First Problem: A Director who's more than she seems

Early morning, at the crack of dawn...

The family wakes up early.

'Mom, dad, I gotta go to the forest and amass food for the orphans.' said Myne, dressed up in her casual wear. 'We have to cook breakfast there.'

'Alright dear, be careful because its still dark out there!' Effa told her as Myne disappeared in gold sparkles.

'Looks like she'll be doing this every day until the orphans are self-sufficient...' Tuuli sighed.

'She's now their most reliable person Tuuli.' said Gunther. 'Those little lives are on her just-as-tiny shoulders.' he said anxiously. 'Jeez, what made High Priest decide a kid will do just as well...I hope she gets out of this OK.'

The forest...

Because Myne saturated the forests outside South Gate with all her mana for the past two years, stopping only for her test at her baptism, it is very rich in her mana that the forests will be OK for at least, ten years. That, and bounties will sprout and ripen much faster due to sheer excess and surplus going on.

So in the northern forest where she staked territory on as to leave the forest near south gate for peasant kids, this is where she harvests food for the temple.

Upon harvesting enough for three meals of the day, she appeared in the Temple Kitchens where Orphanage Priests and Priestess awaited her.

'Alright everyone! Until you master all dishes using these forest bounties, I will remain supervising you in the kitchen.' Myne told them. 'Unlike farm ingredients, these fellows are magical, thus requiring different methods of preparation as I told you yesterday. But sadly, those affordable things are beyond us as the funding granted to us doesn't have food included in the list...unfortunately. So after breakfast, I will talk with all of you.'

She separated the adults into teams of three. One pair to cook for little kids(herself included) and a team of six to cook for adults, while Myne herself cooks the baby food. Then a team of seven to bake bread as buying flour and eggs was as far as she can get away with the budget.

She milled the wholegrain flour to fine powder while still retaining its wholegrain qualities for health benefits. She had taught how to bake bread. For adults, its a loaf the size of their hands, while for little kids, half the size. Guaranteeing full stomachs.

And so, after breakfast and helping babies take their pureed vegetable soup(parts babies CANNOT digest magically removed such as fiber)...

'Alright, this meeting is about your future.' Myne told the assembled Gray Priests. 'I was told that your lives are in the hands of Orphanage Directors or the Temple itself if there was no Director. High Priest assured me that I have control over the futures of some of you.' she said. 'Some of you like myself, have Mana thus must remain here if we don't want to fall ill with the Devouring, and have our Mana absorbed by the various tools of the Temple. And some of you are normal people, thus can leave the Temple with my permission after you are educated and trained to be able to live outside as normal citizens thus you must have skills of one.'

'For the Gray Priests with Mana who must stay here, all of you will be MY attendants for as long as I am Orphanage Director.' the Orphans gulped at that as their term of good fortune is reliant on Myne's stay while under employ of the High Priest. 'I submitted the required paperwork to High Priest who is my boss, so all of you can work here safely. Your duties will be as usual, while helping me care for the little kids while still attending my classes.'

'Now then...I hear that girls called Rosina and Wilma are literate and educated? You two come forward.' Myne instructed as two girls came forward. One with her hair loose and the other in an updo! Was she pregnant young and luckily spared the culling for being pregnant and already given birth before executions?

'Your history with Sister Christine works in my favor as I am just one person and there are four dozen people here if we take three of us out of those numbers. I will take my fellow kids as students. Rosina will take the adult Gray Robes with Mana as students and Wilma those without Mana. Our first subjects to teach will be literacy and numeracy. Without mastery of both, we cannot proceed to the next subjects.'

'Once we master your letters, mastery of good penmanship and numbers, all of you will have Cooking Lessons from me as well as Self-Defense lessons and physical training. Then after that, Rosina will teach her students Manners and Etiquette as well as Noble Euphemisms and duties expected of an attendant, and what to expect in the Temple as she knows what kind of people the Blue Priests are there before Sister Christine's departure, I will try to wrangle music lessons from my boss somehow so when you become Temple Attendants in the future, you will be valued and unharmed for your abilities in arts, but I can't promise anything as instruments are expensive, but an Attendant's job is also to entertain.' she told them.

