Preparing for the Children’s Bible
Regardless of what everyone thought, I finished the pages for the baby’s black-and-white picture book. That was enough to satisfy me as I walked home with Lutz, holding hands amid the chilly autumn air.
“Since we’re making hide glue after winter prep is done, I want to get back to making the children’s bible,” I said, wanting to finish a book soon since autumn was the season of reading. Lutz fell into thought.
“Are you gonna try woodblock printing again? Cutting the paper would probably be easier, if even you could handle it.” Lutz was right. Making templates for the pages out of paper wouldn’t be too hard. It didn’t require any arm strength, as was evidenced by the fact that I could do it on my own.
“I won’t need to write backwards if I’m just cutting the letters out with a knife, too. That won’t be a problem since picture books aren’t that wordy. It will kinda hurt my wallet to buy some extra knives, but new projects having a high initial investment is nothing new to us.”
The precision knives were a bit expensive since each had to be ordered and custom made, but woodblocks weren’t any better since I would need to order carving tools and such for them.
“Isn’t that why you’ve been saving all that money anyway?”
One day, I wanted to make letter punches for this world’s alphabet and transition to movable-type printing, but that would need a lot of letter punches. Each would need a lot of precise work, and making the punches out of metal would end up costing more than I could spend right now. It’d be a while before I could shift to movable-type printing.
“Haaah... I’ve still got a long way to go before I can reach Mr. Gutenberg.”
“Who’s that?”
“A great man who accomplished so much he may as well be a god to me. My goal is to reach the same heights he did. But all I can do right now is improve what I have. Is there anything you think needs improving, Lutz?”
“...Do you know any tools that could hold the paper down when we’re printing? The paper starts slipping the second I lose focus and the ink gets all over my hand, which sucks pretty bad since it doesn’t come off easy.”
Lutz was an apprentice merchant in a store that did business with nobles. He needed to keep up appearances, so it would be extremely bad if he had the same dirty hands as a craftsman. We could leave all the work to gray priests, but I knew that Lutz was really determined to make my inventions himself. Which meant I just had to think of a way to do this without his hands getting dirty.
“Mmm, it would probably help a lot if I made a (mimeograph) frame.”
“A what-frame?”
“Ummm, opening holes in boards to print with ink is called stenciling, and (mimeographs) are part of that. A (mimeograph) frame or net will hold down the paper so your hands don’t get dirty. Liiike this.”
I took out my diptych and stopped in place to start drawing. Lutz, stunned, pulled me to the side while yelling about not getting in people’s way.
“You make a wooden frame that can open and close over a wooden stand big enough to hold paper. You attach the board to the frame with hinges, with a net inside of the frame. When printing, you put the paper on the board, the stencil on top of it, close the frame to lock them into place, then apply ink from above the net.”
“Huh. If it just needs wood and a net, we might be able to make it ourselves.” It wasn’t that difficult to make, outside of the stencil. Lutz would probably be able to make most of it himself. I would mainly be worried about the frame with the net attached.
“Lutz, do you think we could ask the craftsman who made the mat part of our suketa to make this too? Has he finished all the big mats for the workshop’s larger suketas?”
“...You’ll have to ask Benno and Mark about that.”
The Gilberta Company had just come into view, so on that note, the two of us went inside. Work seemed to be mostly over, as some of the employees were already cleaning up. Everyone was calm, but I felt that they were in a hurry as I looked around the store.
“Oh, if it isn’t Myne and Lutz. The office is open if you have any business.”
We would just get in the way by talking in the store, so Mark took us to Benno’s office without asking him first. He had been in the middle of looking over a ledger of some kind, but he forgave us with a sigh.
“Benno, can I borrow Mark tomorrow? There’s something I want to order from the craftsman who makes our suketas, and I would like Mark to come with us to the workshop. Is the craftsman free right now?” I asked, to which Benno nodded while rolling up the ledger.
“He’s delivered all the orders. Should be free if nobody else has ordered anything. What’re you planning to make this time?”
“A frame with a net.”
My answer made Benno frown in confusion. “Huh? A net? What do you need that for?”
“It’s so Lutz’s hands don’t get dirty when he’s using ink.”
Benno, failing to understand my explanation at all, looked at Lutz for an explanation. Despite having just explained in detail what a mimeograph was to him, he shook his head.
“Forget it. I’ll pass the word on to Mark. What time do you need him?”
“I need to practice the harspiel in the morning, so sometime early in the afternoon.”
“That’s good for us. Tomorrow, then.”
