‘What?’
Elaine was puzzled by the change in assignment from her previous life, but no one could answer for that change.
And when the volunteer activity area designation was over, a shabby-clad commoner saint standing in the corner of the auditorium raised her hand.
“Priest! Could you please slightly increase the number of volunteers at the soup kitchen? The work is too much for us alone.”
It was Lucy, a commoner saint who came to visit after hearing the news that saints were assigned to volunteer work.
‘Lucy!’
It was a face Elaine knew.
There was no way she could not recognize someone she had worked with for seven years in a previous life.
Looking back, she realized that even in her previous life, Lucy had come to that place asking for volunteers.
At the time, Elaine didn’t pay much attention to Lucy’s appearance, but now that she already had memories with her, Elaine was more than happy to see her.
Unlike Elaine, who was secretly happy, the priest simply ignored Lucy’s opinion.
“We will assign that to new saints when they come in.”
His decision was not surprising. This is because working in a soup kitchen was not something that noble children were expected to do.
However, in a situation where it was unknown when commoner saints would arrive again, the soup kitchen for the poor, run by only four saints, was always operating in dangerous conditions.
“If it doesn’t work out, please at least hire someone, priest. Even just one person is fine.”
“A soup kitchen is a place that is run as a ‘volunteer service.’ How can we hire a paid worker for such a place? With that money, it would be better to buy more food ingredients.”
Since the priest was also a nobleman, he had no idea how the poor people’s soup kitchen worked.
So he could have thought of it as simply as that.
However, Elaine knew the work of the soup kitchen very well.
It was a job she was assigned to after she was over 20 years old, and even Elaine, who was used to the work of maids, was so tired at first that she was on the verge of tears.
‘Since only four people are working at such a soup kitchen, it was enough for her to come all the way here and plead for more volunteers.’
‘What should I do…?’
Elaine bit her lip nervously.
The images of the commoner saints who shared their kindness with her were still vivid in her memory, but it was not easy to decide whether she should step forward or not.
Lucy once again began begging to the priest.
“Priest! The number of poor people visiting soup kitchens has increased, but the number of people working has remained the same for several years. In addition, Saint Marsha’s injury from a month ago had not healed properly, making it more difficult for her to work, and Saint Sonia also had a hard time working—”
“Stop! I don’t think that’s something to discuss here. Let’s talk later.”
cutting off her desperate plea mid-sentence, the Priest did not look at her any further and tried to move on to talking about volunteer work.
In the end, Elaine raised her hand.
“Saint Elaine? You have something to say?”
“I…I will volunteer at a soup kitchen for the poor.”
“What?”
The priest’s brow furrowed.
“That is not something you can do.”
“I could probably carry a bucket of water. I think this is an opportunity to follow Lord Bara’s advice to look to the low places. Please allow me, priest.”
The priest sighed and shook his head.
It was clear that he thought it was a childish act from a noble lady who knew nothing.
“Once you’re assigned to a service, you’re stuck with it for a year. It’s not something you can change later by crying and making a fuss.”
“I promise that won’t happen.”
The priest glared at Elaine for a moment, Perhaps displeased with Elaine’s sudden behavior, and then gave her a grin, as if to say, ‘Let’s see if you can get away with this.’
“Alright. I hope that the saint will make sure that she takes responsibility for her own words.”
In this way, Elaine left her much more comfortable job in the dormitory management office and took on the ‘dirty, hectic, and arduous’ job.
“Anyway, she is trying so hard to stand out. Why is she acting like that?”
“I heard she grew up as a maid in Newt’s family. Do you miss being a maid?”
The arrogant ladies, led by Lorina, sneered at Elaine, who went about doing the most difficult work.
Elaine’s friends, including Debbie, also tried to stop her.
“They say working at a soup kitchen for the poor is the most difficult of all the jobs at the temple. The poor who come to the soup kitchen are all dirty, smelly, and rough people. You might get sick.”
“Yes, Elaine. It’s not too late now. Go to the priest and tell him you were wrong and change your job.”
But Elaine shook her head.
No one knows better than Elaine how difficult it is to work at a soup kitchen there.