'As for the students without mana, regardless of age, I will teach skills a man and woman must have, so when I make you leave the Temple when you are of age, you can get by. For children my age, your goal is to leave this temple at age 15, while for adults, you will understandably leave when your education and training is complete.'

'Physical Training and Self-Defense will come next year, as all of you are feeble from lack of food. You need to get stronger first.' Myne told them. 'For as long as I am Director, everyone will eat well, be my attendants unless...stuff happens, and you will be capable after education.' she promised them much to their delight. That as long as Myne is director, their lives will have a period of Golden Age, so to speak.

As long as Myne is Orphanage Director, everyone here, is her attendant thus they will not leave the Orphanage. They will clean and manage the Orphanage, and the children.

Thus their routine began, after Myne's Fealty Ceremony.

Morning is dedicated to lessons after breakfast. The goal is to master as fast as they can Language and Math. Then one hour before lunch, cook and eat lunch. Feed and clean babies. There's four newcomers while the months before her baptism, poor babies died, alongside twenty toddlers ages 3-5.

Toddlers in question died simply for being useless compared to toddlers with Mana who actually got food and water, but like them, no clothes nor bedding. The children were treated like livestock and only the 'ones with breed' were kept. And these kids with Mana are the illegitimates of the Blue Priests!

Myne also does her work as Blue Priestess come afternoon.

As she was a newcomer, she was required to learn other things a Blue Priestess must do, other than fork her Mana over. That and she has to donate money or items too once in a while. All Blue Priests are obliged to donate to keep the temple running.

Her tutor was Fran who teaches her what Rosina teaches, and Ferdinand teaches Myne politics, her situation, how to do the other things that required Magic, and reporting to him about her plans and what goes on in the Orphanage. That's how her afternoon goes before dinner.

'...Music Lessons, is it?' Ferdinand twitched which Myne took as a bad sign.

'How expensive?' this was her question as she knows how medieval times worked.

'...beyond Temple Budget as budget was severely cut due to too many nobles dying out from The Purge. The Aub thus is meticulously managing taxes so our budget comes from there from hereon.' Ferdinand told her and she looked resigned and accepted. 'A Harspiel costs 9.5 million lions. You cannot gift a Harspiel to all orphans with your annual budget.'

The Orphanage Budget was called 'Divine Compassion' in the Temple's Accounting Category. The Orphanage Annual Budget, was 50 large gold coins. Enough for supplies needed by the Orphanage with spare change way left over. If basic needs are accounted for such as supplies and repair costs. But the excess was no thanks to how costly Gray Priest uniforms are. Those uniforms are criminally-expensive. Material and Embroidery made with finest fabrics and thread!

The reason the annual budget was 'lacking' was because previous directors prefer to buy high-class goods. That's nice and all, but take into account how many people need goods enough for a year! Rich people have 'first-world problems' indeed!

But with Myne dismissing 'normal orphans' when they come of age, costs of Gray Uniforms were slashed out...as long as she is Director, that is...

'Rosina was granted such privilege by Sister Christine as she was from a rich family who can afford both an instrument and lessons from an expert. And Sister Christine is very wealthy, befitting archnoble status, as well as her father and mother being unusually kind to people beneath their statuses. She was here due to harassment from his legal wife as she was way better in regards to studies, looks and competence than her own children and her mother didn't live long as Concubine.' Myne clearly, wasn't amused. Harassment, sabotage, poisoning or assassination...yep, she understands.

'Ah, the good die young indeed.' she sighed in dramatic lamentation. Ferdinand and his attendants choked at her morbid words.