After lunch the next day, Lutz and I went to the Gilberta Company and then visited the craftsman with Mark.
“...You all again, huh?” The craftsman greeted us with a grimace so intense I thought his furrowed brows were going to fuse. It was hard to believe he would show such open displeasure at a customer. “Don’t tell me you want more of those mat things. I finally finished that hellish order of’m, gimme a break.” It seemed that making large suketas was rough work for him. I shook my head as I glanced between the craftsman’s exhausted look and Mark’s calm smile.
“No, no. We want to order a wooden frame.”
“A wooden frame? Go ask a carpenter,” said the craftsman while making a shooing motion with his hand at the door.
“Well, it’s not just any frame. We want, umm, a silk net in the middle of the frame. Can you do that? It doesn’t need to be that tightly knit of a net. We just need it for holding down paper so it doesn’t slide around.” I took out my stone slate and drew the frame I wanted for him. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the art, then let out a defeated sigh.
“I could manage that. It’d be a pain, but not impossible.”
“Will you take the job?”
“Your work takes a lot of time, but you pay well. I’ll take any job except making more of those suketa things.”
He agreed to make our netted frame for us, so Mark signed the order that would have it delivered to the Gilberta Company when finished.
“Mark, there’s one more place I want to go. Would you mind stopping by the smithy? I want to order more knives from there. Also, I want to see if they can make my roller for me.”
We would need multiple precision knives to better produce templates for books. I wanted one each for Lutz and me for cutting out letters, plus one for Wilma. I also wanted a roller to spread the ink more evenly. But the only rollers I knew were rubber rollers and sponge rollers. Who knew if they had something that could work like that. If not, we could try using a wrapped-up cloth, but that probably wouldn’t feel good to use.
We went to the smithy and I ordered two more precision knives. Johann accepted with a smile on his face. He seemed extremely excited to take jobs that used the full extent of his talent.
“I would also like a roller, which is like...” I drew one on my stone slate and explained what it was. I tried explaining what rubber and sponge were, but as expected they didn’t ring any bells.
“...Rolling around a tube to spread ink, huh? You sure have a lot of weird ideas.”
“I want a handle attached to the roller’s spindle so I can roll it around smoothly, without it clattering. Any kind of tube should work with a cloth wrapped around it, so I’ll leave the materials you use up to you.” Ideally there would be some springy material that the ink stuck to as well, but if not we would manage. Johann nodded repeatedly at my explanation.
“That won’t be too hard, then. Want me to deliver it to the Gilberta Company again?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
After leaving the smithy, Lutz and I said our goodbyes to Mark before starting to walk home ourselves.
“I guess the art is the last problem to tackle. Printing with stencils will make the art end up looking like silhouettes. We can have some thin lines thanks to the precision knives, but how should we change Wilma’s art style to fit this?”
“I think it’d be easiest if you got some kind of example for her. Not gonna lie, your explanations kinda suck and I don’t think she’d get you if you tried explaining.”
It was true that it was nigh impossible to understand something you hadn’t seen through just verbal explanations. “Mmm, I’m not sure how helpful it would be, but maybe I should try drawing some examples?”
“Uh. You, Myne? You sure about that?”
“I’ll draw based on Wilma’s art, it’ll be fine. You jerk.”
Lutz looked at me with even more worry than before. All I did was draw cartoony art once and now he was convinced I was the worst artist in the world for some reason. My art was normal on Earth! Normal, I tell you!
Lutz kept looking worried the whole way home. After we separated at the well, I went home to start drawing the silhouettes of the goddesses with Wilma’s art as a reference and a soot pen as my sword. It was simple, but easier to distinguish than the woodblock print art.
“Yeah, I think this actually looks pretty good.” But that was just my impression as a Japanese person, and I had no idea if the people of this world would feel the same. It was possible that those used to extremely detailed paintings would reject the simplicity of silhouette art.
The next morning, I put the messy woodblock-printed art and my silhouette art into my bag to show Wilma. I also got soot pens and the precision knife ready to give to her.
“Morning, Lutz. This is how the art turned out. Thoughts?” I showed Lutz the silhouette goddess I drew when we met up. He opened his eyes wide, then let out a sigh of relief after looking the art over.
“Hey, it’s not too bad. It’s a lot easier to see than the woodblock stuff.”
“Perfect. I’ll try and see if Wilma can manage to draw more like this.”
After lunch, I headed to the orphanage with all my stuff ready. Rosina accompanied me rather than Fran since we were going to see Wilma.
