Evening.
Lulumiya was walking alone on her way back to the church. The wide Royal Avenue bustled with people; hawkers’ shouts mingled with the performances of street musicians playing accordions and bagpipes, creating an exotic atmosphere that she quite enjoyed.
Of course, her good mood was mostly due to her smooth business prospects. She had finally secured both initial investment and backing—even though the six-month deadline was pressing, it was still far better than being unable to borrow any money.
Because of this, Lulumiya was finally in the mood to take a good look at this other world.
Previously, whenever she went out, she was highly goal-oriented and paid no attention to anything happening on the streets. But now, with 1 gold coin tucked away in her pocket as pocket money, she was gradually developing the urge to buy something to improve her life.
The gold coin Eno had given her had long since been spent on making the printing press and type molds. As for the two hundred gold coins she borrowed from Xinleila, she hadn’t brought them home, but rather left them with Xinleila for safekeeping. Two hundred gold coins were quite heavy; if she brought them back and Eno saw them, who knew what Eno might think.
Her primary goal was to buy daily necessities.
In terms of daily life, the biggest issue Lulumiya encountered was that this world had no toothbrushes. She had quietly observed how people here cleaned their teeth: the nuns at the church would often use a twig of willow, chewing one end to fray the fibers and then using it to scrape their teeth and clean the gaps. As for the poor and homeless she saw passing by private houses in the early morning, they would use coarse cloth, or even their fingers, as toothbrushes.
As for toothpaste, Lulumiya had only ever seen it in Eno’s bedroom—a strong-smelling herbal paste, wrapped in thin leather. To use it, one would dip a willow twig into it for brushing.
Although its smell and appearance were quite different from what toothpaste should be, Eno’s teeth were healthy, white, and neatly aligned, making her smile quite attractive. So at first, Lulumiya thought the toothpaste here must be effective—until, in the last couple of days, she started getting up early on purpose to wait outside Eno’s room for breakfast, and realized that Eno didn’t actually use it at all. A single “Cleanse” magic spell took care of everything. This made Lulumiya grumble inwardly that magic was truly absurd.
Since she hadn’t learned “Cleanse”, Lulumiya could only buy some willow twigs from a street vendor to brush her teeth. As for toothpaste, she hadn’t seen any vendors selling it, so it must be a luxury good.
Besides that, she also bought a cup, a towel, and a washbasin—daily necessities like these. Although the church provided them for free, the catch was that they were all communal, which drove Lulumiya crazy.
For example, the day before yesterday, in order to avoid sharing her cup and face towel with others, she had quietly cleaned the cup and towel in the washroom and brought them back to her room. But when she went to get them at night, she found that the cup and towel she’d left on the table had already been taken away by the nun in charge of cleaning.
The young nun had even thoughtfully reminded her that next time, she should remember to return the cup and towel after taking them, or else if the Chief Priest found out, she’d be considered improper in her daily life.
This made Lulumiya grit her teeth in anger; the nuns had no concept of hygiene when it came to separating towels and cups for personal use. Only by spending her own money on a new towel would it not be treated as a communal item by the nuns.
After spending less than a silver coin on these things, Lulumiya thought she should buy two sets of clothes as well. The reason was simple: although she currently had a platinum-colored long dress embroidered with the church’s emblem to wear, it didn’t fit her properly. The dress was a size too big; if she didn’t roll up the sleeves, her hands would be hidden inside.
Also, if she didn’t buy a domed straw hat, paired with a white dress and white socks, she couldn’t highlight the advantages of her young girl appearance in certain situations. Just imagine—if she wore something fresh and new whenever she went out alone with Eno, what would Eno think?
Of course, Eno would feel that she valued the days they spent together, and like her even more.
While Xinleila was certainly the strongest backer, the one she felt most comfortable working for was still Eno, who had always let her do as she pleased.
“Um… Don’t you have any dresses here?”
After wandering around the clothing shop, Lulumiya asked hesitantly.
“No, what you see here is everything.” The young shop assistant looked at Lulumiya with a strange expression. “Everyone just buys fabric and makes their own clothes at home. No one sells ready-made dresses.”
Just as Lulumiya could see, the clothing shop mostly carried indigo, black, and linen-colored cloth, with only short jackets and long pants in matching colors for sale—not even a single garment with a fancier style.
This world really is too backward.
She had the urge to hold her forehead. She knew that medieval Europe was like this, but experiencing it as a modern person was still hard to accept.
Fortunately, the young shop assistant, noticing her extraordinary attire and the dragon horns and tail that marked her as a magic doll, added while wiping the counter, “This is the commoners’ district. What you want is on the nobles’ street, but even there, everything’s made to order—there’s no ready-made clothing. If you want something nice, you could check over there.”
“Alright then.”
At the mention of the nobles’ street, Lulumiya knew that was a place she couldn’t go. She only had a single gold coin; she clearly didn’t have the means to buy noble attire.
She left the shop dejectedly. By now, the sky was covered in orange sunset, the city-shrouding pale purple magic array faintly visible, and night was quickly approaching.
It was about time to head back.
