Myne always woke up early with the rest of her family, but this time, she was dressed, fed, and ready by the time her dad had strapped his sword to his belt. She carried a small box packed with an inkwell and quill, her story, and some accounting work.

"Dad, can you carry me downstairs?" she asked, stretching her free hand out to him.

"Sure," he said, picking her up and cradling her to his chest with one arm. "But where're you going so early?"

"To Benno-san's store. Ralph's helping me with a project I'm working on. It's his day off today, so he has free time."

Her dad grunted. "It's not something I can help with?"

Myne gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry…"

"Hmph. Well, if he gives you any trouble, let me know."

"If you say so, Dad."

They said goodbye to Tuuli and Mom, before descending the stairs. While Myne could've taken them on her own, she didn't mind sparing herself the exertion every so often. Stairs were evil in every world.

Ralph was waiting for her outside. He kicked off the wall he was leaning on and straightened up. He had always seemed tall to Myne, but he seemed to positively shrink under her dad's shadow.

"Hmph." Dad grunted again. "You better take care of her, you hear me?"

" Daaad ," Myne protested, tugging on his shirt.

But Ralph just nodded. "Yessir."

"If I hear a single bad word out of her mouth, I'm taking the matter straight up to your father."

"Yessir."

"Hmph."

After a moment, Dad gently set her down, with a smile completely unlike the glower he'd been giving a moment ago. "I'll be at the gate if you need me."

"I know. Thanks, Dad!"

He gave one last withering glance at Ralph, before striding away. Myne gave Ralph a sheepish grin. "Sorry about him. He can be a bit…"

Ralph shrugged. "It's fine. It's his job to be tough."

Myne wasn't sure about that, but she said instead, "You should see him in his softie-moods. C'mon, let's get going."

But before she could start walking, Ralph stepped in front of her, and gestured to the box in her hands. "I can carry that for you."

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

But Ralph frowned at her, shaking his head stubbornly. "I'm doing myself a favor. Your dad would get mad if he saw you carrying it when I could."

Well, he wasn't wrong… Still, Tuuli had quite the eye for gentlemen, didn't she? Myne thanked him, and he took the box.

She led him down the road. After they passed the streets that would've led to his house or the forest, he asked, "Where are we going?"

"A co-worker's store."

"What's wrong with your place?"

"We could work there, but I don't want my mom to know. This is going to be a surprise gift for her."

"We could go to my—" he stopped himself, the moment where he remembered his own mother visible on his face. "Never mind."

Myne hid a chuckle. She'd also considered using her workshop, but there was too much sensitive information just lying around there. While Ralph seemed trustworthy, she wasn't going to risk any accidents with her magical contracts.

As they crossed from the lower-end of the city to the higher-end, Ralph's pace slowed. His eyes grew wide as he took in the recently-swept streets and colorful buildings, almost all of which had cleaned windows and slates decorating their roofs. She'd been to this side of the city so often she'd forgotten what it must've looked like from someone else's eyes. After only a few months of living in squalor, she'd also been in awe the first time she saw this small amount of luxury.

They soon arrived at Benno-san's store. Myne had purposefully come early before the customers arrived, so only the employees and apprentices were about. Including Lutz.

Ralph tensed when he noticed his younger brother. With his shiny head of golden hair, Lutz was easy to spot as he swept the floors. Myne smiled and waved when he noticed them. This was the first time she'd seen him at work.

Lutz returned her smile with a small one, but it didn't reach his eyes when he walked over to them. "Good day, Myne-sama. Sir." He nodded to his brother, who was still gawking. "How can I help you today?"

"So this is where you learned to talk funny," Ralph said, his voice almost booming in the quiet store. "You going to start polishing my shoes, too, Lutz?"

Lutz narrowed his eyes, but otherwise hid his annoyance. Myne yanked on Ralph's sleeve. " Behave ," she hissed, her eyes darting to the employees who were now staring at them.

The boy's face turned a color that matched his hair, but he didn't speak again.

"Thank you, Lutz," Myne said. "We were hoping to work in the shop, where we could have some privacy."

Lutz caught Mark-san's eye, who had been discreetly watching the scene from behind the counter. Mark-san inclined his head, and Lutz gave a silent nod back.

"I'll escort you to the master," Lutz said to them. "Please follow me."

Wow, if Ralph was a gentleman, Lutz was a prince. The boy led them to Benno-san's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Benno-san called, and Lutz opened the door for them. Myne filed in, with Ralph behind her.

"Myne-sama and Ralph-sama to see you, Master. They are requesting a space to work."