'But still, you still have a way to educate the future Temple Attendants with your own techniques. So you will study music hard under me, and pass on these lessons in your own way.' Ferdinand advised her. 'If you want those in your care to have better treatment should their future as Attendants come, you must be a high-level player yourself.' Myne nodded in determination.

'Understood. After everyone is educated, my future purchases may seem strange to you but they all have significant purpose.' Myne promised him.

Ferdinand waited until the Orphanage is done with letters and numbers two months later as its a common sight to see classes outside writing on the ground with sticks.

The thing was, while Temple Attendants learned manners and their duties, unless they have a kind master, they can't read or do math that the Orphanage Priests, once a dreaded existence that they'd do anything NOT to be dismissed, now find them envying them.

And now come Autumn?

'Permission to go to the farms?' Ferdinand was curious after end of classes. 'What for?'

'Pork Processing Day for Winter Stockpile of food.' Myne piped up. 'We will make potted meats, sausages, smoked bacon and the like as there's no vegetables in winter, thus we can only have bread, cheese and preserved pork. We need enough to last the whole orphanage in winter.' she emphasized. 'A whole pig costs about 100.000 lions per animal and to feed the whole orphanage...I'll buy twenty pigs which we'll process as well as about fifteen gallons of milk which I'll process into cheese here weekly as milk and cheese goes bad quickly and milk is very cheap, merely 50000 lion per week for weekly needs. Poor folk don't have cooling methods that we're reliant on winter's natural coolness so Food Preservation it is and these Preserved Foods last up to half a year minimum while unopened potted meat lasts two years, thus will remain fresh all winter.'

'Mm...as long as they are not wearing Temple Uniforms I will permit it.'

'Ah, I got them clothes and shoes off the cheap fabrics I bought, we can pass by as typical commoners.'

'...Submit a Report on Winter Necessity Costs tomorrow on paper after our afternoon lessons tomorrow, before I give you a week off for Pork Processing Day.'

'Yesssir.'

Next day, Ferdinand got a list regarding Winter Costs.

Lamp Oil Ingredients and tools needed and sources.

Wall Lamps needed for installing throughout the orphanage, and the kind that can switch between oil-lit fire and candle fire at a moment's notice. And Carpentry Service for this one year only unless repair is needed.

Candle Production Ingredients and tools needed and sources.

Hygiene Product Ingredients and tools needed and sources.

Pork Processing Necessities, products and shelf life both chilled and not.

Milk for Soft Cheese to last winter and she can make soft cheese with magic. Must be made occasionally as again, Orphanage does NOT have a cooling magic system unless permitted to make one. Milk and Cheese spoil easily.

Sacks of Flour and Eggs for bread and sacks of grain for porridge for baby food.

Winter Handicraft Materials and costs for boys and girls as well as her own, as she still helps her parents out other than her 'classy salary'. She has a Craftsman and Merchant License from the Merchant's Guild as she sells her work to Gilberta Corp. The orphans will learn to make crafts for extra income as well, thus she arranged for them to get licenses too. That was unless, they are chosen as Attendants. Otherwise Orphanage Priests will craft Orphanage Necessities from scratch.

Repair Costs - this was by far the cheapest as Myne needed metal parts she can't make out of wood as long as she is Director.

Summary of Costs - Funds = Remaining Annual Budget.

All these using the cost-efficient ones she knows. But there was a footnote that Medicine for Illness is an unknown variable so not included in her summary as one has no idea when they'll get sick, an illness that wasn't the Devouring like colds, etc. So the remaining budget leftovers will go to 'Illness Issue Reports'. Doctor hired, Services and Medicine costs thus annual budget leftovers will be under tight lock and key, accumulating incase someone needs Surgery if things were that bad!

Again, too detailed and she wrote it in person. Her handwriting is also very neat for her age which puts most kids her age to shame, though for the Heading of her report, she used magic and ink. And at the edges of the paper was basically border art!

