1. Washing your face at the park's fountain will make you feel great!

Early in the morning, the sun begins to spread across the eastern sky like a blur.

Hearing the chirping of birds, Olivia was jabbing and washing her face in an empty park fountain.


(Wind.. I feel a little better. I'm glad it's not the cold season.)

After running away from home she spent the night in this park, a little out of the center of the city.
She thought about staying in a hotel, but she didn't want to meet someone and have them ask her questions,
so she wandered around and ended up in this park.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd spend the night on a park bench.."
Olivia sits on the edge of the fountain, wiping her face with a handkerchief from her bag and muttering absentmindedly.

　Standing up, she checked her own outfit.



　A simple white blouse, a short navy blue jacket and a flared long skirt of the same color. A navy blue hat with a blue flower ornament.

　The wrinkles in the clothes are not noticeable thanks to the wrinkle-resistant material, and the nearly black gray hair can be disguised in many ways by braiding it horizontally and putting on the hat.

　The only thing that bothers me a little is the dark circles under my eyes, which must be terrible, and the smell of algae from washing in the fountain water,.......





（Now is not the time for this.)





　Olivia slapped her cheeks with both hands as if to get into the spirit of the morning sun.





(Get on with it and do what you have to do!)





　First she headed for the bank in the center of town.

　The purpose is to report the loss of a bank note and issue a new one.



　From the looks of yesterday, the in-laws had not been able to find the bank note in their room.

　If he made the bank notes unusable first thing in the morning, he could protect the money in his account and the contents of his safe deposit box.



　I crossed the central square lit by the morning sun and entered the deserted bank just after it opened, and a familiar female bank clerk sitting at the reception desk smiled at me.





"Oh, my God, it's Olivia, isn't it? How unusual for you to be here at this hour."



Yes. I've lost my bank note, and I'd like to change my account.





　The female banker looked apologetic.





'I'm sorry ......, but we're going to have to speak to the person who lost the bank note in detail now. May I ask you to come to the other room?"





　That hadn't happened when my father lost his bills a few years ago. I tilted my head and went to the other room, where an elderly man in a bank uniform was waiting for me.





I'm sorry. They're getting a little tough on lost bank notes now."





　According to the man, the counterfeiting of bank notes, which was prevalent in neighboring countries, is happening in this country as well.





"Simply put, it's a system whereby 'bills are temporarily lost and then all the money is withdrawn.' Rich merchants and shop owners tend to be targeted.



Is that so?



'Yes. So, if a bank note is lost, we have a uniform hearing, and if someone shows up with the lost bank note, we will interview them.''





　Olivia chuckled inwardly as she imagined her stepmother and stepfather being caught at the window and making desperate excuses.





(I do feel a little sorry for him, but he's trying to withdraw money from someone's account without permission, so he deserves what's coming to him.)





　In response to the man's questions, he carefully answers about the circumstances when he lost it and how his family said they had never seen it or knew anything about the loss.



　The man stood up after finishing his questions.





'That's all I need to ask you. I just checked and it seems that the money in Olivia's account is safe, so please continue to wait while I process your request to open a new account."



　After that, the receptionist lady appears again and Olivia goes through the process of opening a new account.

　She then sighs as she watches the woman leave the room with the paperwork.





(...... Come on. What do we do now?)





　I've secured the money for now.

　I have enough savings to live on for about a year, but it's going to dwindle at this rate.

　I have to work somewhere.





(...... but where do you work?)





　Even though it was horseshit, he was fired from the shop for that reason. It would be difficult to work as a mage in this city.



　She might be able to find a job other than a grimoire maker, but for someone who loves magic stone jewelry and design so much, a job other than a grimoire maker is impossible.



　She thinks about going to the city where her close cousin on her mother's side lives, but she can't bother her cousin who just had a baby.





(haha ....... What am I going to do?)





　I let out a sigh at the situation in all directions.





--And then... The words of her father before his death came to her mind.





'If you are ever in trouble, open this letter.





　An envelope was given to my father on his sickbed.

　After his father's death, it was painful to look at it, so he must have put it in a safety deposit box at the bank along with his money.





（That's it!　That's it!　Now's the time to open it!)





　Olivia tells the banker, who brings her a new bank note, that she wants to see the safe deposit box.

　She is shown to the safe deposit room and opens the safe deposit box with the newly made note.





(Wow. I missed that. ......)





　Inside are precious metals and watches that were mementos of my parents.

　I hid them here in a panic when my in-laws almost took them away from me.



　A little nervous, I take out the white envelope my father gave me.

　When I open it, inside is a sealed envelope and a letter.

　In the letter, in a slightly trembling handwriting, he wrote





'If you have any trouble, take the enclosed letter to Gordon's shop in King's Landing. I've spoken to him.　From my father.





　On the back of the letter is an address in King's Landing, which is supposed to be Gordon's shop.





(...... that your father was telling Mr. Gordon something?)





　I know that a mage named Gordon came from King's Landing for my father's funeral, and I remember greeting him.

　I think he told me to ask him if I needed anything.



　She was lost in thought as she looked at the letter.





(...... I have a feeling going to King's Landing isn't a bad option)





　I hear that the royal capital is many times larger than this city.

　There must be some places that will hire me as a mage.



　Olivia tucks the letter and envelope into her bag and closes the safety deposit box.

　She thanks the banker who was watching in the distance and walks out of the bank.



　The morning sun had already risen, and many people and horses were busy coming and going on the cobblestones.

　Looking up at the clear blue sky.



　Looking at the sky, Olivia made up her mind.





Let's go. To King's Landing."





　Even though I've been kicked out, I can't bear to leave my father's shop and leave this city.

　But even if I quit my job as a magician and stayed in this town, I would probably only regret it, and my father, who was also a magician, would surely be sad.

　I'll go to the Royal Capital and work hard as a Magician.





(Once you've decided that, you have to buy a ticket.)





　With a look of determination on her face, Olivia trudges off to the railway carriage station.











-she didn't know at this time.





I'm not madam!　I'm not madam!"





　About three hours later.

　That I would be yelling at a man with all my might on the platform of the railway carriage station.

Chapter end