by Miya Kazuki
“No, you’re misunderstanding. I’m going to mass produce them through printing. I’ve already made thirty picture books just like this one, and—”
“Wait just a moment.” The High Priest interrupted me, an eyebrow shot upwards. His golden eyes were opened wide in surprise as he looked at me in disbelief. “Do you mean you already have thirty books just like this one?”
“Like I said, I printed them.”
“Elaborate.” It seemed the High Priest didn’t have a grasp on what was going on in the Myne Workshop, perhaps because he’d never asked, or perhaps because Fran didn’t really understand either. I thought that Fran would have reported everything to him since we were providing income reports and paying the temple its cut, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. The High Priest was lacking such critical information I didn’t even know where to begin.
“Do you know that the Myne Workshop is producing plant paper?”
“Yes.”
“We’re making thicker paper, then cutting out letters and the black parts of art from it using a... very thin, precise knife. The resulting paper is called a stencil template.”
“You cut out the paper?” The High Priest’s tone rose in a way that made it clear just how abnormal cutting out parts of paper was. I pretended not to hear. What’s done was done.
“Then, we put the template over a blank piece of paper and roll ink onto it. Only the paper beneath the cut out parts of the template get ink on them. We move aside the finished paper and place another sheet of fresh paper beneath the template, then roll more ink onto it. That results in two identical pieces of paper. We repeat this process thirty times for each page of a book, and that’s thirty books.”
About halfway through my explanation, the High Priest had stopped reacting at all, freezing up like a crashed computer. I asked if he was listening and waved my hands in front of his eyes.
“...I am listening. I am, but...” The High Priest, having come back to life, shut his eyes tightly and let out a heavy sigh. Not even Benno reacted like that. It kinda made me worried.
“Umm. Is everything okay?”
“...You certainly have done something drastic.”
Have I really? I thought, thinking back over what I had done to make the paper. The most drastic thing I did was probably cut off the woodblocks to focus on stencils instead, but I doubted that’s what he was referring to. I couldn’t figure out what he considered so drastic. As I fell into thought, the High Priest let out yet another sigh.
“In summary, by printing you mean cutting out paper and applying ink onto fresh paper?”
“For right now, at least.”
“Cutting out paper is unthinkable in itself, but it’s also hard to believe that you are using so much ink.”
Parchment was so expensive and scarce that I guess nobody had ever cut out parts of it. Plant paper was similarly expensive, but the Myne Workshop produced it and I knew how stencil printing worked, so it didn’t seem like a waste to me. The High Priest and I would never see eye to eye on the matter given what we expected from our books, but I knew for sure that making stencils and printing books would be a better use of money than fussing over leather covers.
“Frankly,” I said, “I find it hard to believe you would spend so much money on the cover. As for the ink, it was fairly cheap since I made it out of the soot that the priests gathered for me.”
“You actually did make ink out of the soot?”
I had explained previously when he got suspicious about the soot gathering that I wanted it for ink, but it seemed he had expected me to fail. The stunned look on his face honestly threw me off.
“...Is it that surprising?”
“Of course it is.”
“Benno said that his head hurt when I gave him his book, but he immediately shifted over to calculating prices and talking about my next book, so I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
All things considered, Benno was used to the things I did and could lessen the shock of a new invention by focusing on the profit as a merchant. The High Priest’s shock was probably a more normal reaction. As I thought that over, the High Priest slowly shook his head, then looked up at a window with a somewhat distant look in his eyes.
“...Benno might have it much harder than I thought. I can only imagine the emotional burden he must bear if you consistently invent things of this caliber.”
“Bwuh?! I mean, he’s a merchant, he wants things to sell. He does have it hard, but that’s because he goes out of his way to get involved in things. It’s not all my fault. Maybe.”
Benno himself had chosen to fight with the Parchment Guild by establishing a Plant Paper Guild, and he had chosen to compete with Leise by constructing an expensive Italian restaurant. But the High Priest just let out a dismissive “hmph” with his lips curving into a grin.
“I will have to ask Benno about this, not you. But first. Did you just say something about a next book?”
“I did. What about it?”
“Be absolutely certain to report to me before you begin making it. I would not like to be surprised in this manner again.”
If it’s something big enough to surprise you, I think you’ll be surprised no matter when I report it to you, I replied silently before holding out the sheet of paper that Fran had given me. It would be ideal for him to look it over directly.
“I was thinking of making my next picture book about Cinderella here, but what do you think?” I showed him the Cinderella story I wrote yesterday, and after skimming it the High Priest rubbed his temples.
“In what world would a rich commoner be allowed to marry a prince? Are you daft, or do you simply not understand social status?”
“I understand status, but... Well... How high in status would she have to be for you to accept this? Keeping in mind the idea is her getting lucky with marrying above her status, since that’s what people want for themselves.” If it was bad enough for him to call me daft, it would probably be better for me to look for a compromise. I asked for a middle ground and the High Priest put a hand on his chin, falling into thought.