"Thank you, Lutz," the man said. Lutz nodded, caught Myne's eye and gave her a small reassuring smile, before excusing himself and closing the door behind him.

Benno-san set down his quill. "Who's this you brought?" he asked, his sharp eyes looking Ralph up and down. The boy's posture tensed under his gaze, almost as rigid as a soldier's. His cheeks were still red. Myne didn't know if she should've felt amusement or second-hand embarrassment; Ralph was usually even cooler and more aloof than Lutz.

"This is one of my specialists, Ralph-san," Myne said. "He'll be drawing the pictures for my book. We needed a private place to work, and thought we could use your side room. We promise we won't be noisy or distracting."

Benno-san frowned. "You can work at the table instead," he said after a moment, nodding his head at the round table in the corner of the room.

"Are you sure?"

"I insist."

Myne nodded, knowing better than to push too far. He was probably keeping Ralph in view so he could personally vet him. That was expected. She was more surprised he hadn't criticized her choice in picking a boy only a few years older than her as a specialist. But, to be fair, she'd probably desensitized him to young people.

She began to set up the supplies as Ralph sat down at the table. "How much did Lutz tell you about the work?" she asked, taking the seat next to him.

"Just that for each drawing I do for you, you'll pay me one large copper coin."

Myne glanced at Benno-san, but his expression was carefully neutral. She wondered how much he'd berate her for that fee later.

"That's right. I'm writing a story, and I want you to draw the illustrations for it."

"...Illustrations?"

"Pictures. They're pictures showing what happens in the story. I can read it to you aloud, and then you'll draw me a picture from that."

"Like what I did with the page Lutz read to me?"

"Exactly," she confirmed. "But you have to promise me this story stays between us. You can't tell anyone about it, or the techniques I show you." She'd thought about binding this in a contract...but quickly dismissed that idea. She wanted to avoid as many of those accidental death traps as possible.

"Sure," Ralph nodded. "I can keep a secret."

"On your word as an apprentice, and family friend?"

"On my word."

"Good. You know what silhouettes are, right? When you draw the outline of something, and then fill it in with black?"

"Um...no."

"Oh. Okay, that's fine. I can show you an example." She brought out the ink and quill and quickly traced an outline of a person's profile (thank god for how-to manga books), then filled it in with ink. "See?"

"Kinda. I think I can do that."

"That's what I like to hear." She brought out the story she'd written, and read the first page aloud to him.

Ralph bit the inside of his lip, staring into his hands intently as he thought about what to draw. Then he nodded. "Okay."

Myne put the inkwell and quill in front of him. His cheeks suddenly turned red again. "I, uh—"

Myne's eyebrows bunched in confusion, before she remembered. "Oh, sorry!" Ink was a precious commodity; if he'd used anything to write, it would've been with sticks in the dirt or, at most, chalk with a slate. "I, uh, I don't think I brought—"

"Slate's in the drawer," Benno-san spoke up, pointing the end of his quill to the cabinet beside him. Ah, so he was listening. Myne stood up, but before she could take a step, Ralph had already grabbed it.

"You can do a first draft on the slate, and then draw the final copy with ink and paper," Myne said, but he'd already sat down and had gotten to work. He would draw in broad strokes for a bit, then erase the slate with the side of his hand and start over, trying to get used to the silhouette style.

She offered him a few suggestions that he took to heart, correcting his work immediately. After a few minutes, Myne asked, "Did you want me to read you the story again?"

"No. I can remember it."

As he drew, Myne took out her accounting papers and did some of her own work. By the time she'd finished two pages, Ralph had completed his first draft, and had moved on to experimenting with the ink.

"Are you sure you're okay using ink?" Myne asked, after he had blown a frustrated breath. The quill kept dripping splotches of ink on the paper.

"I'll get it," he insisted. A glint of determination she was used to seeing in emerald eyes flashed in his ruby ones. Thankfully, the boy was patient. He moved the quill with deliberation, and was careful to conserve as much ink and paper as possible.

After a while, Benno-san said that since she was there anyway, Myne might as well tutor some apprentices like they'd agreed upon. She accepted, and he passed the word along to Mark-san. Not long after, two boys and a girl a few years older than Myne shuffled in.

She put away her accounting and took out another slate. Her time teaching Otto-san's pupils had given her an idea on how to structure her lessons. She wrote out the alphabet and had the apprentices read aloud each letter. They all succeeded, but stumbled when she gave them simple sentences. A few times out of the corner of her eye, she caught Ralph staring at them, but he looked away before she could meet his gaze.

