Chapter 10: Visiting Winnie’s Family
Walking into a quiet alley, Talil led Xilutiya to stop in front of a door and gently knocked.
“Sister, sister, are you there? It’s Talil.”
After a short while, footsteps came from inside the door, then with a creak, the house door opened, revealing a woman somewhat similar to Talil. She had the same brownish-red hair, but styled into braids coiled at her shoulder, wearing an apron. Her appearance was not outstanding, but she had a gentle and virtuous temperament. At this moment, a boy about five years old was beside her.
“Come, call her little aunt.” Winnie took the boy’s hand and guided him.
“L-Little aunt.” The boy was somewhat shy and hid behind his mother after calling out, clutching her skirt.
“Heehee, it’s little Randy. Have you been good lately?” Talil chased after him, touched the boy’s head, and prepared to play with him.
At this moment, Winnie clearly noticed the figure behind Talil and couldn’t help but speak up.
“Talil, who is this?”
Xilutiya now pulled down her hood, revealing her soft silver hair and face, making Winnie slightly open her mouth in surprise.
“Hello, my name is Tiya. I’m Talil’s friend and just arrived in Jiaoshi City.” The maiden introduced herself thus.
“Hello, I’m Winnie, Talil’s sister. Um, come in and sit.” After saying that, she stepped aside to let the two enter.
Then Talil and Xilutiya entered the house and sat on the long bench in the hall. Soon, Winnie took the teapot hanging over the fireplace and poured hot tea water for the two.
“It’s been steeped for a while, so the taste might not be great. Please forgive me.” If Talil had come alone, there would be no need for such politeness, but after all, there was an outsider today.
“It’s fine.” The maiden took the tea, then her gaze scanned the house.
Its size was similar to the house she currently lived in, about 110 square meters. Inside the house were wooden cabinets, table and chairs, and so on, with quite a few pottery bottles and jars on the counter.
After the three sat down, they soon began chatting casually, and Winnie gradually learned about Xilutiya’s background and current situation.
“I see, so Miss Tiya can’t remember her past?” She thought for a moment.
“For this kind of situation to occur, there are many reasons. Besides common brain injuries, it could also be the influence of other extraordinary powers.”
“Oh, what extraordinary powers can cause this kind of thing?” The maiden was very curious.
“Those involving the mental aspect are mostly moon attribute natures, that is, 【Brilliant Moon】【Mist Shadow】【Nightmare】 these three natures.” Winnie was indeed very knowledgeable.
“But as for which specific abilities and secret arts can interfere with memory, I’m not clear. Perhaps you’d need to ask the teacher.”
“Thank you.” Xilutiya was not in a hurry about finding her memory; settling down was more important for now.
The three then chatted about Tiya and Talil’s future life in the city.
“For work, what I’m familiar with is working as a maid in some dining rooms. I don’t know if Talil can adapt.” She knew her sister’s temperament well.
“Maid? I don’t like that.” Sure enough, Talil shook her head.
“Having to stand all the time maintaining posture, and speaking in that tone—it’s really uncomfortable.”
“Well, other jobs aren’t so easy either.” Winnie smiled and continued.
“Sigh, sister, you tell me.”
“Laundry, bathhouse, inn odd jobs and cleaning…” Winnie listed several jobs in a row.
“Ah, these don’t sound good either.” They were far from the beautiful city life of Talil’s fantasies.
“They’re not great. I know some good jobs, like helping trim gardens, helping in dessert shops, maid in big households, shop clerks, and so on.”
“Some of these jobs require certain skills, some require looks and etiquette, some require knowing how to read and arithmetic. Unfortunately, you don’t meet any of these requirements.” Her sister answered with some regretful sigh.
“Ah, I get it, sister. Don’t sigh anymore. It’s not like I didn’t study properly before. You always say that to me.” Talil covered her ears.
“Oh right, I recently learned sword technique. Is there any use for that?”
“Sword technique?” Winnie tilted her head to look at Talil, somewhat disbelieving and puzzled.
“Where did you learn it from?”
“I learned it from Lord Frien, but Tiya guided me more.” Saying this, Talil pulled the maiden beside her.
“I see. Do you know breathing technique then?” Winnie continued to ask.
“No.” Talil shook her head like a rattle.
“If not, it’s of little use.” Winnie responded.
“Just knowing sword technique alone isn’t very useful. Your physique is insufficient, your power is weak, your reaction speed can’t keep up. Facing warriors who know breathing technique, you can’t win at all. Even some strong adults can easily overpower you.”
“Woo…” Talil was struck by her own sister and lost all confidence, with no power to retort.
“I get it. So what should I do? Really go work as a maid in a dining room? I feel like I can’t do it well.”
“This… that’s true.” Winnie was stumped for a moment and could only shake her head.