“...When it comes to a prince, even the daughter of an archnoble would need to be quite well-raised and special. Marriage upwards is simply out of the question. Have her become his mistress instead. That would still be quite the lucky boost in status, no?”
“No no no! Where’s the romance in her becoming a mistress? The hopes, the dreams?!”
“Dreams mean nothing. Face reality.” The crux of the story was a dramatic marriage upwards, but the High Priest wouldn’t budge on the matter. That was too cruel. We read books to see dreams, not cruel reality.
“Um, what about a small-time archduke instead of a prince? Could someone of lower status marry him? Could that work as a story?”
“Hmmm. It depends on the size of his territory, but he could potentially marry beneath him. If he was willing to face the resistance of his family and other nobles, of course.” A couple defying status and overcoming resistance to successfully get married was a classic story with a classic happy end. I let out a sigh of relief, glad to have found a compromise.
“Okay, I’ll make him the son of an archduke instead.”
“Make Cinderella the daughter of a mednoble as well. Being wealthy enough. And what is with this magician? In what world would these bizarre chants result in any magical effect? Even considering your ignorance of magic, this is painful to read.”
Due to the High Priest’s thorough criticism of Cinderella, the story ended up being one without magic where the daughter of a mednoble was abused by her stepmother until a noble related to her birth mother assisted her entry into high society, where the son of a minor duke fell in love with her at first sight. There was hardly a trace of Cinderella in it anymore, but most of my readers were going to be nobles at first so I would take his advice gladly.
Oh, and as an aside, there were three tiers of nobles: laynobles, mednobles, and archnobles. They were the low rank, middle rank, a
nd high rank of the nobility respectively. A laynoble would be too low in status to marry an archduke’s son, but it seemed that a mednoble just barely managed to cut it.
“However. You say that they lived happily ever after, but that will certainly not be the case for them.”
“What?”
It turned out that after pushing through with their marriage, the archduke father would most likely banish them from his lands. Even if he forgave them in an act of unprecedented generosity, the son would lose his right to succession and would end up in a support role for his little brother at the very best. I didn’t intend to write that part of the story, but in any case, thanks to the High Priest’s utterly merciless follow-up, the version of Cinderella I was about to write would have no happy ending at all.
This was a valuable learning experience for me. Since this is an actual fantasy world with magic and such, the people here won’t look kindly on my biased, made-up fantasy. It might be harder to write stories for my books than I thought.
A Discussion About Winter Preparations
“High Priest, there is one more thing I want to discuss.” I turned to look at the High Priest while organizing the rewritten Cinderella pages on my lap. He noticed my look and set the documents he had been looking over onto his desk. “It’s about the orphanage’s winter preparations.”
“Winter preparations...? Ah, yes. I predict that the amount of divine gifts and firewood will be largely unchanged from last year, but I will have Fran give you a more detailed report later. I won’t have a clear answer until the blue priests return from the Harvest Festival, but the weather has been favorable and there haven’t been any widespread crop diseases. There shouldn’t be any less food than last year.”
“Oh? You can predict it?”
I’d assumed that he wouldn’t have any idea until the blue priests returned. How could he make a prediction when he hardly ever leaves the temple? I thought, blinking in surprise. I got my information from my family going to the market and all the rumors that flowed through the Gilberta Company alongside its merchandise, but I couldn’t recall the High Priest leaving the temple since I got here.
“The weather is one thing, but how do you know about the state of the crops in farming towns? You haven’t left the city before, have you?”
“I have my connections. I may not enter the lower city, but I do go to the Noble’s Quarter.”
My view of the city was founded in the lower city, but the High Priest’s view was founded in the Noble’s Quarter. That explained where he got his information from. This was complete bias on my part, but I had no doubt that there was a devious war of information that went on between nobles at all times.
“Myne, would it be correct for me to assume that you have begun to prepare the orphanage for winter on your own?”
“Yes. I’ll be getting tools and supplies through Benno. And since we’re doing it for ourselves, both the gray priests and the children will be helping.”
“...By children, you mean the pre-baptism younglings?” The High Priest widened his eyes in surprise. As a noble, he didn’t have the concept of someone working for their own food. And up until now he had been forced to keep the pre-baptism kids more or less locked in the orphanage, so the idea of having them work never occurred to him.
However, that kind of thinking wouldn’t fly with us poor people. The principle of working for your own food had permeated through the orphanage and the hungry boys all fought to do the most work and get the most food. The young kids were no exception, since the divine gifts went to them last.
“This is normal in the lower city. Even young kids can help. Though I’ve never been much help myself since I always end up bedridden.”
“I can imagine.”
“Anyway, the pig butchering itself will be done in a farming town, but I’ll want to make hide glue and candles from cow fat afterwards. I imagine it will stink pretty bad, which might cause problems...” I peered at the High Priest timidly and he grimaced a little.
