Teaching & Learning Methods [BL]

Untitled Part 2

After writing up some paperwork, I left the police station and hailed a carriage. This time, I got in the proper way.

Arun Street 13-1-13 was a neighborhood of small, crowded houses. Only after getting out of the carriage did I realize I had no money to pay the fare. Helplessly, I took off the gold ring I was wearing and handed it over.

The driver was reluctant. He said that he often got accused of being a thief when he accepted precious metals as payment.

I memorized the driver's name and carriage number. Then I promised to come to his house tomorrow afternoon with the money to pay for the ring. The driver hesitated for a moment, then took the ring and left.

Albert Letier's house was a three-story house with a green roof. A small fence surrounded the small house.

I searched my pockets but found no keys. I looked at the front door and tried to open it by hand. Fortunately, the door was unlocked.

I stepped inside and saw the yard. There was some dry grass growing, and a thick rope was stretched from the wall of the house to the fence.

I walked along the dirt path and stood at the front door. I tried to open it like the front door, but it didn't open. I thought for a moment, then tried turning the doorknob, and it opened. The owner of the house seemed to be rather careless.

In the past, I didn't pay much attention to locking doors either. The castle of Blasvitz, where Grand Duke Vintiscaya lived, had doormen, knights and soldiers patrolling every hour to keep out intruders, as well as stewards, janitors, and servants who maintained the castle. Besides, I rarely left my bed.

There were two bunches of keys hanging on the key rack next to the front door. One was dusty and the other was shiny. It seemed that the bunch of spare keys and the bunch of keys that were always used were hung side by side. I put one in my pocket.

I looked around the house carefully. It felt like I was exploring an old castle. However, since it was actually just a small three-story house, it didn't take long. Each floor was only about the size of the room I used to use.

From what I saw, the first floor had a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet. The four rooms on the second floor were all filled with books. I wondered why there were four studies. There were three rooms on the third floor. One was locked, another was a bedroom, and the other was a storeroom full of junk.

I wondered what to do next. I remembered that I hadn't locked the front door. I closed the door, locked it, and then put on the padlock. At the same time, my stomach growled.

There was no one in the kitchen to cook for me. There was no edible food either. The bottom drawer was full of cooking utensils.

There was some ham and sausage in the cupboard. There was also bread wrapped in thin brown paper. I took it out and it was hard as a rock. There were various spices, including salt and sugar, along with a bag of flour, but I didn't know where or how to use them. There was no fruit or vegetables at all.

I was disappointed.

I didn't know how to cook. I sighed. I searched my mind, but I couldn't find any relevant knowledge. Only things like law, diplomacy, and estate management came to mind and then disappeared.

Then I finally remembered how to make bread porridge. It was a scene that had passed by in an adventure novel.

I took out a pot and broke the hard bread. It didn't break well, so I had to take out a knife. Then I poured in water and added a lot of salt. Only then did I realize that I didn't know how to make a fire.

But I was hungry. Helplessly, I put the mixture of bread, water, and salt in my mouth. And then I spit it out. I couldn't swallow it.

I wandered around the kitchen and went back to the cupboard. Fortunately, I found a fairly large jar of fruit jam. Behind it were a jar of cream, a bottle of milk, and a stick of butter. The milk had a strange smell.

In the end, I had no choice but to eat the jam with a spoon. My mouth was very sweet, but I managed to eat it.

I thought back to when I was a child and I would sneak into the kitchen with Louisiana nuna. I don't know why we did it. I only remember sitting shoulder to shoulder with my sister in the dark, taking turns eating a stolen jam. I don't remember what it tasted like. But I remembered feeling happy every time the spoon touched my mouth.

After eating some jam, my hunger was satisfied. I put the food I had taken out back in its place. Then I went up to the third floor.

The bedroom was clean. It was decorated in brown and blue-green, giving it a solid yet neat atmosphere. A large window on one wall let in the orange sunlight.

I stood by the window. I could see the surrounding landscape bathed in the sunset.

The first thing I saw was the small yard between the front door and the porch. I could see the neighboring houses, the narrow streets stretching out in all directions, and the people walking along those streets. They were all bathed in the sunset and glowing red. It was peaceful.

I looked at the scenery outside for a long time. The sky gradually changed from pink to purple. Soon it was so dark that I could barely see the yard. Then I realized that there was no maid to light the lamp in the room.

I rubbed my temples with my hands. I closed the window and turned around. The room was dark. It was impossible to look around this house any more.

I opened the closet and took out my pajamas. They were simple cotton pajamas. There was no dressing gown to wear indoors. I felt a little chilly, so I quickly went to bed. I pulled the covers up to my chin, but I still felt cold. I rubbed my hands and thought about what I needed to do.

First, I needed to hire someone. I needed a cook, a maid, or maybe a servant to live in this house. I decided to look for money when the sun came up, and closed my eyes.