Orphanage



The biggest orphanage of the duchy of Ehrenfest is part of the temple, where the orphans are raised to become servants to nobility, either to be sold as attendants or to work as grey priest and shrine maidens in the temple itself. Outside of the capital orphanages are found in many of the bigger cities and villages, run by the local mayors.

This orphanage is in the Ehrenfest temple and is where all the grey priests and shrine maidens not currently serving a Blue Priest stay, as well as any children who have been abandoned at temple or been born to priests and have not yet been baptised. These children are raised to become grey priest and shrine maidens themselves, which means they educated in manners and duties expected of attendents to nobility.

Upon being chosen as an attendent, the person moves from the orphanage to the chambers of their new master. Should they be dismissed or should their master leave the temple or die, they will return to live in the orphanage.

Temple orphans, regardless of age, are forbidden from ever leaving the orphanage unless they become attendents, get bought from sommeone outside the temple or have the express permission of the orphanage director.

The orphanage is split into two sections, the boys and girls buildings. These two buildings are set on either side of the worship hall. Both sections have four floors and are laid out in the following way.


 * Basement - Storage at the start of the series, converted into the Myne Workshop orphanage branch. Girls are only allowed to enter this area of the boy's building.
 * First Floor - A common room plus some sleeping rooms. The orphanage director's chambers are on the same level but cannot be accessed through the orphanage.
 * Second Floor - Sleeping rooms


 * Basement - A single room for unbaptised children and pregnant grey shrine maidens at the start of the series. It is converted into a kitchen and storage by Myne.
 * First Floor - The dining hall. Boys are only allowed to enter this area of the girl's building.
 * Second Floor - Sleeping rooms

Hasse's monastery is a special case and so far the only one of it's kind in Ehrenfest. It is not an orphanage in itself, but technically part of the Ehrenfest orphanage, despite being in another settlement. The current orphanage director Lady Rozemyne also rotates the priest and shrine maidens that live and work in the monastery back to the temple once a year, except for those that were bought from Hasse's village orphanage, who became permanent recidents of the monastery after finishing their education in temple behavior and manners over their first winter as grey robes.

Hasse's monastery was modelled like a scaled-down version of the main orphanage except that the common room in the boy's building has been replaced with a chapel and the orphanage director's chambers are a noble's hidden room at the back of the chapel.

Spoiler from Part 4 Volume 4 During Rozemyne's two year coma, Thore and Rick made a small field to plant vegetables outside the monestary. Due to the soil around the monestary being exceptionally rich in mana, the field provides very good yields.

Many bigger villages have orphanages under the care of the local mayor. In these the orphans are treated like commodities, having to follow the mayors orders or expect harsh punishments. They are expected to help with work in the village, which mainly means farm work. Upon coming of age they become full-fledged and independant members of the community and are granted their own fields, though it is well within the rights of the mayor to sell the orphans to anyone willing and able to pay for them prior to their coming of age ceremony.

How well the orphans are treated and fed depends entirely on the mayor of the town. One of the worst orphanages in Ehrenfest's central district was the one in Hasse, through after it's mayor had been executed for treason, conditions for the children improved markedly under the new mayor Richt.