Hasse and the Gray Priests
“Now then,” I began, “please do ensure that the rooms and food are prepared.”
Since we were traveling by air, our journey to Hasse had been a short one. I landed my highbeast by the monastery, at which point all of my attendants and personnel alighted except Fran. When their luggage had been taken out and moved into the monastery, I departed for the winter mansion.
When we were high in the sky above the mansion, I furrowed my brow.
What...? There’s nobody there. Did I get the date wrong or something?
The year before, while the people were waiting for us to arrive, a bustling crowd was preparing the large, field-like plaza for the festival. But this year, there were no signs of any people nor any preparations being made. I had sent a letter ahead of time outlining the date of my visit, but perhaps I had written it down incorrectly, or simply just misread something.
Brigitte, who was flying ahead of me on her highbeast, pointed down toward the ground and began to descend. I could see several people kneeling by the front door of the winter mansion, and when I strained my eyes, I recognized them as Richt and the town chiefs.
“High Bishop,” Richt said, “thank you for coming.”
While I received my greetings, Fran, Achim, and Egon began taking more luggage-filled boxes out of my Pandabus. When you combined their living necessities, learning materials, and recreational items, there was a surprising amount to unload. Once they were done, I put away my highbeast.
“Richt, why aren’t you preparing for the Harvest Festival?”
“...We are naturally refraining from holding such large-scale festivities while out of the archduke’s favor. This year, we hope to perform only the ritual and pay our taxes.”
Richt went on to explain that it was difficult for them to hold the festival as they usually would with the eyes of their neighbors and traveling merchants on them. But they still needed to hold the baptism, coming of age, and wedding ceremonies, which they hoped to do quietly in the gathering hall of the winter mansion.
“I see...” I said, feeling a little nervous. The people here had endured a harsh year without a blessing, they were unable to hold the once-a-year celebration that everyone loved, and now here I was sending two gray priests to keep an eye on them. Would Achim and Egon really be safe here with everyone so unhappy?
I glanced over at the two gray priests, at which point Fran stepped forward to introduce them. “These are the gray priests who shall be staying here and representing the High Bishop this winter. Their names are Achim and Egon.”
With that, Achim and Egon crossed their arms in front of their chests and crouched a little. Richt and the others tensed up at the sight: these men may have been gray priests, but they were my representatives and soon to be their teachers. Hasse’s very future was resting in their hands, so I could imagine that Richt was nervous to see what they were like as people.
“Richt, please guide us to their room. As you can see, they have much luggage with them, and I would like to see the conditions in which they will be staying.”
“As you wish. Please follow me.”
One of the town chiefs hurried off on Richt’s instruction to send word of our arrival. Richt then led us into the mansion, heading toward the room where Achim and Egon would be staying. Fran and the two priests were carrying boxes behind me, followed closely by Justus and my guard knights. The furor of playing children could be heard at first, but this quickly quieted down as we walked.
It’s quiet now, but I can feel eyes all over me...
We climbed a creaky staircase to the living area. Several curious children poked their heads out from around corners or behind cracked-open doors, and while I smiled whenever I made eye contact with one, they always gasped or ran away to hide. It seemed that they considered me quite scary.
It’s good to think of nobles as scary—I mean, they’re not wrong there. But it kind of seems like the boys are trying to show how brave they are by sneaking glances at me. That’s a bit worrying...
Some doors were open wide enough for me to see inside the rooms beyond them. They were of various different sizes, with each one housing an entire family. Some were classroom-sized with a dozen people sleeping on straw mattresses strewn about the floor, while others were small with an actual bed inside. They largely resembled my lower city home—that is, before I started cleaning it from top to bottom.
“This is where they will be staying. It is the closest room to my office. Here, they will be able to minimize contact with the others, if they so wish.”
Richt had stopped in front of a two-person room. Considering it had two separate beds, I could guess that he had reserved an especially high-quality room for them.
Fran, Achim, and Egon set their boxes down, then collectively grimaced as they examined the interior.
