Chapter 167: Meet The Homeless (Part 1)

Sarah's perspective

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Ahhhh, I felt very good while sleeping, during the visit to Zaira village, I and my sis had bought a lot of souvenirs, I bought those things for John and the others. But at the time when both of us returned to Veta, Reimi suddenly stopped us and didn't let me get inside to meet John or Shera in person.

More strangely, this Knight girl ordered the maids to bring the souvenirs in my carriage inside the castle without letting me get inside for no reason, I was a bit mad because of that reason. But I later turned on my SA to call John but had no response so I waited until Reimi lost her concentration and then I rushed inside the castle.

I ran until I reached John's room and I heard something strange, on the other side of the room, it sounded like a woman's moans, those moans sounded very loud and I got a bit excited while hearing them. But Reimi later chased me and managed to drag me out of the castle, till now the moans in John's room were still a big mystery to me, maybe I should investigate it for sure.

Anyway, I was sleeping and maybe I have slept overnight, another day has passed after buying those souvenirs, today was the Day 14 of the first Spring, 1173. According to my world's calendar, it would be February 14th, today was Valentine's Day.

Maybe John and Princess would hang out once again today, I was thinking what should I do today, maybe I would work and read books as usual, I guessed I would do that. Ohhh, maybe I must work out my body this dawn, but now maybe I should enjoy my sleep, I would exercise after waking up, now I must sleep well, hehehe.

Now I was remembering my sis, she was quite strange yesterday and even asked me if she could stay with me overnight in my castle or not...of course, I said no to my sis. She made me nervous yesterday when she kissed me and did strange things to me, maybe I should keep my distance from my sis a bit from now on, I hope she would not hate me.

Wait a minute, someone was tapping my body, right? I was sleeping very well and someone was disturbing me.

I felt a bit...unpleasant because my shoulder seemed to be tapped by something, those taps were very slight but I hated it because my good sleep was being disturbed. Someone was tapping me, I think so! Maybe Litra or Paula were tapping my shoulder, I always order them to wake me up in the morning, maybe the one who was tapping me was one of them.

"My Lord, please wake up! You woke up late today, please wake up, my Lord." - Ohh, I heard someone was calling me, I could recognize that was Litra's voice

I slowly opened my eyes after a long time of sleeping and saw Litra, she was staring at me while smiling as if to welcome me to wake up, looking at her face kept reminding me of my previous Drill Sergeant, very scary. My previous Drill Sergeant was very sociable and funny sometimes, but I was also scared of her, because she could be kind and bad at the same time after talking with me and my sis, hehe.

I would be honest...I was about to jump out of my bed and tidy my bed and my entire room at the time I saw Litra's face, but my brain had loaded its intel enough for me to stay calm. Maybe I should get used to it when Litra was not my previous Drill Sergeant, she was a friend of mine, only her face could scare me, hehe.

"Good morning, my Lord! I hope your sleep was very wonderful, I'm very sorry for disturbing you." - Litra later bowed to me and then looked around my bed for some reason

"Your bed...is a mess, my Lord! You must have been very energetic while sleeping last night."

After hearing what Litra said, I looked around my bed and realized that I had truly messed it up last night, my hands and my legs waved around while sleeping with two pillows under my head. It's not over yet, I also pressed another pillow to my face while sleeping, sometimes tilting my head from the left to the right to sniff the pillow, that was the way I slept, very freely.

"Hey, good morning...Litra - chan."

"My bed is nothing, Litra - chan...I would tidy it later."

"But Paula would do that part, my Lord! I think a ruler like you should not do these inferior things, just let your maid do it instead."

"Maybe I would not need to ask Paula to tidy my bed, Litra - chan! Anyway, is she outside?" - I asked Litra while looking at my room door

"She has just woken up, my Lord! I have already ordered her to come to your room to clean, she is now changing her clothes."

"Okay..." - Well, I felt so lazy to exercise, maybe I would do it tomorrow...maybe I should stop procrastinating

"Yawnnnnnnn!" - So good after sleeping, I could see that today was a good day, no snowfall yesterday so today was quite clear to me, no snow on the road, easy to travel!

