Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volme 6, Chapter 3 The ink guild and the beginning of winter

As the fall came to an end, we finished printing our second batch of children’s Bibles. I set aside the twenty we were going to use as textbooks and sold the other forty to Benno, earning six large golds. After months of being just over the poverty line, I was suddenly rich

Not long after, Fran and Rosina came to my quarters to talk about my family, about the upcoming winter, and using the money earned from the picture books to further complete our winter preparations. And with that, I, my family, and the orphanage had completed our respective winter preparations, just as the weather cooled enough that it looked like it would snow at any moment.

Lutz gave me a report as we headed home from the temple.

“Myne, Master Benno said that the head of the Ink Guild and the foreman of the ink shop came to see you this morning.”

“…I guess they noticed the new ink we’re using?”

As predicted, wealthy people with connections to the nobles were beginning to buy the children’s bibles from the Gilberta Company. One could tell at a glance that the ink used was not normal ink; there was a big difference between the blue-colored walnut ink and the solid black paint ink made from soot and oil.

Naturally, the Ink Guild noticed this immediately and started looking for who had done it, but no one in the guild knew anything. No one, except the foreman of the ink shop I had visited, that is.

“They said that a girl from the Gilberta Company knew how to make a different kind of ink.”

That revelation sent the head of the Ink Guild and the foreman in question straight to the Gilberta Company – specifically to ask Benno if he intended to make another Ink Guild for his new ink.

The Gilberta Company had a precedent for making new guilds. They had fought against the Parchment Guild to make the Vegetable Paper Guild and the accompanying workshops, which now filled the market with vegetable paper, somewhat cheaper than parchment. Although there was an agreement that parchment would continue to be used for official contracts, vegetable paper surpassed it to a large extent because it could be mass-produced; it only made sense that those with a personal interest in ink would be on guard after Benno began using different ink on plant paper to sell books.

“Master Benno wants you to come to the store tomorrow. He has something to talk to you about.”

“Okay.”

That was standard business for me, and the next day Lutz and I went to the Gilberta Company first before going to the temple.

“Good morning, Benno.”

“There you are, Myne. Good to see you coming.”

Benno gestured for me to sit at the table as Lutz went up the back stairs. As a leherl, Lutz was practicing how to prepare and serve tea to visitors.

“As I expected, the Ink Guild came to ask. You said you wanted to teach them how to make ink and then let them do it all, right?”

“Yes. If you continue to expand your business into all these other fields, it will only create more enemies for you, and ink making really has nothing to do with the Gilberta Company’s main line of work. As long as they let Myne’s Workshop continue to make their own ink, I wouldn’t mind selling off the production process and letting them take care of the rest.”

Mass production of ink will be important to spread printing around the world, but trying to manage both processes on our own might end up being too difficult to handle. It would make more sense to me to let other people take over these jobs when possible.

“How much money are you thinking?”

“Mmm, as much as I’m giving the temple, so… How about ten percent of the profits?”

My suggestion made Benno shake his head with a grimace.

“You’re setting it too low.”

“But the profits will increase as the ink spreads, and I want you to sell the ink at a low price just like the vegetable paper sells at a low price.”

My thought process was entirely based on spreading the product as far as possible, but Benno dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

“At least raise it to thirty percent for the first ten years. Then you can reduce it to twenty percent for the ten years after that, then ten percent for the rest of the time. That’s just why I’m bringing you to the table. You shouldn’t sell new technology that low.”

“Okay. I’ll leave the percentages to you.”

Benno was certainly going with thirty percent rather than something much higher to accommodate me. I knew he had my best interests in mind, so I felt comfortable leaving all that to him.

“Here’s the tea.” Lutz came down the stairs, looking tense as he placed cups in front of us.

Benno took his cup, examining its contents with a sharp look in his eyes before taking a sip.

“… It’s still not there.”

“Definitely not the best, but it’s getting better. Lutz, do you want Fran to help you a little? He’s a good teacher; both Gil and Delia are much better at making tea now.”

“That sounds good… Haaah.”

Lutz was working hard under Mark’s supervision, but his tea wasn’t good enough to serve other visitors yet. For now, he was practicing on me.

“That just leaves the magic contract.”

“Do you think we should use it?”

Contract magic was expensive enough that it was generally only used when nobles were involved. Benno had signed magic contracts with me twice before, but both times he was thinking long term and laying the groundwork to protect me from nobles. But this time we were only dealing with the Ink Guild, which as far as I knew didn’t have any nobles.

“The deal we’re making will last a long time and involve a lot of money. It’s worth it, and personally, I don’t trust the leader of the Ink Guild. I might as well play it safe with contract magic, this will be a contract with the Ink Guild itself, not with him.”

“A contract with the Ink Guild?”

It seemed that the groups were also seen as separate legal entities in this world. I tilted my head in thought and Benno nodded slowly.

“Yep. It will be important to ensure that the contract remains in place even when the head eventually changes.”

There seemed to be many historical cases where people who assumed positions of power decided not to honor the contracts their predecessor had signed. It had happened enough times for the judicial system to develop the concept of legal personhood.

