Crabby Trees and Bubbly Money

Because Maine shot up in height and health, she and Turi are now sharing clothes. Eifa had to make dresses real quick for the girls though Tuuli gets the new ones and Maine gets her old ones.

Maine can now do more work that when Winter ended though the snow has yet to melt...

A sign that Paru Trees have gone dormant is when all snow is GONE.

So now, by the end of winter, things changed.

Maine is now making soap. A lot of soap to sell while the Paru Soaps are theirs to keep.

Soap-making, basket-making, foraging with her older sister and her friends...

The thing was, they're all baffled with 'the new things' that showed up.

'Psst, Main, do you hear?' Tuuli whispered.

'Still do.'

'Never heard of a sickness that lets you hear voice of food afterwards...it's baffling.' Tuuli scratched her head. 'Anyway, help?'

'Ahaha, OK!'

In the forest were species that got the kids baffled.

Fruits, Plants and Mushrooms Maine has known in her life as Komatsu grew alongside ones the kids were used to picking.

The mere idea of more food to eat excited them after Maine taught how to prepare them because 'she hears'.

They then came across a Crustacean Meat Tree.

'Now what's this?!'

'Oh, we'll need help plucking them off...' Maine sweatdropped. 'So let's ignore that for now...and gather what we can eat today and for crafts.'

xxx

Gate Guardhouse...

The kids told Gunther about the tree they need help in.

'A tree like that exists?!'

'Yeah! This way!'

Upon back at the Crustacean Meat Tree...the soldiers hacked some branches off and pried it open...

'It tastes like crabs! This is the tastiest crab I ever tasted! Holy smokes!' Otto exclaimed in delight. 'Even when raw it's delicious I can't imagine it cooked!'

'Huh? It is?'

'Taste it! I can eat this all day!' they cracked open other fruits and lo!

'So what about this crabby tree?' Otto asked, perplexed. 'The orange ones taste like Lobster while the lighter-colored ones is crab!'

'Just one fruit is sufficient to keep a family happy for a whole day, but eat sparingly or you'll get sick.' Maine quipped. 'Your heartbeat will be too fast, you'll feel light-headed and get difficulty breathing, so one meal every three days is the safest for adults who are over 30s while adults younger and kids like me can enjoy it normally. But for elderly, only one meal once a week or krrrk!' Maine drew a line at her throat with a finger, causing the guards and other kids to pale.

'Yikes...'

'It can be eaten as is, or steamed or boiled. Steam it for 20 minutes but in boiling, boil the water to bubbly first, put the fruit in, and wait three minutes to get it out of the water so its tricky to use in soups as overcooking it turns it to crabby mush.' Maine piped. 'It grows fruit every three months but once it does, harvest immediately to make more room for new growths and when plucked off the tree, they last three weeks before expiring otherwise with less space, less harvest when ripe again.'

Needless to say, the guards harvested everything and brought a lot to their own homes while the boys happily gathered what they could by the armful.

Back at the Guardhouse...

'Leader, your kid can hear voices from plants?' Otto asked Gunther.

'We never knew until she got better from her illness and heard the voices from our grocery shopping.' said Gunther. 'All her life for five years, she was in bed with a high fever and in so much pain.' Gunther grimaced. 'She can't even eat much. Even eating or drinking causes her pain.' his subordinates balked at the mental image. 'But lately ever since the Pink Light Incident, she got better and can live a normal life since though that came with that ability.' he said. 'I think somehow she got hit by it which was lucky since making all these weird food aside, it cured her too.' he said in relief. 'I thought she'd be in pain forever until she dies young.'

'Yikes...she's OK now right?'

'Yes. She's now exploring the world beyond the bedroom, joining her sister and the boys on foraging.' said Gunther. 'Its a normal life for Maine now, thankfully...a salary of 1 Large Silver isn't enough to pay for a doctor you know! Consultation alone is half a year's worth of my salary!'

xxx

'A girl who can hear voices of plants?' Benno asked his brother in law, perplexed and disbelieving over a dinner of Crustacean Tree dishes.

'Yes, ever since she recovered from her painful fevers.' said Otto. 'In bed all her life since birth she was small and stunted as eating and drinking hurts her too.'

'I see...that means she knows how to use every plant and can determine which is useful and which is not and which is poison.' Benno mused. 'There are still many unknown things in this world and that girl is key to broadening knowledge. Some things are still beyond us such as medicine and food. We know very little ourselves and to think we have education.' he grunted. 'Watch over that kid through her father Otto. I'll look into who are enemies and who can protect that kid while bringing her to our side. For business of course.'

'Ahahaha, spoken like a merchant.' Otto chuckled. 'We'll watch and see. When she turns 7, she's now legal enough to work for us!'

'Yes, so keep her existence quiet!'

xxx

'YUMMM!' at home, dinner was that very crab meat with extra side dishes.

'It's Official! Maine's future job is a Chef!' the family exclaimed as they happily ate Maine's cooking.

While Maine teaches her mother and sister cooking by 'following the voice's advice', they listen eagerly as their ability to read and write was limited, sadly.

They're not wealthy enough to afford an education. So knowledge is by word of mouth for the poor.