Teaching Benno-san's apprentices wasn't so different from Otto-san's. The kids might've been better dressed and had more patience, but they were still kids. A little less than half an hour had passed before they were squirming too much and needed to move again. She sent them off to do their work around the shop for ten minutes, before returning back to her. That gave her enough time to read another page to Ralph.

Eventually, Mark-san brought in a lunch tray for Benno-san, and another tray just for Myne and Ralph, its surface stacked with cute sandwiches cut into triangles. Mark-san was such a husbando. Ralph ate four, and would've stuffed one in his pocket if he could've.

About an hour later, Ralph said he'd have to start heading back to help his mom with the chores. Myne paid him two large copper coins for his completed drawings, with the promise of more once he finished the other pages.

She and Ralph finished putting away their supplies. Then she turned to Benno-san. "Thank you for letting us work here."

"You're welcome anytime. Although, I may have to start charging you for the space," he said. Myne stuck her tongue out at him. Ralph looked positively scandalized, but Benno-san simply curled his lip. "Do you need Mark-san to escort you back?"

"No, we should be fine," she said, and Ralph nodded, standing up taller.

Benno-san gave her an astute look, before nodding. That was their cue.

As they left his office and walked through the store, she saw Lutz restocking bottles of perfume. He glanced up at the sound of their footsteps, but his eyes didn't go to Myne. Instead, they fell on his brother's. Ralph's mouth tightened, but he gave a quick nod, and Lutz returned it. A silent message had passed between them; Myne could only hope it was positive.

They left the store without any other confrontation, with Ralph once again insisting to carry her supplies. "Do you teach a lot of kids to read?" he asked after several minutes of quiet.

"Not a lot," she admitted. "Just Benno-san's employees."

He nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything more.

"Did you...want me to teach you?"

He shrugged. "No point, really. I wouldn't know what to do with it."

Read, she thought, with not a little sardonicism. But instead she asked, "What do you mean?"

"Mom and Dad get along pretty good without knowing how to read, and Lutz's just doing it because he wants to show off."

"Really?" she said dryly. "Does he talk about his work at home?"

"Well...no. But he still comes in looking all fancy and...shiny." Shiny. She almost chuckled at that. She'd have to tell Lutz how shiny his hair looks the next time he complained about her washing it. Although, he hadn't complained in awhile, actually...

But Ralph was frowning. "And he's been talking funny, too. It shows."

"That's because his job requires it," she said. "He's taking it seriously, and it does show. Just like how your hard work showed today."

Ralph wrinkled his nose. "But that's not the same. He's doing merchant work. That's all just talk. It's not like working with your hands."

"That's true," she agreed. "But that's not a bad thing. Being a merchant is just as necessary a trade as anything else. You may make goods with your hands, but someone has to be there to not only sell them, but get the word out so even more people buy them. That's what merchants do. It's all about making everyone around you happier, too."

"I guess…" he said, reluctantly. Myne didn't push it, but simply stored this knowledge away for later.

...Never mind the fact she couldn't push the issue even if she wanted to. Ralph might've shortened his stride for her, but the fifth bell hadn't even rung yet, and she was already getting winded. After another block, Ralph noticed, too. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, waving him away. "I do this every day."

Except...maybe this was a bad day. A few more minutes later, she was forced to stop and catch her breath. The days might be getting longer from summer's approach, but her energy didn't seem to be rising with it.

"That's it," Ralph declared. "I'm carrying you."

"No, no, I'm fine."

"I wasn't asking."

Myne pouted. "But you're already carrying my stuff."

"And I can carry some more of you, too. Trust me, you're light as a feather."

She dimly remembered him saying those words to her before. When was that…?

Right. The first time he had carried her. That was also the first time someone other than her family had carried her outside.

Huh. She'd thought Lutz had been the first.

She looked down the long streets they had to go, before finally acquiescing, climbing onto his back. Ralph had sturdy shoulders and tried not to jostle her.

But it still felt strange. Benno-san and Mark-san had carried her occasionally, but she was used to them, and she was used to Lutz most of all.

She hoped he wouldn't mind. He could get a little protective over her health. Myne made a note to herself not to tell him if she could help it.

...She also made a note to herself to tell Tuuli that Ralph had a nice, thick head of hair. No worries about going bald anytime soon!

Myne's Current Account:

+ 12 small copper coins

- 2 large coppers coins

(S) Copper Coin: 23

(M) Copper Coin: 5

(L) Copper Coin: 0

(S) Silver Coin: 4

(L) Silver Coin: 1

(S) Gold Coin: 20

(L) Gold Coin: 4

Total: 60,140,730 Lyons