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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 1.3 - Chapter 13




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Result of the Meeting with the Vested Interests 

I felt terrified of the danger that magic contracts had introduced. Lutz and I just wanted job security, we didn’t want to hurt anyone. I went home with Lutz, trembling in fear. My stomach was churning, as if I had swallowed a whole boat that was floating around. 

“You don’t gotta worry so much. Benno’ll do something.” 

I nodded at Lutz, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about how someone I didn’t know might soon be hurt or worse because of me. I was so, so worried. My stomach ached. What was I afraid of? Forcing people I didn’t know to get involved in my business and hurting them as a result. 

I really wanted to just shut myself inside my home, but Lutz basically forced me outside each day, saying that he had no idea what I would do if left alone. I hated that we could only wait for Benno’s contact while going to the forest and making paper. 

But in the end, even after several days passed, Benno didn’t say anything to us. He never mentioned anyone dying a suspicious death. Everything was normal. Too normal. 

Several more days passed and my fear turned into distrust towards Benno. Would the contract magic really kill someone? Maybe he was just exaggerating. I thought back to exactly what Benno had said to find any clues. Even his tone and expression might have hinted at something. 

“...You know, isn’t it a little weird?” 

“What is?” Lutz frowned at me while angling the suketa to make volrin paper. I turned to look at him after putting fresh paper onto the draining bed. 

“That contract magic would affect people who don’t know the contract in question exists.” 

“That’s not weird. It’s magic, what do you expect?” replied Lutz casually as he put his finished paper on the draining bed on top of mine. 

I pursed my lips while scooping up water and shaking it. “I expect it to make sense somehow. It’d be weird if it didn’t. I mean, think about it. What if someone signed a magic contract about a product that’s already on the market? People all over would break it. And what if someone signs a magic contract in a city far away from ours? We’d have no idea.” 

I kept pondering this while shaking the suketa. If contract magic was used to enforce the equivalent of patent rights, there was probably a patent office or something that managed them. Someone had to inform the public what magic contracts were in effect. It’d be too dangerous otherwise. 

“I think contract magic has a bunch of conditions and a limited range that we don’t know about. And anyway, don’t you think magic this dangerous would be restricted a little more?” 

“Alright, I can tell you’re building up to something. What’re you nervous about?” said Lutz, which made me reflexively stop shaking the suketa. He picked it up from the side and continued for me. “You always talk faster when you’re trying to hide how you feel.” Lutz jerked his head, urging me to spit it out. I couldn’t hide anything from him. 

“...I’m scared of hurting people we don’t know with our magic contract. I want to think that Benno was joking or lying. Nobody’s been hurt yet, right? Maybe he was just trying to scare us. I want to think he was just trying to scare us.” 

“It’d be nice if he was just joking, but why would he do that? What would he gain from tricking us?” 

“Ngh... I-I mean, he’s tricked us a lot already. I get the feeling that he’s hiding something from us again to test us or something.” I was about to say that he probably had some secret reason for distancing us from him when suddenly I heard a familiar voice from behind us. 

“Wow. I didn’t know you had so little trust in Benno, Myne.” 

Lutz and I, surprised that someone else was in the storage building, spun around. There we saw a grinning Otto in his normal clothes, raising both a hand and an eyebrow. 

“Mr. Otto?! Why are you here?!” 

“Why else would I be here but to deliver a message from Benno?” 

Benno had indeed said that he would contact us through Otto, but I had expected him to wave us down on our way through the gate. I never thought for a second he would come visit us in the storage building. 

“Seems like everything’s over.” 

His short message didn’t tell me anything. I lurched towards Otto, desperate for any information that would calm my aching stomach. “What’s over?! How did it go?!” 

“Well, it sure sounded like a big deal. He really broke his back making things work.” 

“What do you mean by that?! What happened?!” 

Otto just shrugged, not giving me any hard answers. I had no idea if he actually didn’t know or if he was just pretending not to know. “Benno didn’t tell you anything?” 

“He told us some stuff, but not much. He said that it would be really bad if people who didn’t know about our magic contract started making paper on their own. Then he said that we shouldn’t go to his store until he was finished dealing with the Parchment Guild, partially to keep the manufacturing process for paper safe.” I summarized what Benno had said and Otto stroked his chin. 

