The Good Teacher

"Cleaning the blocks is extremely trivial. All you need to do is soak them for exactly one minute in the solvent in that container. You can purchase additional containers of this solvent in bulk from Verum Trading Company. Note that any damage incurred to the blocks, as long as it is through the use of the official solvent, will be refunded for free," the boy droned.

"I want you people to affix, prime and print this time. Apply everything you've learned and produce five identical prints. Can you do that for me?" Furion inquired while stepping away from the Press.

Rove's scribes wore a stressed frown and approached the mechanism. One of the three picked up the frame and placed it carefully into the depression in the carriage. While he ensured that it was tight, the other scribe started to dab the bob into the ink. Once the first scribe moved away from the carriage, the one with the bob approached it and started to prime it with a rigid kneading motion. During this, the third-placed the paper into the tympan, lowered the frisket and hinged the inclined surface onto the block after it was primed. He then slid the carriage underneath the platen and inspected it to see if everything was aligned properly. After he was confident that everything was in place, he twisted the handle and lowered the platen onto the carriage. When he experienced opposition, he waited, raised the platen and pulled out the carriage.

The first scribe removed the paper and moved it to the side to let the ink dry. Rove couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile as he saw the perfectly printed paper.

"Common practice is to print odd-numbered pages first and then print the even-numbered pages on the reverse side of the paper so that a standard book can be collated," Furion explained to Rove. "This process can be streamlined by having the free worker set up the next page while the remaining two operate the machine. If I can direct your attention to this device here, it should be familiar to you as a book-binder. This is set up to produce standard binds, however, there are more variations you can work with."

The boy dipped into his bag and revealed five different thin booklets with a variety of binding patterns, "Standard practice is to use the Coptic binding, however you can use a spiral metal bind by adding the hole-punch accessory to the book-binder. It is useful if the book is thicker. If you require book-binding training, that can also be purchased from Verum Trading Company."

The boy did not pause and continued to pull out additional books from his bag. "This is a more advanced binding technique which uses section-based grouping. This is superior to the single-sheet binding methods used normally because with the purchase of our larger Gutenberg Press, you can print wider sheets with multiple pages in a single go. If I can direct your attention to this book here, you can see that the first sheet is paired with the fifteenth sheet, the second to the fourteenth, and so on until it meets at the centre. By being able to print multiple sheets at once, you can reduce the printing time by a quarter since you can print four pages at once with the larger Press. Of course, this requires greater planning and familiarity with typesetting and the printing press as a whole. The larger press can also accommodate posters and other printing operations."

Furion flipped open a thicker book and pointed at the beautifully designed pages, "This book is a catalogue of the different typesetting methods and available fonts. If you wish to learn more about typesetting, you can purchase a training course for it from Verum Trading Company which will take you through everything you need to know to become an expert typesetter and produce these magnificent works of text."

"... You can purchase any of these available fonts from Verum Trading Company for the following listed prices..."

"... Verum Trading Company also takes custom orders for unique fonts, if you wish to have your work stand out from the rest. After all, we expect the Gutenberg Press to become ubiquitous in the publishing industry in the coming years and having your own special font can play towards your business's unique identity. Of course, Verum Trading Company offers special training and assistance in this process to ensure that creating your own font is easy and hassle-free..."

"... The Gutenberg Press is highly functional and able to perform a myriad of other printing operations. If you wish to print images and pictures you can commission them with Verum Trading Company. If I can draw your attention to this page, you can see the existing blocks up for offer..."

____

Mister Larks had handed Furion a script when he left to verify the delivery with Lewin's Bookshop and Transcription Services. Through some serious rote-work, Furion managed to memorise the whole darn thing. While he did this, Mister Larks taught him the concept of branding and its importance in marketing. The concept of repeating the company's name, reiterating the company's beliefs, and drilling what the company stands for into the minds of the consumer through psychological tactics was fascinating. Though he remained sceptic at first, Furion was surprised to see just how effective it was as he saw his first customer's, Rove's, eyes sparkle in earnest. The man was literally bursting to order a few more of the fonts and was nearly tempted to purchase the larger Gutenberg Press.

