Third Problem: Wardrobe Issues

That winter, Gunther's troop learned the importance of taking a bath.

Because Myne told him NOT to tell about the Paru Oil's abilities for skin and hair, the soldiers did only normal hot water scrubbing on themselves with normal fruit oil solution. End result, Gunther's troops under him also got a pay raise.

For Effa on the other hand, rather than lose her job, she had to tell, when Corinna got wind of her skin and hair and she got called to her office.

Because peasants are uneducated, they cannot lie either. They don't know how to begin with. However, they CAN keep secrets.

'Bring your daughter on Earthday when Spring comes.' said Benno, Corinna's older brother. Effa nodded before she was dismissed. '...your employee's daughter is an intriguing kid.' Benno frowned.

'How so?' Corinna asked her brother curiously.

'How can a lifelong-ill child, come up with such things while bedridden all her life?' Benno wondered. 'Myne came to the conclusion that to be better, her home should be clean. She figured out the solution that makes hair clean and glossy out of coarsely-filtered fruit oil, hot water and salt. Unless you're educated in science, you can't figure that out.' he said. 'For a five year old to stumble upon it is something else.'

'...'

Soon, a new year came.

The fabrics are woven.

Tuuli and Myne grew up a lot that things got tighter for both girls now. Forcing Effa to teach Myne how to measure and sew, so she can focus on the arduous job that was Tuuli's labor-intensive Baptismal Dress due to all the embroidery going on, clothes embroidered with the divine color of the season they were born, but in patterns that tell the tale of a child's life with their family. Because Gunther was a soldier and Effa a worker for Gilberta Company, Tuuli's patterns and no doubt same with Myne someday, were reminiscent of triangular patterns in fine embroidery work in various shades of blue threads...resembling spear points.

Green for Spring Goddess Flutrane, Blue for Summer God Leidenschaft, Yellow for Autumn Goddess Schutzaria, Red for Winter Goddess Geduldh, and White for the God of Life Ewigeliebe. That's what the girls were taught when Myne asked.

Both Tuuli and Myne are born in summer, just one year apart. They don't do birthdates here like mm/dd/yy. It's just seasons here no matter what month and day. So on every first day of what season, is everyone's birthday which is the day they were baptized as children. There's also four seasonal baptisms hence. So Myne saw three processions of children from the bedroom window last year.

Summer is the season of the god Leidenschaft, the God of Fire. He presides over summer, growth, and strength. His divine instrument is a spear, and his divine color is blue, which symbolizes the vast sky. The hem of their dresses, sleeves and collars must be embroidered with divine patterns with fine needlework.

Myne inherited Tuuli's old clothes, while she has to sew Tuuli new clothes.

Using magic to predict how big Tuuli will be come end of summer, she made measurements in her mind and began working...

'Myne, isn't that collar too big?'

'Tuuli will grow more. Might as well make adjustments now so no effort wasted come summer...'

That got Effa thinking.

'Now that you mentioned it...you girls grew big too fast...I better re-adjust too.'

So they did. Tuuli focused on weaving fabric the entire time after Paru-harvesting mornings...but when spring came, symbolized by no more random snowing or blizzards, Paru no longer showed up. But Tuuli and Gunther will always get four Paru every day without fail, one fruit per person to consume.

It was a magical rejuvenating fruit that heals the body's organs...that keeps you alive despite malnutrition.

However, it does not clean up years of plaque from years of too much salt in soups, which Myne cleared away from her family's blood vessels and arteries, and healing her parents from atherosclerosis, so their blood pressure now is forever normal. The food here also helped big time, as everything here, gives 100% RDA of everything a human body needs in terms of vitamins and minerals. But as they can't afford seafood like fish and shellfish, some things...understandably lacked.

Her parents 'lost years' in looks, that they look younger than their age, and lost weight in a healthy way, shown in their much firmer skin now.