“Hmm. Sounds like he told you the bare minimum, at least.” 

“Did anyone get hurt from the contract magic? That’s what I’m really worried about...” 

“You two hid so the process wouldn’t get out, right? Nobody’s been hurt. Everything else you should hear from Benno. Want to go together once you’ve finished your work here?” 

“Okay!” The weight on my chest was lifted by his confirmation that nobody had been hurt. Feeling lighter than I had in days, I got back to rocking the suketa. 

“Shaking that thing makes paper? What even is it?” 

“That’s a secret.” 

“Looks like there’s some gooey stuff inside. What’s it made of?” 

“That’s a secret.” 

Otto watched us, full of curiosity and questions, but I just kept working without giving any answers. 

“We’re on the same side here, Myne, you can tell me.” 

“Benno will get mad if I tell anyone. Right, Lutz?” I direction the question to Lutz and he shrugged with a grin. 

“He gets mad at Myne for not thinking before she talks all the time. Keeping quiet is the best call for her.” 

“Hahaha... You tell people this kinda thing without thinking? I can picture Benno now, so mad his veins are bulging.” 

“It’s less that he gets so mad his veins bulge and more that he just gets really exasperated.” 

We cleaned up our tools and headed to Benno’s with Otto. By the time we got out of the alleyway and onto the main road, Otto was looking down at me while rubbing his temples. 

“Hey, Myne. Do you always walk this slow?” 

“...Um, yes?” 

“I’ve gotta hand it to you, Lutz. You’re a better man than me. I couldn’t take this. Which meeeans... up you go.” 

“Hyaaah!” 

Otto, saying he couldn’t take my slow speed, hefted me up with his arms. He then power-walked forward. I got the feeling that lately Benno and Mark had been carrying me around everywhere too. It seemed that my walking speed was so slow that adults felt compelled to pick me up. 

We arrived at Benno’s store and Mark came out to greet us. “Hello, Myne and Lutz. Thank you for your help, Otto,” said Mark, lowering his head in thanks. 

“No biggie. This was pretty fun. Is Benno there?” replied Otto casually as he walked inside. He held me up with one arm and used his other hand to open the door to Benno’s office. 

“Benno, your Goddess of Water has arrived.” 

The moment Otto walked into the room and said whatever that weird comment was, Benno glared at him with such a forceful gaze that I could feel murderous intent radiating from him. Since he was looking in my general direction, I got hit with the gaze myself and jerked in fear. 

 

“Shut it, Otto. Want me to force Corinna to divorce you?” 

It seemed that Benno had the authority to make Corinna divorce Otto, since he was the patriarch of the family. He had said that Otto was basically his son-in-law, so Benno was indeed the family head. The force of Benno’s glare and the low tone of his voice made it clear he was serious, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed that. Otto hurriedly covered for himself, not wanting to lose the pillar of support that kept him going in life. 

“Woah! I’m just kidding! It was just a little joke!” 

“Jokes that aren’t funny aren’t jokes.” Benno grabbed Otto’s head and squeezed with a grim expression that made it hard to tell whether he was playing around or not. I wished he would stop; Otto was about to drop me. 

“Mr. Benno, are you in a bad mood right now?” I ventured to ask. 

“Yeah, ’cause of this guy,” Benno replied with a glare, but Otto just casually set me down. 

“Y’know, Benno, these kids don’t trust you too much. I heard Myne complaining a lot about you. ‘He’s tricking us again! I think he’s hiding something! Maybe this is another test!’” 

I felt like I understood why Benno was so mad. Otto had definitely said something he shouldn’t have. There was no doubt that he was intentionally trying to get us mad. 

“Otto, you didn’t have to say that!” Thinking that Otto’s comment would make Benno’s mood worse, I peered up at him. But Benno didn’t look mad at all. He just looked at me and sighed with what felt like exhaustion. 

“Haaah... Myne, do you have a sharp mind? Or are you just distrustful? Do you have a bad personality? I went out of my way to help you avoid this mess, and you just couldn’t be happy about it...?” 

“But hey,” interjected Otto, “a good merchant never takes someone’s word up front, yeah? She was right to doubt you and try to figure out the truth by reading between the lines of what you said and did.” He gave me a thumbs-up with a grin. 