Anyway, I slowly touched my body while getting out of my bed, I always sleep with my underwear and my bra...that sleeping style makes me more comfortable every time I wake up in the morning, nice and shiny. Also, sleeping when I was half nude with my bedsheet covering my body was very good, it feels very cool though today was a bit cold for me, I should grab my clothes.

I slowly walked to my chair and then grabbed a fur blue coat with leather pants, the blue coat was a very warm one, it was made of good material, very good for me to wear in the cold. Normally, my private maid would have to wear her Lord the clothes but I did it myself, asking the others to do something for me makes me unpleasant, doing things myself would be better.

I slowly wore the clothes and then tried to feel the warmth of my blue coat, it feels very good to me, this coat was bought from Zaira village, maybe I should buy a similar one to Litra someday. I didn't buy any coats for my friend, only bought some food and nice dresses for her, maybe I should have bought a fine coat for Litra...she loves blue, very similar to my previous Drill Sergeant.

"Urrrrrgggghhhhh...yawnnnnnnn! Ahhh, what a good sleep!" - I moaned a bit while stretching my hands and my legs, Litra was quite confused when I was stretching while smiling at her, hehehe

"Okay, okay...let's work out a bit, must stay in shape, yawnnnnnnn!"

After yawning, I crouched down while leaning my hands under my bed to find my pair of stone dumbbells, they weighed 22 pounds (10 kgs) each of these dumbbells. Maybe I would work out in my room for sure, but I must heat up my body first...maybe having a long run on the flower fields would be a better idea for me to stay in shape.

No, I mean to burn my fat because I was quite fat these days, though I didn't have many struggles while walking or fighting but I felt I need to stay in shape, by doing cardio. I could see my belly was quite fat, I must get on a diet or I would be fat like a pig, okay...I would go outside to run, this time was a good time.

Alright, I later tidied my bed while Litra was standing beside me as if to wait for my order, after tidying my bed, I grabbed my watch and my SA. Litra was still looking at me, maybe I need to order her something, she was quite free this time...maybe I should ask her to wait for me in the workroom.

"Litra - chan..." - Why do I find this kind of address quite weird this time?

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Ummmm, Litra! Why don't you wait for me in the workroom? Remember to bring me the statistics list when I start to work."

"Understood, my Lord."

"Anyway, have you eaten anything?" - I should have asked her this question first but I forgot

"I have eaten my breakfast, my Lord...thank you for caring about me."

"That's so? Ummm...you can leave now, Litra."

"Thanks, my Lord." - Litra slowly walked out of my room and then closed the door

This time was morning, seemed like I have slept very much...maybe I should cut short my sleep too, I got fatter because of this habit, I think. Maybe I would let Paula clean my room so I slowly walked outside and then closed the door, at the time I pointed my look to the hallway, I saw Paula - my private maid.

This girl was my private maid, according to her identity paper, let's see: A young, born in Stansa region, year 1156 - 16 years old, becoming a maid at 10 years old and working till this time. She came from a family which has parents who are homeless, her parents passed away after living in bad conditions in the slum for a long time, poor her.

Ahhh, I almost forgot! Paula also has an aunt who was still alive and now was living in the slum in the town, didn't know what kind of job Paula's aunt was working, her job was an empty space in the paper. Paula would work as a maid and then send a small amount of her money to her aunt every month, maybe I should not dig on Paula's relatives any longer.

After seeing me, Paula slowly walked toward me and then bowed, she seemed shyer than the other maids according to her standing posture, always lowering her head. Not yet, she was also lowering her hands while holding them together, Paula was a hard reader, she would always read books in her free time, sometimes she would walk while holding 2 or 3 books in her armpits.

About how could a commoner like Paula could read, I didn't know how she could do that because she was never educated in any school, maybe she has been self-taught to read, maybe. Though Paula told me that her aunt taught her how to read, maybe Paula's aunt was an educated woman, this girl was lucky, out there were still many illiterate people.

"Good...good morning...my Lord...good...morning." - Paula greeted me while lowering her head, so cute!

