Just because one’s eyes were closed did not mean one was asleep.
Lea opened her eyes several times even in the middle of the night.
With an unpleasant headache throbbing, she used to squeeze her eyes shut on purpose in order to fall asleep again, but now that she had the doll, simply holding it made it much easier to close her eyes.
She still could not sleep properly, but it felt different.
She was embarrassed to be sleeping while hugging a doll, but this considerable sense of relief was far too precious.
In addition, the letter she had read from Baroness Bashport just before going to sleep had been a great comfort.
[Bear this in mind. You are Learie. Learie must fight with Learie’s weapons, not Earei’s.]
And at the end of the letter, it said this.
[Do not fall ill, and when you truly cannot bear it, confide in him. At the very least, he will not do anything so petty as seize upon it as a weakness.]
She easily realized it referred to Gran Yurien.
Lea could not understand how the strict and suspicious Baron and Baroness Bashport trusted Yurien, but she did not feel dissatisfied either.
Squeeze—
For now, she had to admit that his eye for choosing dolls was certainly good.
“Hehe.”
Oops. Immediately after letting out a laugh, she realized she was lying on a bed in the infirmary.
When she hurriedly pulled her face away from the doll, Nerasmun, Charten, and Lady Meranko were staring at her, each with a different expression.
“You seem healthy, so that is a relief. I will be going to class.”
The viscountess left coldly and swiftly.
“Hmm, then this is different from what I expected. No, rather, if it’s that fellow…”
Before Lea could even feel unease at Charten, who had sunk into thought on his own, Meranko’s eyes sparkled as she cried out.
“That’s an Enima series doll! And Enelia, too!”
“Enima?”
“Yes! They’re popular as collectibles among noble young ladies and the wealthy. In the past, finely crafted features and joints were the trend, but now aesthetically cute ones are popular. Enelia is a steady seller that has been consistently loved even among the Enima series.”
“I-I see.”
“I have one much smaller than this. It isn’t Enelia, but an early-design Enima. It’s palm-sized, so I can’t hug it, but if I put it by my pillow when I sleep, it’s just so lovely every time I fall asleep or wake up.”
“O-oh…”
Lea did not know how to converse with women.
That had been true when she was a man, and it was still true now that she had become a woman.
“B-but is it all right for Lady Meranko and Viscount Tortmund to be here so early in the morning? What about class?”
“Today is a rest day. That’s why I’m finally able to come visit Lady Bashport.”
Meranko held out a small cookie.
“It isn’t much, but it’s a get-well gift.”
Considering Meranko’s financial situation, it was a cookie she had pushed herself quite hard to make, studding it with chocolate chips one by one.
Compared to the gifts Shuren received beside her, it was truly nothing much, but for Lea, the fact that someone had come to visit her while she was ill was deeply moving in itself.
“I will treasure it until the day I die.”
“What?! No! You have to eat it to recover.”
“Something this precious…”
“It’s not precious at all! They’re a bit expensive outside, but they sell plenty of them!”
Meranko was greatly flustered, but when she saw Lea place it carefully in the drawer with tears welling in her eyes, she too was moved.
Charten, who had been watching the girls’ dramatic friendship, cut in at an appropriate moment.
“How are your arm and shoulder?”
“They said it will take at least four weeks or more to recover.”
“That is strange. If you took Master’s pill, your recovery should be even faster.”
“I suppose my body is very frail.”
Lea also knew well the effects of the Su family’s pills.
The fact that she had received such a diagnosis even after taking one was proof of just how dangerously weakened Lea’s soul and body had become.
Frankly, it had been a miracle that she survived after crashing onto the training ground floor.
To think she had been grinding away her lifespan to participate in martial classes without even knowing it was this bad.
It was the kind of meaningless act Lea hated most.
Burning her life away just to die while taking some mere class was not worth the cost.
When she thought about it, resentment surged up, but as a result, Shuren’s wrongful actions had shown Lea that this path was not the right answer.
“Viscount Tortmund.”
“What is it?”
“Teacher wishes for you to visit her.”
“When did she say that?”
“When I was slammed into the ground and she gave me the pill.”
“…I will go see her soon.”
“Thank you for listening.”
Even as she relayed Meria Su’s words to Charten, Lea thought.
The path of martial arts was impossible for now.
It had been the only field she had confidence in, but even that had been a misjudgment.
What should she do?
What could she do to gain the people’s support and prevent the rebellion?
“Lady Bashport, I’m sorry. I’d like to stay with you if I could, but I have to go work. If I don’t go now, I might not be able to get work today.”
