Chapter 166 – Chapter 5: Gordburg – 4
From the next day, Tia woke up even earlier in the morning. It was a dark dawn, just before the sun rose.
I open my eyes in a dark house and carefully head to the kitchen without waking Posao, who is snoring right next to me.
Then, I did the laundry by pounding the laundry that had been soaked all night. As the sky gradually brightened, I relied on the dusk to clean, and when the villagers woke up and started moving one by one, I trimmed the ingredients and cooked.
The farmers eat breakfast and leave for work one by one. Tia also dressed up and prepared to leave the house.
When everyone in Gordburg was already up and active, Posao woke up, and the morning began.
“Haam- Well, I slept well.”
The first thing he saw, as he came out without any underwear, was the back of Tia, who was dressed in her clothes and about to go out.
The guy called in a panicked voice.
“What? T, Tia?”
“Oh. “Are you awake?”
“Where are you suddenly going at this time?”
“Oops. You didn’t tell me yesterday! “I’m going to help you with a favor I have been asked to do starting today.”
Posao looked out the window.
People were walking diligently somewhere, and they were all men. We are going to break the ground that has been frozen all winter and prepare to welcome spring.
But it’s still chilly outside, and it’s not the season for women to step in and help. When he said he would go out and help with the work, Posao looked like he didn’t understand.
Tia said, hugging him tightly as he stood blankly.
“The meal was prepared on the table. You can eat it.”
“Ah. Yes…”
“Then I’ll go and come back.”
Side.
After kissing lightly, Tia went outside.
A busy day has begun.
First, I met Rodia and went around the village together, saying hello to various people.
“Nice to meet you! “It’s called ‘Tia Anthea.'”
“Oh, I heard you moved last week?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Hoho- I see you often-.”
As she met face-to-face with the village women, she learned which families lived in which houses. In addition, Rhodia told us about the characteristics of her neighbors and the history of this place. Since Tia is a new resident, she was proactive in showing her face to her people and trying to get to know her neighbors first.
As expected, Tia exceeded expectations. With her characteristic liveliness and warmth, she had a fun conversation and brightened up her mood. Even people who treated her awkwardly at first began to be captivated by her charm.
After meeting her one by one, Rodia came forward and asked if she had anything to ask of Tia. The neighbors who were interested in the new girl gave her something to do, and by the time she finished the tour, she had received more than 10 requests.
“Ho Ho. There was a place I wanted to go, but I couldn’t go because I was busy doing housework. Please take care of me-.”
“Baby, pat me on the back here. Oh, my – my stomach is so sore these days.”
“Look at my hands. It’s all cracked and swollen, and I have to do laundry today and tomorrow as well. “Can I help you?”
She promised to receive a certain wage and Tia began to do her odd jobs.
As I worked hard to fetch water from the well, carry it, do laundry, and clean, the sun was already setting.
The money I earned by working so hard was about 20 silver. This was also because Tia worked hard, and her neighbors gave her more out of goodwill.
“…”
As Tia looked at the silver coin in her hand, she was deep in thought.
This was not Deseo. She is not a big city where you can get 90 silver each for serving restaurants and 5 gold each for transporting ship logistics.
Gordburg was just an inland region slightly larger than Teildon.
People here didn’t really want to have more money. I just wasn’t greedy. This is because there was no problem in living as long as you paid the right amount of taxes to the lord.
The two of them could have lived that way if they wanted to. The problem was that Posao could not work on the lord’s farm.
He had a hard time working because his body was dull and fat, and he was older than anything else, so he couldn’t work like a younger person. It was obvious that even if he worked in the fields, he wouldn’t be able to meet his daily quota, so it was better for him to find another job.
When Posao returned home in the evening, he was sweating with anxious eyes.
“Did you eat dinner outside?”
“Oh, no. “I didn’t do it.”
“Then you must have been hungry…” Just wait a moment. “I will do it right away.”
You must have been exhausted and tired from working all day. Tia went straight to the kitchen and immediately made food for Posao.
After finishing eating together, she asked while washing the dishes.
“Did you learn a little bit today?”
“Huh? Yes…”
Posao spoke without meeting his eyes.
“Well, it will be available soon.”
“That’s good news!”
“Right. Hi-Hi…”
He smiled shyly, but his expression didn’t seem confident. It was to the point where anyone could tell that things were not working properly.
Tia noticed, but she deliberately didn’t show it. She just secretly put five pieces of silver in Posao’s coat while he was trudging to his bedroom.
The next day was the same.
She comes out early in the morning, and she takes orders. People looked favorably on Tia, who worked hard. She did her job with a smile, without showing any signs of difficulty.
The incident in Brisden left Tia with an unforgettable lesson. Perhaps she didn’t want to make people hate her anymore, but the way she took the initiative in solving the village’s troubles was almost an obsession.
About a week after I started working like that. Rumors about the new girl spread throughout the village.
“She was a very pretty and true girl. Hoho-.”
Of course, it was a good thing for Tia. At first, she only took on odd jobs, but as her reputation grew, she began taking on more demanding and laborious favors that paid well.
