Fairy Tale Chronicles - Volume 4 Snippet 3.1

Volume 4 Snippet 3.1

Snippet 3

１．One Day in Alfemina Temple

The day always started off early in Alfemina Temple.

「Good morning.」

Primula and Judith got up earlier than everyone for kitchen duty today, greeting the other people who were on-site.

「Good morning. Where might Aearis-sama be today？」

「She appears to have been gone since yesterday. I think she will not be coming back for a bit.」

「Is that right.」

The fellow male priests coworkers breathed sighs of relief at Primula’s information. In Alfemina Temple, Aearis often snuck into the kitchen before the sun was even up to prepare breakfast, so the priests could not let their guard down.

If she had just made one dish that would be fine. Even if she were a priestess, Aearis was still in training. No one had any problem with giving her special treatment and she could simply call it part of her training regiment and no one would refuse her in.

However, Aearis’s breakfast preparations were not so gentle. She would go so far as to make food for the priests, pastors, and trainees (who totaled over 100).

And of course, being by herself, Aearis couldn’t make anything all that elaborate. She always resorted to meals that could be easily spooned out into portions or inserted into the oven to cook on their own in large amounts, yet somehow succeeded in making breakfast with a charming appearance and flavor in perfect balance with ease.

This would do nothing to help her training. Therefore, the management staff, starting with the high priest, rebuked her with a warning while the people on breakfast duty got up early to prevent Aearis from doing anything, or if they did they left it at one dish max. In a sense, you could certainly say she was going through some harsh training.

「Then if Aearis-sama is not in the temple, it would appear that we can relax and cook.」

「Yes. However, that does not mean we get to slack off, right？」

Primula went ahead and warned the coworkers, who appeared to be loosening up a bit.

「Of course not. It is simply that with Aearis-sama here, we could never slip up lest we lose our work, and we were so frantic……」

「Yes, well I do understand that part……」

Primula and Judith grimaced at their colleagues’ words. Despite only being eleven years old, Aearis was actually more skilled than these priests who had been training for years and years supposedly. Perhaps this in and of itself was training for the priests to take on pressure with composure as they made food of actual quality.

Then again, wasn’t this something that cooks should do, rather than priests?

「But Sis, even if we have time to cook with less pressure, there is still not a lot of time. Let’s go about this in a professional manner.」

「Right you are.」

As soon as she heard Judith say that, Primula got right to the pre-cooking. While there was some pressure from Aearis and her skill, as people who came from Darl, the sisters were unbelievably grateful to not have to deal with someone who would always get up early to make breakfast.

Morning training in Alfemina Temple was for farmwork. Other than positions dealing with petitions or positions that would head out to the temple subsidiaries scattered around Wulls, everyone generally, as per Alfemina tradition, would gather round to work in the plantations.

「The soba in this division is definitely a harvest.」

「Sis, I think we should first secure the edamame.」

Primula commented on how good the soba looked as Judith pointed out something else they had to do first. Aearis’s plants in the plantation had bloomed a second time, becoming her personal favorites, so several varieties of soba were being cultivated and could be harvested in practically any season.

The temple was also cultivating soybeans, since miso and soy sauce were essential for eating soba. They were raising other crops as well, but the main ones that stood out were these two.

But all in all, these were amateur priests. They weren’t so accomplished at agriculture that they could easily cultivate crops, and their harvested amount and quality was nothing special. Not only was this insufficient to support food at the temple, it was really just one part of training.

Then again, soy sauce and miso were different. While they were purchasing the ingredients from farmhouses, they made enough to spend on the temple. The quality was just about as meager as the other temple crops, but at least the amount was more than enough. Hiroshi had not trained them for nothing.

「It would seem that today’s dinner will consist mainly of edamame tofu and new soba.」

「And we also need to make soba powder, so let’s hurry and get this harvesting out of the way, Sis.」

「Indeed.」

Nodding at Judith, Primula hastened the harvesting pace. The other priests were also diligently working at it. Working hard enough to emit sweat on your brow felt truly nice.

