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TWEET, TWEET.
Sunlight slowly dyed the sky from the east early the following day. Olivia washed her face in the fountain of the empty park as she listened to the birdsong and sighed.
I feel better now. Good thing the weather isn’t too cold yet.
After leaving the shop, she walked from the town center to a park on the outskirts, where she spent the night. She’d considered staying in a hotel but had dreaded the idea of running into someone and having them pry into everything. She ended up wandering around town until she arrived at the park.
“I never imagined I’d spend a night sleeping on a park bench…”
Sitting on the fountain’s edge, she took the faded handkerchief from her bag and wiped her face dry. She then stood up and gave herself a good once-over.
Thankfully, her white blouse, ink-black blazer, and long A-line skirt didn’t wrinkle easily, so she still looked presentable. Once she thoroughly smoothed it down, her navy hair was also passable.
She was a little worried about the horrible dark circles she assumed she had under her eyes and the faint algae smell lingering on her because she washed up in a fountain, but…
This isn’t the time to be focusing on that!
Olivia smacked her cheeks, revving herself up in the morning sun. Last night, she’d been thrown off kilter by the unexpected events, but she had the night to calm down and felt refreshed.
Now, let’s get down to business!
First, she went to the bank near the town center to file a notice of her lost card and request a new one. Based on how they had acted yesterday, she guessed her adoptive family hadn’t found her card in her room, meaning Olivia could protect the money in her account and the belongings in her safety deposit box if she reported it first thing in the morning.
She cut across the central square, wrapped thick with a blanket of morning fog, and entered the quiet bank that had just opened for the day. The familiar woman at the counter smiled at her.
“Oh, hello, Olivia. You don’t often come to the bank this early,” she noticed.
“No, I don’t. I actually lost my bank card and wanted to open a new account,” responded Olivia, and the people in the bank began to buzz.
The woman sounded tense as she replied, “I apologize for the inconvenience, but we currently have a policy of asking some detailed questions if anyone lost their bank card. Would you mind coming to another room?”
Olivia was a little confused. The woman acted different than usual, but she followed her to what seemed like a meeting room where an older man in a suit sat with a somewhat intense expression.
“I’m very sorry, but things have gotten quite severe,” he began. “There have been some reports of bank card fraud in a neighboring country, and it’s spread to this country.
Olivia’s eyes went wide. “Is that kind of fraud even possible?”
“We have seen cases, so yes, it is possible.”
He told her the scammers would withdraw all of a victim’s money after claiming they lost one of their bank cards, generally targeting merchants and people with their own shops.
“Which is why we must be consistent in questioning those who have lost bank cards,” he explained. “And we question anyone who does happen to come in later with the lost bank card.”
Olivia smirked inwardly at the thought of her adoptive parents frantically trying to explain the situation when the bank caught them.
I feel a little bad for them, but they’d be trying to withdraw money from someone else’s bank account without permission. At that point, they reap what they sow.
Olivia answered the man’s questions in detail, telling him about the events surrounding the loss of her card and that her family told her they didn’t know anything about it.
“That is all for my questions,” he concluded. “I’ve confirmed that the money in your account is untouched. Please wait here while I process your new account.”
He left the room just as the woman from the front came in. “I have your new bank card,” she explained.
Olivia sighed as the woman left.
Now what?
At the very least, she had secured her money. There was enough savings to live off for a short while, but that would only shrink as things were.
But…where can I work?
As absurd as the claims were, she had been fired from her shop for allegedly stealing designs, which was the worst reason ever—that would make it difficult for her to work as an artificer in this town. There was the possibility of pursuing a different job, but she’d been single-minded about her desire to become an artificer ever since she was a young child; Olivia couldn’t even imagine doing anything else.
She considered going to live with her cousin on her mother’s side, with whom she was on good terms, but she’d only just had a baby. Olivia didn’t want to impose.
What do I do?
A sigh slipped out. She was blocked in every direction.
Just as she was thinking how her main priority should be to find a place to live, she remembered something her father had said when he was still alive: “If you ever find yourself in a tough spot, open this letter.”
He had given her a letter when he was sick. She couldn’t bear to look at it after he’d died, so she put it in her safety deposit box along with her other keepsakes from him.
That’s right! I have that! This is exactly the sort of time he meant for me to open it!
She jumped to her feet faster than she could think and told the woman who brought her new bank card that she wanted to go to her safety deposit box. Olivia was then led to a secure room with rows of tiny doors. She took a small key from her wallet, and her eyes misted with tears the moment she opened the door.
Oh, so many memories…
Along with the letter were some jewelry and a watch she’d inherited from her parents. She’d hurried to hide them here because she suspected her adoptive family might steal them.
She fought back the tears brought on by all the memories as she took out the letter and opened the envelope. Inside was a letter and another sealed envelope.
The paper was a little rumpled, but her father’s neat writing read, “If you ever find yourself in trouble, take this letter to Gordon’s shop in the capital. I’ve told him about you. Love, your father.”
Her eyes went wide—she hadn’t expected that.