Myne focused on one-piece dresses, after she saw Tuuli's old things she now inherited. She had those to work with to model after, with more modern tastes, but 'needs help' in application of zippers. When spring came, Tuuli has new dresses that were a tad too long by standards. But Tuuli has 'Forest Wear', a dress she will wear ONLY during foraging as to not ruin her other dresses. It was in the color of 'traffic cone orange' and a dark brown vest so she's easily seen in the forests to avoid accidents.

This is also so Myne will inherit decent outfits afterwards.

It was also in Spring, Earthday that Effa took Myne to work after breakfast.

'So this is Myne.' said Benno as he looked at Myne.

She would be a future beauty. Glossy dark blue hair in an unusual style(hime cut) and very white skin because she never stepped foot outside. He has seen commoners and how filthy they usually are, but she and her mother are clean. He never understood why commoners haven't even THOUGHT of bathing or washing their clothes? They reek so bad and so filthy its impossible to promote them that highly-paid jobs are sought after but they have no clue how to get promoted.

Filthy people cannot be put in important occupations where rich customers would see them! They would lose customers if they see filthy people with terrible bad odor working in their public areas!

'Myne, be good to Mr. Benno OK? I need to cook dinner at home. I'll be back for you in two hours.'

'Yes mom.' and Effa politely dismissed herself.

Benno thus, has questions for this kid who is more intelligent and sure of herself than most kids her age. This is seriously someone sick all her life...?

xxx

'So, how is the kid in question?' Otto, Benno's brother-in-law asked him as after dinner, their family of three met.

'Effa's daughter...is incredibly smart and somewhat resentful.' said Benno dryly. 'She resented her frail health that she was denied a normal life and looked for ways to get better. Any change will do. She could hardly eat yucky-tasting food as she puts it due to too much salt. So she had her mother cook the way she imagined it by pretending a sickly short person did it, so Effa tried her method. It became a soup a sickly girl can now swallow, and she slowly got better. Next was watching people on the streets. Some filthy like herself and family, others clean, and had a long thinking to do.'

'She began sweeping the floor, ending up collecting a mound of dirt as tall as herself, she had her mother chuck it all out.'

'Yuck!' Benno's sister and brother-in-law choked out in disgust.

'Why don't they clean? It's safe to assume all peasants don't by how most of our workers look!' Corinna squeaked out in horror.

'Myne said why...they're too focused on earning money that nobody has time to clean.' said Benno. 'A family salary of 160000 silver is too small. Monthly rent plus food means they hardly have full stomachs that her older sister Tuuli forages for food in the forests outside and they hardly own clothes as clothes are too expensive that they make their own by weaving fabric from scratch, and sew up their own that families tend to have one new outfit per year, and younger siblings inherit severely-patchworked hand-me-downs. Judging by stories, all families with a 2 large silver income and less all do that. There's no time for bath, housecleaning and laundry work. That never crossed their minds as a fuller stomach is more important.' he said. 'Not that we blame them, who wants to go to bed hungry?'

'So Myne who was too short and too weak to go out foraging, took on careful cleaning where she could reach and got real strict with the floor she worked on that shoes are now left by the doorway. She scrubbed things her height level. Seeing this, her parents took care of the walls to match the floor to better protect their fabrics on their loom from dirt...and Myne managed to persuade her family to scrub themselves clean and wash their hair...and do the laundry. End result, they got promoted by their supervisors. Her family enjoyed a better life after, all because they got cleaner, now having a total salary of three large silver when Effa was twice-promoted.'

'I see...so that family was unwittingly saved by their youngest daughter's zeal for good health in the end.' said Otto. 'Captain also became a really delicious cook as we're all required to live in the gate barracks in winter to keep security tight. He told me his family likes his daughter's 'sick child method' when I asked. I once peeked how he does it...all soups always have Ranie cut into thin slices(onion), sliced Mehren(carrot), chopped Potatoffel, Smimosa herbs and diced Rigar without fail. Then other vegetables are added with leafy vegetables last before serving in five minutes, anything will do.' he described. 'We then add chopped sausages into our soups when squires serve us from Captain's Pot till it's safe enough to eat without hurting our mouths. It's luxury!' he exclaimed. 'Our leherls and lehanges certainly enjoyed themselves, our squad became the envy of all squads stationed in South Gate.'

