The Orphanage
Myne found herself sitting at the office that's now hers in the Boys' Wing, reading a book on what she needs to know about nobles.
Upon seeing the appalling state of the Orphanage, she was horrified.
The two with her couldn't help them due to being bound in Politics and needed someone to trust to do these children right.
The Orphanage was filthy. Children STARVING and skin and bones, desperately asking for 'Alms of the Gods'!
Gods, her ass, they come from nobles who just can't be bothered! That these childrens' lives are at their whims!
'...how soon do I run my test so I can get started immediately?'
Thus her Magic Level Test was run in front of the whole temple.
She has all elements that her mana glowed rainbow colors, and...broke the measuring instrument.
'...maybe it needs fine-tuning?' Myne croaked out. 'It must be old.'
'Worry not, a new one can be made.' Longhair chuckled nonchalantly with a handwave. 'Its rare to break it twice. Someone did it before you.' he reassured her. He then faced the shocked priests. 'This is the person I trust with the Orphanage as Orphanage Director, directly under the protection of Aub Ehrenfest!' he declared with authority and in a manner as if saying, 'Do you dare to defy me?'
Doesn't help that all blue priests are kneeling before longhair on one knee, hands crossed over their chests in deference nervously. So in regards to Noble Status, this guy must be so high up! Then again, Blue Priests have no status or anything...outside the Temple nor inside when a True Noble is around.
Her first day straight after baptism was filling the Divine Instruments up with her mana as the Blue Priests had already offered theirs that morning. Even then all of them amounted to a glass of mana each up to a jug. Too little to even be a Laynoble in some cases.
She was able to fill up all Divine Instruments and still have spare to give.
But at least, she didn't have to go 'Mana Burst' in the forests any more but she would still have to, out of necessity. To feed every peasant family in Ehrenfest. That, and Paru Trees bore more fruit than everyone remembered!
But for now...she needs to clean the orphanage up.
Naked skeletal children from malnourishment lying in piles of straw and their own excrement and urine that three of them cringed and gagged, appalled from the conditions.
There were no caretakers left. Literally.
Due to Civil War years back, as well as a number of deaths of Nobles, some Blue Priests who were ahem, 'highest levels the Temple can give' were taken back to Noble Society to preserve bloodlines. They took with them their attendants.
Those left behind? Overworked in the temple, looking after the Temple with overload work, that there's no time to care for these kids! And there's no one suitable to be Director!
'...I have a lot to do.' she swore to her employers. 'Their lives are literally, in my hands. This means I can run this place however I want with your blessing and funding...but who do I solely answer to in the Temple?'
'Me, because Orphanage Funding comes from me.' Ferdinand told her. 'You answer to no one else, unless its part of rituals.'
He told her about her job scopes.
As a Blue Priestess, she must:
-Dedicating a small amount of mana to the Divine Instruments all year long. That means monthly or weekly depending on need to stave off Mana Excess and prevent the illness the original Myne had - The Devouring. But she already filled up the Divine Instruments after measuring her full levels to showcase her worth that made her worthy of protection from a high-class noble that touching her WILL get them in trouble...so for one year, she is exempt from various rituals in her first year of work.
-Dedicating large amounts of mana during the Dedication Ritual.
-Perform religious services outside the capital at the Harvest Festival in their assigned provinces.
-Perform the Spring Prayer in their assigned provinces.
-Go to noble's mansions to perform baptisms, if selected.
-Assist the Knight's Order by performing the Healing Ritual after a successful trombe extermination.
Thus with her remaining mana, she cleaned up the filthy orphanage, and took a number of Gray Priests with her as muscle, after requesting 'she borrow a magic tool that will enable her to use her magic to keep secret she can use magic WITHOUT a tool'. Because she needs to create wooden containers, furniture, cookware and dining ware along with OTHER tools and items she can make out of wood! 500 per item as that was how many people are in the orphanage of ALL ages. The rest must be made with other material thus she must buy those with orphanage funding. Thus after logging a lot of wood to bring home, she began crafting.
Ferdinand supervised her work due to being in possession of a highly-valuable item so he came along in person...and lo. He has never seen such techniques with magic before! He was speechless.
That, and she was able to gather as many foraged fruit and vegetables by sheer will alone, and ordered someone to buy salt and vinegar for her. Her last act for her first day, was teaching the Gray Priestesses how to cook PROPERLY.
