An Attendant’s Job
To make books with woodblock printing, we first needed boards. I wanted to report this to Benno and order ten boards to turn into woodcuts—boards with the designs we wanted to print carved into them. To this end I went to see him, overflowing with enthusiasm, only for him to give me an extremely suspicious look.
“What’re you planning this time, Myne?”
But I was burning with such a righteous determination to create books that I shot a fist into the air, unperturbed by his suspicion. “Printing! I’m going to make picture books with (woodblock) printing. You can carve wood so that it has parts that are protruding and parts that are sunken in, right? If you cover that wood with a layer of ink, then only the protruding parts will touch the paper, which lets you print letters and art.”
I took out my slate, drew a cross-section of a bumpy piece of wood, drew a line of ink over it, then drew a piece of paper above that. Benno glared at the slate, then shook his head in exasperation.
“I get what you’re trying to say, but ink’s expensive. How much are you gonna need?” said Benno, making the blood drain from my face.
A single small bottle of ink would rip four small silvers from my hands, and although it cost less than parchment, plant paper was still expensive—the cost of using it rather than selling it weighed heavily. I had charged forward with my hype for books fueling me, but with the cost of materials in mind, I couldn’t afford to mass-produce picture books.
“I-I didn’t think about how much the materials would cost.”
“IDIOT! What merchant in the world doesn’t think about how much the materials cost?!”
“I-I’m not a merchant, I’m a shrine maiden. Ow! Oowww!”
He pinched my cheeks the second I tried arguing back. No mercy, not even for a little girl like me. Benno wasn’t very mature sometimes, in my opinion. I rubbed my cheek and looked up at him after he finally let it go.
“Please introduce me to an ink workshop so I can plan around prices and quantities. Worst-case scenario, I might need to make the ink myself. I might know how to make a kind of ink that’s good for printing, so...” It seemed there was still a long road ahead of me before I could make books. My hype drained out of me with a sigh.
“You can make ink too?”
“I know how to make it, just like I know how to make paper. I wasn’t able to get all the materials I needed in the past, but now I think I can, especially with all the extra help I have now. I’ll need to go through some trial and error to work out the exact recipe, but well, it should be just a matter of time.”
“Oh...?”
On my way out of the store, Mark stopped me and reported that he had entrusted the karuta boards to Lutz. I signed for them, then walked to the temple with Lutz carrying them. Once there, I’d give them to Wilma and have her draw another set. I could hardly wait to see her angelic smile again.
When I arrived at the temple, I found Gil—not Fran—waiting for me at the gate. His expression brightened with relief when he saw me.
“It’s been a long time since you’ve waited for me at the gate, Gil. The workshop has kept you so busy. Did something happen?”
“...Delia’s waiting for you, Sister Myne, and she looks ticked as heck. Fran’s holding her back for now, but she could explode at any second. She’s gonna shoot out complaints like growy tree things shoot out their roots,” said Gil with a shrug, and I immediately felt as if the world had frozen over.
“...What happened?”
“That new attendant you got... Rosina, I think? She’s kinda, uh...” Gil let out a tired sigh and started walking. Something must have happened between Delia and Rosina while I was at the forest yesterday. Maybe there were some territorial struggles going on amongst the attendants, like how old pets might not get along with new ones.
...I’ve never actually owned any pets before, I’ve just read books on them. Will I know how to handle this? I arrived at my chambers while thinking about tangentially related things, and Gil opened the door for me. The sound of a harspiel was reverberating throughout the room, which was definitely out of the ordinary.
I climbed the steps feeling a little more graceful and dignified than usual. Despite Gil’s warning, I let my guard down since I didn’t hear Delia storming down the steps and the music made me feel regal.
“GEEEEEEZ!”
“Hyah?!” The second Delia saw me she let out an ear-busting “geez” that left me blinking in surprise while looking around the room. I could see Rosina sitting down and continuing to play the harspiel, looking completely unfazed.
“Sister Myne! Rosina won’t do any work at all!” Delia pointed a sharp finger at Rosina and let loose another angry “geez.” I looked at Rosina, but she kept her eyes on the harspiel.
“Good morning, Rosina.”
“Good morning, Sister Myne. Isn’t the weather today just lovely?” Only after I spoke to Rosina did she stop playing the instrument and look my way. The way she entirely ignored Delia’s existence told me just how frustrated they were with each other.