“My apologies, but could you tell us where the well and cleaning utensils are, so that we might clean the room?” Fran asked. It was probably unbearably filthy for those raised in the always-immaculate temple and orphanage. I could definitely sympathize with them—after all, back in the lower city, the first thing I had done when I got to my feet was clean.
One of the town chiefs blinked in surprise, then hurried off to ask a woman where the cleaning utensils were. I let out a quiet sigh. “Achim, Egon—if you wish to clean this room to make it as comfortable as possible for the both of you, that is perfectly fine. But please take care not to force the temple’s lifestyle on everyone else. This is not the temple.”
“Understood.”
Achim, Egon, and Fran all opened their mouths as if about to protest, but promptly conceded after seeing the cleaning utensils the town chief returned with. Perhaps it would be best to give them some support here.
“Achim, Egon—might I suggest taking a set of cleaning utensils from the monastery tomorrow? If there is anything else you need, you may ask Fran.”
“Your concern honors us, Lady Rozemyne.”
They both resolved to endure the room as it was for the night, then give it a thorough clean in the morning the next day. It was pretty funny seeing them seriously discuss whether or not they would also need a washtub for cleaning themselves, considering this place probably didn’t even have tools for cleaning clothes.
“Richt, is everything ready for the ceremony?”
“Yes, Lady Rozemyne. Please follow us to the dining hall.”
The winter mansion’s dining hall had a much lower ceiling than the castle’s grand hall, and the floor was covered in stains and oily substances, likely due to feasts having been held there. A strange smell wafted through the air as well.
That said, no matter how bad this is, they probably made a real attempt to clean it as much as they could.
The festival was always held outside, so they almost certainly hadn’t expected priests and tax officials to be entering the winter mansion itself. I could bear it, but Eckhart had a very stern look on his face.
There was a stage prepared in the hall, and just like last year, I stood at the altar with Justus, Fran, and my two guard knights. Aside from us being inside, nothing seemed to have really changed; I summoned the children who were to be baptized onto the stage, blessing them after reading aloud the picture books about the gods. The coming of age and wedding ceremonies were also pretty similar to the year prior, but everyone looked sick rather than celebratory, and there was a heavy air of sorrow weighing down the whole room.
Once the ceremonies were over, I called Achim and Egon up onto the stage to introduce them.
“People of Hasse—despite the difficulties you have endured this year, having had to farm without a blessing, you have worked well. The archduke has instructed that two gray priests be sent to your winter mansion to ensure that no embers of rebellion still linger. Their names are Achim and Egon. They are here to watch over you, but also to teach you.”
A stir ran through the crowd at the word “teach.”
“Recent letters from Hasse were found to contain language that is highly disrespectful. Were another noble to receive such letters, their anger would be palpable. Such a mistake was born simply due to the failures of your previous mayor and your inexperience with nobles, but once again, Hasse was on the verge of making a grave mistake.”
Some people were shocked to hear that they were angering nobles once again. Others let out angry cries about the mayor failing to do his job right. I held up a hand to silence them.
“You will not be punished for these affronts. Instead, I have instructed these two gray priests—both highly familiar with how to communicate with nobles—to use this opportunity to teach your mayor and his workers the proper language to use when communicating with nobles. If they study well and remember these lessons, I am sure there will be no more incidents such as this.”
The people’s anger faded once they understood that not only were they not going to be punished, but they were being offered an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. It was important to use this moment of relief to put my foot down.
“The gray priests are orphans, but understand that they are directly representing me, the High Bishop. If they are at any point treated poorly, they will move to the monastery. I trust that you would not be so foolish as to abuse them right as your punishment is coming to an end, but regardless, take care to be respectful when speaking to them.”
At this remark, the people gathered in the hall all wore dark expressions, visible even from up on stage. It was obvious that they expected their punishment to never end.
Well, they did work hard for an entire year without a blessing. I think they deserve at least a little relief.
I pursed my lips in thought, then walked from the center of the stage to the edge, where Eckhart and the others were standing in wait.
“Eckhart, Justus.”
“Yes, Lady Rozemyne?”
“Might we permit them to play a little warf? I believe too much restraint is bad for the heart.”
