Chapter 4

Donating to the Temple

At the end of the day, I finally had a moment alone with Lutz while we walked home. “Can you help teach the orphans how to forage in the forest? I’m going to ask Dad to help, so you don’t have to do it alone.”

Lutz cocked an eyebrow. “Sure, but where did this come from?” I explained to him my plan of making the orphanage as self-sufficient as possible so they wouldn’t starve. “Wouldn’t they just get stopped at the gate?”

“That’s where Dad comes in. The first few times, at least. He can let the guards know until the knowledge spreads that the temple kids are foraging now. There shouldn’t be any problems after.”

He nodded along, and we split up at the well. Inside, I helped Tuuli prepare dinner while we waited for our parents to come home.

“Welcome back, Myne. How was your first day?” I excitedly told her all about what I had accomplished today and my plans. I attempted a segue into asking her to teach the orphans how to repair the clothes, but when I looked over, she had grown pale. “What do you mean the High priest had to go looking for you!? Myne, I know you were excited to see the books, but you need to behave! They’re nobles!”

I tilted my head, but I couldn’t understand why him being a noble would change anything. Ferdinand wouldn’t kill me yet because of the mana and industries I have. It would only create more work for him. He didn’t even think I was a threat to Ehrenfest yet. Not that I would ever be. I want my playground again, after all. Ehrenfest is a small fish in the grand scheme of it all.

The door burst open. “There are my two girls!” Dad came in and scooped us up into a big hug. Tuuli squealed, and we both laughed. Mom came in moments later, meaning they must have met up downstairs, but Dad ran up the stairs to see us faster. We all happily ate dinner, until Tuuli snitched on me and I got scolded, yet again, for things that didn’t make sense. They just didn’t have all the information. But I knew they did it out of love and worry, so I let them. After which, I managed to secure Dad’s and Tuuli’s help with my orphanage plans.

The next day, Lutz and I went to Gilberta Company before third bell. It was clear they had thoroughly prepared in the advanced warning I gave. The carriage had already been loaded with gifts and the stuff I had bought. Mark and Benno were clean and well-dressed for the occasion. Much more composed than the last weave, at least.

“There you two are. Ready?” I nodded, and Benno helped me inside the carriage. I waved Lutz goodbye, and away we went. The bumpy wagon creaked on in silence. I wasn’t worried, of course, but the other two had no idea what was in store.

“While we are technically only supposed to be dropping off the donation money, the High Priest will likely question if I am a threat and about anything that could trigger flares of my mana. I believe he is also interested in my money-making inventions, since I am donating so much money and giving away a percentage of my profits.”

I felt that any warnings regarding my mana flaring up would be dismissed by him, no matter who warned him. He has a tendency to downplay anything he hasn’t personally experienced, like when I first told him of my mana compression method. This weave’s Ferdinand hasn’t experienced the full brunt of my Crushing. I might need to go all out during the trombe hunt.

They nodded along. “So basically warn him of how thoughtless you are and how you charge ahead to leave everyone behind. Got it.”

“Hey!”

Benno snickered. “I can handle it, don’t worry. You just focus on behaving like a noble.” I nodded, and he proceeded to give me tip after tip until the carriage arrived. Like the last weave, only Fran was here. But this time, I was sure where Gil was, and reasonably sure Delia was too busy fixing my room.

Fran knelt to greet me. “Fran, this is Benno, my guardian regarding all merchant matters. Would you please have trusted gray priests bring in the gifts for the High Priest?”

“At once.” He began to instruct various people to bring them in. Then we were on our way to the High Priest’s office. Fran had actually been paying attention to my walking speed yesterday when I mentioned it. So he did not need to be reprimanded by a guest this time. As expected, Fran really is a top-tier attendant.

The room had been emptied of all except Ferdinand’s attendants. We headed in, and the grays holding the gifts lined up against the walls. Once everyone was in place, Benno began the greetings. “May this meeting ordained by the divine guidance of the gods, be blessed by the God of Fire Leidenschaft on this vibrant summer day. It is nice to meet you, High Priest. I am Benno of the Gilberta company, visiting here at Sister Myne’s introduction. May the bonds formed here be strong and lasting.”