As the days passed, the level of her requests increased.
“Miss Tia. Could she possibly babysit her kids?”
She was finally given the task of looking after the village’s children.
There were many young children in Godrburg. Originally, two women took turns taking care of the children every day, but she found it so boring and hard work that they all didn’t want to do it.
However, Tia is smart, she can read, she is young, has good physical strength, and has a gentle personality. They even said she could do it every day if you gave her money, so the request came with the flow of ‘well, let’s leave it to her’. 〉
This was the moment when the profession of ‘teacher’, which can only be found in Deseo, was born in this village.
Tia took such excellent care of her children that it could be said she called it a calling. She was so good at leading that she even dragged Luyev and me, who were two or three years older, with her, and her children quickly began to like and follow her.
“Gateway to Deseo. It is so large and majestic that it cannot be compared to the Gordburg Gate. A curtain made of gold and fine silk flutters, and hundreds of people gather in front of it, making it feel like they are caught in a storm…”
“Wow-.”
“What is the first thing you see when you go inside? This is the ‘Red Castle’ where King Deseo lives! The roof and decorations are all decorated with red rubies, so from a distance it looks like a shining red sun! And behind you, you can see the wide blue sea, and if you take a deep breath, you can feel the salty taste…”
Tia told the story of her adventures. The children sat in front and listened with sparkling eyes. While listening to a vivid voice that made me feel like I was really there, I imagined a place called the sea that I had never seen before.
The women who came to check on her children also listened to Tia’s story with happy expressions. By evening, men who had come home from work would also hang their arms around the fence and listen to his adventures.
It’s March.
Rodia said while looking at the vacant lot where children were playing on a warm spring evening.
“I think our village has become a lot brighter since Tia came. “Everyone smiled a lot.”
“Hmm, isn’t it because spring has arrived?”
“How humble. Of course, spring has come, but it feels like Tia hastened her spring.”
“Lol. Thank you.”
The woman asked Tia as she handed over her daily wages.
“By the way, Mr. Posao, how are you?”
“Yes. I’m doing well.”
“What about work? “You saved it?”
Tia forced a smile.
“They said there was good news coming soon. “Maybe she’ll get a job soon.”
“Okay? Umm, I’m just saying this because I’m a little worried.”
Rodia thought for a moment and gave advice in her sincere voice.
“Though Tia wouldn’t mind. If a woman works too hard, some people will think she has a problem with the man.”
“Ah…”
“Tia is really nice and hard-working, so everyone is rooting for them. But if my lord finds out about this, she might be in a bit of trouble. This is not common sense in Gordburg. “The lord is very strict with lazy people, so you might have to pay a lot of taxes.”
She was expecting it.
Her neighbors were simple people, so even though they knew about Po Sao, they just pretended not to know.
No, on the contrary, I was so moved by the goodness that Tia showed that I even secretly hoped that Tia and Posao would do well.
It would have been nice if it had worked out that way.
“Actually, I stopped by the market yesterday during the day, and that’s when I saw Mr. Posao entering the gambling house.”
“… Yes?”
Tia’s eyes widened as she heard this story for the first time.
“It’s not surprising that men go to gambling places and have fun. Still… Tia is going to be Mr. Posao’s wife, right? “She should know what her man is doing.”
“Ah yes… Thank you for letting me know.”
“I’m doing well now, so just keep doing it. As long as Mr. Posao does well, it will be okay. See you again tomorrow!”
“Goodbye!”
After the sun set, Tia returned to her house.
Clutter.
She had a particularly tired face. He washed his face first.
“I’m tired…”
While she has been working, she has never dozed off. She almost fell asleep today while watching the kids. Her shoulders kept feeling heavy, and her body didn’t feel refreshed even when she woke up in the morning.
I was very hungry too. Thankfully, one of the children offered her a small basket of sweets that her mother had baked, but the moment she smelled them, she suddenly felt sick and ended up not eating any of them.
“…”
Tia’s eyes were blank as she cooked.
‘At that time, I saw Mr. Posao entering the gambling house.’
Did Rodia’s words linger in my mind? Finally, Tia put down her knife and quietly headed to her bedroom.
Swoosh-.
There was a safe under the bed where the two people slept together.
Posao was a businessman, so even if he didn’t know anything else, he carefully managed the safe. She didn’t even think about putting her hand there. All she knew was that the money she earned every day was going under the bed.
Dalgak.
But when she opened the safe herself and took out her bag of money.
She discovered that there was little money left there.
The money Tia has earned through hard work so far is about 20 gold. However, less than half of that amount remained.
“… !”
Tia was shocked and at that moment she felt something coming up.
“Wow…”
She just held on to the bed and started gagging.
“Ha-ha-ha-.”
I managed to get up from my seat, feeling my stomach turn. I walked with difficulty to the kitchen and tried to drink water.
“Ugh… !”
As soon as I smelled the basket of snacks I had brought, I vomited again.
“Ha… Ha…”
Tia placed her hands on her lower abdomen with teary eyes.