“Well, whatever. I’ll answer your questions. Sit.” 

I sat at the usual table, and the first thing I asked was what had been bothering me this whole time. “Does contract magic really affect people uninvolved with the contract?” 

“Yeah, depending on the contents of the contract. Our contract could potentially affect other people. Didn’t I explain that to you?” He had indeed. But not in a way that convinced me. 

“But couldn’t you hurt a lot of people by making a magic contract about a really common product or manufacturing technique? We have no idea what kind of contracts are being signed in far away cities, so... Is there some kind of condition for the contract to activate, or maybe they have a limited range of effect? Also, is there like a building that manages magic contracts...?” 

Benno’s eyes widened as I listed out my thoughts. Then, he nodded. “Yeah. Generally, magic contracts only work in the city they were signed in. Small-time magic used inside cities doesn’t penetrate the magic barrier built into the outer walls surrounding them.” 

“Magic barrier?! Ummm, what?!” My heart thumped at the fantasy-sounding term and I instinctively leaned forward, but Benno just glared at me. 


“A city’s magic barrier is built into its foundation, but that doesn’t matter right now. Unless you don’t have any more questions about what happened, that is.” 

“Wait, no, I do! If contract magic actually can affect people who don’t know about the contracts, isn’t it super dangerous? I think it’s weird that it’s used so frivolously.” 

Benno, displeased, raised an eyebrow and glared at me. “Contract magic isn’t used frivolously. The magic tools necessary to perform it are given only to certain recognized merchants, and they’re so expensive your jaw would drop if you heard the price. Not to mention that, just like you thought, magic contracts that could have an effect on others must be reported to the lord of the region, the Archduke. I’m the one who’d be punished if I didn’t report it and people got hurt.” 

“Wait, does that mean...” The second I started to wonder if Benno had forgotten to report our contract and began panicking because people might have gotten hurt because of that, he thumped me on the forehead. “Kyah!” 

“Don’t get any stupid ideas. I already reported it to him.” He guessed my thoughts before I said them. I held my forehead and groaned. Benno let out a hmph and his lips curved into a triumphant grin. 

“When I reported it to him, I was told to report to the Merchant’s Guild since it was magic contract pertaining to a new product.” 

“...Which means, you actually reported to the Merchant’s Guild too?” 

“Naturally. I reported the contract to the guild and recorded it. While I was at it, I got permission to start a new guild.” 

Permission... to start a new guild? What’s he planning? Is he trying to do something he really shouldn’t do, just to get more money? His unexpected revelation made my eyes open wide and my head tilt. Seeing that, Benno puffed out his chest with pride and an annoyingly smug look on his face. 

“Plant paper’s gonna turn into a massive industry, y’know? So, I decided to make a Plant Paper Guild in the image of the Parchment Guild and spread the business to other cities too.” 

“...That’s the first I’m hearing of this.” I flinched and Benno nodded like I had just said something obvious. 

“That’s ’cause this is the first time I’m mentioning it.” 

“H-Hold on a second. Doesn’t this mean you’re picking a head-on fight with the vested interests?! I thought you were going to have a talk and end this peacefully!” I had no idea why he was being so forceful about this. Benno’s methods involved nothing even resembling compromise or consideration for others. 

“It’s not my fault things ended up like this. Blame the geezer.” 

“Aren’t you avoiding responsibility here?” I said, which made Benno glare at me and Otto burst into laughter next to him. I didn’t know why it was funny, so we just glanced at him and waited for Benno to answer. 

“I’m not avoiding responsibility. I went to the Merchant’s Guild to register the magic contract and start the Guild, but got rejected since we signed the contract before there was a real-life prototype. I had to go back after you finished the first ones.” 

“Aaah.” 

“But the guildmaster didn’t like the idea of me starting a new guild, so he dragged things out and ultimately didn’t finish processing my request by the end of the whole season.” 

Speaking of which, the guildmaster had blocked our temporary registrations too. He eventually caved in and reluctantly approved it for the hairpins, but I remembered how stubborn he had been. 

“I remember how he did something like that with our temporary registrations. Can he just reject applications for personal reasons...?” 