「Looks like today’s farm work is complete!」

Tying up the harvested soba and carrying it all over, Judith took a breather before confirming. There were mainy grains that could not simply be harvested and finished. Hiroshi and all the farmers appeared to have many techniques for greatly reducing the work time like sun drying, but priests like themselves had no such skills. Rather than do the impossible, it was best to let nature take its course.

「Now we use what’s in the storehouse to make soba.」

「It would indeed be nice if we could eat some tasty soba.」

The other priests would be excused as of this moment, but the kitchen duty was still not over. They had to finish lunch and dinner by the time afternoon training began. Incidentally, the people in charge of miso and soy sauce were quite busy at this time.

「So as to not be rude to the ingredients, let us cook with all our might and all our spirit.」

The head minister in charge of today’s kitchen duty conveyed this to everyone with a severe expression on his face. Once upon a time, Alfemina Temple ate food regardless of what quality it had, but as of now, the mindset was that even sloppy food could be worked on to see if it got at least a bit more tasty, out of respect.

This was, needless to say, Aearis’s influence. Rather than put up with nasty food, it was harder to actually work on bad ingredients so that they tasted good, which really did become extra training in that respect.

「Judith. This will not go like it did with Haruna-san or Aearis-sama, but let’s take our time and do our best so that the food is not angered.」

「Of course, Sis！」

Anyone would agree that food was better tasty than not. The priests cooked the food so as to eat it in the best manner, being thankful for every portion of it.

Afternoon. Finishing preparations for dinner and thanking the food, the priests finished lunch before entering into an important training session with a holy ritual at its core.

「Judith-san, your mana waves are out-of-sync！」

As she heard the head priest’s warning, Judith gritted her teeth, moving the waves back to form. Now, there were many different rituals, but they generally consisted of the same activities with only slightly varying methods. As a result, the Norton sisters who came from a different temple and its goddess practically did the same thing as always.

「Primula-san, we would appreciate your assistance over here.」

「Understood.」

Primula accepted the head priest’s instructions and moved position to reconfigure her mana waves. While this was at Igreos Temple, Primula was still a legally qualified priest, unlike Judith. If the only difference was in the methodology then she could take on it without issue.

「Your wavelength is messed up！」

「You aren’t letting your guard down just because Aearis-sama is not here, are you！？」

The sounds of priests rebuking other trainees echoed through the room. This process was more difficult than it appeared to be, and as long as new trainees continued to trickle in, there was no end to the scolding.

Then again, it was even more mentally straining to have Aearis look at everyone in a worried manner than it was to hear a bit of scolding, and the amount of angry yells when she was there versus not there were worlds apart.

「Judith-san！」

Hearing her younger sister get reprimanded, Primula reorganized her off-course mana, the unsung hero.

「We got some nice training today, huh Sis?」

「We sure did.」

「Initially, I didn’t think we’d be able to blend in so easily here after coming into contact with that haven, but it looks like things are working out.」

「I’m just glad that we can make whatever as long as it tastes good. I have no qualms with frugal meals, but it’s also true that our ability to endure is partially swayed by the food quality.」

Primula and Judith discussed their situation amongst themselves, recalling what life had initially been like their first days at Alfemina Temple. Their beds had been tough, the quality of soap extremely bad, and even if they were told that this was to be expected, neither girl would have been able to endure such mental strain. Or rather, it was far easier on the psyche compared to training in an environment where they were treated like royalty, as this actually gave them the impression that they were training.

Unlike every temple in Darl, Wulls Temple was furnished with large public baths, which greatly helped. The meaning and feeling of soaking in there daily was no longer something the sisters could turn back from, and even if they could laugh off most of their living arrangements, bathing was now something equally important to eating that they would not part with.

Then again, the sisters were aware that apart from their mental state, their physical state was considerably suffering. Even if they could now adjust to their sleeping arrangements with a month, it was an undeniable fact that they woke up every morning with jarring movement. The difference in elevation was too big, so it would probably be some time before their bodies fully adjusted.

「Sis, let’s train super hard tomorrow too.」

「Indeed.」

And with none the wiser as to how fulfilled the sisters were feeling, another day in the life of Alfemina Temple was approaching its end.