Apprentice Shrine Maiden Volume 2 (Premium)

by Miya Kazuki

  “Please prepare to print the art and story text next.”

  My instructions made Wilma tense up. Lutz swapped out the templates, removing the title and publication templates to put the art and text templates there instead. He made sure to angle them carefully, since when the page was held horizontally and folded, the art would be on the right side and the text would be on the left side. He left a decent amount of white space in the middle since that part would end up as part of a big crease when we threaded the completed book together.

  I felt Wilma and Lutz both looking at me, so after making eye contact with both of them, I gave a gradual nod. Lutz spread the ink, looking just as tense as Wilma did. My heart was thumping at the same speed that Lutz moved the roller. Will it end up okay? Will the art look good enough for Wilma?

  As I watched on, praying for success, Lutz set aside the roller and lifted up the frame. I heard everyone watching, including myself, swallow hard.

  “...Wow! Amazing!”

  The first to speak were the children surrounding Wilma. Her art of the God of Darkness meeting the Goddess of Light was represented beautifully in black and white. I had expected that the art would look great ever since I first saw the template, but it wasn’t until I saw the art inked that I appreciated just how striking it was. The God of Darkness enveloping the Goddess of Light in his midnight cloak while she shined her light upon him created a beautiful contrast, and there were small, Wilma-like details such as wrinkles in clothes and curves in hair that I hadn’t been able to see from the template alone.

  “This is truly wonderful art.” I turned to look at Wilma, and saw her staring at the printed illustration while shedding quiet tears. “Are you okay, Wilma?!”

  “F-Forgive me. I am just ever so relieved, and, and, I do not even know what to say...” Wilma, stammering, wiped away her tears. The kids patted her back and tried to console her. To me, Wilma fighting to hold back tears of happiness as children consoled her was the very picture of a biblical painting. Wilma really is a saint.

  Naturally, everyone in the workshop found themselves looking at Wilma as she wept with her cheeks tinted a rosy red. She soon noticed that everyone’s eyes were on her, and immediately turned to leave the workshop, her entire face bright red with embarrassment.

  “Sister Myne, I-I will begin drawing the next illustration.”

  After that, we resumed printing each time Wilma completed an illustration. The kids worked hard to make paper in the meantime, while the gray priests pounded out more ink. They also went to the forest to gather fruits and mushrooms to dry and went to buy firewood for winter.

  “Myne, that’s the last of the printing done. What’s up next?” asked Lutz on our way home one day, the sharp chill in the air making it impossible to forget how deep into autumn we were. It seemed that they had finally finished printing all the pages for the bibles. That meant it was time for bookbinding, where the pages would finally be turned into actual books.

  “Next up is (bookbinding)! I’m definitely going to the workshop tomorrow!”

  “Do you have to? It’d be a lot easier if you just explained what to do.” It seemed that the gray priests found it harder to work with an apprentice blue shrine maiden like me watching. But I couldn’t contain my desire to be directly involved with the bookbinding. Especially since this would all be new to them.

  “I want to be there for the first time at least so I can watch and participate. Once I’m sure things are going smoothly, I won’t get in the way again, just like I didn’t watch over the printing every time. Please, Lutz? Pretty please?”

  “...Just the first time, alright?”

  “Ahaha. Yaaay! Books, books!” I started to spin around in place, so Lutz started walking off while pulling me behind him. Once I started following him with a smile on my face, Lutz let go of my hand and took his diptych out from his bag.

  “Alright, explain. You said it was, uh... bookbinding?”

  “Yup! Bookbinding turns the pages into a book. Once the printed pages have all completely dried, we’ll fold them in half. A clean fold down the middle that leaves the art on one side and the text on the other. This will need tables, so maybe it would be better to do this in the orphanage’s dining hall.” I explained step by step while watching Lutz write it all down.

  “Once a page is folded, start stacking them on top of each other, all of them facing the exact same direction. No matter what, don’t let different pages get mixed in or mess up the orientation. Oh, and right, use a precision knife to slice the page with the title and publication information in half.”

  Next afternoon, stacks of printed paper were brought to the orphanage dining hall while I watched. Each table was polished to a shine so as to not get any filth on the pages. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of bliss at the sight of the stacks of paper, in which the different sets of pages were distinguished by being angled horizontally then vertically and so on. The smell of new paper and ink was like a dream. I was so happy that I wanted to start dancing right then and there.

  “Now then, please summon the squad leaders.” The workshop workers were split into groups to make their jobs easier. Each squad would be folding different sets of pages. The gray priests were squad leaders and watched over the apprentices. Gil advised me that the kids too young to even be apprentices probably wouldn’t be able to fold paper properly, so they were off making soup with Wilma.

  “Take care that the edges match perfectly. Take care to fold in the proper direction. Take care to inform me when all pages from a set are completed.” Once Lutz finished reading off his list of warnings, the squads began folding their paper.

  “Please match the edges more carefully. Start by holding the paper here, then fold like so...” I gracefully walked between the tables while instructing them on how to fold properly. Paper was expensive and had just recently been introduced into the city, so none of them had ever folded any before. Not even the adult gray priests were capable of matching the edges perfectly at the start. It was like watching a clumsy foreigner attempting origami for the first time.