“Naturally, he comes up with an excuse for what he does. He blocked your temporary registrations ’cause we weren’t related, and this time he blocked the Plant Paper Guild because there already existed a guild for paper and he didn’t see the need for a second one,” said Benno, looking extremely displeased. 

I thought back to how he and the guildmaster had acted in the meeting back then. It was clear they basically hated one another and were doing everything they could to one-up each other. “I can imagine how things went down.” 

“I submitted my registration in autumn and sold paper in the spring without even thinking he wouldn’t have processed it by then. I should have been more careful, but can you really say I’m avoiding responsibility here?” Benno glared at me and I hurriedly shook my head. 

“Umm, I think it’s the Merchant’s Guild’s fault for being slow.” 

“Right. The Parchment Guild complained because I sold paper that hadn’t been registered. That geezer ignored what he had done and gave them all his support like the scum he is.” It seemed that Benno’s true foe hadn’t been the vested interests — it had been the guildmaster. 

Benno went on, “Archduke Ehrenfest told me to register with the Merchant’s Guild. What do you think would happen if people got hurt because the magic contract’s registration hadn’t been completed?” 

Being told to do something and then not doing it would look pretty bad, so I would guess Benno would get punished pretty severely. “I think the Archduke would get really mad at you.” 

“Yeah. He’d take the tools needed for magic contracts away from me, limit what trade I can do with nobles, and punish all those involved with the contract. That would be giving that geezer the perfect chance to hit me where it hurts. I couldn’t let the method of producing paper get out until the registration was processed, no matter what.” 

Considering his opponent was the guildmaster, I could understand why he was being so cautious. 

“You can see why I didn’t want to involve you two in this struggle between adults. And really, you know the guildmaster and he saved your life, so you would probably blabber about all sorts of secrets without thinking before you spoke.” 

“Bwuuuh?! Do you really trust me that little?!” 

“History repeats itself. Think about what you’ve done.” 

“Guuuh...” I remembered all the mistakes I had made in the guildmaster’s home and faltered. It was true that from Benno’s perspective, I was a rogue element he couldn’t predict. Distancing me from the problem was the safest bet. 

“I understand what happened now. So, was your meeting with the Parchment Guild a struggle?” 

“They weren’t a big deal after a little prep work. The problem is just that dang geezer.” 

The guildmaster is the final boss, huh? I didn’t expect that the vested interests would just be small fry to Benno. Back when I was making paper with an aching stomach, I hadn’t expected any of this. 

As I thought about what I had learned, Otto, who had been listening up to this point without saying something, spoke with a grin. “He dragged me to that meeting too. The Parchment Guild ended up agreeing to a compromise.” 

“A compromise?” 

“They agreed to allow different kinds of paper to be used for different things,” said Benno, reminding me what I had suggested to him. 

I clapped my hands together. By cooperating, we would protect the parchment market to some degree while mass-producing paper for all sorts of other purposes. It was a massive step towards my dream of making books. If paper spread enough and lowered in price, it would be that much easier to make books. Once Benno had workshops mass-producing paper, I could get all I needed for cheap. Now I need to think about ink and printing, I thought, but before I could get too far off track, Otto continued with an amused expression. 

“So we were all like, who managed to change Benno’s mind for the first time?! Who made the unmovable rock budge? Rumor is, Benno’s finally found his own Goddess of Water.” 

The tone of the conversation shifted from complex politics and into a more casual joking mood, so Lutz joined. “What’s the Goddess of Water...? I mean, uh, may I ask who the Goddess of Water is...?” 

“Melting snow is a sign of spring. She’s the goddess who brings an end to long winters,” said Otto, which made me snap back to reality. 

Right. I don’t know any of the religious myths here, but they’re so popular that the names of gods pop up in spring greetings. It’s likely that religion is deeply intertwined with the lives of people here. 

“...The Goddess of Water is different from the Goddess of Spring in the spring greeting, right?” 

“Different? Well, it’s more like... The Goddess of Water, the Goddess of Sprouts, and all goddesses that have to do with spring are lumped into the Goddess of Spring. It’s more accurately Goddesses of Spring, but people just say Goddess most of the time.” 

“Neat.” Maybe it was just me, but I was glad the world was polytheistic like I was used to. It would have been a lot harder for me to adjust to a world that demanded you worship one single god, given my Japanese background in Shintoism. I was a little less nervous about the baptism now. 

