Taliel led Xilutaiya down a quiet lane, stopped before one of the doors, and knocked softly.
"Sister, Sister, are you home? It's me, Taliel."
After a short wait, footsteps came from inside, then with a creak the door opened, revealing a woman who looked something like Taliel. She had the same auburn hair, though hers was braided and pinned up along one shoulder, and she wore an apron. Her face was nothing remarkable, but she carried a gentle, gracious air, and beside her stood a boy of about five.
"Come on, say 'Little Aunt.'" Wenni prompted, holding the boy's hand.
"L-Little Aunt." The boy was shy with strangers; no sooner had he said it than he hid behind his mother, clinging to her dress and refusing to let go.
"Hehe, it's Little Landi! Have you been good lately?" Taliel hurried after him and patted the boy's head, ready to romp with him a little.
By then Wenni had plainly noticed the figure behind Taliel, and she couldn't help asking.
"Taliel, who is this?"
Xilutaiya drew back her hood, revealing that smooth, silvery hair and her face, and Wenni's lips parted slightly in astonishment.
"Hello, my name is Tiya. I'm a friend of Taliel's—I've only just arrived in Burnt Stone City." So the girl introduced herself.
"How do you do? I'm Wenni, Taliel's older sister. Um, please come in and sit." With that, she stepped aside to let the two of them in.
Taliel and Xilutaiya walked into the house and sat down on the bench in the main room. Before long, Wenni picked up the teapot hanging by the hearth and poured them each a cup of warm tea.
"It's been brewed for a while, so it may not taste its best—please forgive me." If Taliel had come alone, there would have been no need for such courtesy, but there was an outsider today.
"It's quite all right." The girl accepted the tea, then let her gaze wander over the house.
It was about the same size as the place she was living in now—probably somewhere around 110 square meters. Inside stood wooden cabinets, tables, and chairs, with quite a few clay jars and bottles set out on top.
Once the three of them were seated, they soon fell into easy conversation, and little by little Wenni came to learn where Xilutaiya came from and how things stood with her.
"I see. So Miss Tiya can't remember the things from before?" She gave it a moment's thought.
"There are many reasons something like this happens. Besides the common case of a head injury, it could also be the influence of other transcendent powers."
"Oh? What transcendent powers can do such a thing?" The girl wanted very much to know.
"Where the mind is involved, it's mostly the moon attributes—that is, the three attributes of Radiant Moon, Mist Shadow, and Nightmare." Wenni was indeed considerably more learned.
"But as for exactly which ability or secret art can disturb memory, I couldn't say. We'd probably have to ask a teacher to find out."
"Thank you." Xilutaiya was in no hurry about recovering her memories; settling in mattered more for now.
The three of them went on to talk about the life Tiya and Taliel would be leading in the city.
"As for work, what I know best is serving as a waitress at some restaurant or other. I wonder whether Taliel could stand it." She knew her younger sister's temperament well.
"A waitress? I don't like it." Sure enough, Taliel shook her head.
"Standing the whole time keeping up your posture, and having to talk in that special tone of voice—it's awful."
"Well then, the other jobs aren't nearly so easy, you know." Wenni went on with a smile.
"Ugh. Go ahead, Sister."
"Laundry, bathhouse, odd jobs and cleaning at the inns..." Wenni reeled off quite a few jobs in a row.
"Ah, those don't sound good either." It was a far cry from the beautiful city life Taliel had imagined.
"They aren't great, true. But I do know of some good jobs—like trimming people's gardens, helping out at a pastry shop, serving as maid in a wealthy household, working as a shop clerk, and so on."
"Some of those call for real skill; some call for looks and manners; some call for reading, writing, and arithmetic. It's a pity you don't meet a single one of those requirements." Her sister answered with a small sigh.
"Ah, all right, all right, Sister, stop sighing. So I didn't study hard back then—you never let me forget it." Taliel clapped her hands over her ears.
"Oh, right—I've learned swordsmanship recently. Is there any work where that could come in handy?"
"Swordsmanship?" Wenni tilted her head and looked at Taliel, half in disbelief, half in puzzlement.
"Where did you learn that?"
"From Lord Frien. Though really it was Tiya who gave me most of my pointers." As she spoke, Taliel drew the girl beside her into it.
"I see. And do you know the Breathing Method?" Wenni continued.
"Nope." Taliel shook her head vigorously.
"Then it won't be of much use." Wenni replied.
"Swordsmanship by itself doesn't count for much. Your physique isn't up to it, your strength is weak, and your reactions are too slow. Against warriors who know the Breathing Method you wouldn't stand a chance—even some full-grown adults with nothing but muscle could easily manhandle you."
"Ugh..." Beaten down by her own sister, Taliel lost all her confidence, without an ounce of strength left to argue back.
"Fine, I get it. So tell me what I should do. Do I really have to go be a waitress at a restaurant? I don't think I'd be any good at it."
"That's... true enough." For a moment Wenni was at a loss too, and could only shake her head.
"When your brother-in-law gets home, I'll ask him. There might be some openings at the merchant association."