"Good morning you too, Paula - chan! Have you eaten anything yet?"

"Yes...I...have..."

"Raise your head, Paula - chan...be more confident, I want to see your face." - I was wondering how could she move without bumping into the others or the doors, her head lowering angle was quite hard to see, she was also a myopic

Paula slowly raised her head and then showed me her face, I would say her face was quite cute though was very clumsy, but still cute to me. Well, Paula was white, dark green long-haired, it looked quite clumsy to me, she had slight blue eyes and wore blue glasses.

"Try to modify your hair more, Paula - chan! You would be prettier if you do that."

"Thank....you...my Lord..."

"My Lord..." - Why did she call me constantly? I was standing here but she kept calling me

Paula later leaned her hand to her back and then brought out a small black box and showed it to me, every maid would be able to have a small bag on their back to help them store their small working tools. I was wondering what was this box, Paula kept raising it to me while lowering her head, maybe I should ask her, she was slightly trembling for some reason.

"My Lord...this is...a dessert that...I made for you...this morning...please...please..." - She was very shy to talk

"You made this dessert to me, Paula - chan?"

"Nod! Nod!" - Why did she blush?

"Thank you very much, hehe! But I cannot eat it now, I would go out to exercise before heading back to bathe and then have breakfast."

"Don't worry, I would eat the dessert that you made for me, Paula - chan! Now head to my room and clean it, later go to the kitchen to make my breakfast, okay?"

"Understood...my...Lord..." - Paula bowed to me and then walked past me with her shy posture

I didn't change my direction yet but kept staring at Paula, she walked with her shy posture while storing the black box into her small bag and then opened the door and got in.

Till now, I was still very amazed at the way she walk without bumping into anything, what a strange bookworm maid, clumsy but cute!

Anyway, I later walked out of my castle and made a long run around the flower fields, it was very warm to have the sun during this cold time, exercise was very good, never get bored doing it. After exercise outside of my castle, I returned and then rested to cool down my body and then went on taking a cold bath, it was very good to bathe in the cold water, it made my skin thicker.

After bathing, I walked straight into my room to have breakfast, I also ate the dessert that Paula made for me, the dessert was some kind of egg rolls, they were very tasty. Wait a minute, maybe I have eaten too much, I must order Paula to make vegan meals from now on, I must go on a diet...maybe doing it slowly would not be a problem.

Okay, now I was inside my workroom, the paperwork was quite dense because I have to manage many things, I would not disturb my SA, it needs to do something else. I leaned my hand to a drawer and pulled it out, I later grabbed a book whose concept was about the elf's culture.

I put the book on the table and then flipped the first page and then pointed SA to it and then took an image, I later flipped the other 20 pages and did similar things. Well, John ordered me and my sis to make research about the elf's culture and traditions so I was working on it right away, so tired...sigh!

I could see that Litra was standing opposite me, I was sitting at the table while she was standing and holding a statistical list, it was a report about the week's results in Stansa region. After taking 21 images, I put SA on the left side of the table while wearing an Airpod to my right ear and used my brainwave to order SA to turn on Special Conversation.

"SA - chan, remember to scan those images and translate the Tuku language into English for me, the work is important."

"Roger that, Sarah." - SA was now analyzing the words on the images, sigh...hope that I would have the fully translated texts soon

Well, I have shot the images of the pages in the Tuku dictionary in order to let SA know the rules of the way the elf's language work so I hope she could translate this language into English to let me understand. Could not understand the rules of this kind of strange language, only the word "Tuku", my sis could speak it fluently and King Ralla understood what she said, it was very strange to me.

Anyway, I think I should wait until Advisor reports to me about the results of the translation progress, let's hope it would be a positive answer, I hope she could translate it. Okay, Litra was still staring at me while standing with the statistical paper, I randomly grabbed a fur paper from the pile of unfinished papers and grabbed my pen.

