The eastern part of the Kingdom of Selroa, the Rivas region, is mostly a rocky plateau.

The main product is mouton wool, or wool.

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This is delivered to the village or town to which it belongs, and the village or town in turn delivers it to the state.

In the technologically advanced Kingdom of Cerroa, the wool is spun into yarn and woven into fabrics.

During the reign of Richard, the former king of Celuloa, very heavy taxes were levied, and in some villages, women and children had to pay the taxes that could not be paid.

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One such village was Lalio, where Rita, a girl who was scooped out by Fritz, and her colleagues were living.

But fortunately, they were rescued by Jin, and they stayed in the village until the food and economic situation in their hometown was settled ...... specifically until the end of May or the beginning of June.... ...here in the village of Kaina until the food and economic situation back home settles down.

During that time, they were given basic education such as reading and writing, some were trained in farming, others in cooking, and so on, according to their aptitudes.

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Both orphaned and non-orphaned girls are truly enjoying their life in Kaina village and are making efforts for their future.

The villagers looked after these girls with kindness and sometimes gave them strict guidance, and they became more and more comfortable with each passing day.

At the end of spring, the girls will have to choose whether to return home or stay here.

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But that day is still more than two months away. For now, they just have to live each day as hard as they can.

* * * *

The oldest girl is Sonia.

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Sonia has been studying <> here at Nido Castle. It all started with a book in the library.

Sonia, who had learned basic reading and writing within a month or so, would visit the library in her spare time and look through the books from one end to the other, looking at the illustrations of the books she could not read and trying her best to read the books she could read a little.

Among them was a book on plant dyeing.

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Jin had dyed plants and trees with younger children at the orphanage ...... where he used to live. The old man compiled such knowledge into a book.

Wool is easy to dye, isn't it? If we could dye the wool of the mouton in different colors, our village might be richer.

One of the easiest dyes would be brown.

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Jin used loquat leaves to dye brown, but Sonia tried using the leaves of the perilla tree.

She chopped the fresh leaves, boiled them in a pot to extract the dye, soaked the wool in the filtered dye solution and boiled it again.

She consulted the golem maid stationed at Nido Castle for the wool for the test, and she was able to procure it from somewhere.

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Thus, Sonia worked day and night to dye various colors using plants that were close at hand.

Unfortunately, since she did not know about <>, the colors and colorfastness were not as good as they could be, but they were still far more colorfast than those dyed with the squeezed juice of flowers, which had been used until then, and were an epoch-making innovation.

Depending on the type of leaves, the same brown color can vary from reddish to yellowish or almost black.

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I have learned that mushrooms can also produce surprisingly vivid colors when used.

So far, I have found a yellowish-brown color in a mushroom called <>, which is similar to the mushrooms called sarcoptic mushrooms on earth.

< tree are brown.

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< tree can be dyed reddish brown.

And that each of them can be dyed to a very practical level.

"If we can bring this to the village, we can surely become a little richer. ......"

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With this hope in her heart, Sonia was experimenting day and night with different dyeing methods.

In return for the wool, Sonia reported all the results of her dyeing trials, including ...... the failures, to the golem maid, who in turn reported them to the old man.

* * * *

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"......This is the heart. It's responsible for pumping blood throughout the body."

"Oh, it's located closer to the middle than I thought, doctor.

"Yes, it is. You can feel the heartbeat in the left chest, so people tend to think it is on the left, but the heart organ is located in the middle, about to the left.

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Ru, the youngest of the girls, was studying the healing arts under Sally. She is now being briefed on what is called anatomy.

She was originally interested in medicinal herbs used for injuries, and was browsing through books in the library (looking at the illustrations since she could not read yet) when she happened to meet Sally who came to look for materials, and since then she often visited Sally for instruction. Since then, she often came to Sally's office to ask for her lessons.

Since Ru was an orphan, Sally consulted with her husband, the village chief Giebeck, and adopted her as her daughter.

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However, she still seems to be a stranger to him.

Even so, Lou is happy to be spending time with her family.

The same is true for Sally and Giebeck.

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(I hope one day you will call me "mother" instead of "teacher".)

(I hope she calls me "mother" someday, not "teacher") Sally thinks, but Luu is Luu,

(...... mother. (......I hope I can say it out loud soon. ......)

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She doesn't know that Ruu is thinking, "I can't wait to be able to say it out loud.

* * *

Mouton doesn't like damp places. So if you build a hut, make sure it is well ventilated. Also, you should make a shady place for the mutton children. Oh, and salt. ......"

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Kana is the one who is explaining all this to Rick. She is also an orphan and knows a lot about moutons because she helped to raise them.

This year, the village of Kaina is expanding its farm and has started raising moutons to make woolen fabrics, but they are quite different from the capris they had before, and they were in trouble, so she came to the rescue.

She helped me out when I was in trouble. Capri is much more docile.

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Cana told me that when they are kept in a group, they can develop a fighting spirit. If Jin had seen them, he would have said Capri was a goat and Mouton a sheep.

"Yeah, well, it's nice to have someone who has actually had one to tell me about it. ...... I hope you'll stay with me forever. And I hope you will take care of Mouton with me.

"...... okay?"

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"To ......?"

Rick was stunned to get the answer he wanted after he had said it himself.

Cana, on the other hand, walked briskly up to Rick, her face bright red,

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"......, say something!"

She pressed her forehead against his chest.

"...... or something?"

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"...... what?"

When Kana thought she heard her name called, she looked up and saw Rick's face, which had also turned bright red.

"......? I'll make you happy, I promise!"

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Rick said and hugged her.

"...... thanks."

Rick, at 28 years old, spring finally arrives.

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The only thing watching them was 10 moutons.

* * * *

"...... like this, right?"

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"No. Pull your right leg back more. Spread your left hand a little more to the side.

Meine was giving Rita a full housemaid's education.

She spends her days studying to become a housemaid in the modern world.

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Rita is very motivated, though it is very difficult for her to be able to do all of her work in a short period of time (about two months).

Reading, writing, arithmetic, etiquette. Cooking, laundry, and general housekeeping.

Since she was to be educated to serve Fritz, a soldier of the Shoro Empire, Meane, who also served in the Shoro Empire, was the perfect teacher for her.

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(......) You want to be a lady-in-waiting for a soldier, Mr. Fritz? If that's what she wants, I guess it's okay. ......)

Meine herself had a history of being taken in hand by Georg Randl, Erza's father, who was a soldier and a battalion commander of the expatriate army at that time, and she was pregnant with Erza, so she was not inclined to support him honestly.

On the other hand, it is a good thing to have a job, and there is no doubt that being a maid of honor is a job that women can do without.

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Therefore, Meane was giving Rita a strict education day and night, as she wished.

(I think she would be happier working at Master Jin's house.)

(I think she would be happier if she worked at Master Jin's house.) However, the form of happiness is different for each person. You never know what will turn out to be a blessing.

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"Oh, no, no. No, no, no. That way of measuring will change the taste every time. No, when you measure it with a spoon, it's called "grated" and you measure it like this.

Meane is a perfectionist in a sense, as she even teaches him how to season the food in the style of the Shoro Empire.

"Yes, sir."

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And Rita, too, was a great fan of his strict instructions.

The other girls were also the fastest.

The other girls are no longer in the shadows, and they live happily every day.

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Spring has come to Kaina village, and it is a peaceful place today.