The Director

“Director, would it be all right if I stayed here for about twelve weeks? I’d like to ask you to let Leon stay for a few days, too.”

“Of course. This is your home, Ronnie, so come back whenever you like.”

“Thank you, Director!”

“Then I’ll need to make enough food for two more people. Everyone who’s at work should be coming back soon, too, so let’s start making dinner. Emma and Liz are in charge of cooking today, aren’t they? Have you finished prepping?”

Asia-san said that and looked at the two of them. So they have assigned cooks, huh? That’s why Ronnie could cook from the start.

“Yes! We’re almost done.”

“Thank you. Then let’s head to the kitchen. The ones assigned to serving can join us in a little while. Ronnie and Leon, take it easy.”

“No, we’ll help, too. We bought all kinds of ingredients as souvenirs, and we even have sweets as a gift! Please let us make those, too.”

Ronnie said that and lifted the heavy cloth sack, packed with ingredients, just a little. It was so heavy that he put it down whenever we stopped. On the way here, Ronnie and I had taken turns carrying it.

“Did you really buy this much? Is that all right? It looks pretty heavy... And sweets are expensive, aren’t they? Royal School costs a lot as it is...”

Asia-san said that and looked at Ronnie with deep concern. It’s true, before he started working at the stall, Ronnie wouldn’t have been able to afford souvenirs.

“I work at the food stall Leon runs, so I’ve managed to save up a little. And Leon brought the sweets as a gift.”

“Leon runs a food stall?”

“Leon is... a little unusual. He’s really helped me a lot.”

When Ronnie said that, Asia-san seemed to sense there were circumstances he couldn’t easily explain, and didn’t press him further.

“I’m glad Ronnie found such a good friend.”

“Yes! He’s such a good friend, I’m not worthy of him!”

Ronnie felt that way about me...! It’s embarrassing, but I’m happy. Lately, Ronnie’s been exasperated with me all the time.

As we chatted, someone came over and tugged at Ronnie’s sleeve.

“Big Brother, you work at a food stall!?”

Liz asked Ronnie, her eyes sparkling. I remember Ronnie mentioning that he’d talked with his little sister about how she could eat as much as she wanted if she worked at the stall.

To Liz, working at a food stall must seem like a dream. Having your own shop does sound nice.

“That’s right. I sell a food called crepes. I bought the ingredients as souvenirs, so I’ll make some for everyone tonight.”

“Really!? I’m so happy!”

“Then let’s head to the kitchen.”

Then we set off for the kitchen. On the way, I asked Ronnie something I’d been wondering about for a while.

“Ronnie, everyone speaks politely to Asia-san. How come they know how?”

It’s normal for commoners not to know how to speak politely, but everyone uses polite language with Asia-san. I’d been wondering about it for a while.

“The director teaches us enough polite speech and basic arithmetic to get by. The director says that knowing those two things, especially polite speech, makes it much more likely we’ll find a good job in the central district. The director would like to teach us to read and write, too, but there just isn’t enough time for that. Everyone can do a little, though.”

So that’s how it is... That’s amazing. In this world, learning usually costs a lot of money, and hardly anyone teaches for free.

An orphanage is a special kind of place, but the director is teaching so many children for free... If we applied this idea more broadly, we could have compulsory education in this world, too.

Even if compulsory education is impossible, just making it possible to take classes at churches would raise this country’s education level tremendously.

Well, it’s difficult to actually do that.

In any case, Ronnie was really lucky to end up at this orphanage. Actually, who exactly is Asia-san?

Church staff are basically commoners, right? I’m pretty sure I’d heard that before. There’s a simple literacy test, so it’s impossible for someone who’s never studied at all, but I’ve heard that anyone who’s had even a little chance to study can pass easily.

But that alone wouldn’t be enough to teach people polite speech...

“That’s really wonderful. How did Asia-san learn so much? Aren’t church staff usually commoners?”

“I’m really grateful. I was curious, too, so I asked once. Apparently, one of the director’s parents was a quasi-noble, which gave the director a chance to study.”

So one of Asia-san’s parents was a quasi-noble, which means her grandparents were nobles. Asia-san herself is a commoner, but she’s descended from nobility.

“I see. I wonder why the director became the head of this orphanage.”

“I don’t know much about it either, but the director said the central district was exhausting and wasn’t for them. Apparently, commoners whose parents are quasi-nobles often work as staff at various facilities in the central district.”

I see... Now that I think about it, I’d never wondered what happened to the children of quasi-nobles, but there are staff at Royal School, too, so I guess many of them work in places like that.

But if they’ve had an education, wouldn’t they want to attend Royal School? They could become government officials after graduating.

“This just occurred to me, but don’t the children of quasi-nobles go to Royal School?”

“Hmm, I don’t know either, but there aren’t many, are there?”

“Yeah. If there were, they’d be in our class, right?”

“That’s true... Oh, I think one girl did say she was the child of a quasi-noble.”

Wow, when had I talked to a girl? I hadn’t even spoken to any girls at school, let alone girls in my class.

No, there were two. Martine and Stacy-sama. But Martine was a special case, and Stacy-sama seemed like she’d talk to anyone...

Still, the two of them who actually talk to me are incredibly precious. I should treasure them...

“There was someone like that?”

“Yeah. She said she knew people would look down on her, but she really wanted to enroll. Maybe a lot of people don’t attend because they don’t want nobles looking down on them.”

True, their grandparents are nobles, but they’re commoners themselves. That’s a really awkward position. They probably don’t want nobles looking down on them, and if they enroll, they know they’ll have unpleasant experiences.

And if they can find a good job without going through the hardship of Royal School, that’s probably preferable. Even if commoners enroll, the only benefit is that they can become government officials. And even if they do, they’ll probably be looked down on for the rest of their lives while working with nobles...

Thinking about it that way, aren’t there almost no advantages to commoners attending Royal School?

It makes sense for a poor commoner to enroll and aim to become a government official as a shot at turning their life around, but perhaps a commoner who’s already fairly well off has no reason to go.

In reality, most of the commoner students are children of merchant houses. They probably want connections with nobles, and it may be a status symbol, too.

“It’s true that there probably aren’t many benefits for the children of quasi-nobles to attend Royal School.”

“Right? I think so, too.”

As we walked, Ronnie and I quietly talked about that until we reached the kitchen.

To reach the kitchen, you go from the backyard into the dining hall, then through the dining hall and in through another door. It seems the door Emma and Liz came out of earlier leads to the kitchen.