"It's okay, Litra - chan! Now let me know about the previous week's report." - I dipped the pen into the ink box and then pulled it out and wrote some words into my work paper right away

"Yes, my Lord." - Maybe I should stop writing, doing multiple works would make my brain lose its concentration, hearing her report first before doing anything else

"In the previous week, our trade results have gone higher than before, there are suggestions from the southern Kingdoms, they want us to export our potatoes to their countries."

Ohh, about exporting potatoes...maybe people in this world have finally known about the good use of the potatoes in their lives, that plant could end all starvation. But John ordered me only to trade potatoes to those Kingdoms, not teaching them the way to plant or to cook potatoes properly.

Cleaning and cooking potatoes with carelessness could make you get poisoned while eating, the humans' Kingdoms only imported potatoes from the elf's Kingdoms but never planted them in their territories.

Exporting potatoes for planting in other Kingdoms was prohibited by John, not just John but His Majesty also made a law to not let anyone of us export potatoes out of Warsaw. Because according to John's historical knowledge when I asked him, he said potatoes could make a country wealthy by only their existence, potato was a "golden apple".

Because King Frederick the Great or was also known as Frederick II planted potatoes in his country and then potatoes after a short time, widespread to entire Europe. John was quite knowledgeable about history, he told me that during the 18th century in Europe, that continent had faced starvation in many countries, could not save themselves from hunger.

The potato was considered a demon fruit by the European people at that time because of its strange shape and was disregarded, very less planted and thrown to the pigs. But King Frederick the Great had chosen to plant this kind of plant in his country, his Kingdom - Prussia saved itself from starvation by only eating potatoes.

Prussia also won the war against the alliance of France and Austria, a short time after that event, potatoes were widespread in entire Europe, ending the starvation in the continent. What's else, umm? Well, let's say in short that when there was no starvation, the people would have time to think about doing other things, that was one of many reasons the first industry revolutionary began in Europe.

So John said: Keep potatoes for ourselves, exporting this plant to other nations is likely to let us commit suicide.

Okay, I would do what John said, could not export potatoes after all.

"My Lord?" - Ohh, I forgot that I was thinking about potatoes and forgot Litra - chan!

"Continue, Litra - chan."

"Yes, my Lord." - Litra slowly pointed her eyes to the statistical paper

"The next one is about the number of troops in our land, my Lord! The number of recruits is very much and now has stopped calling for the enlistment."

"Ohh, about that problem...my sis said that we have enough troops, we must save our money, the taxes to pay for them is enough so there is no need for more recruits."

Well, we have stopped calling for enlistment since yesterday, the taxes to pay for the soldiers were high, my sis suggested I concentrate on Stansa's economy to develop the land. The preparation for the war was finally done, my sis would call for enlistment in the future if she sees it was needed.

Now we must prepare for good war weapons and a good economy...sigh!

"Continue, Litra."

"Yes, my Lord."

"The people's lives condition is improving well, my Lord! But the illiterate problem is still the same." - Oh, time to open a school for the commoners

"About this problem, I have already sent a letter to His Majesty and he has allowed us to open a school in Stansa for the commoners, my Lord!"

"But His Majesty also warned us to keep our eyes on the commoners, my Lord! Having knowledge would make Warsaw greater but would also create many protesters when the people have knowledge."

"So His Majesty only allowed us to teach the children commoners within 20 years before allowing us to teach the adult people." - Now I felt a bit suffocated as if I was in North Korea

"The education system would have no magic or martial arts subject to prevent the uprisings from the protest commoners, my Lord."

"Advisor Sherry would observe the way the teachers teach the children each week, if her report has an unacceptable issue and His Majesty sees it, the education in Stansa must be destroyed right away."

"Opening a school for the commoners is a very big revolutionary that our Warsaw would have to face in the future, the ones who went before have never done this before."

"Umm...about this problem, according to my calculation, we need at least a year to have enough money to build a small school, my Lord."

"Why, Litra - chan?"

"Because building a school with a brick structure is very costly, my Lord! We could construct a small wooden school in Stansa after 3 months but our Warsaw laws don't allow us to build that style of school to prevent magic shootouts."

"About constructing a school and creating the education in our land...we would be prohibited to do many things, my Lord...what do you think?"

