Tuuli’s Baptism
...If only I could have fired those clay tablets in the hearth and preserved them. Haaah. I really didn’t expect them to just explode like that. If only I had a knife like Tuuli, I could make some mokkan.
I was banned from making clay tablets after they exploded in the hearth, and while I was stuck thinking about how to proceed with bookmaking, Tuuli turned seven.
It was customary in this world to throw large celebrations for one’s seventh birthday. Or to be more precise, birth season, rather than birthday. A large baptism was held at the temple each season and all children in the city turning seven would go there to be baptized. They’d be able to work as apprentices after that, so I suppose one could say they were joining the workforce. I felt kind of uncomfortable about a religious event being mandatory, but when I thought about it like the shrine visits I’d go on in Japan as a child, it felt more natural. Weird.
Since children under the age of seven weren’t allowed to enter the temple, I couldn’t watch the baptism myself. But neither could Dad. In a stroke of bad luck, Dad had a meeting on the day of Tuuli’s baptism that he just couldn’t avoid. The meeting had been ordered by an archnoble, one of a higher-ranked family in noble society, and thus his head would literally fly if he didn’t go. Literally?! Really?! That’s scary!
And yet, despite that, Dad had been complaining since morning, showing no signs of going to work. “Don’t wanna. Who cares about the meeting. This is Tuuli’s baptism, y’know? Why would I care about a meeting on a day like this?”
It was true that Tuuli’s baptism was a very special day. I imagined that the noble had children of his own, so I didn’t get why he wouldn’t be understanding of the situation. “Wait. Do noble children not go get baptized?” I asked.
“...I’ve heard that they don’t go to the temple. They summon the priests to their home. Nobles don’t understand how we commoners feel.”
I had been enduring his complaining since I imagined he just needed to calm down a little, but he had been going since last night and just wouldn’t stop. Do all worlds share how annoying a daughter-obsessed father gets when he misses an important day with his children? I sighed while diligently combing Tuuli’s hair from the middle outward.
“Dad, I’ll go with you, so don’t skip work. We can go with Tuuli on the way there. And anyway, only children get to go inside the temple. Parents have to wait outside in the plaza.”
He would probably feel better if he tagged along and saw Tuuli mixing with the other children in her dress. And yet, even with that suggestion in mind, Dad kept up complaining.
“It’s a father’s duty to wait outside the temple.”
“Isn’t going to work and making money a father’s duty too?”
“Ngh!”
“I’m done with this. If you don’t want to go to work with me that much, you can go on your own.” I let out a hmph, causing Dad to look my way with tearful eyes full of sorrow.
“...I’ll go to work with you, Myne. But I’ll go right back to the temple plaza once the meeting’s over. We’re definitely gonna celebrate tonight.”
Tuuli couldn’t move her head while I was braiding her hair, so she looked at Dad with just her eyes and smiled. “Geez, Dad. I know that. We’ll definitely celebrate together. And I’m really excited for it, so hurry home.”
“Yeah.” Tuuli’s smile shot Dad’s mood into the heavens. I could only clap my hands in awe of her angelic power.
And then she made a request to me with that smile still in place. “Myne, keep an eye on Dad and make sure he goes to work, okay?”
“Leave it to me! I’ll work hard so you can relax and go to the baptism.”
“Wha, Myne?!” Dad’s pitiful behavior finally made Tuuli burst into laughter. She had a nice smile. With this much overwhelming love thrown her way, she wouldn’t feel lonely even without Dad waiting outside for her.
“Okay, done. You’re looking super cute, Tuuli.”
“Thanks, Myne.”
I had braided both the left and right sides of her hair in a half-up style, finishing things off with her hair ornament. It consisted of the tiny lace flowers I had made over the winter and looked like a bouquet. The variety of colored flowers suited Tuuli’s dress and her bright, soft personality.
“My my, Tuuli. She really did pretty you up.”
“Wha... Mom?”
As she was going to the temple with Tuuli as well, Mom was wearing her best outfit. It was a simple, light-blue dress that stopped right above her shoes and gave her a dignified look. To think that a simple change of clothing and crimson blush from crushed red plants would make her look so much more beautiful. Wow... My mom’s got perfect genes. She’s like, an absolute beauty.
“Mom, sit down. I’ll braid your hair too.”
“No need. I would stand out too much if you did my hair like that. Tuuli and the other children are the stars of the show here, not me.”
“...Okay.” My intention wasn’t to make her stand out, and I didn’t think braided hair would change Mom’s look that much, but oh well. I didn’t know what the other dresses would look like and there was the chance that I went too far. I jumped off the chair I had been standing on to braid Tuuli’s hair. “Okay, let’s go.”