The answer was not far away.
Hearing about Meranko’s circumstances, how she barely scraped by day to day, something suddenly came to Lea’s mind.
The village square she had reached after running out on the day of her debut ceremony, unable to endure the harassment.
The starving children there.
‘Do they not say that the will of the people is the will of Heaven?’
And Yurien’s hint added to it.
“Ah.”
She felt as though she had found the answer.
“Lady Meranko. If you do not mind, may I purchase your labor and time today?”
“Yes? What?”
“Here is the advance payment.”
Lea took an eighty-thousand-bark bill from her wallet and handed it to her.
The travel expenses Baron and Baroness Bashport had given her were still ample.
On top of that, with the living expenses provided by Nerasmun, her guardian, she had enough money that she could indulge in a little luxury on her own.
“I will pay the balance immediately after the work is done. The same amount as now.”
“My goodness… One hundred sixty thousand barks is one and a half times most day jobs!”
Meranko took Lea’s hands and thanked her.
“Just tell me to do anything!”
“It won’t be difficult. We’ll be baking bread together.”
“So we’re baking bread to sell!”
“We’re baking bread to give to hungry people!”
After shouting at the same time, Meranko and Lea tilted their heads.
“What? Give it away?”
“Uh… sell it?”
It was obvious to anyone that Meranko was shocked, as if to say, You have the leisure to give things away to others?
Lea, too, felt awkward and hastily cobbled together an excuse.
“When I debuted in society, th-the royal family gave me an opportunity to raise my family’s honor. They sponsored me so that I could make bread and distribute it to the people.”
“That’s amazing! So that was it after all!”
“Y-yes! I don’t have enough hands to do it alone, so I would be grateful if you could lend me your strength.”
“Just leave it to me! I’ve been making and selling baked goods at the village market since I was young.”
“That’s reassuring! How much can you make?”
Lea remembered that the number of loaves last time had been just right.
This time, she planned to distribute them not only to the children but to other people as well, so she intended to make more.
“Three sacks’ worth of flour.”
“What?”
“The morning market should be open by now, so let’s hurry and buy it!”
At Lea’s enthusiastic cry, Meranko asked.
“Um, Lady Bashport?”
“Yes, Lady Meranko. What is it?”
“Your arm and shoulder still haven’t healed, have they?”
“Ah…”
She had forgotten.
She had been so excited at the thought of finding a new path that it had slipped her mind.
“Ugh!”
She tried moving her arm, which was fixed in place with a splint and cloth, but she grimaced at the intense pain.
At this rate, never mind moving sacks of flour, even kneading bread dough would be difficult.
“It cannot be helped.”
“Yes?”
Lea asked back as Charten stepped forward as if it were no big deal.
But Charten stretched and spoke as though it were nothing.
“I was originally a mercenary by birth.”
“Ah, I know.”
“I never told anyone that, yet you already know.”
“The pasts of great men are famous by nature.”
“Well, in any case, because of that, I do not discriminate when it comes to work that pays.”
“Wouldn’t visiting Teacher Su be more urgent than this?”
“I, too, am in a position where I earn today and worry about tomorrow morning.”
“Wouldn’t that be solved if you went to see Teacher Su?”
“If I go without resolve, I may die and no longer need to worry about tomorrow’s meal.”
“……”
“……”
“Thank you for your help.”
“Since I will be using strength, my daily wage is one hundred fifty thousand barks.”
It was highway robbery, plain and simple.
For the first time in a truly long while, Lea felt Charten’s damn shamelessness.
Normally, the minimum daily wage was eighty-five thousand barks.
“You’ll knead the bread dough too, won’t you?”
“One hundred sixty thousand barks.”
“Lady Meranko, could we hire one sturdy man for one hundred thousand barks?”
At Lea’s dry question, Meranko answered coldly as well.
“One hundred thousand would be more than enough.”
“I can provide escort services as well.”
“I am sorry, but if you come with us, Teacher Su might come too.”
“I can also serve as a meat shield.”
Lea pondered.
If it was someone of Charten’s level, even if Meria Su was impossible, he should be able to stop Shuren.
Meria was no different from a disaster or calamity from the moment she appeared in the first place, so there was no calculation anywhere that involved stopping her.
Lea nodded and held out her hand.
“I will make a contract with you on the condition that you come tomorrow as well.”
“I have to attend class tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, then.”
“How do you do, my employer?”
Lea could not understand why Charten had come to the social arena at all.