“Rosina, it seems that Delia is angry. What does she mean when she says you won’t do any work?”
“Oh my, that is such a deceptive way to put it.” Rosina tilted her head elegantly and Delia basically gnashed her teeth while taking out my blue robes from the closet.
“It’s true! You don’t do anything except play that instrument! You won’t listen no matter what Fran says! Sister Myne, please do something about this!” Delia started to dress me a little more aggressively than usual.
Rosina prepared my harspiel while smiling a dignified smile, unaffected by Delia’s anger. “It is my duty as an attendant to practice the harspiel. Sister Myne, pay no heed to this girl that knows nothing of what a shrine maiden’s work demands. Let us begin our practice.”
“Geez! Now’s not the time to be playing instruments!”
I heard Delia’s anger loud and clear, but I did need to practice until third bell. No doubt I would run out of practice time if I kept listening to them argue.
“Delia, my harspiel practice lasts until third bell, and it is Rosina’s duty to teach me to play. We can discuss the details after practice. I will hear what you have to say when I have the time.”
“...Understood.” Delia went off to do her own work, still pouting with frustration. She spun around right at the steps and yelled “We’re definitely going to talk about this!” just to drive the point home.
“Sister Myne, there is no need for you to listen to her nonsense.”
“I’m afraid that in times of conflicting opinions, I need to hear the sides of all parties involved. The High Priest was very firm about this.”
“...I see.” Rosina’s expression clouded a little with dissatisfaction, but a smile returned to her face when we began practicing.
When third bell rang and my harspiel practice ended, I had to go to the High Priest’s room to help with his paperwork. Rosina cleaned up the harspiels for me while I rang a bell to summon Fran. He climbed to the second floor after gathering all the tools we would need for the paperwork.
“Well then, I’m off to assist the High Priest. Please draw water with Delia while I’m gone.”
“Oh my, Sister Myne. What do you mean? That is the work of gray priests, is it not?” Rosina opened her eyes in disbelief, but I was more confused than her. My only gray priests were Fran and Gil. Fran was handling all the administrative matters that came with being a blue shrine maiden, while Gil was running the workshop. They were both busy working outside of my chambers. Rosina was nearing adulthood, so my plans had been for her to slowly take over Fran’s more menial labor over time, but I didn’t know what jobs she could be trusted with yet. Which was why I had intended for her to do work with Delia.
“Gil and Fran are busy with their own work. Did Fran not inform you that you would be working with Delia for now?” I said, leading Delia to sweep back her crimson red hair and grin victoriously.
“See? I told you that our job was to take water to the second floor.”
“But such manual labor is the work of men, is it not?” Rosina put a hand on her cheek, eyes wide with surprise. I was sure that Delia had said she would teach Rosina to do housework while she was still an apprentice attendant. I had distributed work based on that, but Rosina’s attitude was making me nervous.
Rosina went on, “Is it not true that manual labor and errands are the work of men, while the work of women is to hone their artistic talents? I would understand if I were still in the orphanage, but now that I have become the attendant of an apprentice blue shrine maiden, I do not see why I should be expected to do manual labor. Physical work will only harm my fingers, no?”
“Harm your fingers? You’re not a blue shrine maiden, stop acting like one!”
“Manual labor is best left for whatever priest is most nearby. Or at worst an apprentice shrine maiden who lacks any artistic talent, such as that one attendant of yours.” Rosina was smiling with a voice like sweet ringing bells, but her position was no laughing matter. I could understand why Delia got so mad. This kind of attitude had no place among my attendants.
“Rosina, mornings will be dedicated to music practice, but I believe I told you to do work with the other attendants after practice is over. Please work with Delia.”
“Sister Myne! What are you saying?!” Rosina pleaded that such things were not the work of a gray shrine maiden, but I deflected all her protests.
“I am still largely uneducated in the ways of the temple. After lunch, I will ask everyone their thoughts and make my decision then.” My personal thoughts were that was then, this is now, but I couldn’t say for sure whether Delia was right, Rosina was right, or neither of them were right. I couldn’t just say what came to mind before asking Fran and the High Priest about what they thought. For now, I would stage a temporary retreat until I had more information.
I looked up at Fran as we walked to the High Priest’s room. Delia’s rage had been so all-consuming that I missed the chance to ask anyone else what they thought.