I took my tote bag to bring to the gate and left home with Tuuli. Dad, wearing his work clothes, and Mom went with us. Mom could normally walk at a steady pace no matter what she was carrying, but today she walked down the stairs slowly while holding her skirt up with her hands to prevent herself from accidentally stepping on it. Tuuli learned from her example and lifted up her skirt a bit while taking each step. Thanks to that, I somehow managed to be faster than them and exited the building first for the first time in my life.
“Wooow...”
There were tons of people in the plaza surrounding the well. I heard that the entire city celebrated the baptism together. Lutz and Ralph, who had finished his baptism in the spring, were both outside despite having nothing to do with the event. Our neighbors were coming out to congratulate the stars of this season’s baptism. I had always been too sick to go outside much, so today was the first one I had ever seen.
“Congrats, Fey.”
“Looking a lot more manly, dude.”
The pink-headed Fey had his baptism today as well, it seemed. He was wearing white clothes with green embroidery just like Tuuli, and his shirt was held in place by a diagonal green sash.
Okaaay, I get it. Right. Now I see why being good at sewing is important. All these clothes were home made, so one’s skills were being put right on display. Sewing skills were never that important in Japan, and even in this world I wore raggedy clothes most of the time, so I never understood it when Mom told me that being good at sewing was required to be a beauty.
I never knew since I didn’t have a point of comparison until now, but my mom really was great at sewing, I could see why she was so proud of herself. I hate working with needles, so I guess I’m pretty much guaranteed to never find a boyfriend or get married here.
“Wow, Tuuli! You’re so cute!” Lutz’s mother, Karla, slapped her cheeks with overwhelming surprise after seeing Tuuli and complimented her in such a loud voice everyone in the plaza heard. Immediately, everyone’s attention fell on Tuuli and words of praise flew in from every which way.
“Congrats, Tuuli.”
“Your hair’s all braided and it’s super cute, like a princess’s.”
Tuuli blushed with embarrassment at Karla’s praise and smiled. Her white dress and green hair, with the light forming a halo on it due to the style of my braid, fluttered around her. Mmm... Our Tuuli really is an angel. I can tell why Dad’s such an obsessive parent.
“Myne worked hard to braid it for me.”
“Oh goodness, Myne did that? To think she’s good at something other than weird cooking.”
Mrs. Karla... That’s just mean. Despite feeling depressed on the inside, I was a little relieved too. I might have been totally useless around the house, but I did have some skills that even this world valued.
“This looks really complex. How do you tie it together?”
“Let me see too!”
Women and girls of all ages peered toward Tuuli’s hair. Aaaah! They’re just simple braids, don’t stare at them! I didn’t have a proper comb, so the parting lines are kinda messed uuuup...
“That’s so nice, Tuuli. My baptism’s this winter, I wish I could have my hair braided like that too.”
Once one girl let out a jealous sigh, cries of agreement rung out. People just kept saying “me too, me too” with no end in sight.
“Myne, everyone wants you to do their hair. I think that’s a great idea.” Tuuli happily suggested that I braid everyone’s hair, but I shook my head immediately.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I could get sick at any moment. This is the first time I’m even seeing a baptism, remember?”
I hated to disappoint Tuuli, knowing that she wanted to show off her little sister, but I didn’t want to braid the hair of a bunch of girls I didn’t know each baptism. In the first place, none of them would end up with braids like Tuuli’s. None of them took proper care of their hair, just like Tuuli didn’t before I came around. I especially didn’t want to start cleaning and maintaining the dirty hair of strangers I didn’t know.
“Oh, okay. You’re healthier now, but we really can’t tell when you’ll get sick. That’s too bad, I wanted everyone to know how amazing you are.”
I really wanted to grant Tuuli’s request since I was generally a useless waste of space, but this was physically and emotionally impossible for me.
“...I could braid your hair while they watch, at least. But I won’t promise to braid their hair myself.”
“Yeah, okay! Dad always says not to make promises you can’t keep, right? Everyone! Myne said she could teach you all how to make braids like this!” Tuuli, satisfied with my compromise, went ahead and planned a future gathering by the well where I would show them how to do the braid.
I really hadn’t expected my simple braids to get so much attention. Now I knew why Mom declined to have hers braided too.
“So, what about that hair ornament? Who made that?”
“Myne.”
“No, Tuuli. Our whole family did! Mom and I made the flowers. Dad made the hair stick part.”
Lacework was so rare that even Mom didn’t know about it despite being such a talented seamstress. The older ladies here were fascinated by it.
“Hey, Myne. Would you teach them how to make these too?”
“I could, but they’d need to make thin needles first. Plus, Mom would be a better teacher than me. I’m not as good at sewing as she is anyway.”