"Just open the school as always, Litra - chan! The children need to be educated rather than having nothing to save their lives out of poverty." - Okay, education would be prioritized, I would throw the economy and the military aside, education is the most important

"I suggest you should prioritize both education and economy, Sarah! How dumb you are, girl." - Huh, say it again, Advisor! Dare to mess with me?

"We would priority both the economy and the education, Litra - chan." - I was sitting straight while looking at Litra to say to her that education is very important...I tried to be cool, though didn't know what to do next, hehe

"I would like to construct the school as soon as possible, Litra! You take 20 percent of the monthly taxes and hire a good architect and 100 builders to me."

"Understood, my Lord."

"Choose an empty field near the residential area to build the school, don't hire them yet, until I have a sketch of the school." - Okay, so a children's school needs to be friendly with those cute, I would stop my daily paperwork here

"Sarah, what the hell! I was scanning, you know!"

"Stop the scanning, education is the most important!" - Though I was quite lazy to study though...ahhh, I would change myself better!

I grabbed SA and then used my brainwave to make very long texts to tell my sis to give me a good sketch to build a children's school, only my sis could help me to build the school. My sis was very good at geometry and math (I was "good" for both of those things, hehe), I hope my sis could help me to make a good sketch of the school for the architects.

Okay, after having done typing those texts, I sent the message to John's Advisor right away, I hope he was in his castle and would give my sis his Advisor at the time he saw the message. After sending the message, I put SA back on the table and then let her scan the images once again, I hope my message would be soon replied to.

"Remember to notify me if you see any notifications, SA."

"Okay, okay, young mother! I understood, now please let me scan the images."

"My Lord?"

"Ahhh, continue the report, Litra."

"Yes, my Lord."

"As you know, my Lord! The homelessness in our Warsaw is still a headache problem in our society."

"Most of the homeless people are unemployed and handicapped, even the low salary jobs would not hire them to work due to their dirty and their handicapped problem."

"They mostly have no money and have to live in the bad conditions in the slums that they made themselves, we need to solve this headache problem, my Lord."

"I remembered that John and my sis have founded a subsidized organization for the homeless, what the people in that organization are doing?"

"They are still supporting the homeless money weekly, my Lord! But I think most of that money has been grabbed out to gamble."

"My Lord, I think we should not support the homeless money anymore, sending them money is not a good idea to solve homelessness."

"When the people get poor, they would do everything to live well, for the purpose to make their children have the better lives, they would do everything to achieve it."

"Gamble is one of many ways to get rid of the poverty but it would also make those people's lives ruined."

"But they are poor, they have no choice but to believe blindly in their beliefs about the winning in their gamble to change their lives, my Lord."

"Do you have any solutions, Litra - chan?" - Maybe having the subsidize money would not make the homeless people get better, I should find a better way to solve this issue

"I have, my Lord! At first, those people must be full, living with hunger bellies would not make them have the motivation to work."

"Also, the homeless need jobs, my Lord! When they can make their own money, they would be able to take care of themselves and the others."

"But most of the people are very down look with the homeless, especially the handicapped ones...we need to create a kind of job that the handicapped can even work, my Lord."

"Also, maybe we should upgrade the homeless's living places, the slums are the dirty places so they need to be constructed well for many homeless to live inside, my Lord."

"Those are all solutions that I can think of till this time, my Lord."

"Okay, Litra - chan! Understood...anyway, is there anything else on the list that you want to report to me?"

"That's all on the list, my Lord! Please have a look at the statistics in the paper." - Litra later gave me the statistical paper

I took the statistical paper and then took a look at the details which were written inside it, the taxes that I collected were quite much, I could spend the money to build the school. Anyway, I felt that besides the school problem, I must solve the problems about homelessness first, but I must solve these papers first...let's solve them a bit before heading outside.

I pointed my eyes at the statistical paper for a minute to make sure that I would not lose any details and then returned it to Litra, my SA had finally gone silent for some reason, she was scanning or was deeply sleeping...hmmm.

So suspicious, but I must not lose my concentration, I immediately grabbed the pen and then headed to do the paperwork, I need help, maybe I should ask Litra to help me because she was free!

