Leonardo-san."
You know that and youre playing dumb, arent you? I give him a baptism with my custom shoes.
These shoes, reinforced with iron plates to protect the toes, are my beloved tools that have a certain effect in getting Leonardos attention.
"Im talking about how there are children who start working around my age."
"There are children like that, it is true, but Tina doesnt need to work yet..."
Leonardo says there is no financial difficulty and no job she particularly wants to take on right away.
That was certainly true.
...But an eight-year-old (Mirshe) is working while I am a shut-in. Doesnt that hurt my dignity as an elder...?
Wanting to work for the sake of dignity is also a strange argument.
Still, I cannot help feeling anxious that all my friends have started working while I alone am living leisurely.
"Do you think there is any work that I might be suited for?"
Without any particular goals, I have no future career in mind.
Back in Mey Village, I vaguely thought I would inherit the family and work the fields, and after being taken in by Leonardo, I prioritized getting used to my completely changed life and never thought about the future.
...The only thing I can do is read Japanese, I guess?
I have been thinking it might be time to tell Leonardo, but I have not found the right timing.
I am relieved to hear that even if I were found out to be a Japanese reincarnator, I would not face anything too terrible, but that does not mean I can casually say, "Well then, I am a Japanese reincarnator."
Besides, even if I can read Japanese, that is all it is.
Once I finish translating Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials, there would be nothing left for me to contribute as a Japanese person.
"...I have been asked by a tailor to recommend you as a seamstress, you know."
Just as I start worrying about whether I have any talents, I hear a voice from above.
"Huh? What is that about? Thats the first I have heard of it!"
Surprised, I look up at Leonardo beside me.
When our eyes meet, Leonardo looks away with a slightly guilty expression.
It is the face he makes when he has something on his conscience.
"Leo? Is there something you are hiding from me?"
I stop walking and lower my voice a notch.
I sway my feet back and forth, and the preparation for intimidation is complete.
I stare at Leonardo with intensity, conveying that if he does not tell me the truth, I will baptize him with full force from my custom shoes.
I mean to make the scariest face I can, but Leonardo just gives a wry smile, so it probably does not look all that scary.
"At the Spring Blossom Festival, you embroidered the cuffs of my shirt, right? The tailor shop owner saw that and asked if Tina would be interested in doing embroidery work."
Apparently, it was such exceptional work that even knowing it might be rude to ask someone with no financial need to work, and especially the younger sister of a valued customer, the owner could not help but inquire.
It seems what Hermine said once about being able to make a career out of embroidery was truly no flattery at all.
"...I see. I could do embroidery work."
A job opportunity I had never considered was unexpectedly close at hand.
"Tina, I will make sure you are well fed until you come of age, so there is no need for you to go out to work."
Leonardo declares he would even look after me well into adulthood, but I refuse, saying that is not the issue.
"Living without working, with no worries about food, feels uncomfortable."
Especially since coming to the city of Grenore, with the servants Tabitha and Bart, I have not even been able to do chores around the house.
Before, I was allowed to help with food preparation as long as it did not involve knives, but as the number of people staying at the residence increased and Tabitha's workload grew, no more tasks were assigned to me.
I suppose my half-hearted help was just getting in the way after all.
I plead with Leonardo, little by little, that I would like to try work I can do at the residence.
Customer service or working outside is impossible since I am shy with people.
At least, I do not think it is work I can do right away while I am still counted as a child.
But doing a bit of embroidery at the residence should not be very different from my current life.
It might be something I can do.
"...Then, shall I tell the tailor that you would like to try taking on a small job?"
"Yes, please."
Leonardo showed some resistance to my working for some reason, but in the end he gave in.
I think saying I wanted to get used to it gradually helped.
I cannot remain a child being supported forever.
When the summer heat completely faded, my short-sleeved clothes were replaced with long sleeves.
It is not cold enough to wear thick fabrics yet, but short sleeves feel a bit chilly.
My life hardly changes between summer and autumn.
I go to the Menhishumi Church every other day for lessons, take lessons from Hermine at the residence, and in my free time, I hole up in the attic to do embroidery.
...And the letters keep coming, as always.
I send letters to Aurelia of my own volition, so that is fine, but for some reason, letters from Basilia and Dietfried still arrive.
Basilia's letters started with a follow-up report on the kidnapping incident, and I thought they would naturally stop when topics ran out, but surprisingly, they continue.
The main topics are fashion and popular shops in Lagarette, so she might get along with Petrona.
Dietfried's letters are filled with text crammed across the page, but the content is messy and hard to understand.
Still, when I try hard to read them, they read like a young boy's diary.
Iridal's discipline is strict, Alisa's pointer hurts, Kyuubee proposed to Salisa and was rejected, and so on.
Dietfried writes exactly what he thinks and feels.
...Compared to the first letter, the handwriting has become somewhat readable at least.
Though it still needs plenty of practice before it can be shown to others.
But an improving trend is visible, so the corrections in red ink from Hermine have decreased somewhat.
I have also increased my replies from a single line to two lines.
It is more readable now. Keep up the handwriting practice, I tell him.
...Oh? Now that I think of it, English has cursive writing, doesnt it?
While looking at Dietfried's illegibly bad handwriting, I recall the existence of cursive.
When I learned English in my previous life, I was taught it as a separate category after learning all the letters.
Cursive is, in a word, one-stroke writing.
The capital letters aside, the lowercase letters are all designed to be connected in a single line.
...I think I saw on TV that in recent years, even English-speaking countries have stopped using it because their own writing was hard to read.
And it is not used in the English that Hermine teaches me, nor in Aurelia's letters.
...Could I send secret letters using cursive?
Once I think of it, I act on it immediately.
Just as a test, I mixed a little cursive into my letter to Aurelia, hiding the word "hello" in it.
To someone who does not know cursive, it should just look like slightly misshapen letters.
Aurelia's reply arrived around the time all the embroidery thread I had ordered from the craft shop arrived.
It was a letter with the usual seasonal greetings and updates, but when I examined the text carefully, cursive was mixed in here and there.
...I got scolded.
I had hidden just the word "hello" as an experiment to see if I could conceal text in cursive, but Aurelia's reply was a very stern "Stop thinking about unnecessary things."
She must have been able to tell from my visit around the end of spring that I was trying to convey something.
...But this means I can send secret messages to Aurelia-san without Leonardo-san and the others noticing!
However, for that, I first need to be able to write English sentences fluently.
Right now, I write letters in this country's script, have Hermine translate them into English, use that as teaching material to learn English, and then I copy the text neatly onto letter paper to send.
As long as I need someone else's eyes to compose English sentences, there is no such thing as a secret message in the current state.
...Ugh, Ill do my best studying English.
Dietfried's bad handwriting was useful to Tina.
Typos and errors will be dealt with another day. I have corrected the ones I found.