Ascendance of a Bookworm

“I would like to make more picture books like this. I want the articles to be as short as possible because engraving takes a lot of time. Also, my ill.u.s.trator is limited in what she can draw. She is a girl who has never set foot outside the temple or seen the outside world, so she can"t draw anything everyday.”

Wilma was grown a lot since she learned to make soup, but she still couldn"t recognize the ingredients. The orphanage was also short of supplies, as was evident from its lack of sewing tools, knives and baskets for the forest.

“This is… extreme.”

“It"s due to living conditions and there"s nothing we can do about it. So it would be better for Vilma to draw what she is good at. Myths fit her well, and there are plenty of them anyway.”

“But if all books are about myths…”

“It would be boring. I know that.”

I said with a wry smile. While myth was approachable and interesting to the children in the orphanage, it was completely unpopular in the city.

“If I were to make a text-only book without the ill.u.s.trations of Wilma, then there is something I would like to do for efficiency and productivity.”

“What is it?”

“Wax paper. First of all, we have to make paper that is even and thin to the point of transparency, and then we have to mix wax and pine resin to spread it thinly across the paper. Frankly, both of these jobs require the skill of a craftsman, and there"s no machine… I don"t think we can succeed without asking the wax shop for help.”

To be honest, it would not be easy. I was afraid that we would make a lot of failed paper, plus the proportion of wax was not easy to grasp, if not to succeed, we would be exhausted in the end. However, once the wax paper was made, engraving would be as simple as writing, which would save a lot of effort.

“Wax? Don"t think about it at this time of year, the workshop is too busy.”

“I agree. Another is movable type. I am now considering whether to make wax paper or movable type.”

“What"s your problem?”

Benno tilted his head wonderingly, and Lutz did the same.

“I don"t think it would be difficult to make movable type, so long as Johann from the forge could be commissioned. But it is a heavy labour equivalent to operating a compressor, and the children would certainly not be able to do it.”

In English, the journal is also called press, because it has to be pressed when it is printed. If I wanted to introduce movable type here, I had to make sure the staff were strong enough.

“It"s not easy to make wax paper, but once it"s made, even children can do the printing. That"s the advantage of stencil duplicating.”

“Well, it"s really hard to choose.”

Benno and Lutz folded their arms and lost in thought.

“But I"ll have to save up for whatever I want to make. We"ve invested so much in these picture books. I won"t get any income from them because I"m going to use them as textbooks for the orphans…”

“What?! Don"t you sell them?! Maine, what are you thinking?!”

If the handiwork the orphanage had made for the winter sell well, it will make up for it — just as I was thinking this, Benno gave a sudden snarl that made my shoulders shake.

“What are you talking about, Mr. Benno? Textbooks are not for sale.”

“How can you make something for nothing?! If you can sell them, sell them!”

“No! These picture books can only be used as textbooks! Improving literacy is a great initial investment as well! This will open up future markets!”

I"d decided to experiment at the orphanage this winter to see if I could set up a temple cla.s.sroom. I definitely wouldn"t sell textbooks. I even wanted to stock up on writing boards and calculators. I tried to make myself understood to Benno, but he shook his head wearily.

“I can"t understand what you"re thinking. Totally.”

“We don"t know yet how popular this picture book will be in the city, because so far everyone has only heard myths in the temple, which have not penetrated into daily life. It would be better to make new picture books that are more popular with people in the city and sell them as merchandise.”

Rather than lose my textbooks, I would make some new picture books that might sell better.

“You mean new picture books?”

“Are you already thinking of new stories?”

Benno and Lutz looked surprised. But I didn"t need to think too much. There were a lot of stories in stock that could be made into picture books. Just for the sake of Wilma, their numbers would be drastically reduced.

“If it"s a fairy tale about a princess, I think Wilma would be able to draw it. After all, she has served a n.o.ble daughter. I"m going to write the outline first and ask the Head Priest to read it before I make it into a picture book.”

I thought a picture book based on Cinderella should work. Let Vilma draw the princess from the model of Miss Christine, and the figure would be at least eighty percent like. As for the prince"s image, Wilma should be able to figure out how to draw it, as the attendants had been to the aristocratic quarter with their masters at the Star Festival.

“All right, it"s up to you anyway. Then how much shall I pay for this picture book?”

“It"s a gift book to say thank you to the people who have taken care of us so far, so you don"t have to pay…”

I stammered, and Benno laughed.