At this point, Furion's instinct urged him to tip Rove's hesitance in his favour, but the script dictated that it was now the product's turn to convince the consumer. Since the script had worked till this point, Furion wasn't going to argue against it and proceeded to pack up his things.

"Thus ends the complimentary demonstration. Thank you for leasing the Gutenberg Printing Press by the Verum Trading Company - an affiliate of the True World Sect."

"W-Wait! Lease?" Rove sputtered. "I'm leasing this thing? All that money and I don't even own the damn machine?"

Furion held in his irritation once again as he internally repeated, 'the customer is King!' - a treasonous sentence but one that Mister Larks metaphorically tattooed on Furion's tongue.

"Unfortunately, there are very few of these Gutenberg Presses to go around. It is an extremely intricate piece of machinery which takes weeks and many capable hands working at the Burning Forge to produce. Each is built with utmost care to maintain the trademark quality that is expected from Verum Trading Company. The reason we opt for the leasing model is to unburden the consumer with the hassle of maintaining the product in top working condition. If there are any malfunctions due to the product's inbuilt failures, it is on us to fix them for you free of charge. You are paying the lease for your own peace of mind."

"I mean... that does sound reasonable," the bumbling idiot of a business owner mumbled. Honestly, Furion just could not understand how this man had managed to keep his business afloat for so long. He did not even glance beyond the first page of the contract before signing it the first time, and now he had the gall to refute the validity of his purchase?

'The customer is King!' Furion repeated in his mind to stop the curses from bubbling out.

"On that note, I require your signature to verify that the delivery and the demonstration," Furion declared while unrolling another parchment. He didn't miss the relieved sigh from the owner upon seeing the sparseness of this contract.

With all the formalities accounted for, Furion bid the owner farewell before exiting the store. He walked for a few minutes before turning around the block and coming face to face with the parked caravan that had delivered the Printing Press.

"Young Master Furion," the driver greeted with a low bow.

"Let's get a move on," Furion said as he ascended the carriage. "We have two more deliveries to make after all."

"Is there a need for you to do this personally, Young Master?" The driver asked with a distressed expression.

"I must do this if I am to earn my keep," Furion shrugged. "Besides it is a valuable learning opportunity."

"How so?" The driver inquired offhandedly while agitating the horses to move forward.

"It allows me to become acquainted with more people and gain greater insight into consumer psychology," Furion responded.

"Psychology?"

"The way people think and behave. This is especially important in business since being able to predict the response from the consumer can help us make smarter and cost-effective decisions," Furion elaborated.

"How so, Young Master?"

"Well, let's take the cushion you're using as an example. How much did you pay for it?" Furion asked.

"I believe this costs 2 silver coins," the driver answered without hesitation.

"Now don't think too much about what I'm about to ask next, just answer with the first response that comes to mind. If there were two similar cushions in the market. One which costs 2 silver coins and another which costs 1 silver and 99 copper coins. Which one would you buy?"

"I'd buy the one which costs 1 silver and 99 copper coins," the man answered.

"Why?"

"Because it is cheaper."

"Would pay for it with 1 silver coin and 99 copper coins exactly?"

"Who carries so many copper coins?" The man chuckled. "I'd pay 2 silver coins."

"Does a single copper coin matter much in this case?"

"Well..."

"Right, so as the person selling the product, by making a loss of a single copper coin I managed to attract another customer in a competitive market," Furion said with a smile.

"I guess..."

"Now, let's say that after purchasing my cushion and being satisfied with its quality. You wish to buy another one. After a series of similar purchases over a longer time frame, if one day you come to the market and see my cushion being sold for 2 silver coins, which is the standard market price. Would you choose mine or my competitor's?"

"I'd choose yours," the driver answered.

"Why?"

"Well... I'd be used to your product because I know its quality."

"And that's consumer psychology at work," Furion concluded.

"That's amazing!" The driver exclaimed. "Master Dune would be proud, Young Master."

Furion revealed a sheepish smile and muttered, "I hope..." as he retreated into the carriage.