It had been four days since I arrived. My brain hurt from all the studying I had been doing, but it was worth it. My abilities were increasing pretty well. I fell in love with the abacus. Basically, the way it worked was that it had five little sliding pellets in thirteen columns. With a second row of two pellets and by shifting them around quickly, I could do complex calculations in under a minute.

  I still didn’t feel like I was good enough, but with any luck, it wouldn’t be much longer before I reached a level I could be proud of. As I had done every day, I came to visit Nancy in her study at first light. She smiled as she saw me.

  “Alexis. Well, I must admit I didn’t expect you to actually come every day. I am a bit busy today,” she said. “But I have an alternative you would benefit from.”

  “Oh?” I asked.

  “Today is an off day for class too. It’s the day the girls usually study together. I recommend you join the group.”

  “Hmm, no offense, but they seem to be at a lower level than me,” I said. I didn’t wanna be slowed down by helping them. Technically, it made sense too; we were rivals going for the same job. But I wanted to get the money to bring some of it here as soon as possible.

  She looked down. “I can’t force you, but that is unfortunate. There is much to be gained by studying with even those weaker than you.”

  “Can you explain?” I asked.

  “I don’t have time, but let me say this. Have I led you astray so far?” she asked as she closed the door to her study.

  Hmm. She made a point in even the few moments it took to close the door. I could hardly deny the idea that many of her things had proved incredibly useful, regardless of how much I initially thought so. I had to admit that much, I realized while holding my abacus. Okay. Fair enough. I decided to make my way to the study hall.

  Two girls were already there.

  “Hey, she showed up,” one girl said to the other.

  “Bethany, don’t be like that,” the other girl said before standing up. She gave a curtsy. “I am Cecilia. It is a pleasure.”

  I returned my best curtsy back. “Alexis, the pleasure is mine.”

  Bethany grumbled as she returned to her slate, leaving only her dirty brown hair visible to me.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  Cecilia leaned in to whisper. “Some of the girls are a bit taken about by you. You're clearly going to be the first to be ready for the guild. Your success is one less slot for us, after all. ”

  Oh right. I guess that means they would have a low opinion of me. I forgot about that. “I plan to donate funds if that helps.”

  Bethany got up and left without a word.

  “Don’t blame her. She is just, well, we are all on edge in general. Winter is only a few months away, after all.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Right; I had kept the idea of winter in the back of my head, but winter was literally a coin flip for these girls. No, wait, worse than a coin flip. More than half of them probably wouldn’t make it. I squeezed my hands tight.

  “What are you having trouble with? I don’t wanna discourage you guys. I wanna help as much as I can,” I said.

  She smiled. “I could use some help with reading. I am struggling with some terms.”

  Helping Cecilia was a lot of fun, and I felt many of my frustrations wash away as I helped her. It had the side benefit of getting me into a particular flow where I didn’t even notice the other girls clicking away at their abacuses. As other girls came in, they tended to either avoid or grumble at me. But one girl, Emily, came to sit with us and study.

  “Thanks a lot!” Emily said with a more peppy attitude, which matched her short blonde hair. “Cecilia, Bethany, and I were on cleaning duty, but Bethany went out. Any chance you wanna help us?”

  “We would totally owe-”

  “Sure,“ I said.

  “Huh? But it isn’t even your turn?” Emily asked, clearly shocked at how easy that was. “You won’t get any benefits from doing it.”

  I chuckled a bit. “I know. I don’t mind cleaning. Actually, I must say, I am pretty good at cleaning.”

  “Nancy can be pretty fickle about it,” Cecilia said.

  They guided me to the back area we would be cleaning today. There was a large storage room in the back. Apparently, we were going to stock it with wood soon enough. So it needed to be cleaned. Various other smaller storage rooms needed cleaning as well. I decided to ask to do the big one.

  They seemed reluctant to let me do it alone but for me. It was actually gonna be easier alone. I walked into the warehouse-like room and looked around. It was tall too, about an extra five feet of space towards the ceiling. I don’t know what it was originally for, but it would certainly do to store several trees worth of wood.

  I locked the room, walked to the center, and closed my eyes. Bringing my hands to my chest, I began focusing on the mana within me. I wouldn’t want to admit this, but I knew some magic. Nothing that would save my life in a fight or anything grand. But for cleaning a room like this. Well, I was certain I would have no trouble at all.

  I unlocked the door and just laid down. I couldn’t come out; it would be way too suspicious how quickly I managed. I figured they wouldn’t check on me in a while. Plus, if they asked me to prove my cleaning skills. I was confident I could do it. I may have been humbled regarding my math and writing skills, but I would bet my life on my cleaning skills.

  I let my mind wander a bit. I wondered how Mother was doing. She has been all alone since I came here. Less than a week, but I still couldn’t help but worry. I wanted to visit her but didn’t want to attract attention by leaving the city without a real need.

  Eventually, Cecilia was the one to open the door. “Holy moly. It is so clean in here. How did you do it?”

  I raised my hands to give a thumbs up. “Told ya I was good at cleaning.”

  “With talent like this, you could probably apply as a maid,” Cecilia added.

  I sat up. “No, I want to be a guild receptionist.”

  “But why?” she asked.

  Because it would help me gain a lot more information faster but not like I could admit that. “Just my dream job,” I said.

  “I see,” she said. “For us, it's the most likely job we could get. The money is the dream, but it isn’t the same for you. The job is the dream.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But that means I can help you guys more. I wanna eventually get a place to move into so I can bring my little sister to town. But that isn’t anything I need to do immediately. So, I plan to stay at the shelter and save up money. I am sure I can donate plenty.”

  “You’d stay at the shelter even after you get a job?” she asked.

  I nodded, and she just hugged me. “You're pretty interesting, Alexis.”

  I returned the hug. “I think I am going to get a walk in before night.”

  “What? But dinner is soon. Promise you will be back for dinner. You haven’t had dinner with us once this week. Are you getting enough to eat?” she asked.

  “I’m fine, really. And fine, I will eat with you guys soon. Okay?”

  She let me go, and I walked outside. Honestly, I just wanted to stretch, but the evening air had a pleasant smell to it. I liked it better than the morning air. Plus, mornings were my busy time. So this was a perfect time for a walk around town.