That settled Taliel's affairs, and now Wenni's attention turned to Xilutaiya.
"Have you made any plans yet, Miss Tiya?"
"Not yet. But I'm planning to learn some things. I don't know what avenues the city offers, or how much the tuition would be." Xilutaiya said.
"I can teach the simple basics myself. The harder part would probably be arithmetic. If you truly want to go deep into all sorts of subjects, you'd have to consult the scholars in the city."
"Which ones would you recommend?"
"The city has three scholars at present. Scholar Haide has the longest standing, and he taught the other two." Wenni explained.
"But Scholar Haide no longer takes students. As for the other two, Scholar Luomanda is advisor to Viscount Xuefeng and has no time to teach. The last is Scholar Aidesen—he's now advisor and appraiser for the 'Oak Barrel' Merchant Association, and he seems terribly busy as well; it would be hard for him to spare the time to teach." Wenni said with regret.
"It was Scholar Aidesen who introduced my husband Anqie'er and me, come to think of it. Perhaps we could ask him again."
Hearing it put that way, Xilutaiya knew the chances were rather slim, so she turned to other matters.
"Should I look for a job?"
Wenni looked at Xilutaiya with some surprise. In her eyes, a girl like this hardly needed to work at all. So long as she was willing to show her face among the nobility, people would surely shower her with countless gifts and invitations, and she would need a long schedule just to fit in the banquets and outings of each day.
"I'll have to make my own living, after all. Besides, I don't much like handing my future over for other people to direct." This was a world of transcendent power, and things outside oneself were hard to rely on.
"In that case..." Wenni more or less understood Xilutaiya's temperament now, and come to think of it, she rather admired that sort of character.
"If it's you, Miss Tiya, then you could certainly find plenty of fine work—an actress at the opera house, say, or a promoter for a jeweler, or hostess of the Flower Salon."
"No, no. Please recommend something that would keep me out of the public eye." The girl had no wish to be so conspicuous.
"Out of the public eye, hmm..." Wenni sank into thought once more.
"Book copyist—no, that's too grueling. Waitress at an upscale restaurant—no, that's beneath Miss Tiya's standing..." She rejected several options in a row, and the very jobs she named filled Taliel beside her with envy.
So this was the advantage of a clever head and a pretty face?
"Just now I heard you mention the Apothecary Guild and the Gardener Guild. Would there be work there to suit me?" Xilutaiya's interest was stirred.
Her Appraisal Eye ought to be a great help in telling medicinal herbs apart and reading their properties, and if she could learn the craft of brewing potions, she could earn her own keep without ever having to go out and be seen. As for the gardeners, she wanted to find out whether there were cornflower seeds among their flower stocks, along with any related cultivation and planting techniques.
"As to that, we'll have to ask before we know." Wenni nodded and agreed to look into it.
Toward evening, Wenni's husband Anqie'er came home from work and found two guests in the house.
"So that's how it is." Having heard Wenni and Taliel tell it, he had a fair idea of the situation.
"Tomorrow I'll go ask Mr. Aidesen. As for the Apothecary Guild, my suggestion is that Miss Tiya first buy a Herb Identification Guide and study it for a while; going in to work after that would be much smoother." He offered the advice as they sat down to dinner together.
"Taliel knows where books are sold. And if you're short of the money, I can lend it to you." Considering that Tiya had only just arrived in Burnt Stone City, things would indeed be difficult for her at first.
"About how much would the book cost?"
"If it's the Herb Identification Guide I mentioned, roughly 8 silver coins."
"Whoa, books are that expensive?" Taliel cried out in astonishment.
"Naturally. Knowledge has never come cheap." Anqie'er nodded.
"That's all right. Thank you for the guidance, Mr. Anqie'er." Xilutaiya thanked him.
"It's nothing. You're Taliel's good friend, and you helped the people of Linden Village before. As far as I'm concerned, this much is simply what ought to be done."
After dinner, Taliel and Xilutaiya said their goodbyes, and the two of them headed back to their lodging.
Once they had gone, Anqie'er and Wenni talked over the silver-haired girl who had just visited.
"That Miss Tiya—her background is certainly no ordinary one." He said with a note of feeling.
"No, indeed. Judging from her flawless accent alone, to say nothing of her face and bearing, she's a world apart from ordinary people."
"And conversation with her is so pleasant, too—none of that cold, haughty air the nobles usually have." Wenni recalled how the day had felt.
"Tomorrow I'll help ask around at the association. Ah, right—and there's my sister Taliel's matter as well. Grandfather had her come to the city, most likely so she wouldn't just waste away idling at home."
"She's sixteen this year—just the right age to be out working."
"Taliel's lively by nature; those quiet, sedate jobs probably wouldn't suit her. But something with plenty of errands to run—she'd love that." Wenni said, describing her sister's temperament.
"Something will turn up." Anqie'er comforted his wife.
As the two of them talked on, the topic drifted to little Landi, and they made their plans for life and the future until, deep in the night, they drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 10