“We are going to sell the ink production process to the guild. They will let Myne’s Workshop continue to make their own ink. We will make the price of ink cheap so that it will spread along with the vegetable paper. We get thirty percent of their profit from the ink. That amount will change every ten years. Sound good?”

“Be sure to tell them that the ink is not good for use on parchment as it doesn’t absorb much.”

After confirming the details with Benno and Lutz, Mark called and came in.

“Master Benno, two visitors from the Ink Guild are here.”

“Let them in once I ring the bell.”

“As you wish.”

Mark left the room.

Benno immediately stood up and set me down from my chair with a grim expression. He then lifted his chin toward Lutz, who responded with a silent nod before opening the inner door to the stairs.

“Myne, I’ll negotiate with the Ink Guild. You don’t want to be seen. Stay with Corinna and I’ll send you the magic contract to sign once it’s all written down.”

“…Why jump through so many hoops to hide?”

I thought it would be rather strange to sign a contract with one of the parties absent. I blinked in surprise, and after glancing over to where the visitors were probably waiting in the other room, Benno explained in a low, dark voice.

“The shop foreman might be okay, but the guild boss has connections with the nobles and I don’t hear a lot of good things about him. There are a lot of bad rumors. You’d better not let him see you.”

“Good. I’ll trust you on this.”

I was very curious about this Ink Guild master, but I went ahead and climbed the stairs to Corinna’s room with Lutz. Once there, he immediately turned to go back downstairs, as it was his job to deliver the magic contract paper.

“Lutz, tell me how the head of the Ink Guild is later, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

After dismissing Lutz, I turned to Corinna.

“I’m sorry, Corinna. I just barged in out of nowhere.”

“It’s okay, Myne. Let’s take this opportunity to do the temporary stitching on your tunic.”

“Right. Sorry to give you such a big job to do so quickly.”

Corinna led me into the living room with a kind expression. On the way we saw Otto in the hallway, who greeted us with a friendly greeting. He must have been off work today as Dad was.

“Sheesh, Myne. I can’t believe you’re making Corinna work hard for an arch noble when she’s pregnant.”

“Otto, how many times have I told you to keep your nose out of my work?”

“I’m just worried about you, Corinna.”

Otto did not back down even after receiving a hard look from Corinna. They were as loving as ever.

I watched Corinna pull Otto out of the room like a petulant child, wondering if Otto was actually causing her headaches instead of her pregnancy.

“I’m worried about you too, Corinna. has Otto gone overboard lately? He and dad are famous on the gate for being madly in love. is he so excited about his first baby that he’s causing problems…”

“My God, is that’s what people say about him? I imagine your mother has it as hard as I do then. “Corinna burst out laughing and brought in some blue cloth, which she began to spread out on a large table.

“Do you think you’ll be able to finish the ceremonial robes? You really haven’t been given enough time.”

“It will certainly be a struggle; The workshop is very busy. But it’s still rare that we get work from the archnobles, so our seamstresses are giving it their all. We charge them quite a lot, after all.”

It seemed that while making the fabric for my first set of tunics, they had also dyed extra fabric in the same color to use for another order placed by someone else. They were using that extra fabric now, and apparently, everyone in the shop was working at full speed on the embroidery.

“We still have to do the first fitting for that other order, which gives us plenty of time to dye new fabric before the deadline. But we were told to finish these tunics as soon as possible, and while we don’t have time to use a different fabric for the first fitting, I can’t imagine it’s grown enough that the measurements will be too different from the last time.”

As I spoke, Corinna fitted me with the blue fabric with pinning needles. It was hard for her to do with her big belly, and it seemed like everything she did was a struggle for her.

“I’m sorry, Myne. I’ll have to call a maid to help me. This is too much for me on my own.”

“Your belly really is big now. Is it almost time?”

“Yes, I was told to expect it in mid-winter. The baby is quite energetic, he’s always rolling around in there. Maybe it’s a boy?” Corinna rubbed her big belly as she rang a bell to call a maid.

But it was Otto who came in, saying “You called?” And he seemed eager to help. I couldn’t help but laugh at Corinna’s exasperated expression.

“You know, now that Myne has stolen Benno from us, I think it’s time for me to quit and accept my new life working for the Gilberta Company.”

“Um, Otto, what do you mean I stole Benno from you?”

I don’t even have the arm strength to lift Benno, let alone carry him anywhere.

“It means what it means. As his financial guardian, Benno plans to continue expanding his business. That’s why he’s in the middle of beating how the Gilberta Company works into my head,” Otto said with a shrug as he began to help Corinna. He was actually doing a pretty good job, a sign that he had been working hard to learn.

“Otto, you look so in your element here that I almost forget you’re a soldier. At this rate, it won’t be a long time before you open your own store with Corinna, huh?”

“… Well, it’ll be a few years at least. I’ll work hard for Corinna and for the sake of our baby.”

“Yes, yes, dear. Work your hands, not your mouth.”

Corinna finished the temporary stitching while giving Otto instructions. The length was fine, so we decided to go with the same measurements and everything as last time. Then she chased Otto out again and fixed my hair, which had been messed up by the temporary seams.