“Fran, what are your thoughts on Rosina’s position?”
“Sister Christine, Wilma and Rosina’s former master, was somewhat unorthodox—she valued the fine arts above all else. She dedicated herself to poetry, loved art, and submerged herself in music every day without fail. The shrine maidens serving her as attendants, even the apprentices, were taught to have the grace and elegance of noble ladies. Sister Christine had a strong tendency to show favoritism to those skilled in the arts, so I imagine that Rosina would have lived a life entirely like a blue shrine maiden thanks to her musical talents.”
“She spent every day with poetry, art, and music? That explains why Rosina is so dignified.” Delia and Gil had said it was common sense for gray shrine maidens to strive to be mistresses, so I thought all gray shrine maidens would feel the same. But the favoritism Rosina had been shown as a blue shrine maiden’s resident musician had turned her into an attendant who didn’t see the need to do any work herself. That honestly surprised me.
“Did something happen, Myne? You’re late.” The High Priest glared at me the second I arrived.
“...I know that it is rude for me to ask this unannounced, High Priest, but what exactly is expected of an attendant?”
The High Priest looked at Fran before answering me. He didn’t even need to say anything for Fran to begin concisely explaining the positions of Rosina and Delia. Naturally, even the High Priest was caught off guard by Rosina’s unwillingness to do any work unrelated to music.
“...I see. I had been impressed by how cultured and dignified she was despite being a mere apprentice gray shrine maiden, and I see now that is because she had been living a life more cultured than even the daughter of a laynoble family.”
“Um, High Priest. What kind of person was Sister Christine?” The High Priest stood up and pulled a book off a shelf. It seemed to be a register of sorts for blue priests and shrine maidens. He flipped through the pages before pausing and running a long finger across a particular page.
“Here she is. Christine was the daughter of a favored mistress, but had such a high amount of mana that her father wished to formally take custody of her. His wife firmly disagreed, so he sent her to the temple for her own protection while she grew up.” He shut the book and handed it to Arno. “He sent tutors to educate and culture her while she was here, so that he could take her back into the family whenever the opportunity arose. I recall that she was treated entirely unlike the blue priests sent here due to their lack of mana or their family’s poverty.”
Rosina had been a unique attendant brought up under a unique blue shrine maiden. It should be safe to say that her perspective would differ from that of most apprentice gray shrine maidens.
“I do not have the compassion nor the spare wealth to support an attendant that will not do work outside of music. Would it be safe to order Rosina to do the same work Delia does?” I didn’t need an attendant living an easier life than mine, just playing a harspiel day in and day out. I was holding myself back from spending all day reading in the library, so...
“It is a matter of course that different masters will expect different things from their attendants. Did Fran say nothing to her?” questioned the High Priest, to which Fran shook his head regretfully.
“She would not listen. Rosina does not understand that she is just an apprentice, and she even attempts to order me around. It seems that she truly looks down upon gray priests.”
“Ah, that won’t do at all.” My chambers functioned thanks to Fran’s precise command. An attendant who didn’t obey Fran’s orders was of absolutely no use to me. So much so that I wanted to just send her back to the orphanage immediately.
“Perhaps the most troubling thing is that she plays her instrument late into the night. I could bear it the first night, knowing that she was likely enthused to be reunited with music, but by the second night she had crossed a line. If it was difficult for me to bear on the first floor, I can only imagine how Delia felt in the room beside her.”
Not only did Rosina refuse to do the work expected of an attendant, she was even noisy at night. Unbelievable.
“High Priest, can I send Rosina back to the orphanage? If not, I would like for you to take her. I will pay a tutor fee if you send her to my chambers only during my lessons.”
“I do not need an attendant who will not obey their master’s orders,” said the High Priest. Fran and I looked at each other, then nodded.
“I will have a discussion with all my attendants after lunch. I would like to talk to Wilma before then. Please forgive my rudeness, but might I leave early to do so?”
“Certainly. It is important to hear the thoughts of all those involved. You may go.”
With the High Priest muttering “Has she matured? No, it is too early to say for sure” behind me, I left and headed to the orphanage. Wilma had served the same mistress as Rosina, so perhaps she would offer a perspective in support of her.
I sent Fran to get the karuta boards from my room while I talked with Wilma in the dining hall. She would probably find it easier to talk without him, an adult man, standing nearby.