Eckhart grimaced at my suggestion, clearly thinking about how furious Ferdinand would get if we deviated from the plan, but Justus actually smiled in amusement. “It is important to take breathers, milady, and the people will surely be moved if they are told you permitted it yourself,” he said. “I personally consider it a fine idea, though normal nobles would never take into account the feelings of mere commoners.”
With Justus in my corner, I took Achim and Egon over to where Richt was. “Richt, I appreciate your rationale for not holding the festival, but would tensions not explode during the winter if the people don’t relieve any of their stresses?” I asked quietly.
His eyes wavered for a moment, then he gave a nod. “You may be right.”
“You and I shall speak in the meeting room, and should something take place outside while we are in there, I am certain that I will not notice it. No matter how loud the people might get. There is surely nothing wrong with doing something that goes unnoticed, don’t you agree?”
Richt didn’t seem to grasp my implication.
I looked toward Achim. “It seems it is already time for you to work. Would you mind explaining to Richt what I mean?”
Achim blinked in surprise, muttering “Did he truly not understand that?” quietly under his breath. Egon appeared to be just as surprised—his eyes were open wide with disbelief.
“I imagine he did understand in some regard, but the people of Hasse have suffered so much as a result of misunderstandings that they have most likely lost all confidence in their ability to interpret things.”
“I see. Mayor Richt, Lady Rozemyne is saying that she will turn a blind eye to any festivities that might take place outside while you and she are discussing matters in the meeting room,” Achim explained.
“You may interpret that as her giving you permission to play warf,” Egon added.
With that, Richt broke into a smile. “Understood. We have many hot-blooded youths in Hasse, and I am sure they will be overjoyed to hear this.”
Richt left setting up the warf tournament to one of the town chiefs and exited the dining hall, guiding me and the others to the meeting room. We heard shouts ring out not long after we were gone.
“The High Bishop gave us her approval! Let’s go play some warf!”
“YEAAAH! WOOHOO!”
The townsfolk let out loud, fervent cries, as though all the frustration that had been building up inside them over the year was unleashing all at once.
Achim and Egon flinched and turned around, fearfully looking at the doors to the hall. They must have been genuinely frightened, given that they had never heard people roar so loudly that the vibrations could quite literally be felt through the floor. I could only hope that my gesture of goodwill would help make their time here as peaceful as possible.
In the meeting room, we discussed this year’s harvest, taxes, and the tithe that would be paid to me. Hasse’s lack of a blessing meant that its harvest was smaller than those of the neighboring cities, but its yield was large enough to prove that the townsfolk really had poured their all into their work.
Just like last year, Justus would be sending the taxes to the castle the next morning, with a portion of my tithe being used to pay for Achim and Egon’s winter preparations. The rest would be brought to the monastery rather than the castle to help fund its winter preparations.
As our meeting continued, the warf tournament outside concluded. Energetic voices conveyed a lively atmosphere as they all came back into the hall, their bright tones radiating the fun they had just had, which confirmed to me that permitting the tournament to happen had been the right move.
After the meeting was dinner in the dining hall. I already knew from my time in Illgner that the gray priests would be stunned into silence by how commoners ate, so I instructed Achim and Egon to eat with me so that I could instruct them on what to do.
The commoners lined up the food atop low tables that were nothing more than long boards placed over two large boxes, then sat down on straw and started eating whatever they wanted to. Aside from the knives placed by the meat so that people could help themselves, wooden spoons were the only cutlery available; everyone ate with their hands when they weren’t having soup-like foods.
As expected, the whole experience was so unfamiliar to Achim and Egon that they froze in place out of shock. They were supposed to be serving Eckhart and Justus, but instead, they were just standing stock-still, their mouths agape.
Eckhart wasn’t scolding them because he too was taken aback by the scene. He had apparently never seen commoners eat up close, as he was always on the stage far away from the plaza, and food was only served when the sun started to set. His stern expression reminded me of when Ferdinand had first watched Hasse’s orphans eat.
“If their behavior displeases you, I would recommend looking away,” I commented. “This is normal to them.”