The heading at the topmost center of the paper was: Orphanage Winter Expenditures. And on both sides of those three words, is the symbol of the Orphanage as well as that of the Director's Stamp laced with her mana to provide legitimacy of the report to the Aub. Once the report is finished, she duplicated the whole thing with spare papers and ink, and stamped two more times. One for herself, one for Ferdinand and one for the Aub... 'whoever that was' as she doesn't know the name of their Aub, thus simply refers to him as 'Aub Ehrenfest'.

'...that kid really made this?' Sylvester was perplexed as he got his copy in his office at home. It looked way too good for a seven year old, even a trained one in penmanship!

'Mm.'

'...just what IS that kid? She's way too...impossibly competent for her age and knows too much in her own way.' said Sylvester, perplexed. 'She can't be normal! My own son, no thanks to being extremely spoiled away from his own parents can't even do a report like this!'

'Should I investigate using magic tools?'

'Please!'

xxx

'...is that so?' Myne's eyes took on a strange glint as Ferdinand talked to her about what is to happen as he poured a potion down a glass, and prepared two circlets. A matching pair. 'You may not like what you will see though...as they say, a mind is a scary thing to see.'

'...its out of necessity as indeed, you're way too competent. Are you like this at home?' Ferdinand asked her, handing her the wine glass with potion in it. She checked before drinking with a spell, and lied down on the couch after a minute.

'No. I had to hold back to what my new parents teach me while I can go all out here in my own way.' Myne smiled mysteriously. 'If you can't sleep tonight, don't blame me.'

Were her ominous words.

When she fell asleep, Ferdinand used the paired circlets to enter her mind.

She has way too much Mana for her age that it took him quite a while to synchronize with her mind.

'Myne? Can you hear me now?'

'Yes.'

'We will begin with your background.'

He was shown a countryside...full of crude shacks.

That was just the beginning.

Myne was originally a girl called Ai. Her family lived in a village wherein they worshipped nature itself, and sacrifices one seven year old girl a year to the mountains for bountiful harvests. Her life took a dark turn when she picked a dead butterfly and it came to life in her hand. Since then she was treated as a freak and ostracized. Only her parents and cousin loved her after that and her family lost their friends too for their freaky child. When she turned seven, everyone was quick to point at her, when it was normally a draw of lots to be fair.

But her family plotted and hid her away after she was left in the mountains to die. They hid her away from the village in a small shack her cousin found, and delivers her her needs weekly. It worked for seven years, but as if fate was against them, the farms suffered famine...and one day, their childhood friends got curious as to where her cousin was going off to...and discovered their secret. A mob was formed. Her parents seized and she was captured and brought before the mountain's sacred tree where a pit was dug. Two men murdered her parents in front of her for 'being sinners'.

Sentaro was punished by the village elder coldly to kill Ai himself and bury her. Ai who trusted Sentaro hoped he would choose her over their cruel village...but he hit her on the head with a shovel and pushed her into the pit, and buried her while she was still alive. Her hatred and grudge caused her to become an Onryo, a vengeful ghost, nearly a demon and rose from her grave, and her hatred enabled her to wield cursed fire born of her grudge and burned her whole village, mad with hatred singing a childhood song coldly, unaware she burned their souls too, before she returned to the tree to mourn her parents.

For wielding those cursed flames, she was punished to become Hell Girl by Hell. Do it, or her parents' souls wanders forever! Ferdinand can't really define being skeletons trapped in tree roots as 'wandering', more like, they're there forever in captivity!

Then Ai lived for 400 years, answering the grudges of tormented victims and punishing those who harmed them. But for calling her service, they too, are damned to hell when they die. She was forbidden to show her emotions nor express. Her horrible job breaks her heart as she's seen many, many sins, victims and the sinners. She ferries the sinners to Hell after making them face their crimes...and years later, ferries her clients. She eventually took in three spirits as her assistants who stayed with her for all those years, loyal to her.