She knew it, and she had no choice but to go.
‘Lucy, Marsha, Sonia, Cecil…how hard it must be for them.’
It was Lucy, the oldest of the four, who had asked for an extra person.
As she said, Marsha’s wounds did not heal well due to her hard work and she became chronically ill, Sonia around this time, her back pain became worse.
Lucy already had no joints that didn’t hurt, and the youngest, Cecil, suffered from bad knees at an early age because she worked too hard to carry the burden of others.
Elaine Knew the situation clearly, so she couldn’t pretend not to know.
‘If I could help, even for just one year…’
If she could do that, she thought it would be a way to repay them for the kindness they gave her in her past life.
And the next week, Elaine headed to the soup kitchen for the poor, prepared to suffer.
“Hello? My name is Elaine Newt, and I will be volunteering at the soup kitchen starting today.”
The four saints working at the soup kitchen had a puzzled look on their faces at the neat greeting from the girl with her hair in a single braid.
“Lucy. Did you really bring the saint with you?”
“Actually, I didn’t really intend to bring the saint, but the priest said he wouldn’t hire anyone…”
It was embarrassing, but it was something they couldn’t turn away from now.
They worried that a noble girl who knew nothing would be overwhelmed by the hard work, so they tried to find the easiest task for Elaine to do.
However, Elaine already knew what kind of help the soup kitchen needed right away.
“I’ll bring a dishwashing bucket. And while you guys cook and serve the food, I will be washing the dishes.”
At the same time, Elaine rolled up her sleeves.
“Don’t you think we have to hurry?”
“Yeah, that’s true, but…are you sure you can do this, Saint Elaine?”
“I’ve done it many times, don’t worry.”
“Yes?”
The saints didn’t seem to understand Elaine’s words, but Elaine just smiled and ran to get a bucket of water.
At the tap, water containers on wheels were already filled with water.
“Eh? Are you taking this with you?”
“Yes.”
“It must be heavy.…”
“It’s okay.”
Elaine took a deep breath and began pushing the bucket cart full of water.
Although it was so heavy that it made her face hurt, she pushed the cart thinking that it would be better for her to do it than for other saints who were all in pain.
When she took the water bottle, the soup kitchen was already busy.
Even though it was an hour before the soup kitchen opened, there was already a long line outside, and everyone inside was sweating profusely as they cooked vegetable stew.
Although no one had told her, Elaine put the water bucket back in its place, collected the dishwashing food from cooking, put it in the large dishwashing bin, and sat down neatly to wash the dishes.
“Oh my god, saint! You don’t have to do that!”
“If I don’t do this much, there’s no point in me coming here.”
The saints stopped Elaine, perhaps because they were confused that a young lady from an aristocratic family would put her hands in cold water and wash things like a wooden spatula and pot covered in food.
However, Elaine washed the dishes with surprising skill.
“The soup kitchen will open soon, so hurry up and prepare the food. I’m fine.”
“Well, then…please.”
The women were surprised that Elaine worked so calmly, so they put aside their worries that she might have brought an unnecessary burden.
Even though there was only one more person, they had time to catch their breath, and mistakes were reduced.
Elaine even piled up the washed dishes in the place where they should be placed, and like a ghost, she picked up fresh dirty dishes around.
“She looks like she’s been working here for several years.”
“Yes. The little lady is amazing.”
The four women even smiled for the first time recently and started serving food.
However, once the food distribution started, it became so busy that it seemed like war had started again.
The starving poor people screamed and fought here and there, fighting to steal what belonged to others.
However, the four women had no power to stop them. They were all commoners in the end, and it was the four women who were intimidated by the harsh words and threats of the poor.
At that time, Elaine ran to where the fight occurred.
“Stop!”
“What is this girl again?”
The two boys who were fighting were staring at Elaine with vicious eyes.
However, Elaine did not back down at all but put her hand on her waist and said:
“What are you doing now? How dare you fight like an animal within the Temple of Pavelo! Aren’t you embarrassed in front of Lord Bara?”
“Shut up! You never even starve!”
Elaine looked down at them coldly and took out the saint’s plaque hanging around her neck.
* * *
