Published: August 15, 2025
I gave the civil servant and my Foster Father a smile of encouragement as they looked up at the high priest with pleading eyes, saying, "Please do your best with your work." Then, I left the high priest’s office along with the lord's.
Immediately, I returned to the temple. If I stayed leisurely at the castle, the civil servant would probably cling to me, and the high priest—a workaholic—would be restless and uneasy in a situation where there was nothing to do.
...Ah, geez! They’re just too much alike, master and servant!
I recalled Fran’s story about how, during the starbinding ceremony in the Noble District, even though she was told to rest, she couldn't calm down. In the end, all the attendants gathered and talked about work.
"If you want to work that much, then work at the temple instead of the castle, and while you’re at it, train the juniors. If the azure priests are hopeless, it’s fine to train the gray priests too."
If the high priest, now with some spare time, earnestly trained the juniors, the expectations placed on me would be dispersed, and my own assignments would surely lessen. Somewhere in the back of my head a voice said, "It's not that easy," but I decided to ignore it.
At the same time, I suddenly remembered what Wilma told me—that our attendants bear a heavy workload. Perhaps I should train the juniors and ease the burden on the attendants.
"High Priest, I’ve been told that despite having many titles—Orphanage Director, Workshop Master, and Temple Head Priest—I have too few attendants. What do you think?"
"...Whether the office functions smoothly is for you to decide. If they're insufficient, increase them; if there’s no problem, there’s no need to add more. You earn on your own, and besides the funds allotted to the Temple Head Priest, you also have the child-rearing expenses entrusted to you by your Foster Father. So if you want to increase attendants, you can. Consult with Fran."
Since the financial issue is settled, it seems it’s really up to my own discretion.
Back at the temple, I immediately asked Fran.
"...That’s what the high priest said, but Fran, what do you think about increasing the attendants?"
After telling her what Wilma said and the high priest’s response, Fran narrowed her eyes slightly.
"I agree with increasing the number of workshop managers. Currently, Gil handles everything alone, but as more workshops like Hasse’s are added, if Gil is often absent, we need someone to manage this workshop."
If more workshops are added, the Gilberta Trading Company will be involved, and Gil—the one most closely connected with them and used to going outside—will be out. The resulting burden will fall entirely on Fran, since the workshop is in the basement of the boys’ dormitory, and ultimately, Fran, a man, is relied on for management.
"I will assign one gray priest as an attendant. Gil and Lutz will select from among the gray priests working in the workshop. It must be someone who can get along well with those two. ...What about the orphanage?"
"I think that’s fine for the workshop, but there’s no need to increase administrators for the orphanage. Lady Rosemine placed Wilma in charge because she was concerned about the young ones being neglected, but originally, the orphanage had no administrators. The orphanage director was the administrator."
Since the gray shrine maidens who raised the children are gone, I only placed attendants to look after them as a formality. Fran said if, by the time I’m no longer the orphanage director, there are many administrators in the orphanage, the next director will be troubled.
"Then what about the Temple Head Priest’s office?"
When I asked about the place that seemed to need the most support, Fran gave a very complicated smile.
"If you could poach the high priest’s capable attendants, I would definitely ask you to, but we don’t need any more attendants to train. Honestly, I’m overwhelmed with daily duties and teaching Monica and Nicola."