'He doesn't scald the soup anymore. He carefully removes the very reason we scald the soup; that nasty-tasting frothy thing that bubbles to the surface. Then he adds only a handful of salt in that large pot to feed our squad and constantly stirs it while removing the scum that rises on top till no more comes out. End result? Insanely good. I never had such delicious soup my whole life I thought delicious things are only in the reach of nobles.'

'Hooo?'

They tried it out and whoa...it's really good! They tasted what umami is for the first time and saw color in their usually pale-looking, bland soups. The sweet-savoriness of vegetables enhanced by a little salt, was a huge change to their usual salty or vinegary soups.

'W-we deny ourselves of this deliciousness through scalding?!' Corinna choked out as they and their servants were in aghast. 'That's it, we're doing the Sick-Child method from now on!'

Needless to say, Benno's Family and their servants and their families now enjoy delicious soups since.

The Sick-Child Method or Myne Method after the girl who discovered it, is known only to Gilberta Corp and families of chefs under their employ...under a strict contract of course. Business and all!

Days thus went by.

It wasn't just Tuuli's entire closet...Myne also made her parents new clothes out of fabrics Tuuli weaves for her to use. Because they learned how to weave(Tuuli only due to height issues), sew, embroider, crochet and lacework(both girls with the latter two being 'Myne's discovery whims'), they're becoming future beauties in their own right learning under their mother. But when snow fully-thawed out, sewing and housework became Myne's full-time job.

First day of Summer...

'Phew, we made it in time!' Gunther chimed as Tuuli's big day is coming up.

Due to his past as a craftsman before choosing the bigger-earning soldier profession, he was able to make a comb for Myne to attach 'flowers' she made onto with glue with great care, for Tuuli's hairstyle. Decorative comb, was a team-up gift between Gunther and Myne, while Effa gave Tuuli her sewing kit for her trade in the Tailor's Guild as an apprentice seamstress. She was able to score 'a good position', being beautiful and clean.

And Myne got a new knife from the parents as she now inherits Tuuli's job of foraging the night before the Big Day.

'Since Baptismal Processions are done early in the morning right after breakfast, Tuuli should scrub and wash her hair after dinner tonight.' said Effa. The previous earthday, the bedding, was seriously washed. So the family can sleep on a clean bed after 'scrubbing'.

This is thus important on the approaching days of Tuuli's big day.

So next day after, early morning after washing their face, Tuuli wore her baptismal dress, new shoes and Effa styled her hair before setting in the floral comb created by her husband and youngest daughter. It was Myne who prepared breakfast before having Gunther do 'the tall person's work' for her after he came home, buying bread, and a large bird off of Deid's Family, the father of the boys Tuuli was friends with.

'I got lucky not to be assigned today to guard nobles during a conference.' said Gunther, oblivious that his daughter had a hand in 'cheating' with the lottery.

A month before summer, Gunther was anxious.

Every year, there's a lottery to be fair to everyone as some can attend their child's baptism, some can't during seasonal conferences. For six years, Gunther didn't mind...until this year, fretting and hoping he gets lucky to have a holiday on Tuuli's big day. So Myne subtly cheated on his behalf and her father was overjoyed he got the good draw.

The large bird, was for celebratory lunch of course.

Down below?

Neighbors have their kids out.

The difference was the other kids still have dirty skin and greasy hair despite their clean baptismal outfits and shoes. Tuuli was the only one clean through and through!

Families thus waited outside the temple until it's over.

This was also Myne's first time of expanding her...very small world. She saw what's beyond what she can see, from bedroom and storeroom windows.

Meanwhile...

When Myne's family got close to the temple, a certain High Priest with pale-blue hair and light-gold eyes received a vision.

A young girl carried by her father outside the temple was in his vision, and a reminder of last year's 'mana explosion incident'...and visions urging him to take her in as a Blue Priestess come baptism under his supervision.

"This must be a sign of the gods." he thought. He will see that girl someday, so he made preparations...