For the family, Maine's gift brought precious knowledge to be passed on mother-to-daughter if their daughters has daughters of their own one day.

Foraging quickly became a favorite activity.

xxx

One month before summer...

'Phew! We stored enough soap for selling!' Maine declared as the soap took up a lot of space.

Merill Soap and Vanillove Soap is good to go! And they have 1000 of each to sell. As for Vanillove flesh and seeds, they were too ruined from oil harvesting beyond edibility, so they usually dump it.

The Merill soap will sell for five Medium Coppers and the Vanillove Soap will potentially sell for six Large Coppers.

The thing was, while they're not Merchants, they're allowed to sell crafts but Soap, is another thing entirely.

Because Maine is not baptized yet and her parents have no license to sell Soap...

Gunther used his connections to ask questions as the soap bars in question aren't even labeled nor packed. Its just crudely a bar of soap. But they will say that Eifa made it to hide the fact an underage kid made it or they'll get in trouble.

'Wow! This is the first ever soap that smells so nice that the not-rich can afford!' Otto exclaimed as he smelled the soap. 'We'll try the bars at home before we can agree with the pricings.'

'Alright, but we have hopes for that you know!' Gunther told Otto who promptly ran home with the two bars.

xxx

'So with Maine's ability, they're able to craft soap that smells this good huh?' Benno mused as he sniffed the soap. 'I agree with the prices but what of the costs so we can compute the Commissions?'

'Well, they just forage for it, not buy it so it took them this long.' Otto shrugged. 'They can't even label it as their literacy is limited.'

'Too bad. The price of these things can potentially go up if wrapped and labeled.' Benno sighed. 'But alas, paper is expensive. Most soaps in the market are unwrapped even the rich buy it as is. Well, if they have no costs on their part other than foraging for it, we can sell it.' he said. 'Commissions will be 50%. We have 1000 each of the two types. If the green one is five medium coppers a bar, the total profits will be five large silvers. Split between us, that'll be two large silver and five small silver. And if this pink thing is six large coppers...it'll be six small golds so that's three small gold coins each of us.'

'That's huge!' Otto squawked, his eyes bulging. Benno's grin was vicious.

'It is, isn't it?' he said. 'Well, consider a partnership between us if this hits off!'

xxx

'...so that's the verdict.' Otto squeaked to a pale-faced Gunther.

'I can only DREAM of touching that money!' Gunther choked out, feeling faint. Maine's soap costs THIS much?! 'But at least we have a stable livelihood now!'

And so, the parents took the soaps to Gilberta Company.

Given how much they'll end up having, the two parents freaked at touching a gold coin that they requested that their shares be in innocent loose change to avoid being stolen from.

It was a justified fear.

'Very well.' said Benno as this was indeed, beyond the imaginations of the poor folk. 'So your total shares of 3250000 Rions will be in 300 small silver coins which is equivalent to 30 Large Silver with the remaining 25 small silver be in Large Coppers so that's 250.000. Will that be OK with you?'

'That's safer even if its heavier at least.' said Gunther. He prefers small change at least.

'Consider it a deal done.' said Benno. 'But before we sell these things, we need to get you two a License to be Producers so you can enter a partnership with a Merchant which in this case is me, so you can sell your products through me.' he said. 'Its safer this way. I'll deal with the old bastard, the Guildmaster so here's what we'll do so we win in the end...'

xxx

'Phew...being in a Guild is rough. Its politics!' Gunther gasped as he and his wife came home. 'I'm just glad we're Producers and NOT Merchants!'

'No kidding...but at least we earn bigger than our salaries now.' said Eifa. 'But its still impossible to move into Central Square area.' she said.

'Yes. Let's focus on comfort for now.' said Gunther, patting his wife's back. 'We live on the fifth floor. Rent costs 1 SS a month. The rest can be to better the things we own before we can think of relocating to a better place. That's a start.' he said. 'We best get budgeting soon to prepare for the money. Once Tuuli and Maine are at least, 15 and 14 in that order, we've surely earned more money by then, we can relocate.'

'That's true...let's visit the market so we'd know what we can and can't have in a month. And we need a workshop so we have larger room and that means more soap...'

'Benno's offered us a workshop for the girls to work in. Costs 2 SS a month but it's a small one but roomy enough if we have shelves and more molds...I'll have to make some.'

xxx

'Our job lately is to gather lots of oily fruits huh?' Tuuli mused as they gather what they could off trees back and forth until their storage room is full, before they can forage for food and firewood.

'Ahahaha, we've got a big deal after all.' Maine chuckled. 'To think soap is this kind of big deal...'

'Really, go out more.' Tuuli sweatdropped.

'I'd want to but I'm busy creating family recipes and menus.' said Maine. 'My job at home is the chores and cook since you're training to be a spinner and weaver before summer hits and that's like, two more months from now.'

'Mama got promoted too...she's now on the Tailor's Floor.' said Tuuli. 'Her salary is the same as daddy's now.'

'Sou ne and daddy has yet to get promoted...I wonder how to be promoted as a Soldier anyway.'

"Hmmm..." Maine mused. "I've seen how the guys train..."

