When Ellie and Annie returned to the warm farmhouse while drying their hair, they ran straight into Reiner, who was pushing the door open.
“Atchoo——!”
Reiner’s earth-shattering sneeze shattered the peaceful atmosphere inside the house.
He stood shivering in the doorway, his short blonde hair plastered messily against his forehead, with even a few tiny ice crystals clinging to it.
The early spring night wind combined with the icy river water had practically frozen the poor fellow into an icicle.
“Well, well, well, isn’t this our Reiner?”
Wrapped in a large, tattered blanket, Ellie sat beside the stove and teased him with a grin.
“How was your bath in the river?”
Reiner sniffed, cast her a somewhat resentful glance, and hurriedly huddled closer to the stove to warm himself.
“Don’t remind me…
The river was so cold it was practically freezing, and it was so cold underwater that there wasn’t even a single fish around.”
Seeing Reiner’s pathetic appearance, Ellie scratched her head somewhat sheepishly.
“Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Reiner.
Consider this a favor I owe you.
When we have money in the future, I’ll definitely make it up to you.”
“No, Ellie.
There won’t be a next time…”
Reiner muttered resentfully as he stretched his frost-reddened hands toward the fire.
“I am never bathing in that river again.”
Just as Ellie was about to continue comforting him, her gaze accidentally fell upon the empty firewood basket beside the stove.
Inside the basket, only a few tiny scraps of wood remained, none of which looked capable of burning for more than a few seconds.
At that very moment, the last piece of firewood in the stove gave a soft “crack” and split straight down the middle.
The flame, which had still been burning quite vigorously, suddenly shrank, leaving only a few pitiful little tongues of fire struggling desperately to stay alive.
It looked like the household’s fuel supply was already approaching absolute zero.
The smile on Ellie’s face gradually faded.
At this rate, they might not even be able to light a fire tomorrow morning!
She turned her head toward the kitchen.
The flour bag by the wall was more than half empty, and only a few rock-hard pieces of bread remained in the basket.
The jerky hanging from the crossbeam had long since been eaten, leaving behind nothing but a lonely hemp rope swaying in the air.
“Sigh…”
Ellie pulled the blanket tighter around herself and shuffled toward the center of the room in her slippers.
“Everyone, I have to announce a very grim fact, our supplies are about to hit rock bottom!”
“The basic rations issued to us by the church, according to my rough calculations, will last at most another two days…”
“On top of that, the firewood we used to boil the bathwater just now was already our last stock.”
Ellie sighed.
“We can’t keep relying on the priest’s relief forever.
There are so many refugees, and even a wealthy family doesn’t have an infinite amount of food.”
“So…”
“We have to make money!”
“Make money?”
Reiner scratched his head before patting his sturdy chest with confidence.
“No problem!
Leave it to me!
I’m a man.
How could I let two girls like you go hungry?”
On the other side, Annie silently scanned their surroundings, a sharp glint flashing through her eyes.
Clearly, she already had a plan of her own.
Since everyone has the resolve, starting tomorrow, we’ll split up and work separately!”
Ellie declared this with her hands on her hips, looking like a tiny commander preparing to lead her troops into battle.
…
Early the next morning, the three of them split up and headed in three different directions.
Reiner, relying on his confidence in his physical strength, made his way to a house-repair construction site near the refugee area.
The foreman chewing on a pipe waved his hand impatiently.
“Shoo, shoo, shoo!
Where did this brat come from?”
“This is a construction site.
I can’t afford to compensate you if you break an arm or a leg!”
Reiner eagerly stepped forward
“I’m very strong!
As long as you provide meals, just give me a little wage!”
“Strong?
How strong could a little brat like you possibly be…?”
“Oh, God!
King Fritz above!”
Before the foreman could finish speaking, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Without saying a word, Reiner easily lifted a thick log that would normally require two strong adult men to move.
“Hey—shoo!”
Reiner casually hoisted the log onto his shoulder and even bounced it up and down a couple of times as though it weighed nothing.
“Uncle, where should I put this?”
The foreman’s pipe dropped to the ground with a sharp “clack.”
“Goodness gracious…”
Meanwhile, Annie avoided the noisy crowds and slipped into the woodlands surrounding the farm.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle manual labor.
