“Do people from the empire usually eat this much?”

She had thought one sandwich would suffice for a meal, but another course was coming.

A glance at Kyle revealed he thought eating this much was only natural, holding his utensils accordingly.

So Aelfrie, without feeling burdened, lifted her spoon and scooped up the stew placed in front of her.

The spoon held an array of vegetables along with a large piece of meat, showing how much had gone into the dish.

Aelfrie cautiously swallowed it. The moment the warm, flavorful stew went down her throat, she almost cried.

“It’s delicious.”

Her jaws felt heavy the moment she put the stew in her mouth, just as they had with the bread earlier.

Her mouth, accustomed to munching only dry bread and boiled potato slices, seemed surprised to taste such a rich dish.

Lunch took a long time to finish. Aelfrie had been eating only small amounts for so long that her stomach found the sudden influx of food to be too much, requiring her to eat slowly.

Calon looked at Aelfrie’s plate with a displeased gaze.

“She ate too little.”

Even after more than an hour of struggling, only about half had disappeared.

He wanted to encourage her to eat more, but she looked so fatigued that she might faint right there.

“Well, we have time.”

No need to push too hard on the first day.

She could gradually get used to it. That was the plan.

After cleaning up the meal, only strong tea was prepared for dessert.

Not just Aelfrie, but also Nisha and Ino, who had eaten two lunches, looked like they couldn’t eat anymore, throwing resentful glances.

While drinking tea, Aelfrie briefly explained the reason for her return.

Her family had temporarily left their home to go to a friend’s villa, and a fire had broken out at home. Therefore, she needed money for the repairs.

Calon didn’t ask further. It was neither likely that Aelfrie would elaborate, nor was there a need, as he could roughly guess what had happened.

What was certain was that Aelfrie was in a tight spot, in need of money, and had sought them out.

That was all that mattered.

“……So, if there’s still a spot at Ash Trading Company, I’d like to work there.”
“Of course, there’s a position available. No, to be honest, we’re grateful you came. We’ve been looking for someone skilled in ancient languages but haven’t found anyone up to our standards.”

At the mention of “desired level,” tension flickered across Aelfrie’s face.

Aelfrie only knew her skills in ancient languages were passable. After all, she had only received lessons from a home tutor when she was young and had been self-taught ever since.

Typically, male nobles would go to the academy to have their skills assessed. For females, it was standard to invite a professor from the academy for verification.

Naturally, Aelfrie couldn’t do either, so she had no way of knowing the extent of her abilities.

“To be honest with you, our priority is not the position for an ancient language instructor at the moment.”

“Another matter? But, other than ancient languages…”

“Ah, it’s still related to ancient languages. Our company has to review a lot of documents, and many are written in ancient scripts. We’re urgently looking for someone who can decipher them.”

Aelfrie’s face clouded over at the mention of “ancient documents.”