“They may be able to look away, but they cannot block out the noises,” Fran replied, regretfully shaking his head as he served my food. He was largely unfazed, since he had seen this often enough with Nora’s group and when accompanying me to Illgner.
“Erm, Lady Rozemyne... where will we be eating?” Achim and Egon asked together, both looking nervous. Tables and chairs had been provided for the nobles in our group, but it must have been assumed that the gray priests wouldn’t mind eating with the commoners.
“You may eat with us here for today. I imagine it will take some time for you to adjust to the customs here, so I will ask Richt to prepare a table and chairs in your room so that you may have your food there instead. That should allow you to eat in peace.”
“We thank you, Lady Rozemyne,” Achim and Egon replied, patting their chests with relieved sighs.
My efforts were of course all for the sake of Operation Grimm, but it seemed that sending gray priests to winter mansions all over was going to be harder than I expected. Having them adjust to the lifestyles of commoners after spending their entire lives in the temple was not looking to be a smooth process at all.
I finished my notably modest meal, having not touched most of the food so that Achim and Egon would have enough to eat. By that time, the beer had already started giving the townsfolk rather loose tongues: they started to grumble and complain about things, either because they were emboldened by the alcohol or because they had forgotten I was up here on stage.
“Y’know, I saw them orphans that got sold to the monastery th’other day. Sure looks like they’re eatin’ a lot better than us o’er there,” one man said. “They’re lookin’ real good, not to mention all weighty now. Where’d those scrawny sacks a’ bone go?”
“Haah... I’m so jealous,” a woman chimed in with a wistful sigh. “If someone’d told me they have that much food in the orphanage, I would’ve wanted to go there myself.”
Fran gave a frustrated frown upon hearing all that, but I excitedly clasped my hands together in front of my chest, my eyes shining with excitement. We had sent four people to Hasse, but we still needed a lot more manpower for our printing endeavors. And thankfully, our wallets were overflowing due to how well the books for nobles had sold. I didn’t want to force anyone to work in the orphanage due to the discrimination they would face, but if they actively wanted to live there themselves, then by all means...
I called out from the stage in hopes of recruiting at least a few people. “If you wish to come to the orphanage, please do. We at the monastery would welcome you. The truth is, we have more printing presses now and are in need of extra assistance.”
Everyone chatting at the nearby table let out goofy-sounding noises in shock; nobody had expected a response from the High Bishop herself. The drunkenness was wiped from their faces in an instant, and although they were starting to look increasingly sick, I continued doing everything I could to shill the virtues of the orphanage.
“Those in the orphanage are given three meals a day, as well as beds, clothes, and the like. They are also educated quite thoroughly, so you will learn to speak properly and act with grace. Young children will go on to serve nobles only a few years after being baptized, and believe it or not, the literacy rate of children raised in the orphanage is one hundred percent. They can all write and do simple math, plus we have picture books, karuta, and playing cards all prepared as educational materials to help speed up the learning process.”
My description so far made the orphanage come across as a bona fide paradise, but there was no denying that there were also some drawbacks, and I wasn’t about to hide them. I wanted people to join fully aware of all the pros and cons.
“There are, of course, some negatives as well. Once you join the orphanage, the world will scorn you as an orphan forevermore. Priests and shrine maidens must also live at the behest of nobles, paying heed to their every word and deed. It is an entirely different environment from a farming town, and the orphans from Hasse who joined previously are still struggling to adapt to its culture.”
“Er, uh... H-High Bishop...?”
The townsfolk were looking conflicted; there must have been something that I’d forgotten to mention.
“Let’s see... Oh, yes—those raised in the temple orphanage are given no land upon coming of age, are not permitted to marry, and do not receive a break on Earthday, since they must live every day for the sake of the nobility. It is not uncommon to be abruptly sold to a noble you have never met before either, and the orphans themselves have no say in those matters.”
The more I spoke, the more their expressions turned fearful.