Speaking of which, today should be the day Eno returned from the Great Forest…
Holding a large bag of daily necessities, Lulumiya pondered. The reason she’d been able to stay at Xinleila’s place for the past few days was that, a couple of days ago, Eno had led several of the church’s Holy Knights into the forest to hunt monsters and increase their magic power. Judging by the schedule, today was the day Eno would return.
She had to get ready.
Although she couldn’t, like a wife waiting for her husband, prepare dinner and clean the room for Eno’s return, at the very least she needed to let Eno know she hadn’t been slacking off while Eno was gone—to show Eno her attitude.
Lulumiya’s green slit pupils lit up as she spun her eyes around. She walked up to a little girl who was hanging her head dejectedly. The girl was carrying a basket of flowers and was clearly upset about not having sold any.
“Little sister, how much are your flowers?”
“Eh? You want to buy flowers?”
The girl immediately perked up, her sparkling eyes dazzling Lulumiya.
So this is how deadly a young girl’s expectant gaze can be.
“They’re only one iron coin each. How many would you like?”
“These flowers are a bit wilted. I’ll buy them all—can you give me a discount?”
“No problem!”
So, Lulumiya bought the whole basket of flowers for less than a copper coin. Although the flowers had wilted a bit after a whole day, that didn’t stop Lulumiya from putting them to other uses.
After that, the relaxed Lulumiya set her sights on the food of this world.
Sugar seemed to be quite a rare commodity here. She couldn’t find any cakes or similar sweets after a walk around the street. The only sweet things she found were honey and malt sugar. The former needed no explanation; the latter made Lulumiya recall the candy sellers from her childhood—carrying a yoke, pounding and chiseling away with iron hammers and little spatulas. She only learned when she grew up that this kind of candy was called yitang.
When she was young, she’d been taught that this candy was made with the peddler’s spit, so she had always avoided it. She only spent one silver coin to buy a small jar of honey before heading home.
However, as Lulumiya continued on toward the temple, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and couldn’t help but look up.
Her expression changed.
At the end of the street were the thugs who had blocked her at the academy gate before. Judging by how they strode off menacingly in a different direction, they must have been after someone else for debt collection, but Lulumiya still hurriedly ducked into a hiding spot. She didn’t come out, wiping cold sweat from her brow, until the burly men shouting, “Where did that **^ brat go?” had completely gone.
There’s still so much left to pay back…
Lulumiya clicked her tongue. She hadn’t gotten to enjoy any fortune, but was already saddled with mountains of debt—so unfair.
But this also reminded her that, while she had a six-month agreement with the Fourth Princess, the original owner hadn’t only borrowed money from the Fourth Princess. She’d also borrowed from students at the academy and even people outside the academy, especially the latter. If she didn’t take care of this soon, if they caused a scene at the temple, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Eno had never asked her why she’d borrowed so much money or where it had gone. If this matter aroused Eno’s curiosity, she’d have no way to explain her sudden change in personality.
Also, the hardworking image she’d worked so hard to build would immediately collapse. That older nun, Sharina, would definitely seize the chance to accuse her of ruining Eno’s reputation. If the temple pressured Eno to dismiss her, she would lose her safety net.
But what could she do? Money didn’t grow on trees. The newspaper office wasn’t even set up yet, and for the next six months all her income would have to go toward paying back the Fourth Princess. It was only a matter of time before those vicious debt collectors came to the temple…
Lulumiya’s brow was tightly knit. The relief she’d felt after securing the Angel Wheel investment had vanished, replaced with anxiety again. Unconsciously, she’d already walked into the temple. The long corridor, paved with white jade bricks, reflected the pale yellow lamplight, casting a faint glow around Lulumiya.
“She hasn’t attended training for three days straight. What exactly is Eno doing?”
“I… I’ve already done my best to persuade Lady Eno.”
The sound of an argument at the end of the corridor snapped Lulumiya back to reality. She looked up to see Sander scolding her least favorite older nun, Sharina.
The aura between the two was completely different from the last time Lulumiya had seen them. Sander wore a white tall hat embroidered with gold thread, his clothes replaced by an imposing white cloak and formal attire. Tucked under his arm was a thick, bound sacred tome. With his eyes wide in anger, he radiated the oppressive air of a superior. Standing there, he felt like a towering wall that made it hard to breathe.
By contrast, Sharina seemed much weaker. Faced with the forceful Sander, she could only lower her brows and cross her hands in front of her, looking resigned to whatever might come.
Sander gave a cold snort.
“Persuade her? Are you a clergy of the church or Eno’s housemaid? Do you realize how much the Sacred Prayer Ceremony will affect the Holy Child’s promotion in six months? Or has the Geffen Diocese sunk so low that we can’t even select a suitable candidate for Holy Child?”
“I’m very sorry…”
“I don’t want to hear apologies!” Sander’s voice was so loud that Sharina flinched. “I want to see her! She hasn’t shown her face in three days. What kind of attitude is that? If she treats the Holy Child title as a gilded badge, I will never let her participate in the promotion. Bring her to see me!”
“This…”
Sharina opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing.
Of course she couldn’t.
If Lulumiya were in her shoes, she wouldn’t have anything to say either, because Eno wasn’t even in the temple—she’d taken the Holy Knights north of the Royal Capital into the Great Forest on her own. Very few people knew about this.