Chapter 323
āI heard the general story. Weāre told crime has been rampant in the slums lately, and that there are many people with colds or illnessesā¦ā
Nina nodded.
āYes, so please donāt stray from the guard knights if possible, and if there is anyone with a cold in the home you visit, please cover your nose and mouth with your muffler.ā
She couldnāt explain to others that she had become someoneās target.
At most, saying that someone was targeting her over some absurd rumor spreading in the slums.
Even if she went around saying that, she would only be told she was too self-conscious.
So the method she chose was to give a warning by presenting reasonable grounds.
The unstable public order in the slums, where crime ran rampant, and colds that had a high possibility of developing into lung disease, and so on.
Crime could be sufficiently deterred just by bringing along guard knights with swords, but disease was different.
Even a highly contagious cold was threatening enough to ordinary people.
Since they had been notified of the risks beforehand, those who wanted to back out would have done so.
āMiss Catherine, are these all the people?ā
āNo, there are some over there too.ā
In the direction Catherine quietly pointed to, around twenty women were gathered.
āThere are unexpectedly many volunteersā¦?ā
The winter charity event was divided into indoor events and outdoor events.
The indoor events were fundraisers through concerts or exhibitions, while the outdoor events were free meal distribution and prayer visits.
Naturally, the nobles participated in more indoor events.
Even if they took part in outdoor events to build a good image, most of them only tried to stand in front of the meal distribution tables.
How many people would want to visit the dangerous, foul-smelling slums?
But when she roughly estimated the number of people waiting for the prayer visits, there seemed to be about fifty.
āHow strange. There are too many, far too many.ā
Considering that the number of volunteers each year only reached thirty or forty people, didnāt that mean the warning she had spread hadnāt worked?
āā¦Ah.ā
Nina soon realized why they had settled in a separate place.
Rebecca was smiling among them like the queen of the group.
She had heard that Rebeccaās standing in high society these days was not what it used to be.
Yet Rebecca, whom she faced for the first time in a while, did not look gaunt at all. Rather, her face seemed to glow.
On top of that, instead of frowning the moment their eyes met, she smiled with perfect composure.
āā¦Miss Catherine, Iām sorry, but Iāll need to check the charity carts with you.ā
āLeave it to me.ā
Was it because she had watched the exchange of looks with Rebecca from beside her?
Catherine followed her instruction without asking why.
āThere doesnāt seem to be any particular problem with the water or ingredientsā¦ā
She couldnāt simply overlook Rebeccaās smile.
āBesides, according to my memory, Rebecca didnāt volunteer for prayer visits at this time.ā
But this time, she had volunteered?
Wasnāt that as good as proving that her worries hadnāt been unfounded?
She was someone who wanted to watch Ninaās misfortune from closer than anyone else.
And if she had split the group like a faction, then it was clear she wanted to compete with her in the prayer visits.
Just then, Catherine, who had gone to check the other side, approached in a hurry.
āMadam, thereās a problem.ā
āA problem?ā
āA rat came out of the oat porridge. Just in case, I stirred through the pot with a ladle, andā¦ā
Catherine covered her mouth and frowned, as if trying to hold back nausea.
As expected, it was a good thing she had checked.
āAs I expected, she set up a childish prank.ā
With a stiff expression, Nina moved in the direction Catherine pointed.
Someoneās malice, meant to interfere with the event held by her and the ladies gathered with her.
A dark, filthy rat, thoroughly soaked in oat porridge, was sprawled on the dirt floor.
The noblewomen who belatedly realized the situation began murmuring with worried expressions.
If they wanted to receive this much oat porridge while distribution was in full swing, they would have to wait quite a while.
The meals for the people currently lined up came first.
āMadam, what should we do?ā
It was just before their departure, and yet a problem had occurred.
Just as Catherine asked with a worried expression.
āā¦Goodness, just how did they manage things for a rat to come out of the pot?ā
Rebecca, who had been watching this scene from afar, approached.
She had covered her lips with her hand, but judging from the twitching flesh of her cheeks, she was clearly smiling.
āThereās no way a living rat crawled into the pot on its own, so someone must have played a prank.ā
And that someone is obviously you.
