The Otherworld Antique Bookstore is a Life-Risk Chapter 5

 

Chapter 5: Yuki Encounters Children's Lives

 

At the Commerce Guild, I had to take an arithmetic test before registration. This was expected, another common trope in other worlds. The problems were mostly elementary and middle school level calculations with some linear function questions. Nothing I couldn't handle.

They were surprised by my perfect score, but when I mentioned I was a new employee at White Trading Company, the examiner understood. White Trading Company must be impressive.

My adventurer card was updated with a merchant credibility rank, completing my Commerce Guild registration.

Merchant Credibility: KE

An E-rank merchant registered in the Calito Kingdom. Apparently, I received a rank boost for perfect test scores, but I'm not sure how well this is recognized in society.

Anyway, this completed my resident registration. From today, I'm officially a citizen of the Calito Kingdom.

After receiving an explanation about the annual taxes I need to pay to the country, we left the Commerce Guild.

The last item on today's agenda is visiting the royal capital's main store where I'll be working.

"Bergana, I haven't seen anyone reading books while walking around town. Are books not common in this country?" I asked.

"You won't see common people reading books at this hour. If you want to see people reading in broad daylight, you'd have to go to a café in the noble district," she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Books are relatively expensive, but more importantly, common people are too busy with daily survival to have time for reading. Only merchant families or wealthy households can afford that luxury."

"Um, before we see the store, I'd like to know about the lives of ordinary people in this country. If possible, I'd like to see the daily lives of children here."

"Why the sudden interest, Yuki?"

"Selecting books for the store shelves is crucial for a bookstore. Without knowing anything about our potential customers, I can't judge whether the books in stock are appropriate. It wouldn't be effective for my work."

"I see. Well then, let's go observe some children in this country."

"Thank you."

Bergana agreed to fulfill my request, but for some reason, she led me outside the city gates.

"Look, over there," Bergana pointed to a small group of children sitting in the woods, engaged in some activity. They seemed to be gathering firewood to take home and searching for edible wild plants and medicinal herbs.

"From around age five, children venture outside the city during safe hours to work in the shallow parts of the forest like this. When they reach about ten, considered the older children, many start apprenticeships in town workshops, while others lead younger children and hunt small animals."

"But what about their studies? Reading, writing, and arithmetic?"

"Those children working there likely won't have such opportunities. Families aspiring for their children to work in merchant houses or lower nobility might provide some education. In that sense, orphanages might put more effort into children's education."

"Do these children have any free time?"

"This forest work isn't mandatory. But children participate voluntarily to help their family finances. The work usually ends by the second midday bell, so they have free time until dusk."

This country uses bell sounds to mark different times of the day. There are mainly three bells: morning, noon, and night. Between the morning and noon bells is the first midday bell, and between the noon and night bells is the second midday bell. The first midday bell is around 9 AM, and the second is around 3 PM.

So, children have about 2-3 hours of free time between the second midday bell and the night bell. If you replace work hours with study hours, it's not too different from children's schedules in my previous life in Japan.

This country does have schools, but according to Bergana, they're royal academies called "Academy," attended by children of nobles and wealthy merchant families.

Currently, children's exposure to books is mostly limited to picture books read by their mothers before bed, and even that only in households where the mother can read.

I joined the children, learning and working hard at gathering wild plants while asking nearby children various questions.

"If we could read, write, and do calculations, we might get better-paying jobs as adults. So if we had the chance to study, we'd like to," was the sentiment shared by most children.

As the second midday bell rang, the children wrapped up their work and dispersed at the city gates. I waved goodbye as they headed home.

As evening approached, the dining district around the central plaza began to bustle. Bergana next took me to an alley in this dining district.

There, I saw dirty children carrying boxes of vegetable scraps and leftovers from restaurants.

"Bergana, what's this?"

"These are orphans who couldn't enter orphanages and children from the slums. By cleaning up restaurant waste like this, they might earn a small wage or some food. Sometimes the garbage itself becomes their daily sustenance."

"Slums? Isn't this country wealthy? What are the government and profitable merchants doing?"

"The government isn't doing nothing. Merchants have formed associations separate from the Commerce Guild to actively employ people from the slums. But it's far from enough to eliminate the slums entirely."

Hmm, I started this day thinking I'd do some light market research for my bookstore job, but I've encountered much more to ponder.

Still, I want children to read books. As I continue my work, I'll keep this as an ongoing challenge in my heart.

If you like what I do, Please consider donating to my Kofi Page

Join the Discord Here