The first was a carriage wheel that gained sentience after witnessing the tragedy of a princess forced to marry a scumbag through blackmail, but she fled with her lover instead but the carriage met an accident...and it was where the wheel monster gained his life and Ai took him in. Not long after, a sword who lamented his existence...and the third, a Courtesan who was betrayed and killed, becoming the demon Hone Onna or Bone Woman.

Wanyuudo and Ichimokuren were Tsukumogami or objects who gained their own spirits after at least, a century in existence or in Ren's case, bathed in too much blood of innocents no thanks to his scumbag of a wielder. Thus he hated abuse of women and domestic abuse in general.

Ferdinand witnessed what's basically millions of people dealing with her over eras, who their targets are, what for, the motive and various ways humans can really be horrible which horrified even him.

Myne's warning made perfect sense now...that her mind is a horrible thing to see.

Then her numbed heart made her meet a man who heavily resembles Sentaro four centuries into the future. She remembered his betrayal, bringing to life her hatred anew. For showing her rage, Hell took her captive and it was her turn to go for punishment, but she has had four centuries' worth of practice and gaining strength that she broke free and tried to convince the man's daughter to send her father to hell by showing her what happened to her mother.

Apparently, the man was too much at work. His wife got lonely in their marriage and started seeing a man...yep didn't end well and she was driven to suicide. Poor kid was horrified but she refused. So Ai took them to her former playground as a child where she tried to kill both. Her retainers tried to cool things down until they got to a temple called 'Temple of Seven Sending'...a temple Sentaro built out of his grief and guilt for Ai. His strong feelings caused her to see the past of the temple, that she forgave him and found peace...after burning the temple. When she let her hatred go, her parents' souls were freed.

She continued being Hell Girl. She could quit now that her parents are safe, but she has no successor, and the system must continue. Unfortunately.

When she was older, Tsugumi, Sentaro's descendant was next due to her unique powers, but she was skipped over as she had no potential to use Flames of Grudge as Ai herself. She has the ability to see Ai and her missions as she was Sentaro's descendant. So the next was a girl called Yuzuki Mikage whose life was just as bad...and her soul was 'made to grow' to fourteen years old unaware she was long dead by Hell. There's apparently a set age for Hell Girls? Ai was fourteen when she died. Yuzuki died a child but her soul 'grew' to '14'. But Yuzuki was a Failed Hell Girl and Ai had to save her by becoming Hell Girl again so Yuzuki went to heaven.

The girl that allowed Ai to finally retire, was ten year old Michiru Sagae. Michiru was able to use the Flames of Grudge as well though she lost her memory upon becoming a wandering ghost, no clue who she was...but she was a kind girl...who accepted being Hell Girl. Seeing her as an ideal successor, Ai lost her powers and post, becoming a normal ghost, no longer an Onryo either. Her retainers encouraged - read:BEGGED - her to pass on while she had time as they feared Michiru will screw up making her take the work again!

Ai then passed on with their blessing, her fourth retainer Yamawaro staying with Michiru as support, while Wanyuudo, Ichimoku Ren and Hone Onna took on human aliases and decided to live normally themselves.

Then waking up as Myne in their world...and her life onwards to present day, adjusting to being a normal peasant girl again. Having a normal happy family again and trying hard to be normal while helping out on the sly. Four hundred years of emotional suppression, punishing targets and collecting dues was hard to overcome. But thankfully being a child helps her out. Myne thus has high hopes for her future as a normal human again after surviving Priestesshood and politics in her post as reasonable guardian to orphans.

Ferdinand has no idea what to say to everything he's seen.

Took a while for Myne to wake up, enough time for him to write a report with a footnote that,

'Please burn this afterwards. This must not fall into wrong hands.'

Sylvester grimly did so, after reading the whole thing and buried his face in his hands.

That report was summed up suffering of a girl. How was she still sane?