“I bless this day from the bottom of my heart. May the God of Fire Leidenschaft’s guidance take the Gilberta company to ever greater riches.” A blessing came from his ring and bathed Benno in a blue light before being absorbed. After a lifetime of commoners being surprised by my blessings, and nobles being surprised I would bless them, I only now realized how unnecessarily—according to noble common sense—respectful Ferdinand was being in this initial greeting.

Once the greetings were out of the way, we all moved to sit in the guest area. I was once again too small to sit gracefully on my own. Resisting the urge to pout, I glanced up at Fran, silently urging him to pick me up. As a top attendant, he was quick on the uptake. I gave him a grateful smile, which he returned, and the conversation continued.

It began exactly as the previous weave, which I was happy enough with, so I didn’t need to do anything different. We confirmed the donation amount, and Benno gave his gifts. Then the room was cleared and the tea was poured. Benno noticeably straightened up, and his eyes sharpened. But he wasn’t as tense as I expected, hopefully due to my warning.

“I have received reports that you are the perceptive man who first took Myne under his wing. What kind of person does Myne appear to be to your keen eyes? In the temple, she has shown to be a shrewd merchant for having just been baptized, along with displaying a talent for leadership.”

Bwuh? He didn’t say any of that before. I turned to Benno, curious for his answer. If he could preen, he would. He smirked, basking in my compliment as if it were his own. He then went on to talk about my genius nature, which was no less embarrassing now, and warned him I was also generous and naïve. However, I have not displayed either characteristic in Ferdinand’s presence.

“Generous and naïve?” Ferdinand glanced between Benno and I. I was desperately projecting all the training my noble mother had imparted on me while he stared. “You must have a protégé on your hands, to carry out your orders so faithfully while she is able to maintain her disarming appearance.”

At that, we both blinked, confused. “… My orders?”

“She barged into the temple surprisingly well armed with hidden knowledge of the temple’s workings and was able to negotiate her way into the temple all by herself after demanding a meeting on the same day she came by. Almost as if she was given an urgent missive. What I wonder is what you gained out of this.”

He’s mad about that? And he’s blaming it all on Benno! The poor guy was frozen solid under Ferdinand’s glare. He likely thought he was about to be killed by a noble all because of me. This was not how the conversation was supposed to go! I had to fix this.

I cleared my throat, hoping to direct some of his ire away from Benno. He turned to me. His cold, piercing glare pierced straight into my bones. “High Priest, if I may…?” He nodded. “Benno gave no orders. The temple was my own idea, and I had to convince everyone around me to allow me to join. You have seen how much mana I possess. Without the temple, I would die. I only did this out of my selfish desire to live, and be with my family.”

“Family?” He scoffed, his glare turning into disbelief. He never had a proper family all his life, so it was understandable he wouldn’t believe such a reason, but it was true. I glanced at Benno, who took the opening.

“Indeed. Sister Myne values her family, her friends, and even books far beyond words. As long as those are not involved, she is generous and naïve to a fault. You… must have been on the receiving end of her most recent episode. You have my deepest apologies.”

Ferdinand could only sigh. “Indeed, it seems I have. Is there anything else I need to be warned about?”

We all relaxed once he finally dropped the topic. It seemed he was willing to accept it, for now. Only time will tell him that Benno was being entirely truthful about my love of family and books. Benno nodded. “I cannot stress how abnormally weak she is.”

“Yes, I recall she mentioned something about that.”

Benno began to detail my health, and the conversation flowed as it normally should. Fran was given until the trombe hunting season to learn it. I nodded along and made sure to give him an encouraging smile. He had my full support!

“By the way, Benno. I hear some say that Myne is the Goddess of Water to you. What is the meaning behind that?”

“What!?” He had the same reaction, despite my warning. While I didn’t warn him of this exact question, it was bound to come up when talking about my industries.

“I would like to know exactly what eyes you are looking at Myne with.”

Since I knew Benno was going to be useless, I decided to hop in. “Benno is merely my Erwachlehren while I am under the protection of Greifechan. Just as the waters of Flutrane bring about new life to sprouting plants, I have turned the Gilberta company into a rising star amongst the commoner merchants with my inventions.”

I gave a resounding nod. That should clear things up. Instead, everyone stared at me as if I had grown a second head, which was weird. I thought I had spoken quite clearly? Ferdinand should have understood me at least, since I went through great lengths to use noble speech.