  Nooo! My precious books! The pages are going to end up all slanted! Cradling my head at the horrible yet undeniable reality, I stealthily whispered to Lutz.

  “Lutz, can I fold some of it myself?”

  “Not right now. You’ve gotta sit back and watch.”

  AAAAAH! I should have had them practice with ripped paper first!

  As I watched on, anxious as to just how the books would look in the end, the poorly folded pages piled on. I checked each and sent back any that were just unreasonably bad. Making books with paper that poorly folded was out of the question. Other people might forgive books with horribly slanted pages, but I had higher standards for my own work.

  Once all the papers were folded, I had them line the tables up next to each other. By going down the line of tables, one would assemble the pages of the book in order. I had gone through the same process when making little guidebooks back in my Urano days, so it wasn’t new to me. It was the first time for everyone working here, though.

  “First, take the title page. Then move down the table and take one sheet of paper from the next pile, which you put on top of the title page. Then go further down the table, and so on. Take care not to flip the pages or take more than one from the pile,” I explained while speedily grabbing pages for myself. It would be nice if we had staplers to staple the pages together, but this world didn’t have anything so convenient.

  I returned to my seat with a full set of paper, and Fran welcomed me back by sighing “Sister Myne...” with a weary expression. I understood that he wanted to tell me not to get directly involved, but I averted eye contact and didn’t let it get to me. I needed these pages so I could make an example and secure a set for myself.

  “I will be bringing these home with me. My apologies for acting selfish.” As everyone else gathered sets of paper, I refolded the pages delicately while fixing the creases with my nails. The paper was so thick tha
t I should have prepared rulers or something of the sort ahead of time. Though thinking of how difficult it would be to fix a solid ruler fold, maybe I had been wise not to.

  As there were only enough pages for thirty books, the books were assembled quickly and stacked into three stacks of ten books each, with each book’s worth of paper shifted ninety degrees to prevent overlap. They then carefully carried the stacks back to the workshop.

  “We will need further tools to continue, so that will be all for today. Thank you for your work, everyone.” I put my pages into my bag and left as soon as I could to continue my bookbinding.

  Lutz got a piece of flower paper from the workshop and brought it to me. “I can help if you’re gonna keep going at home. Seeing you work’s a lot easier than just listening to instructions.”

  There was no kind of glue for me to use to stick the pages together since we hadn’t made hide glue yet. For that reason, I wanted to bind the book using a four-hole stitch, which was the most fundamental form of classical Japanese bookbinding.

  “I’m home!”

  “Hi, Myne. You’re back early. Oh, hi Lutz!” When I got home, Tuuli was already back from the forest. I took out my bag and immediately showed her the bundle of pages I had brought back to bind together.

  “Check it out, Tuuli. A children’s bible! I finally printed one.”

  “Wooow! These pictures are way prettier!” Tuuli let out an excited cry while flipping through the pages. It seemed she didn’t understand the true beauty of the black-and-white pictures I had drawn myself. I pursed my lips a little.

  “...But the pages are kinda all over the place. Won’t this be hard to read?”

  “I’m about to bind it into a proper book. Oh, and would you mind helping? It’d be nice if you went to the workshop to help teach the kids there too. I’m not allowed to do work there.” I took out the flower paper meant for the cover from my bag and set it on the table while Tuuli tilted her head a bit in confusion.

  “I don’t mind helping, but what can I even do?”

  “I want to sew the pages together with a thread and needle, so you’ll probably be better at it than me.”

  “Oh, okay. But... give me a book for helping, please. I want to learn to read too,” asked Tuuli, looking a little embarrassed.

  It seemed that Tuuli started wanting to learn to read after seeing Lutz and me writing on our diptychs and slates, plus Corinna writing notes while taking orders. Of course, I was more than glad to give her a book. I would even be her personal tutor if she wanted me to.

  “We can read this book together, since I’ll be leaving this one at home. I’ll lend you my slate, too. I may be bad at sewing, but I can teach you to read. I was planning on teaching the orphanage kids to read over the winter, so why don’t you join in? You learn faster when you have someone to compete against.”

  I searched through Dad’s toolset to find what I needed for bookbinding, then lined up the tools on the table. All in all I took out a ruler, a hammer, a board, and an awl.

  “First, make sure the edges are lined up perfectly. This is the last chance you have to fix them. Once that’s done, use a ruler or something similar to tighten the fold. Like this.” I ran the ruler over the fold to demonstrate, then Lutz and Tuuli did the same with their stacks of paper.

  “Once the fold is good, double check the sides, then take the spine, and, ummm... tap the paper against the table so they all line up, then open inner binding holes, which are used for binding the inner part of the book without the cover.”

  After gathering the paper together on top of the board, I used a ruler to measure it and mark three holes on it with a soot pen.

  “Lutz, I want you to open holes on these dots. Just hold the awl directly above them, then hit it with a hammer.” I held down the edges while Lutz hit the awl down onto the marked spots.

