After a long time of small talk, the twins finally got checked out and said goodbye to her, as well as the people they knew still in the clinic.
Betty watched the twins leave with a bit of melancholy.
When she was in the city, she was also quite popular. She also reached a rare level 20 for a woman and was also a rare healer.
She had suitors lining up.
While she thought it was fine at first, in retrospect it was really suffocating.
Every move was watched, every move was gossiped about, and nearly all her movements were limited.
Not to mention, even if she was skilled, she was still a woman in the end. The men had taken for granted that she would at least accept some of their advances.
It was incredibly discouraging. Why did she work so hard if she still had to pander after others, even to weaker men?
It was probably why when one of her rivals—partnering with a man she rejected—pulled some strings to enter her into a bad job placement contract, she didn't fight too hard.
It had been a few years since she started in these smaller places, and the previous ones were not much better than cities in terms of politics.
However, she was safe, sound, and highly respected because of her level and skills, so no one dared to slight her.
However, she never stayed in a place for more than three months.
There were many reasons for this. Some of the small towns and villages she'd been to had been breached or lost in wars, while some she volunteered to leave because of politics, others were simply not worth her stay.
But now…
She walked back to her patients with a smile.
No regrets.
…
Lenny stared at the new factory and machines in front of her with amazement in her usually dull eyes.
About a dozen machines her height formed a line, and all around her she could hear the rhythmic hum of diligent workers working to and fro to produce the fabric she loved.
Teams of artisans and laborers seamlessly moved about, creating lovely end products soon to be turned into works of art.
No, Lenny thought, this process itself was an art.
The air thick with a sweeter scent—it was cotton, they said—greeted her nostrils. There were rivers of white clouds on one side. Bunch by bunch, they were processed by specialized artisans, soon transforming into comfortable cloth that people could wear.
It was fascinating.
From what she gathered, the people here somehow redirected part of the river to make use of so-called water wheels that helped with many of the contraptions.
Speaking of contraptions—in the heart of the factory stood massive looms, domineering but also reassuring. She gently watched as their shuttles darted through warp and weft, weaving the threads together with precision.
There was also a group of people in charge of dyeing or coloring, their heads often looking over cauldrons of color to check on their quality and consistency.
She had seen the end products in the supermarket and it never failed to amaze her even if it wasn't the first time she watched them.
It was not the first time she had been here—she had been here every day since she was hired—but the carding and spinning of the fibers, the meticulous weaving and dyeing of the cloth, and the entire process never failed to amaze her.
Lost in the beauty of the process, her mind churned with ideas, envisioning garments that even nobles would love.
She slowly walked around the factory, eyes perusing the machines, trying to absorb their greatness with interest.
She still remembered the day when the newly hired workers arrived. There were about a dozen women and a few men.
That sight alone was rare for Lenny. Even in her field, it was usually dominated by men like everything else was. But here there was no difference. People just did what they did well.
They greeted her enthusiastically. Because it was known she was an NPC—whatever it meant—who was working for the territory in a unique setup.
Through the system, the territory announced that the public statement was that she would be her own entity and create a business in her own name and in a partnership with Ms. Althea.
The difference was that the private individual would only have to pay a certain amount of tax in exchange.
This made the people especially curious about her.
Anyway, greeting them with newfound friendliness, Lenny continued on her way around the factory.
The building was divided into four production lines. The first two processed the raw materials (cotton and hemp, they called them). The third one was the weaving into cloth, which fascinated her very much.
While she waited for enough batches of cloth, she went to the fourth production line—actual sewing—which was her absolute love.
The leader of this team was a woman named Jona, a kind woman who generously taught her team and her how to use the tools and several types of techniques, many of which were unfamiliar to her.
This came as a big surprise. How many people had to work sweat and blood before learning specialized knowledge from someone?
However, she saw that no one was as shocked as she had been, so she didn't speak out.
Lenny simply took this gratitude to heart and swore to help the other woman out in some other way.
As they learned, they chatted, and she learned about the wonderful place these people had called home. Slowly, the life that had its vitality stolen when her son died, gradually healed.
When her son died, she needed a place to escape, far away from the city she lived in. Villages were the farthest from cities, so she set her ideal destination as such.
For years, she went from village to village, eventually numbing the pain. She thought it would be like this until she finally stopped breathing.
And on her son's tenth year of death, she was hired by a unique place.
She did not even notice the time as they worked, they had already completed hundreds of bolts.
Then she heard a bell and saw people stopped working.
"Where… are you going?"
"Work hours are over~"
"What?"
People knew she was not from Terran and had an idea of the work culture in this place through the NPCs.
Apparently, the aborigines often had to work until late at night, but the sun had barely even left the sky now, so they could understand the confusion.
"We have a standard 10-hour work hours here, including break time. Any more will be as needed and we will get additional pay."
Lenny's dazed self was pulled out of the production line and out to the paved road outside.
There, she saw the woodworking factory people and they greeted them amicably.
"We're going to the marketplace!"
"There's an event~"
"Come, come with us~"
"There's an event in the marketplace! Fable would be performing later tonight.
"Let's eat our hearts out!!" Bianca said with a sunny smile, pulling her hand. She was a little startled, but she… she didn't pull it back.
Soon, they encountered another group on the road.
Lenny's usually-dull eyes met with Brenda and Betty's.
No words needed to be said and the women smiled at each other, knowing what the others were thinking.
They found it…
A place they could be themselves.