“And that is the situation. I intend to hear all my attendants out in the afternoon. As you cannot come to my room, I would like to ask for your thoughts ahead of time. Would you, too, decline manual labor given your history as Sister Christine’s attendant?” Wilma had been the first one to rush to washing the dirty children. It was hard for me to imagine she would avoid manual labor, but who knew what she would say.
“Sister Myne, my duty is to take care of the children. I would not last if I refused to do manual labor.” Wilma looked at me and spoke quietly. The strong will in her peaceful eyes made me sigh in relief before continuing my questioning.
“In that case, is it only Rosina who is so opposed to the idea of doing manual labor?”
“Rosina’s thoughts on the matter are much stronger than those of other gray shrine maidens. I became an apprentice attendant at the age of ten, but Rosina was taken from the orphanage as soon as she came of age, so until returning there she did next to no manual labor whatsoever. Gray priests certainly did do all the chores and manual labor while she served Sister Christine.”
Rosina had been young during the period where there were still gray shrine maidens around to take care of the pre-baptism kids. Since they had looked over her and she had become an apprentice attendant immediately after her baptism, she didn’t grow up doing manual labor. Her upbringing was a lot more privileged than mine and most commoners’.
“Sister Christine was dedicated to the arts. The status of attendants is normally decided by age, but in her case, she prioritized artistic talent. It all seemed so natural back then.” Which was exactly why Rosina had become so dedicated to music. She wanted to please her mistress.
“When Sister Christine returned to noble society and Rosina was sent back to the orphanage, she was shocked at the different lifestyle expected of her. I too only knew how special our circumstances had been after returning to the orphanage and discussing matters with the other attendants.” Wilma had been able to accept that her circumstances were an abnormality thanks to the fact that she had experienced doing manual labor up until the age of ten, but Rosina just averted her eyes from the harsh reality.
“Rosina always seemed obsessed with returning to a life where she needed only play music. I am sure that deep down, she knew that even if a blue priest took her under their wing, things would never be the same as they were. But she must have convinced herself that you would be different, Sister Myne. That you would understand and provide.”
“Thank you for your valuable perspective, Wilma. Here are the karuta for the orphanage. Please work your artistic magic on them.” Upon noticing that Fran was back, I left the karuta art to Wilma and stood up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and lowered her hips slightly.
“Sister Myne, if you would, please give Rosina time to correct herself.”
“...Your requests mean a lot to me, Wilma. I will see what I can do.” And I would, but I had no intention of keeping her around if she wouldn’t do any work. As I told Gil and the orphanage children, those who do not work shall not eat.
Rosina’s circumstances had been unique and out of the ordinary. No doubt the meeting of attendants would end up with everybody ganging up on her like a mob. I finished lunch with a heavy heart, then waited for my attendants to finish while I memorized some prayers.
“Now then, Sister Myne,” began Delia. “Thank you for listening to what I have to say. First, the harspiel is so, so, so annoying! Second, Rosina won’t do her work. She’s the worst attendant ever! I can’t believe her!” She must have been holding all of that in for a long time. Delia’s blue eyes burned with fury as she began ranting, the dam finally having burst. She unleashed complaint after complaint, feeling indeed just like a growy tree thing shooting out roots. I honestly couldn’t help but smile in amusement at the sheer energy of her tirade.
Delia basically said the same things repeatedly, so to summarize: Rosina played the harspiel late into the night, making music so loud Delia couldn’t sleep. She wouldn’t get herself up in the morning, she wouldn’t do any manual labor at all. She wouldn’t even listen to Fran, my chamber’s head attendant.
“I understand your position, Delia. What do you think, Gil?”
“The music’s annoying as heck, she doesn’t listen to people, she doesn’t work. I dunno why she gets to eat at all.” The principle of working for one’s own food had firmly established itself in Gil. He seemed annoyed that Rosina got to be an attendant despite not doing an attendant’s work.
“Do you feel the same way, Fran?”
“Largely. The harspiel being played late at night is certainly irritating, and the fact that she does not wake up in the morning is no help. During the day she just sits and plays music without listening to any instructions given.”
I looked at Rosina. She was sitting upright and smiling calmly despite everyone badmouthing her. That was a relief, since I had thought that she might burst into tears after being hit with so much criticism at once.