"Help me, Litra - chan! Help me, help me!"

Litra heard my order so she headed to the table and sat on the chair nearby to help me, working with people around would make me always cheerful, it's fun to have friends, I must not lose my concentration. I kept writing and calculating the papers while looking at my SA, she was truly sleeping, I swear...she was lazy as same as me.

I kept writing the papers and then put them in the finished pile on the right side of the table, I was still waiting for my sis's reply, the education must be prioritized at all costs...no reply yet. Maybe I need to wait for more, I must be patient, now I was wondering how was the way the homeless lived, I should go outside to see the people instead of living in the castle.

Ummm...maybe I would have to trouble Litra once again, not even half of the paperwork has been done this time, letting off my work for a few hours may not be a problem. Alright, I slowly stood up and then got out of the table, could not order Litra to do the diplomatic papers, she would do the taxes calculation, ummm...my sis was still offline, ehh.

"Litra - chan, you work the calculate papers, the other ones would have waited until I return."

"Understood, my Lord! But where you are about to go?" - Litra stopped writing and then stared at me

"Ummm...go out of the streets to see the homeless, I would like to see what I can help them."

"My Lord, it's very dangerous, please stop!" - Ehh, why did she stand up with her worried face?

"Please let me prepare for you the guards, the homeless beside the innocent also have the robbers or the dangerous."

"My Lord, don't tell me that you would go to the slum alone?"

"Yup, what's wrong?" - Well, I must see the poverty directly to know the way to help the poor people

"Please wait, my Lord! I will prepare the guards!" - Litra suddenly ran to the Servants' zone, sigh...what was wrong with her?

Okay, I must prepare my stuff so I walked back to my room to grab my weapons, at the time I returned to my room, I saw Paula sitting at the table while reading a book. Because I didn't give this maid any more orders after cleaning my room and I also let her stay in my room to read books freely so this was the way she was doing.

What a bookworm, she was very cute, I was wondering if she could find a good boyfriend if I let her have rest days or not, men would love her because of her shyness, I think so. Paula saw me when I come in so she bowed while holding the closed book in her hands, I also waved to her and then headed to my Alrotz bag to take my weapons.

John always ordered me to carry weapons like a knife or a pistol every time I walked outside or even inside my castle just in case though it was very inconvenient to me, as if John was always cautious about everything. Well, I grabbed out my pistol ammo pouch and strapped it into my belt, now I was armed with an M9 bayonet and a pistol, I also grabbed a flashbang grenade just in case.

Ohhhh, I turned around after grabbing my weapons and saw Paula, she was still standing with that shy posture, maybe she wanted to ask me if she could do something when I was away, I think so.

"My Lord...ummm....my Lord..." - My sis talks slowly while this maid talks low and shy, my ears are using all of their abilities to hear her voice

"Ummm...my Lord...about...the rolls...the rolls..."

"Ahhh, those egg rolls were very tasty, Paula - chan! I love your food, I want to eat something similar to them in my lunch, okay?"

"You love...those rolls...my...Lord?" - Paula looked up when she was still very shy

"Umm, very tasty!"

"That's so? I...am...happy...my...Lord." - Hearing this girl talk is like the way I hear things in slow motion

"Anyway, I would have to go outside for my business, Paula - chan! Just stay here to read books if you like, remember to come to the kitchen to cook my lunch."

"Thank you...my Lord..." - I turned around and was about to head to the door

"Please wait...my Lord..."

"What's wrong, Paula - chan?" - I turned to look at Paula once again

"Tomorrow...when you...wake...up...can I...walk...walk...I mean...walk..."

"Ummm...you mean you love to have a walk with me around the fields in the morning, Paula - chan?"

"Ummm...yes...my...Lord..." - Why did you blush, Paula - chan?

"Okay, I would like to do that too, it's a very good way to exercise in the morning too, I would walk with you."

"Anyway...bye bye, Paula - chan." - I waved to Paula and then walked outside

Wait a minute, did I forget something? Ummmmm...maybe I'm not!