“‘Neat’...? Is that it?” said Otto, surprised. Maybe it had been rude of me to just say “neat” in response to his explanation. 

“Umm... I’m glad I know more about goddesses now. Thank you very much and please tell me more if you can later.” 

“That’s not what I meant. I called you Benno’s—” 

“Want to get kicked out, Otto?” said Benno in a low voice, making Otto fidget. 

I felt like I had caused an issue by not reading between the lines enough, but judging by the angry expression on Benno’s face, maybe not understanding was the smarter choice here. When ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise. 

“Um, speaking of which, why did Mr. Otto go to the meeting anyway?” I threw out a helping hand to Otto before Benno could start talking about divorce again. I successfully managed to shift Benno’s attention — he turned to face me and Otto signaled his thanks with a grateful look. 

“I’m going to have him help run this store once the Plant Paper Guild gets going.” 

“Bwuh? Does that mean Mr. Otto’s going to be a merchant again?!” Otto had given up his life as a merchant to marry Corinna, but perhaps now he had a chance to return to doing what he loved. I thought that was great, but Benno lightly shook his head. 

“Nah, Otto’s still a soldier. I’m just gonna work him to the bone on his time off.” 

“Whaaat?! Isn’t that like, super mean?!” I raised my voice in shock and saw Lutz nodding. The idea of Otto finishing a grueling day at the gate and then working as a merchant without any rest was just sad. But Benno just snorted and grinned at Otto. 

“He’s just working to cover his rent, for Corinna’s sake. Nothing odd about it at all. Right, Otto?” 

“Pretty sure you’re working me harder than the rent’s worth.” The two of them glared at each other with dark smiles. Lutz and I didn’t fit in at all. 

Eventually I got bored of their endless staring contest and tapped the table. “Mr. Benno, could you continue please? What happened with the guildmaster in the end?” 

Benno looked away from Otto and faced me, then shrugged and gave a triumphant grin. “The Parchment Guild agreed to the creation of the Plant Paper Guild thanks to the compromise, so he sadly had no choice but to approve my application. You should have seen the petulant look on his face.” 

“And who’s the one who made sure he had no choice?” Otto butted in with a joke, but he was right. Benno had played the political game and forced the guildmaster’s hand. 

I looked at Lutz and Benno clicked his tongue. “I got all the right paperwork ready, made peace with the Parchment Guild, and prevented anyone from getting hurt. The application was only delayed this long because the Merchant’s Guild was being negligent.” 

“Yeah, you’re not wrong. But y’know, you didn’t have to ask ‘If you’re getting too old to read properly, maybe you should retire already?’ And honestly, saying ‘Hey, I’ll do you a favor and take your place’ was going a bit too far,” revealed Otto, making me gasp in shock. 

“He dragged this out because you said those things! That’s why he has it out for you! I bet he got really mad!” 

“He got so mad his face went red. Never knew faces could get that red, actually,” said Otto casually, but that was information I didn’t need to hear. Benno nodding and saying that it was indeed an impressive sight didn’t help. 

“Who cares how mad that geezer gets? I had to work twice as hard to get this finished ’cause of him being a jerk.” The divide between Benno and the guildmaster had become deeper and wider because of all this. 

“Anyway, this time I made sure he finished the registration. Now I’m gonna make a ton of paper and sell all of it. But first comes settling on a workshop.” Benno began talking about setting up a workshop to mass-produce paper now that the bureaucratic issues had been solved. “I’ll start mass production once the summer baptism’s over.” 

“Why’s that?” asked Otto curiously. 

“I did a detailed profit calculation and figured out that I’d earn more if I waited for the baptism to end and for Lutz to become my apprentice. I won’t have to fund them anymore, and anyway, it’ll take that long to settle on a workshop, make the tools, get the raw materials ready, and learn the manufacturing process.” 

Lutz and I had struggled a lot to secure our tools. Benno was definitely right when he said that preparing large tools for mass production would be very time consuming. 

“Alright, with all that said, it’s time for you to spit out how to make paper so I can make informed decisions here.” 

It seemed that Benno’s real purpose in calling us here was to learn how to make paper. Lutz and I exchanged looks, then sighed. 



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