'I cannot believe you were left to fumble around and hope you get lucky in absolutely everything! How irresponsible and incompetent is my predecessor I can't even laugh at this morbid joke!' Myne swore in exasperated frustration.
Thus when the unemployed Gray Priests and Children got their bowl of soup with their bowls so full...they all cried tears of joy.
Their new Director cleaned up the Orphanage with her magic thus no filth nor stink remained.
Since she can do what she wants with the whole orphanage...she can train them.
xxx
'How is her first day?' longhair, a.k.a Sylvester Aub Ehrenfest asked Ferdinand.
'...she logged several trees down with magic and when we brought all that wood home, processed the wood by drying it instantly for safe use, before crafting tools, furniture and items that can be made with wood, and cleaned up the orphanage as well as amassing forest edibles. She spent half of her remaining mana left on crafting and asked me if she can train the orphans the fine art of foraging to supplement them and not rely on Divine Gifts any longer as if the orphans wait for any, death will come faster than the Trickle System.' Ferdinand sighed. 'The children no longer sleep on a pile of hay. Rather, they all have beds filled with hay she 'finely chopped' and stuffed into cloth she crafted into a mattress and pillow. The bedding of the adult Gray Priests are also changed.'
'As for furniture? The way she made it it looks like expensive work, which she polished and removed the smell and even baby-proofed to avoid injury to youngsters from sharp corners and edges. She says she intends to use the annual budget to make the Orphanage habitable by human beings instead of a pigpen and educate them herself.' Sylvester whistled at the level of tasks a seven year old decided to shoulder.
'Hooo? That's a rather big task on those tiny shoulders...then again, your visions are coming to life soon.' Sylvester grinned. 'Let's watch the show. But still, I'm curious about the li'l missy...so I'm still thinking of how far can she go and how capable she is. Yet your spy's reports made her seem like a normal girl in a normal family...but still, commoners are actually so busy!'
'Yes. I have seen what young boys and young girls actually do at home.'
They never imagined that commoner children are adept with cleaning, cooking, crafting and foraging skills as young as six years old. Yet them at that age...in terms of survival, the wealthy and nobility will DIE without a servant...unable to do even basic of basics to survive on their own.
That got Sylvester worried for his only son Wilfried who was spoiled silly into becoming lazy and arrogant by his grandmother.
And he is an Archduke Candidate at that! He cannot be weak and a puppet! Sylvester has many regrets regarding everything caused by his mother and he hopes to rectify what he can.
Now how to go about this?
xxx
'...wow, you're studying at home now...' Tuuli croaked out as Myne brought home books.
'Yeah. I have to learn how things came to be in my new job.' Myne sighed.
A Civil War happened when Tuuli and Myne and their friends were born.
Prior to the conflict the second prince had been established as the heir and had already finished making his own copy of the Grutrissheit. When the previous king died however, the second prince also died even before he could be coronated.
In the resulting power vacuum the first and third prince's competition for the throne escalated into open conflict, plunging large parts of the country into open war.
Although the first prince was ultimately defeated and killed by his younger brother the third prince, in turn the third prince and his entire family were murdered by an assassin who was sent out by the first prince before his demise, who poisoned their food.
Because Klassenberg was the home of the third prince's wife, the duchy put its support behind the fifth prince. Meanwhile, those who had supported the first prince moved to support the fourth prince. The conflict dramatically intensified between the fourth and fifth princes.
The fifth prince Trauerqual won the struggle and became the current Zent. His first and second sons, Sigiswald and Anastasius, became heirs to the throne, while the son of his third wife Hildebrand was raised to became a vassal of whichever of his older brothers would eventually ascend to the throne.
Embittered after the long struggle, the new king immediately enacted a large-scale purge against the fourth prince, his immediate family, and the web of nobles who had provided him with support.
With so many nobles dead, the survivors began working to fill the gap that they left behind. They began adopting noble children who were high in mana, marrying more, and reaching out to estranged family members, including those in the temple.
In order to ameliorate the critical mana shortage, many of the blue priests and priestesses young enough to enter the Royal Academy were recalled to their noble families. They were able to obtain schtappes and begin lives as full-status nobles, a privilege which would usually be unheard of. After that, many blue shrine maidens too old to go to the Royal Academy but young enough to get married were also called home, where they were placed in political marriages and had children.
Eventually, there was order to send all remaining priests and priestesses with significant mana to the Sovereignty's temple to address the mana shortage there. As a result, many middle and lesser duchies suffered a near-total loss of all clergy with any degree of mana. Only those with the bare minimum of mana remained.