“What do you want from me this time?”

“I want to buy winter clothes with Turi the next time she takes a break. Please take us to the thrift store.”

“Okay, no problem. One of Mark and I will go with you anyway. What else?”

At Benno"s urging, I took out my writing board.

“I think salt and spices are needed for the pork processing in the orphanage. What and how much should I prepare? I was sick in bed every time pork was processed, so I have no idea what to do. It"s also the orphanage"s first attempt, so the tools have to be ready, too.”

“It"ll cost a lot of money. Is that ok?”

Benno looked sharply at me, and I looked back into his auburn eyes and gave him a strong nod.

“I have made up my mind that all the money I earned from Tronbay-paper will be spent.”

The purpose of the workshop was to enable the children in the orphanage to live independently. It was only natural that the money earned by the hard work of the orphans should be used in the orphanage.

“Okay, I"ll get everything ready for you. But instead, I"ll use your manpower, because we"re understaffed.”

“I see. And how is my ceremonial dress coming along?”

“Oh, Corinna said she wanted you to try it on.”

As soon as I had finished my last question, Benno went to his desk and rang the bell for the maid to ask if Corinna was at home.

“Go to Corinna"s today, if you have time.”

The maid returned upstairs after asking me to wait a moment.

“Please go on with your work, Mr. Benno. My business is done.”

It was now time to prepare for winter, and as the owner of a large store, Mr. Benno was very busy. I couldn"t bother him too much, so Lutz and I discussed the Cinderella story and worked on the new picture book while we waited.

A moment later, a bell rang somewhere. Benno looked up and said, “Lutz, take Maine to Corinna.” Then he bowed his head again.

I followed Lutz up the stairs from the back door to Corinna ‘s place.

“Mrs. Corinna, it is Lutz. I have brought Maine.”

“Welcome, Maine. Go and rest yourself, Lutz.”

Unlike in the past, Corinna now wore loose clothes that did not tie up at the waist. Her belly seemed to be getting a little bigger, probably because of her clothes. Great, she and her baby were fine.

“Look, the embroidery is beautiful, isn"t it?”

The blue cloth in front of me was decorated with shimmering patterns of water ripples and exquisite embroidered flowers, and Corinna had already made marks for cutting. I looked closely and found that those flowers belong to different seasons, but now they were all blooming gracefully on this cloth.

“How beautiful…”

“Maine, this is a sample dress for you. Try it on. I want to check the size.”

I followed Corinna"s advice and put on the sample made of other cloth. Because she had measured me before, the dress fit almost perfectly. If she made me a ceremonial dress of this size, it would soon be too small to wear.

…See, I did grow taller.

“Mrs. Corinna, please don"t cut it exactly to my present size. You can hide some extra cloth in the seams or make pleats. In this way, when I grow up, I can modify this dress and continue to wear it.”

I pinched the cloth at the waist and folded it inward, but Corinna turned her head in confusion.

“Like your baptism dress? But the ceremonial dress does not need to have extra pleats, does it? ”

“At that time, we just changed Turi"s old clothes to my size, but the method is very similar. Because once the cloth is cut, it can"t be lengthened. I don"t want to add pleats to the dress, but to fold the cloth in like this at the waist, shoulders and cuffs.”

I explained to Corinna, but she was even more puzzled.

“But if it doesn"t fit anymore, why don"t you order a new one? Every season is different, and the clothes need to fit so they look great.”

In j.a.pan, when making children"s kimonos, people always hide some extra cloth around the waist and shoulders for the growth of children. However, the custom here was to sell clothes and buy new ones when they outgrow them, which annoyed me.

“But that"s an aristocratic way of life, right? I can"t order such expensive clothes all the time.”

It happened that Benno had given me the cloth, so I had only to pay for the dye and the workmanship to order it. If I started with cloth, the price would be more than twice as high. I didn"t have the money to order this kind of ceremonial dress with high quality cloth many times.

“… you are right. My values have been distorted by the aristocratic clothes I see every day. I"ve forgotten you"re not an aristocrat.”

“And there"s probably no fashion for a simple ceremonial dress, so please focus on how long I can wear it.”

Corinna nodded, as if she understood.

“Maine, can you tell me what you know? How can I do this without compromising the beauty of the dress?”

So Corinna and I had a long discussion about how much cloth to hide and how to sew. Then my fitting was over.

… Ah! Would Turi cry if I told her the fitting was over?