  “Tuuli, could you run a string through the needle, then run the needle through the middle hole from the front?”

  Even putting needles through holes was beyond my level of dexterity, but Tuuli was used to this kind of work. She prepared the needle and thread in no time, then got the needle through the hole easily.

  “Then pass it through the top hole from behind, and then go through the bottom hole from the front. Then go from the back of the bottom hole through the middle hole.”

  I had Tuuli cut the thread once that was done so I could tie the top and bottom ends of the string together such that they sandwiched the string that passed from the top hole to the bottom hole. I then had Tuuli once again cut the ends of the string, then had Lutz hit the knot with the hammer. “Crushing the knot here makes the front cover look prettier.”

  Once the hammering was done, Lutz wrote the steps down onto his diptych. I used that time to press the ruler against the edges of the book and find bits sticking out, which I cut off with a precision knife.

  “Normally I’d make corner covers for it, but that needs glue, so we’re skipping straight to putting on the cover. For that we’re using the pretty paper with flowers in it.” I folded the paper filled with tiny flowers and plants while Tuuli peered over my shoulder.

  “Wow, that’s cute!”

  “Right? We’re cutting it in half too, since half goes on the front and half goes on the back. Then we’re going to position the ruler where the outer binding holes will be, and use the awl to scratch out a little line. Once that’s done, we’ll put dots on the front cover and poke open holes like we did with the inner binding holes.”

  I lined up the ruler and, rather than risk dirtying the front cover with soot, pushed with the awl to make four indents on the front cover—not three. It was a little sad that I wasn’t strong enough to just poke open holes myself.

  “Alright, my turn.” Lutz held up the hammer and poked open the holes. Given that Tuuli started threading the needle, she had guessed what she would be doing next.

  “Put the needle through the second hole’s back, then loop around the spine to go through the second hole’s back again... Right. Leave about as much thread as your pointer finger, then open the book, drag the rest of the thread inside, and push it between the pages so you can’t see them anymore.”

  “Like this?”

  “Push them a bit more with the needle. Right, like that. Once you’re done with that, push the needle through the front of the third hole, then loop around and do it again.”

  The next step was to push it through the back of the fourth hole, loop around, then do it again. Then go around the spine of the book before going through the fourth hole again. Then go back to the top from the bottom and fill in any spots where the thread hasn’t been.

  “This is actually kinda simple,” murmured Tuuli while sliding the needle around. It was basically just going through the open parts of the holes one by one, so the sewing itself wasn’t hard as long as you didn’t lose track of where you were. All you had to do was keep the thread taut.

  “Once you’ve sewn up to the top, put the back cover on top and take care of the thread. Just pass the needle through here and the thread will connect.”

  “Wow, it actually did.” She moved the needle at my instructions and voiced her surprise at the resulting knot.

  “Pull this thread hard to tighten it, then pass the needle through the second hole to get the knot there. It’ll stay together easier that way.”

  “Woah, that’s awesome!” Lutz watched as Tuuli tightened the thread and tried dropping the knot into the hole. It wasn’t really getting in, so she used the needle to push it in before tightening the thread again.

  “Now just cut the thread, and... the book will be... the book will be finished.” I felt my chest heating up as I prepared to witness the completion of my first book. My whole body tightened up like it was being squeezed and my throat itched. My eyes watered and distorted my view of the not-yet-complete book.

  “Here, Myne. You cut it,” said Lutz while handing me a thread cutter. Tulli nodded and lifted the needle above the book, making the left
over thread taut beneath it. I took the cutter with shaking hands and positioned the thread between its short blades. A tiny squeeze was all it took to cut the thread.

  As soon as the thread fell, I felt my tear ducts burst. Hot tears I had no hope of containing trickled down my cheeks one after another.

  “We made it... We made it, Lutz.”

  Not a clay tablet, not a mokkan, not a notepad of cobbled-together paper, not a blank picture book with no words on it. I had made an actual book, one that I could proudly call a book with no hesitation.

  “...It took so long. So, so long.”

  About two years had passed since I had vowed to make my own book. And finally, I had finished one. It felt like a dream. Lutz, who had been with me the entire time helping, was smiling ear to ear with wet eyes full of accomplishment.

  “We did it, Myne.” Lutz spread out his arms for me, so I hugged him tight and nodded repeatedly. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything on my own. It was thanks to Lutz’s help that I managed to finish this book.

  “It’s all thanks to you and Tuuli. Thank you. I’m so, so happy. I can hardly say how happy I am. I’ve finally made a book. My own book, that I’ve wanted for so long...”

  Unable to wipe away my tears for fear of getting the book dirty with stained hands, I just kept staring at the newly finished book. It was a thin picture book with primitive Japanese binding, but thinking back on the journey it took to get to this point, I couldn’t help but cry. I started with nothing. No stamina, no strength, no money, no paper, no ink, no tools. But I challenged the world anyway, and my work finally bore fruit.

  As I welled in the bliss of finishing a book, Lutz shot me a challenging grin. “But that’s still just one book. You’re gonna make a lot more, right? You want to make so many books that you could read all day every day and never finish all of them. Am I right, Myne?”