“I currently serve as the orphanage director and ensure that everyone receives enough food to have their fill, but living conditions were quite abhorrent before I took up the position, and there is no guarantee that they will not revert back to being abhorrent under my successor. Almost nobody wishes to join the orphanage due to its nightmarish reputation and the future being so uncertain, but if anybody wishes to join us there, I welcome you from the bottom of my heart!”
I excitedly spread out my arms, waiting for people to step forward. And yet, despite how honorably transparent I had been with my explanation, enthusiasm to join was quite frankly nonexistent.
“E-Er, well... I’ve already got land in Hasse, so... Y’know?” one man mumbled.
“Yeah... I’m gonna get married next year, so I can’t just go an’ break her heart like that,” added another.
“R-Right. When everything’s said ’n done, what’s most important is livin’ on the land you know.”
I could understand them not wanting to leave Hasse after having lived there their entire lives—I myself had never intended to leave the lower city. There were some things you just didn’t want to give up, no matter how poor or hungry you were.
“I can fully understand not wanting to leave your hometown. It is unfortunate that you will not be joining the orphanage, but I can see your reasoning.”
As I sat back down in disappointment, everyone else exchanged blatantly relieved glances, picked their mugs back up, and returned to their food. The sight of commoners eating made the nobles with us grimace, but to me, it was a reminder of how my life used to be in the lower city.
You know, I really want to see Dad right now...
I gripped my sleeves tightly. I only needed to go to the monastery to see him, so when the meal was over, I went over to Richt to announce my departure.
“Richt, I shall be leaving for the monastery soon.”
“Thank you for visiting today. Everyone had a wonderful time because of you permitting the warf tournament,” he said. There was a relieved smile on his face, which was understandable, since it was his job to keep the winter mansion in check.
“I was also glad to see everybody’s mood brighten. Oh, incidentally—Achim and Egon will need a table and some chairs in their room so that they can do written work. Please make arrangements for that.”
“Understood.”
“Also, much like how the people of Hasse do not know the ways of nobles, the gray priests have lived their lives in the temple and do not understand the ways of the outside world. They eat, clean, and live entirely differently from how you do. Please be considerate of that fact.”
With my departure announced, Eckhart knelt in front of me as though I were his mistress. “I will be trusting Brigitte to guard you, Lady Rozemyne. Justus and I will remain here, as is customary, so please return tomorrow morning for the tithe.”
And so, I left Eckhart and Justus in the winter mansion, returning to the monastery with Fran and Brigitte. Even there, people were having a loud and hearty meal. I headed to my room, listening to the joyous clamor in the dining hall, while Fran went to eat, entrusting Monika and Nicola to serve me while he was away. It seemed that he had gone without food at the winter mansion so that he could have dinner here instead.
I grabbed a notepad made with white paper and a pen from my room, then went to the dining hall myself, having Monika pull a chair up to the table where the soldiers were enjoying their food.
“Gunther, I am currently collecting stories to make into books. Might I ask what stories you have heard in the lower city?”
Mom had told me a lot of stories, but Dad hadn’t really told me many at all.
“Stories, hm? My mother did tell me a few when I was young...” Dad said. He fell into thought for a short while before eventually raising his head. “There once was a family, the siblings of which were closer than you would ever believe. Their names were Tuuli, Myne, and Kamil...”
Thus began a story wherein Kamil and Tuuli raced into a forest to save their beloved sister Myne, who had been kidnapped by feybeasts.
“...And so, Myne was safely returned to her family, and she lived happily ever after with her siblings.”
“What a wonderful story...” I said, so moved that my nose was dripping and my eyes brimming with tears. I wrote it all down, and immediately the other soldiers began fighting to tell me the stories they knew. They were all completely new to me and very easy to understand, given that they weren’t filled with euphemisms like noble stories were. I could visualize everything instantly.
By the time I had written down three stories in total, seventh bell started to ring. I stood up, overcome with a deep sense of satisfaction.
“Sleep well, everyone.”
“Sleep well, High Bishop. May you be blessed with good dreams...”
That night, I did have a dream. It was a very happy one, in which I returned to my lower city home as Myne, and spent the day laughing with my family...
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