He glanced at Benno, who quickly spoke in agreement. “The Gilberta company has dealt strictly with clothes for the longest time. Since taking her in, we have begun to branch out, to the point of possibly splitting off into a new store. In that regard, she is indeed our Goddess of Water.”

“I see. I can understand and agree with the interpretation. In which case, as my final question, I would like to ask about the Myne Workshop.” Everyone sharpened as talks of money began. “Sister Myne did offer a percentage of the workshop’s profits for her entry.”

From there, I let Benno take over. That was his forté, and I wouldn’t have been able to get a better deal than he did. The ten percent “donation” was agreed upon, and we signed a magic contract to solidify our agreement. As soon as I stamped my blood on it, it burst into flames and burned away. The deal was set, and we were free to go once we were dismissed.

“Fran, please take us to the orphanage director’s office. How has Gil been doing?”

“He has been awake since first bell, cleaning. It seems your plan has worked. But it still is in no state for visitors.”

“For this meeting, Benno is acting as merchant for me and will need to inspect the place to see what I need. Particularly the kitchen. I have brought some things, but I’m still missing quite a bit that needs to be specially ordered.”

Fran looked conflicted but ultimately let it pass with a small frown. We made our way to my new place, and it was almost about as clean as it should have been when I first got here. Gil came rushing down once he heard us come in, with Delia following close in second.

“Fran, why don’t you show Benno and Mark to the kitchen? Delia, please wait back upstairs. I will change into my robes shortly.” They all split off, and with only Gil now in the immediate area, I turned to him already looking proud.

“So? How’s it look?”

The floors shone. The staircase sparkled. The heavy furniture had been dusted down and no longer had sheets covering them. I smiled at him. “It looks very clean, Gil. Thank you.”

He puffed out his chest with pride. “Of ‘course it is, ‘cause I cleaned it.”

“Gil, crouch down a little, so I can praise you more.”

“Huh? Like this?” He knelt as told, and I praised him as I patted his hair. He really only needed someone to believe in him. And with this, I hoped he could come into his own once again, and rely on me as his lady. He basked in my praise, and once done, I went to get changed and headed to the kitchen.

Benno was thoroughly inspecting the oven, just as I had predicted. The whole area was clean, but not enough to cook in just yet.

“So, have you found the cook yet?”

He nodded, not taking his eyes off the oven. “They should be here soon.”

“I hope ‘soon’ is not today, Benno. This kitchen isn’t nearly clean enough to cook in just yet.”

Fran nodded. “It is as Sister Myne says. There is still much to clean.” Gil did a great job with the time he had, and while I’m sure Benno knew how clean a kitchen should be, I still didn’t trust the commoner cleanliness standards of this world.

Benno pointedly looked around, confused. “If you say so. In that case, let’s discuss what you’re gonna need."

With that, I filled out supply order form after supply order form. A tea set, utensils, bowls, plates, and such. I even made sure to order some bedding to spare Ferdinand the embarrassment of having to do so himself. I didn’t plan on getting sick on purpose, but I would be staying over the winter. That much was certain. Most things will need to be upgraded later once I’m adopted, but I simply didn’t have that kind of cash at the moment.

Benno also notified me that my meeting with Corinna would be in three days. I could sell a few inventions there.

“Please take me with you this time,” Fran asked. Unfortunately, he had to stay.

“I’m sorry, Fran, but I need you to watch over my chambers. Plus, this is going to be a clothes fitting, so Gil won’t be allowed either.”

“Then, Delia—”

“Absolutely not. I will be discussing secret sewing techniques that I cannot entrust her with.” I could feel Benno glare at me for not telling him sooner, but I ignored him to console Fran. He had visibly deflated. Delia's eyes also widened with surprise at my blatant calling her out as a spy. “Ah, but I do have a gift for you three. These are clothes for going downtown. You do not have to share them, as they are your own possessions.”

They had the same reactions as before. Gil and Delia took their clothes with glee, while Fran stared in amazement. After they put them away, everyone did their part in cleaning up the place, and I ordered some lunch. I also tasked Gil with making sure everyone got fed as part of my plan to reorganize the orphanage. Those children will need to wait until after my chambers are cleaned, as the manpower of my three attendants is woefully small. As everyone was always telling me, I needed to take my time to set the groundwork and do one thing at a time. Only once the orphanage was cleaned up could I find my other attendants.