It was simply that compared to squeezing into a crowd of strangers to compete for jobs and forcing herself to smile while bargaining, she would much rather spend an entire day alone in the forest.
Besides, the forest was exactly where she excelled.
With the wilderness survival skills she had learned at the Marley training camp, Annie quickly determined the activity routes of nearby animals from footprints in the dirt, broken branches, and bent blades of grass.
Setting traps, masking her scent, finding suitable ambush positions…
Then came the important part.
Catching the prey.
In less than half a day, two plump hares and a pheasant were hanging from her hands.
That harvest alone was enough to feed the three of them for several meals!
However, having meat alone wasn’t enough.
The house was still short on flour, lamp oil, and firewood, and unfortunately, none of those things grew on trees.
Carrying the prey, Annie deliberately walked onto a path frequently used by garrison soldiers and hunters.
“Aiyo, little girl, did you catch all of these yourself?”
A patrolling garrison soldier looked at her in surprise.
“Mn…”
Annie nodded softly.
“Uncle…
are there still refugee rations available?”
“Of course there are.”
The garrison soldier nodded heartily.
“A batch was just shipped in from the Trost District this morning.
The quantity is limited, though, so each person can only receive a small share.”
Soon, Annie received three pieces of bread, a small bag of oats, some dried beans, and half a pack of salt and as a return gift, Annie handed one of the hunted rabbits to the garrison soldier.
She swaggered straight back to the Church of the Walls.
You must be joking!
A smart little loli obviously wasn’t going to waste her precious time doing manual labor!
As an adult equipped with modern knowledge, Ellie understood one very important principle.
Mental labor was far more cost-effective.
Therefore, she shamelessly asked the priest if there was any work she could do.
At first, the old priest simply thought the child was being sensible, he didn’t actually expect Ellie to accomplish anything substantial, so he gave her simple tasks such as wiping tables, organizing bookshelves, and occasionally helping the nuns carry a few scriptures.
But it didn’t take long before the priest realized that this arrangement was simply wasting an extraordinary amount of talent!
At noon that day, the refugee registration office of the church had descended into complete chaos.
Illiterate refugees crowded around the tables, reporting their family situations one after another.
Some repeatedly asked about rations, some argued over half a piece of bread, while others had clearly registered once already but quietly changed lines and joined the queue again.
Several clerics responsible for recording everything were sweating profusely from the sheer noise.
The registration papers scattered across the table were even worse.
Names, ages, addresses, and material requests were all crammed together.
To check whether someone had already received their supplies, a clerk had to grab a stack of papers and flip through them for half an eternity.
Ellie stood to the side and watched for several minutes and eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Everyone, stop crowding!”
“Only one person from each family stays in line.
Everyone else, go wait over there!”
“It doesn’t matter if you can’t write.
When it’s your turn, just tell us your name and how many people are in your family!”
“Those with wooden plaques, move forward according to your numbers!
Those who have already registered, don’t queue again!”
“Today’s supplies all have fixed quotas.
Crowding toward the front won’t get you anything extra!”
“And whoever cuts in line again will be sent straight to the very back!”
In less than half an hour, the originally chaotic ration records had become neat and orderly under Ellie’s hands.
Everything was arranged clearly enough that anyone could find what they needed at a glance.
The priest stood to the side, staring at her in dumbfounded amazement.
“Oh, my goodness…”
“Ellie, you are truly a child of wisdom favored by the gods!”
“Would you be willing to stay and help me handle these procurement lists and temporary certificates?”
“I’ll pay you!”
“Glad to be of service, Father.”
Ellie gave him a well-behaved smile.
Being able to secure a clerical position inside the church would make it much easier for her to gather information about high-level affairs…
And perhaps even acquire some contraband in the future.
…
Night fell, and the dim glow of an oil lamp once again illuminated the farmhouse.
On the dilapidated wooden table, the three of them successively placed down the fruits of their labor for the day.
Reiner proudly slapped down a handful of copper coins, along with a large piece of rye bread that he’d exchanged for the extra reward given to him by the foreman.
Annie placed the two cleaned animals on the table, along with the supplies given to her by the garrison soldier.
Finally, Ellie smiled and untied a small cloth bag.
Inside was not only a small pile of copper coins, but also two gleaming silver coins!
Looking at the surprisingly abundant supplies spread across the table, the three of them looked at one another and smiled.
“Good job, everyone!”