Published: August 3, 2025
“What exactly do you intend to have them do by working outside?”
“...They’ll be serving in restaurants that offer the kind of cuisine nobles eat.”
The high priest let out a small “Ah” as if recalling our earlier conversation in my room.
“To have them serve as waitstaff means they must be gray priests with experience as attendants, right?”
“Gray priests with attendant experience are, of course, the best—they have gentle manners, are personable, and have good posture—but even newly minted guild members have become somewhat capable. With education, they should quickly become proficient.”
Having at least one experienced person is helpful, but it’s not a major problem if they aren’t attendants before. The children at the orphanage generally behave quietly and obediently, perhaps because their role models are attendants and azure priests who teach them that violence is forbidden, and because from birth they’re taught to obey and be confined.
With role models close by, training them isn’t that difficult.
“If they can become proficient quickly, why not just educate commoners from downtown?”
“There is a huge difference in whether they are familiar with nobles. Posture, demeanor, language...”
If training were easy, Benno wouldn’t be worried. Most waitstaff in downtown eateries also serve as prostitutes. During busy hours, chef apprentices are called in, but overall, it’s considered low-quality work.
They must hire waitstaff, but the applicants will almost certainly be poor women, which would ruin the upscale atmosphere of the restaurant. Like Lutz struggles with, retraining posture and language is not an easy task.
“If it’s Benno’s restaurant, the quality shouldn’t be that bad, right? I think the attendants you had back then could manage.”
The attendant Benno knows is Mark, who is outstanding even within the Gilberta Trading Company. Since Mark trains the employees, they all have good manners and speech, but they cannot be made waitstaff.
The employee apprentices contracted at Benno’s restaurant are mostly children of merchants wanting ties with the Gilberta Trading Company. Serving isn’t included in their job. If they did, there would be strong opposition.
“If it is a gray priest who was an attendant, it should be a natural job. But without guardians, can they be allowed to work? Who would be the guardian? If only that one person receives wages, a gap would form inside the orphanage. What’s your view on that?”
Benno might be the guardian for one, but I don’t know if he could be the guardian for all the waitstaff. And I hadn’t considered pay disparities in the orphanage at all.
“...I can’t answer that immediately.”
“Understandable. It’s not a simple matter.”
The high priest exhaled slowly. It’s not a simple issue, but I understood that without a solution, permission couldn’t be granted.
“I’m not expecting permission today. I just wanted to hear your thoughts... What is your opinion on gray priests working outside?”
The high priest took my question seriously, lightly tapped his temple with his finger, narrowed his eyes slightly, and pondered.
“Hmm. I think it’s harsh.”
“Harsh?”
“Watching you, I understand there’s a big difference between the outside world and the temple, right? Do you think gray priests who only know the temple can suddenly adapt to the outside?”
I recalled the first time I walked outside with Fran and the guild, shaking my head slowly.
“If it’s only inside a restaurant, perhaps they can manage. Otherwise...”
When working inside a restaurant imitating a noble’s chamber and serving guests acting as nobles, the gray priests’ behavior aligns with correct conduct. There is commercial interaction, but judging by their conduct at the myne workshop, they’d be fine.
However, stepping outside the restaurant, the temple’s rules no longer apply.
“Also, what if a priest who has come to know the outside wants to live outside? Can you guarantee such a life?”