Ehrenfest's temple lost about half of its blue priests, leaving the only those with the least amount of mana. As a result, Ferdinand became the High Priest not long after he entered the temple. Despite having very little seniority, his education and mana capacity made him the only qualified candidate.
With drastically fewer donations from the noble families of the priests, the temple began operating in the red. Gray Priests were sent back to the orphanage due to lacking blue priests to serve, and the orphans suffered from a dwindling supply of food.
The High Bishop sold about thirty Gray Priests to reduce expenses and earn extra income. Most of those sold were priestesses, in hopes of limiting the number of new births in the orphanage. He also began executing any gray priestesses who became pregnant from their duties of 'Flower Offering'. As a result, the youngest children were left largely unattended and the then Director hardly did her job and more interested with lining her own pockets and her own interests - whatever that was. The youngest ones soon died.
The critical lack of mana, money and personnel were the main reasons Myne was accepted as a blue shrine maiden about a year and a half later. Today.
After the civil war and purge, the subsequent mana shortage caused serious problems throughout Yurgenschmidt, the land ruled by their Zent.
Lack of food supplies, personnel to keep the country afloat, among those other things.
'So how is your first day? You had to start immediately.' Effa asked her second daughter.
'Abysmal and my predecessor is a hedonistic incompetent idiot.' Myne grumbled. 'I have so much to do. The current situation is no joke and I have to hurry before children died.'
'Died?!' her family yelped.
'Yes. Like I said, my predecessor is worse than useless and the temple severely understaffed.' Myne sighed, closing the books. 'I will be the busiest Orphanage Director in its entire history.' she grumbled. 'I cannot go home on foot to protect your identities as my family as there are people who resent that a commoner is made a Blue Priestess when normally, nobles can only be Blue Priests. Orphan Commoners can only be Gray Priests and priestesses. I can't even be seen in public anymore so I will use magic to go home and to work. I was told to tell you that in streets, pretend we're strangers.' her family choked at that.
'Is that so...nobles are troublesome indeed.' Gunther sighed, unhappy with his daughter's dismaying words. But as safety is on the line, they have to go through with it. Unlike Myne, they have no protection. And they will attack Myne through them and she will be helpless against that which she explained to his wife and eldest.
Indeed, Myne can no longer be seen in public around them for their own safety.
xxx
The Temple was abuzz.
Myne, the Commoner Girl taken in as Orphanage Director with high-level protection means she will be a Blue Priestess, an unheard of precedent due to them being severely understaffed and lacking in mana, thus they need someone of her caliber as those needed died in war or taken back by their families to maintain their bloodline.
Her importance was such that any attempts to harm her will be seen as a treasonous action as it counts as harming the duchy thus any who does, will be put to death as she is worth more than any of them as status is based on mana and it will be inevitable that she will be adopted in her future into an Archnoble's Household due to her immense power. She is capable of filling the Divine Chalices and Small Chalices to the brim with mana to bring to the entire duchy to bless the land. And she is still not winded nor empty yet! She didn't break a sweat! And Ferdinand who registered her used a Silver Disk, not a medal usually granted to commoners which was hint to her future as an adopted noblewoman under intense protection.
The first one to break the measuring tool, was Father Ferdinand the High Priest when he came to the Temple to aid in answering Mana Shortage the Civil War caused.
Her first act as Orphanage Director was to clean up the Orphanage with magic using a magic tool she borrowed from High Priest and was supervised in its usage, along with logging down dozens of trees to craft into expensive-looking furnishings, tools, equipment and containers by sheer will alone as well as brought a large amount of food over. She then placed orders for several rolls of fabrics and other things needed to fashion into clothing and things she cannot make out of wood. All that on her first day!
Thus they sent their attendants to inquire on the new changes.
'That little miss actually cares about us!' they said. 'She cleaned up the Orphanage spic and span and replaced all our furniture and we tasted delicious soup until our stomachs are full for once in our lives!'
A full stomach.
That was something Gray Priests never tasted as they were reliant on Divine Gifts from the Temple back when they were Orphanage Gray Priests that they worked to become Temple Attendants to have a somewhat-better life. But even then its their master's leftovers. Naturally they'd rather have it than share it as the leftovers barely fills their tummies too. Vested interests for the sake of survival. Some felt guilt, some don't.
But seeing those happy, satisfied faces and hope lighting their eyes...got the attendants wondering after reporting to their masters about the new situation.
That it seems, its their turn to have it better.