“The blue priests certainly would complain if the orphanage began to stink up the temple.”
“Figures.”
Both the hide glue and the candles would smell extremely bad, so my plan had been to make them outside the workshop. The noble section of the temple was a fair distance away from the orphanage, but no way would the smell go unnoticed. My backup plan was to do it in the original Myne Workshop, the old storage building, but there wasn’t enough space for everyone and moving the tools back and forth would be a nightmare. I wanted to keep working in the orphanage if at all possible.
“This would normally be a difficult situation, but... well, most of the blue priests will be absent for the next ten days due to the Harvest Festival. The stench could be overlooked during that time. But once they return, expect to have no opportunity to cause such a smell in the temple again.”
I wasn’t sure if the pig butchering could be finished during the Harvest Festival. I didn’t have the pigs or the tools ready. But maybe I could make something work if I talked to Benno.
“Understood. I’ll talk to Benno.” I clenched my fist in determination, having finally seen a glimmer of hope, and the High Priest brushed aside his bangs.
“...Myne. Will you be able to afford winter preparations for that number of people?”
“I’ll be using the money they earned themselves in the Myne Workshop, so it’ll be fine.”
“Good, I would not have liked for you to bear that immense burden all on your own. But to think that you truly enabled them to earn enough to support themselves...”
“It’s still mostly thanks to the divine gifts, though.” I shrugged at the High Priest’s impressed tone. If not for the divine gifts, the Myne Workshop wouldn’t be earning enough to support the entire orphanage. We were honestly kind of a shady place that ran on child labor for cheap.
“It is still good news for me. I had been anticipating this winter to be truly brutal on them.” The High Priest gave me rare praise with an uncharacteristically warm expression. I smiled, happy to know that my efforts to help the orphanage hadn’t been fruitless.
“There will be no issue with the orphanage’s winter preparations if you can finish them in ten days. I myself am more concerned with your winter preparations,” explained the High Priest, which confused me. I would be doing my winter prep at home. Or more accurately, my family would since I would just get in the way. I would try to do a bit more this year since I had grown a little and Mom was pregnant, but I doubted the High Priest would be worried about that.
“I don’t follow. My winter preparations will be done at home.”
“That won’t work. There is the Dedication Ritual in the winter. You know of this one, yes?” The High Priest leaned forward, focusing his light-gold eyes on me.
The Dedication Ritual was one ritual the High Priest had told me about, with a firm note that I would need to attend no matter the circumstances. It was a ritual where we of the temple prayed for life to bloom once again in spring, prayed for safe growth, and completely filled all the divine instruments in the temple with mana. If we didn’t fill them with mana to the brim, there wouldn’t be enough mana to offer to the farming towns during Spring Prayer, which would harm the next crop harvest.
“As the Dedication Ritual requires a large amount of mana, you absolutely must participate. You must not be allowed to miss it due to blizzards. Therefore, you will be staying at the temple over the winter.”
“I understand that blizzards could get in the way of me offering mana to the divine instruments. But staying here would worry my family to death. I really do get sick often in the winter, so...”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was allowed to be a blue shrine maiden entirely due to how important the Dedication Ritual was, so I could understand where the High Priest was coming from. But me staying in the temple all winter was a different matter. What would I say to my family?
“I can sympathize with how your family would fe
el. Thus, I will permit them to enter your chambers to check up on you over the winter. That is the largest compromise I can make. Do not slack on preparing your chambers for winter.”
The High Priest told me not to slack, but preparing for winter was a big enough deal that laziness hardly entered the equation. Preparing my own chambers for winter on top of the orphanage was a huge, unexpected expense. I left the High Priest’s room feeling ill.
...Nooooo! My winter prep is going to be harder than the orphanage’s!
“Sister Myne, you seem quite pale...” observed Rosina.
“I am fine, Rosina. I just happen to be a little disturbed. Fran, I heard from the High Priest that I must spend the entire winter in the temple.” I responded to Rosina with a smile, then spoke to Fran about winter preparations. He gave a slow nod of understanding.
“Given the Dedication Ritual, it will be difficult to allow you to commute from home.”
“...I didn’t anticipate having to do my own winter preparations at all. What will I need?”
“We are already planning to buy firewood and food for the orphanage, so we need merely buy more. There should be little problem with buying just a little extra of everything.” Fran saying that it wouldn’t be a big deal was enough for me to let out a sigh of relief. Still, I wouldn’t know just how much extra it would cost until we crunched the numbers.
“...Rosina, forgive me, but could you go summon Lutz from the workshop?”
“As you wish.”
Upon arriving back at my chambers, we continued our winter preparations discussion while Delia prepared tea. I wrote onto my diptych the things I would need for my day-to-day life, what I would need for winter handiwork, what I would need for gathering parues, and then thought about anything else I might need. Fran went to talk to the chefs to learn their plans and see if they could live in my chambers over the winter.