That night, Maine poured ideas into a magic ball in their bedroom, and put it on her parents' pillows, set to work only on her father, not her mother.

Combine that with healthy eating and their father is eating a lot lately...yup. He'll make waves that he'll get promoted eventually.

xxx

'Hey mama...how come the cloth isn't bleached white?' Maine asked her mother who just finished Tuuli's dress on time.

Its an unbleached cloth sewn into a one-piece dress with a clean silhouette, decorated with embroidery.

'Well, its a Temple Requirement that children wear untreated fabrics. Washing is OK, treatment not OK.' Eifa explained. 'Untreated fabrics like these symbolize purity and coming from nature while the bright yellow shoes symbolize the children walking to the path of light and good. As for the embroidery on the collar and hem of the sleeves and skirt, it basically tells the priests what kind of child the wearer is.' she told Maine. 'And the colors of these symbols must stand out for the priests to clearly see.'

'Oh...knowing through symbols?'

'Yes. We parents are taught these symbols after marriage.' Eifa smiled. 'Soon, you and Tuuli will know these symbols when you get married so I'm not going to say anything! Tradition and all!'

'Jeeeeez...' Maine pouted. 'Well, I better work on something too for Tuuli's big day!'

'Oh? What will you do?'

'A hair ornament! Too pricy to buy one so I'll make one myself!' "Nono used to do stuff like these on her off days and I've seen how she does it..."

With a knitting needle for thread and not yarn, Maine began making flowers and leaves but the problem was the hairpins themselves...so she badgered her father into making her some. Some small ones and some just right.

What took long, was the decor itself.

On Tuuli's day...

Tuuli took a bath early that morning along with the whole family, smelling strongly of Vanillove Soap. Tuuli's dress and blue sash was washed in the same soap two days earlier.

Upon arriving home for dressing up, Maine styled Tuuli's hair using the ornaments she worked hard on with their father.

'S-seriously?!' Eifa and Gunther gaped.

'Huh? How do I look?' Tuuli asked anxiously at her parents' reactions.

'You look like a rich girl!' Gunther exclaimed. 'Maine, her hairstyle is something the rich would wear!'

'Its like a fairytale of a princess wearing commoner clothes!' Eifa giggled. 'It's too cute!'

Tuuli's hair is parted in the middle, and half her hair is styled in two loops on both sides of the head. The bottom loop is secured with a hairpin with the remains of the unbleached cloth 'tied' securely to the hairpins as a 'skirt' under the bottom loop. Then the upper but slightly-smaller loop is secured with the flower hairpins. The rest of her hair was down.

'I-I'm wearing a rich hairstyle?!' Tuuli squawked. If only they owned a mirror, she'd see how she looked like, darn it! She wanted to know!

'Why not? It's only once in her whole life.' Maine shrugged. 'I'm going to do my hair too on my big day.'

'Haaa...I'm glad I wasn't roped into a meeting today...I dodged the arrow with my promotion!' Gunther said in relief. 'I was promoted yesterday to the Logistics Division, people in charge of equipment and supplies so I don't have to guard anybody and there's a big Nobles Meeting today! I can attend Tuuli's procession!' he said cheerily.

'Logistics? How much is your new pay now?' the two girls asked.

'It's now three large silver!' Gunther looked very happy. 'Combine that with our new sideline, we'll be OK in the long run! We have a lot to celebrate about!'

They got out of their apartment to join the other kids outside their apartment where Tuuli was praised for her looks...

...and was it her or were the boys looking at Tuuli with pink faces?

'Daddy, the boys are pink in the face looking at Tuuli.' Maine tugged on her father's shirt looking as innocent as possible, knowing fully her father's overprotective nature will kick in. 'Why?'

'They're a hundred years TOO young to look at your sister OR you that way?!' Gunther sputtered while Eifa had to leash her husband by pinching his ear gently as a warning.

'Don't you start dear. Wait until we go home, will you?'

As they walked a distance behind the children, all windows are open, congratulating the procession.

Sadly they can only be up to the fountain.

"Living in a medieval world has its charm I guess...I was too used to automated and mechanized everything." Maine thought as she looked at the wooden and carved stone houses and cobbled roads.

And when they reached the square's fountain where by then, kids from other districts arrived as well, in their baptismal outfits.

But really, how come nobody else took a bath on their special day?

Or was it because poor folk just don't care and never bothered?

'Hey mama, daddy...how come seven year olds are baptized only now and not when we're born?' Maine asked her parents. 'And how come seven year olds are only considered born today?'

'Well, seven is an auspicious number Maine.' said her father. 'And summer is a month of life and warmth.'

'So...we're not considered alive for six years of our lives until today?' her parents gaped wide-eyed at her at such a morbid question. 'That's kinda upsetting.' Maine frowned. 'Not considered alive until you're seven so to the priests I'm considered 'not born yet' even if I'm out here?'

'Um, Maine, that question is a little creepy...' Gunther squeaked. 'Be quiet now.' he pleaded while frantically glancing nervously and nearby adults were just as weirded out.

'Psst, is that kinda question a little kid should ask? That's scary.' someone whispered to the parents from behind.