As I was putting my top layer of clothes back on a knock sounded from further into the house, followed by Mark announcing himself. We could hear the footsteps of someone walking to let Mark in; I hurriedly finished dressing and nodded as Mark knocked on the living room door.

“Please come in.”

“Excuse me, Corinna.” Mark entered with a sheet of paper and a jar of ink. He spread the magic contract on the round table and confirmed each point with me. It was almost exactly what I had discussed with Benno, and the numbers in our favor showed that Benno had won the negotiations.

There was only one point I didn’t recognize. A line that said, “The contents of this contract will be recorded in the Ink Guild bylaws.”

“Mark, what does this part of the Ink Guild regulations mean?”

“All workshops belonging to a guild must abide by the guild’s rules. In short, the contents of the contract recorded in the Ink Guild regulations mean that they will also apply to Ink Guilds and ink workshops in other cities.”

The magic contract itself was only magically binding in Ehrenfest, but the guild regulations were maintained in all cities. As such, although there were several different Ink Guilds, they all followed the same regulations – although there were slight variations in the rules depending on the city and workshop in question. To my way of thinking, the guild regulations were very similar to the federal law that existed in addition to the regional laws.

“But how would the Ink Guilds in other cities know to enforce these rules, is there any line of communication between then?”

“They are buying the production process of this ink precisely because it will be profitable for them. It is natural for this Ink Guild to send a message to their fellow Ink Guilds in neighboring cities. They will amend their copy of the regulations after learning about the production process.”

I nodded at Mark’s explanation and grabbed the ink. The contract already had Benno’s name and a line for the Ink Guild, but the guildmaster’s name had not yet been written. I wrote my name as close to the bottom as possible.

“So, Lutz, what kind of person was the head of the Ink Guild?”

“… He had a nasty look in his eyes. He was looking for you.”

“Bwuh?”

Lutz clenched his fists and explained, speaking softly.

“He told Master Benno that he knew a girl had brought out the new ink in the workshop. He said ‘Let me see her if she is here.’ I think Master Benno was right to hide you…… He felt much worse than the guild master.”

If Lutz was saying that this man was much worse than the guild master, it must have been really bad. Lutz and Benno both on guard around him was a sign that I should be on guard too.

“But anyway, Myne. Hold out your hand,” Lutz said, readying his knife.

I grimaced as I remembered that the contract magic needed blood, then held out my hand. A sudden sharp pain shot through the tip of my finger and the blood came out. I pressed it against the contract which then burst into a golden flame, burned the paper, and sealed the deal. It seemed as magical as ever.

“Myne,” Mark said, “wait here quietly until Master Benno calls for you.”

“I know, Mark.”

With the contract signed, I passed the time talking to Corinna about her baby and ignoring Otto’s crying about how I couldn’t help him with the work over the winter.

It was about lunch when Benno came running up the stairs with an angry look in his eyes.

“Myne, I sent Mark to take Lutz home and call your father and sister to come get you. Don’t even think about leaving until they’re here! ”

“…What, did something happen!” I stood up and ran over to Benno, who looked out the window with a frown on his face.

“I sent Lutz on an errand to the Merchants Guild, and on the way, some men joined him. They started asking questions about ‘the Gilberta Company girl’. He said he must know about you as he is a leherl and mentioned the contract.”

“That must mean they are…” I paused, and Benno nodded deliberately.

“They must have been from the Ink Guild, but I can’t understand why they would start looking for information after signing the contract.”

It made sense that they would want to gather information beforehand to help them get better terms for themselves or something, but the contract was already signed. They had cornered Lutz even though that would obviously put us on our guard, and we had no idea why. And there was no greater fear, than fear of the unknown.

“… There may be something going on behind the scenes here. Keep your eyes and ears open out there.”

“Okay.”

“Myne, we’re here.”

“Dad! Tuuli!”

They had both been off work and, judging by how heavy their breathing was, they must have been rushing here at full speed.

“My apologies for calling you,” Benno said to Dad, rising from his seat.

“No, I appreciate you going out of your way to protect my daughter, do you mind if I ask you what the hell is going on?”

“The Ink Guild has definitely seen her, but I don’t know who’s pulling the strings,” Benno explained. “The fact that they’re looking for information after the contract signing is strange, and the fact that they’re after Lutz just doesn’t make sense.”

I could see my father’s eyes harden. Tuuli, who looked nervous, gave me a tight hug.

“I think Myne will be safer if you send her to the temple now,” Benno continued. “I’ll leave the decision up to you and your wife, but they won’t be able to do anything to her if she’s at the temple. It will also give us time to look for information ourselves.”

“… Agreed.”

Dad nodded gravely, then lifted me up with a frown.

“What do you think, Myne, do you want to go to the temple, or do you want to go home?”

Honestly, I wanted Dad to take me home so I wouldn’t be alone. But that would make it more likely that these people would go after Lutz and my family.

“… I don’t want to leave so soon, but I don’t want anything to happen to you or Lutz even more. I’ll go to the temple. The snow will start soon, anyway.”

I put on a brave face, but the thought of living in the temple made me indescribably nervous. I squeezed Dad’s shirt tightly.

And so began my winter in the temple.