I wasn’t the most social person out there, and I ran the risk of saying something weird due to my lack of familiarity with this world. Who knew what I should and shouldn’t say to the moms around here. It would be best to just keep my distance and avoid accidentally exposing myself somehow.
Clang, clang, clang... The temple’s bells rang three times. Whenever the temple in the middle of the city rang its bells, the ringing echoed throughout the entire city. All of us who’d been making noises around the well fell silent for an instant. And then, someone let out a cheer. “It’s time! Let’s go to the main street!”
With the kids being baptized in the lead, we walked onto the main street and saw other groups all doing the same from other alleys. A group of kids wearing white clothing was going from the edge of town to the temple in the center. The group walking consisted of those being baptized and their family, with everyone else watching from the sides of the street.
...This feels pretty familiar. The way people on the sidelines waving and cheering as those on the road advanced forward made it feel just like a marathon. Distant cheers grew louder as the group of kids approached where we were. I looked to Tuuli, who was right beside me, and saw that she had kind of stiffened up with nervousness. I stretched as far as I could and poked Tuuli on the cheek.
“Wha? Why?”
“Smile. You’re cutest when you smile, Tuuli. Believe me.”
Tuuli’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled like she usually did. “Geez, Myne.”
“That ain’t right, Myne. Tuuli’s the cutest even when she doesn’t smile.”
Aaah, what am I gonna do with you, Dad?
Soon enough, we saw the front of the crowd. In the midst of the loudest cheers, clapping, and whistling yet, I saw plenty of kids wearing similarly white clothing. Some had bright smiles, some looked uncomfortable, some looked smug, some looked nervous, but they all walked forward together. Tuuli and Fey stepped forward out of our group of onlookers. They walked forward briskly, watching the group of kids, and then joined in the back. After confirming that they had safely joined the group, we and Fey’s family joined the group of families further in the back.
More and more kids joined bit by bit as we crossed intersections. I had no idea how huge our group would be when we reached the center of the city. Some parents were already teary eyed from emotion just from walking with the group. For example, Dad.
I jogged a bit to keep up with the procession, walking among the loud cheers with everyone else. Since the cheers were coming from everywhere, I looked around and saw people watching on from the windows of their houses, and I even saw some people tossing small white flowers our way in celebration. The flowers drifted down as if they were coming from the blue sky itself. The children in the front let out happy cries. I was so short that I could really only see the hands of kids reaching up to try and catch some of the flowers.
The group stopped after reaching the fountain where the main roads connected. The kids from the other roads joined together, swelling our numbers enormously all at once. This was as far as Dad and I could go.
“Wrong way, Dad.”
I took Dad’s hand, stopping him from walking with the group to the temple, and pulled him away from the group. We walked to the side of the road and joined the onlookers so as to not get in anyone’s way.
“Tuuli...”
“Geez! This way, Dad.”
Once the group passed, the onlookers began heading home. We followed the others and headed to the southern gate with Dad turning around multiple times, regret in his eyes.
We’re not going to be late, are we?
“Captain! You’re late!” Otto immediately called out to us with a sharp look once we reached the gate, then sent Dad to the meeting room.
I would be using my slate to learn words just like always. In a pleasant surprise, today he was going to start teaching me the names of commonly traded products so that I could read the material ledgers that merchants would show to identify what they were bringing with them. The names of these products were the first words that were actually relevant to my daily life.
Today’s words all had to do with currently seasonable vegetables. It was easy to learn the words for vegetables often used in cooking like pome (a tomato that looks like a yellow paprika), vel (red lettuce), and fisha (green eggplant), but it was hard to mentally picture the vegetables I hadn’t eaten before, so they took longer to learn. I really wish I could go to the market to match the words with the real thing. Butchers are still too much for me, though.
As I was practicing my letters alone, a relatively young soldier rushed in holding paperwork.
“Do you know where Otto is?”
“He’s in a meeting right now.”
“Oooh, that’s right! Crap...” Apparently, today’s guard couldn’t read paperwork very well.
“Do you want me to read it for you?”
“Wha? You?”
“I am Mr. Otto’s assistant, you know.”
He looked at me very suspiciously. But I couldn’t blame him, since I definitely looked too young to be literate. I was used to looks like his. In any case, I had only offered to help out of kindness, so I didn’t mind if he didn’t want to show it to me. Which seemed to be the case, so I dropped my eyes back to my slate and returned to studying.
“...You can read?” asked the guard, looking surprised after seeing me start writing on my slate.
Whether or not I could read depended entirely on what kind of paperwork it was. I hadn’t memorized everything yet. “Ummm, I can read inquiries and letters of introduction without issue. I can read the numbers on material ledgers, but not the products listed.”
