Getting Work II

***Mila POV***

It was at the dead of night when only scandalous businesses and some bars were still busy. We had plenty of customers who would stick around if we were open, but Ma always kicked them out at closing. I didn't mind since we needed to clean up afterwards and hit the sack, but with costs and taxes rising, I was starting to wonder if maybe we should get as much as we could. Especially since Ma was pretty stubborn about raising our prices.

Our family of four handled everything around the inn. At night, Ma and I would do the cleaning and in the morning, my brother and uncle would do the prep work to open the tavern again. There was only a single lamp for lighting, but I was used to it, so the darkness didn't add any difficulty. Still, as I looked at the table I had just wiped off, I recalled the walls inside Carol's room.

"Hey Ma, have the walls always had this colour?"

"Huh? Why are you asking something like that?"

"When I went to call that Carol girl for dinner, I got a look inside her room and it was a shade lighter than I remember. She said it was just from cleaning and I don't think she was lying, but,"

"...I guess it was lighter back when you were little, but it would take too much effort to keep them that clean. Still, I didn't expect her to do that much so quickly."

"Yea. If the city was like before, I would have considered hiring her to clean this place."

"..."

"So Ma, about the prices-"

"Just focus on moving your hands. We already talked about that."

And that talk hadn't gone very well. Still, I knew Ma was too stubborn to change her mind easily, so I would have to keep bringing it up until she was willing to consider it.

***

The next day, Carolyn found herself awake soon after the first cracks of dawn peeked through her closed window. Since she had a proper bed to sleep in and hadn't slept for two days, it wouldn't have been odd if she overslept, but she hadn't completely let her guard down yet. After changing out of her night gown and putting on light makeup, Carolyn opened the window and looked at the early morning city.

It was so quiet that the previous busyness seemed like a lie, but she noticed a few houses and stores with some life as they prepared to face the new day. Her room was only on the second floor, not exactly safe from peepers and intruders, so once she had her fill of the sight, Carolyn closed her window and went downstairs to replace the water in her bucket and ask a few questions.

"Hello. Ms. Margaret, Ms. Mila?"

Once she was downstairs, Carolyn looked for Margaret and Mila, but she found no one at the front desk or in the tavern. She saw that the door to the backyard was open, but only after she double checked the front desk did she decide to head to it.

Once she was at the edge of the door, Carolyn finally spotted someone else. Using the branch of a tree to support his weight, she found a shirtless young man not much older than her doing inverted sit-ups. Judging by how he was doing the exercise and the firm shape of his muscles, Carolyn could tell that he was consistent in working out. However, compared to his exercise routine, Carolyn had more important questions.

'Who is this and why is he training in the backyard?'

Given that the backyard door was supposed to be locked, he would have to have permission to be here, but she couldn't completely discredit the possibility that the door was normally open during the day and he had snuck his way over the fence. While Carolyn hesitated between calling for someone and simply going about her business, the young man finished his sit-ups and returned his feet to the ground.

"Are you the new tenant?"

The young man asked this question as he wiped himself off with a towel that had also been hanging from the tree. Now that he wasn't moving as much, his amber hair and familiar facial features gave Carolyn a huge hint about his identity.

"Yes, my name is Carol. Are you related to Ms. Margaret and Ms. Mila?"

"That's right. My name is Marco. They're my mom and sis. If you're here to get water, then feel free. Of course, you can stay and watch if you want too."

"? Thank you."

Carolyn wasn't sure what she would be watching, but she thanked Marco and began replacing the water in her bucket. While she was doing so, she asked some questions that were on her mind.

"So, Mr. Marco,"

"Just call me Marco. Mister makes me sound old."

"Ah, very well, Marco. Ms. Mila mentioned that there was a bigger container that I could borrow. Would I be able to use it for when I want to do laundry?"

"That's fine. You can ask Ma if you wanna hang them out here, but we won't cover the costs in case anything gets stolen. There's also a laundry service nearer to the noble district that does delivery, but it's pretty expensive."

"I see, thank you. I don't intend to purchase their services, but I hear that taxes have been on the rise lately. Has that affected their costs?"

This seemed like a good opportunity, so Carolyn touched on possibly the most important topic that she noticed since entering the city. Marco didn't think much about her reasons for asking the question as he gave his response.

"Well, they've always been expensive, but yea, the taxes have definitely pushed their prices up. It's the same for everywhere."

"Oh. Do you know what's causing these high taxes?"

"Who can tell what those snobby noble folk are thinking? Ah, sorry."

Confused as to why he would apologize, Carolyn tilted her head. "No, it's fine. Please, go on."

"Well, we don't know for sure, but there are rumours that Lord Amber has major debts to the royal palace, so he's using our taxes to pay them off."

"Oh my! That certainly isn't a pleasant story, but if it's true, then these taxes should only be a temporary matter."

"That would be good, but it's hard to say if we can even last until it's over. It also doesn't help that Ma..."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Anyways, everything's gone up because of the taxes except for wages, so there are more thieves and pickpockets lurking around lately, so be careful."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

She already had an encounter with a little pickpocket, but Carolyn kept that to herself. Though she had refilled her bucket, Carolyn continued asking Marco various questions about the city. Marco continued exercising while answering the questions, but you could hardly tell just based on his tone of voice and the clarity of his responses. Carolyn respected his diligence, but in her view, his muscles were mostly for show, so she didn't know why he trained so hard.

After her conversation with Marco, Carolyn returned to her room. She then removed her makeup and clothes to wipe off her body and face before putting them back on. Based on what she now knew, it was likely Margaret wouldn't hire her even if she wanted to, because of the poor economic situation. In the worst case scenario, the inn might even close down. Nonetheless, Carolyn wasn't bereft of ideas.

"Most likely, even getting a job somewhere else would be difficult. Mr. Benedict didn't specify that I had to get a wage, but if I'm going to live in this city, then a source of income will be essential, so I shouldn't bother playing with his words. If the inn doesn't have enough money to hire me, then I have to find a way to increase their revenue. That would both clear the money problem, and allow me to prove my worth."

She knew that her idea was optimistic in the most polite terms. If increasing their revenue was so simple that she could easily do it, they wouldn't be having troubles in the first place. Still, this was the best and most straightforward way she could think of.

Still, she wasn't arrogant enough to believe that a good idea was just waiting to be discovered inside her head. If one wants to know how to plant crops, then they should ask a farmer.