“Wait for your brother-in-law to come back, and I’ll ask him. Maybe the merchant guild has some opportunities.”
After finishing with Talil’s matter, Winnie’s attention turned to Xilutiya.
“Does Miss Tiya have any plans currently?”
“Not for now, but I plan to learn some knowledge. I wonder what channels there are in the city and how much tuition costs.” Xilutiya spoke up.
“I can teach basic enlightenment, but the difficult parts might be arithmetic. If you really want to delve into knowledge in various aspects, you’d still need to consult the scholars in the city.”
“Which ones do you recommend currently?”
“There are currently three scholars in the city. Scholar Heide is the most senior and the teacher of the other two scholars.” Winnie explained.
“But Scholar Heide isn’t taking students now. As for the other two, Scholar Romanda is Viscount Xue Feng’s advisor and has no time to teach. The other is Scholar Edson, who is now the advisor and appraiser for the ‘Oak Barrel’ merchant guild. He seems very busy too and hard to find time to teach.” Winnie spoke with regret.
“My husband Anchel and I were introduced by Scholar Edson. Perhaps I can ask him again.”
Hearing Winnie describe it this way, Xilutiya knew the hopes were slim, so she turned to inquire about other aspects.
“Do you want to find a job?”
Winnie looked at Xilutiya somewhat unexpectedly. In her view, a maiden like this basically didn’t need to work. As long as she was willing to appear among nobles, people would send countless gifts and invitations. Attending banquets and outings every day would require a long schedule.
“I still need to live independently, and besides, I don’t like handing my future over to others to control.” This was a world with extraordinary powers; external things were hard to rely on.
“In that case…” Winnie roughly understood Xilutiya’s nature and actually admired this temperament quite a bit.
“If it’s Miss Tiya, you could find many good jobs, like opera house actress, jewelry merchant promoter, flower salon host.”
“No no, recommend some jobs with less public exposure for me.” The maiden didn’t want to be so flashy.
“Jobs with less exposure…” Winnie fell into thought again.
“Book copyist—no, that’s too tiring. High-end dining room maid—no, that doesn’t suit Miss Tiya’s identity…” She rejected several options in a row, and these jobs made Talil on the side envious.
Is this the advantage of being smart and good-looking?
“Earlier I heard you mention the Apothecary Guild and Gardener Guild. Do they have suitable jobs for me?” Xilutiya became interested in this.
Her Discernment Eyes should be able to provide a lot of help in distinguishing medicinal materials and properties. Moreover, if she could learn the means of potion making, she could earn living expenses herself without needing to go out and expose herself. As for the gardener side, she wanted to find cornflower flower seeds and related cultivation and planting techniques.
“For that, you’d need to go ask.” Winnie nodded in agreement.
Towards evening, Winnie’s husband Anchel got off work and returned home, seeing the two guests in the house.
“I see.” After hearing Winnie and Talil’s account, he roughly understood the situation.
“Tomorrow I’ll ask Mister Edson. As for the Apothecary Guild, I recommend Miss Tiya buy a medicinal material identification guidebook first, study it, and then go work there—it’ll be easier.” He suggested during dinner together.
“Talil knows where to buy books. If you’re short on money, I can lend you some.” Considering Tiya had just arrived in Jiaoshi City, it would indeed be difficult.
“How much does buying a book cost?”
“The medicinal material identification guide I mentioned costs about 8 silver coins.”
“Whoa, books are that expensive?” Talil exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course, knowledge has never been cheap.” Anchel nodded.
“No problem. Thank you for the guidance, Mister Anchel.” Xilutiya expressed thanks.
“It’s nothing. You’re Talil’s good friend and once helped the residents of Fir Village. For me, these are what should be done.”
After finishing dinner, Talil and Xilutiya said goodbye and returned to their residence.
After they left, Anchel discussed the matter of the silver-haired maiden with Winnie.
“This Miss Tiya definitely has an extraordinary background.” He said with some emotion.
“Yes, just from her standard accent and appearance temperament, there’s a huge gap from ordinary people.”
“Moreover, chatting with her is very comfortable, without the indifferent arrogance typical of nobles.” Winnie recalled the day’s feelings.
“Tomorrow go to the merchant guild and ask around to help. Oh right, and my sister Talil’s matter. Grandfather let her come to the city probably because he doesn’t want her to idle at home.”
“Just right, she’s sixteen this year and can start working.”
“Talil has a lively temperament; those quiet jobs probably aren’t for her. If there are ones with lots of running errands, she’d love them.” Winnie described Talil’s temperament.
“There will be.” Anchel comforted his wife.
As the two discussed these, the topic shifted to their child Randy, and they planned their life and future until late at night when they went to sleep.