“Okay, this is a letter of introduction. I’d really appreciate your help.”
Noble letters were annoying to read due to how indirect they tended to be, but if you stripped off the purple prose, nothing that complex was written. Person X was introducing Person Y, and they needed Person Z’s seal. That was all you needed to discern from them.
I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with the scent of parchment and ink as I ran my eyes over the letter. Aaaah... The gate commander is in the meeting too. Since this is a letter from a laynoble, a lower-ranked noble, I think it should be fine to have the one being introduced wait until the meeting is over.
“Ummm, it looks like this is an introduction from Baron Blon, and the person is headed to see Baron Glaz. The commander’s seal is necessary.”
I returned the parchment while reminding myself how Otto usually did his job. Even I could do this job once I had the instruction manual memorized.
“Please have the merchant who brought this wait in the room for laynobles. Tell him that the commander is in a meeting with an archnoble and he needs some time before he can give his seal. I think Baron Glaz’s visitor won’t be pushy about this.”
“Thanks. That’s a big help.”
He tapped his chest twice in salute, so I jumped off my chair and returned it. At some point, saluting had become second nature for me while working for Otto. Mmmm, at this rate, I think I might accidentally end up employed as a secretary here. I had intended to make paper and open a bookstore before my apprentice work next year began, but I had stumbled and there was no end in sight.
I went back to work studying words on my slate, and soon Dad rushed in. “Time to go home, Myne.”
“Um, a second ago, someone...”
“You can tell me on the way back. Tuuli’s waiting.” Dad put my slate and pen into my tote bag and hoisted me up before walking out with his stuff. I started slapping my dad’s shoulder, caught off guard by the pace of his walking.
“Dad?! Um, come on! I have a report...”
“We’re outta here before Otto sees us.”
“Wait! I really have a report for Mr. Otto!”
While we were in the midst of arguing, Otto caught up to us.
“Ah, Mr. Otto. A merchant with a letter of introduction from Baron Blon to Baron Glaz came. Since the commander was in a meeting, I had him be taken to the waiting room for laynobles. Please take care of this as soon as possible.”
“That’s the kinda good work I expect from my assistant. Great job.”
“She’s my daughter,” said Dad, making Otto sigh and rub his temples.
“My skilled assistant, I give you an important job: Go home with this captain immediately. He was so antsy during the meeting that an archnoble glared at us and thereby shaved years off my life.”
“...Dad, you need to treasure your life more.”
“Otto’s telling us to go, so let’s not keep him waiting.”
I let Dad carry me home, and that night we had a family celebration for Tuuli’s birth season. My internal view of celebrations involved cake, but we didn’t have anything like that in our home. The only thing I could make with our ingredients was an attempt at french toast.
I had Mom cut the fairly hard multigrain bread into slices, which I then covered with milk and eggs that I got by exchanging recipes with Lutz’s family. It was finished once Mom cooked it with butter. Since we didn’t have sugar or honey, we had jam made from a raspberry-like fruit as a side.
I also made one other thing for Tuuli: soup with specially chopped vegetables. Tuuli loved it, since she thought the heart and star shaped vegetables were cute.
“Here, Tuuli. Your presents.”
“Wooow! Thanks, Mom! Dad!”
They gave Tuuli clothes and tools for work. After turning seven and being baptized, kids began work as apprentices. Some workplaces had places for their apprentices to live, but Tuuli would be walking to her apprentice seamstress job. I guess she’s aiming to be a beauty by getting good at sewing. I understand. She wants Ralph to say she’s a good woman. Uh huh.
“You don’t have work every day, right?”
“Well, I won’t be able to do any serious work for now, so I’ll go there for about half of each week.”
“After all, the workers won’t be able to do their own job if they spend all the time time training apprentices.”
Makes sense. My own studies were put on hold when the apprentice guards are being trained, and Otto did have more work because of them.
“And Myne, this is for you.” My parents took a long bundle of cloth and placed it on the table. Blinking, I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding why I was being given a gift on Tuuli’s baptism.
“But I didn’t get baptized today.”
“Now that Tuuli has work, it’s your job to pick up firewood, Myne. You’ll need this.”
I opened the bundle of cloth and saw a gleaming knife. The blade was thick and it was heavy enough to weigh my hands down. If this were Japan, my parents would be chastised for giving such a dangerously sharp thing to a child, but in this world, you couldn’t even protect yourself without a knife. Those who can’t help or do anything are treated like babies.
...I have my own knife now. Up until now, I’ve been treated like a baby. Helping Tuuli do the real helping at best, and just getting in the way at worst, which is most of the time. But since Tuuli was starting work as an apprentice, they had no choice but to give me my own knife.
...A knife! Now I can make mokkan! Wooden mokkan!
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