Chapter 26 – Tutor Note
Chapter 26 – Tutor Note
Knock knock knock.
…
Knock knock knock.
Eek, what should I do?
Last time at Grandfather’s room, three knocks had the door opening from inside.
I hesitantly cracked the door open.
“You’re late!”
Eek.
A White Priest woman, looking around thirty and awfully high-strung, scolded me right off the bat.
“Well, you figured it out on your own and opened the door, so I’ll give you points for that.”
“Yes.”
“I am Note. I will be your tutor.”
Note-san clasped her hands in front of her and dipped into a light bow.
“I’m Marie. It’s a pleasure.”
I mimicked her, and Note-san gave a satisfied lift of her lips.
“Follow me.”
Trailing after Note-san amid small talk, we arrived at a dingy, dimly lit backyard littered with trash and fallen leaves.
For my own sake going forward, I desperately burned this into my brain: [Note-san loves topics on history and geography].
“Starting today, this is your assigned cleaning area. You can’t tell with all the garbage, but there’s a flower bed too. Keep it maintained. Next up… let’s see.”
For some reason, she eyed me up and down appraisingly for a good long while before stomping off and entering the largest building right by the main gate.
Inside, White Priests mingled with plenty of adults in casual clothes, all hard at work like it was nothing.
We hurried down corridors and through a door at the far end, then descended a cramped, shadowy staircase before stopping in front of a door labeled “Archive“.
Opening it revealed towering stacks of books and papers, with boxes of documents haphazardly piled everywhere. I got the gist of what needed doing without being told.
“You said earlier you can read, write, and do math, right?”
“Yes.”
Shouldn’t have opened my mouth.
“Then tidy this place up. You’ll set your own daily schedule from here on, holidays included. Breakfast at the second bell, lunch at the fourth, dinner at the sixth. Ninth bell is curfew—absolute, no negotiations. Going out? Tell me first. Overnight requests due five days early. Questions?”
“None.”
Her explanation flowed so smoothly, I couldn’t bring myself to ask her to repeat it.
Well, it’ll work itself out somehow.
“Personal items, daily necessities—whatever you need, put in a request. That’s it for today; you’ve got free time. Tomorrow, I expect you to work properly.”
“Yes.”
And with that, my new routine kicked off.
I threw together a daily schedule like this and submitted it.
Holidays can wait.
The church bells chime so nicely, so I just synced everything to them.
——————–
1st bell: Wake up, get ready
2nd bell: Breakfast, then backyard cleaning
4th bell: Lunch, then archive organizing
6th bell: Dinner, then bath and free time
Outings only at 7th bell if a registered escort shows up
9th bell: Curfew
Free time until bedtime
——————–
Actually, during that free time right after, I snuck out alone using the map Mom gave me to go visit Grandfather.
Heart-san and I made it back to the church before curfew, but Note-san was standing there like a gatekeeper at the entrance and chewed me out big time.
She handled all the outing paperwork right then and there—escort registration and certificate issuance.
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thanks for the chapter