“Rosina, your thoughts on their criticism?” I asked, and Rosina tilted her head gracefully with a composed smile.
“It is natural that I dedicate myself to teaching you the harspiel, Sister Myne. Manual labor would only hurt my fingers. I find it sad that your attendants do not understand at all the importance of the fine arts despite serving an apprentice shrine maiden.” As expected, Rosina’s perspective was founded in her experience serving Christine.
“Your dedication to music is appreciated, but playing late into the night is disrespectful towards everyone. Stop playing at seventh bell, and wake up in the morning at the same time as everyone else.”
“...Understood. However, Sister Mine, I would respectfully like for you to deepen your own appreciation towards music. I believe you would understand my position if you knew more of the fine arts,” complained Rosina as she let out a tragic sigh. Unfortunately for her, I only wanted the bare minimum of education necessary to get cultured. Books were my fine art. Reading was my true calling.
“Rosina, I cannot give you what your former mistress gave you.” I looked at Rosina and straightened my back to give off as much masterly gravitas as I could muster. I may not have been much like other apprentice blue shrine maidens, but Rosina wasn’t like a normal attendant either. If she didn’t become aware of that, she would experience conflict with her next master as well.
“I do not have the leeway to support an attendant that only plays music. Wilma is working in the orphanage, drawing important art while taking care of the children. You, too, will need to do work other than just playing music. I understand that your hands are important for your instruments, but at the very least you will need to do administrative work.” As it stood, Delia and Gil could keep my chambers clean and running by themselves. I would most like for her to take a share of Fran’s work—dealing with paperwork and managing the financial ledgers related to my chambers, the orphanage, and the workshop.
“You will be an adult soon, Rosina, so I imagine you can read and write? You will need to do paperwork for me.”
Rosina put a hand on her cheek and tilted her head, saying that she had never done paperwork. She was looking away from me with her blue eyes, as if saying she had no intention of listening to me.
“There is a difference between having not done something before and being unable to do something. You can learn. There are a lot of things I don’t know either. But in the end, I do not want or need an attendant that will refuse to work at all.”
Rosina looked at me and blinked slowly. I looked back into her deep blue eyes and gave her my final warning.
“Think of your answer by tomorrow morning, Rosina. Will you return to the orphanage, or will you accept that serving me will not be the same as serving Sister Christine? No matter what happens, I cannot become Sister Christine for you.”
The next day, Rosina said—with her eyes puffy and red—that she would work hard to serve as my attendant, and began learning to do paperwork and math despite her struggles with both.
Delia was pursing her lips unhappily over having to keep taking care of the second floor herself, but she seemed pleased that Rosina was helping to lighten Fran’s load. Rosina also stopped playing late into the night, and I noticed that Delia had started secretly enjoying the music and looking at the harspiels. I suggested that she ask Rosina to teach her if she wanted, which made her mad, but it was probably just a matter of time.
With that out of the way, it was time for me to spend every day gawking at just how inelegant and unrefined I was compared to Rosina. Every step and gesture she took was a reminder of how further ahead she was than me. When Rosina walked it was like she was elegantly dancing across a stage, each of her movements flowing like water, never going too fast or too slow. There was a peculiar rhythm to it all. The way she tilted her head, held a pen, brushed aside her clothing... Everything seemed as if she was using every ounce of focus to look as elegant as possible, but none of it seemed forced in the least. It was all completely natural.
“Will I ever learn to carry myself as elegantly as you, Rosina?”
“Math is much harder than acting elegant. What I want to know is how you developed your mathematical talents at such a young age, Sister Myne.” Rosina and I looked at each other, then laughed. We both had to practice to overcome our weak points.
Delia and I learned to carry ourselves more elegantly, with Rosina watching and giving us pointers. Delia learned much faster than me, since she still had the goal to one day become a mistress.
In the midst of all that, a lunch invitation arrived from the High Priest. The date was scheduled ten days from now, and in the letter he stated that I should bring my instrument so that he could see the fruits of my learning. The blood drained from Rosina’s face and our practicing intensified until, three days later, I could play the High Priest’s first song without any issues.
...Specific goals and tight deadlines sure do make people grow fast, huh? I rewarded Rosina for her efforts in teaching me with outside clothes, and rewarded Wilma for finishing the karuta with a bundle of paper to use for sketches.
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