“Welcome, Sister Myne.”
I put the woodblock art on a dining hall table and pushed it to Wilma. Her expression clouded after she picked it up and saw what it looked like. It wasn’t the art she had envisioned in her head.
“Your art is so detailed, Wilma, that after carving it into woodcuts the result looks like what you see there. I believe that this is a waste of your beautiful art, so I have devised a style that you might like to adopt for this,” I said while pushing the silhouette art her way. I was a bit hesitant to show my amateurish art to a pro, but the discussion would go nowhere if I didn’t.
“This style enables printing that does not need carving. But I am not sure if this style would be universally accepted. I would like to hear your thoughts, Wilma, as both a lover of the arts and a talented artist.”
Wilma looked at the silhouette art and gave a little gasp. “You drew this, Sister Myne...?”
“I tried making an example of what art would look like when made of just black and white, then cut out of paper. What do you think? It would require a large shift in style, but um, do you think you could manage?” I watched Wilma to see how she would react, and after silently looking at the silhouette art for a bit, she nodded with her brown eyes sparkling happily.
“I will try my hand at this style. It is foreign to me, but I would like to give it my best try.”
“In that case, I will present you with these soot pens and a precision knife. You may experiment as you like with the paper I gave you in the past. Here is the thick paper for the template. I will try printing with your first completed picture and see how it goes.”
Wilma looked down at the tools with sparkling eyes as I explained how to use them. That was enough to ease my worries. No doubt Wilma would draw something far, far more wonderful than my attempt.
While Wilma was experimenting with the new art style and stencil technique, I got to work writing the text on paper and cutting them out to make the templates. Johann finished the precision knives and roller faster than I expected, so Lutz and I took our time cutting out the letters using his tools. It was work as difficult and precise as you might think, but I worked hard, knowing that when we finished I would have a printed book ready for me.
The craftsman finished the net before Wilma finished her art. I went to Lutz’s house and asked Ralph and Sieg to make the frame for the net and the wooden stand.
“What the heck do you need this for?”
“I need it so Lutz doesn’t get his hands dirty with ink! Please, I need your help.” I drew the design on a piece of paper and thrust it towards them. They were used to seeing blueprints at work, so Sieg and Ralph got started right after looking at them. They brought out boards and nails while casually chatting among themselves.
“...Eh? How’s this look?”
“Wow! You’re both amazing! That’s exactly what I wanted.” That’s two apprentice carpenters for you. They worked fast and without error, and finished a perfect frame for the net in no time.
Upon being complimented, Ralph snorted and said “I’m getting more like a craftsman just like Lutz is getting more like a merchant” in a teasing tone while looking at Lutz.
“Alright then, Mister Craftsman, get to work on the stand.” Lutz puffed out his cheeks and his brothers laughed while getting back to work.
“Aaah, this ain’t gonna fit. Lutz, could you bring that board over there?”
“Shave the wood off right. You’re gonna be the one using it, yeah? Don’t give yourself any splinters.”
“Sheesh, do some work yourselves, you two.” They were working Lutz hard like always, but the prickly atmosphere from before was completely gone. I sighed to myself in relief.
“Sieg, could you add this so the net stays on the frame?”
At my request, Sieg added metal, teardrop-shaped turn fasteners to the frame. They would keep the net locked in place on the frame. Then hinges were added to connect the frame to the stand. I put a five-millimeter-thick board on the stand as a guide to align the paper when printing, and there it was. We finished the printing stand much, much faster than I expected.
“Th-Thanks, you two. You, uh, you really helped us here.” Lutz looked away, still a little embarrassed to be thanking his family after all that had happened. His brothers also looked away awkwardly.
“This kinda thing’s no problem at all.”
“Yeah, we’re pros. This is just a little side job.”
I always expressed my enormous gratitude for Tuuli with energetic hugs, but this was the best the brothers could manage. Still, it was a big step up from not talking at all. I watched them with a smirk, until eventually they noticed me looking and stiffened up.
“Myne, stop staring!” The fact that all three of them said that at the same time just made me smirk harder.
“Lutz, get Myne outta here!”
“Yeah. We’ll clean up here!”
“You’re coming with me, Myne!” I was dragged out of Lutz’s place after witnessing a level of cooperation they’d never managed before. That was a shame; I wanted to keep watching their heartwarming exchange.
“Myne, stop grinning and think. Is that all you need? It’s just Wilma’s art that’s left, right?” Lutz forcibly changed the topic. It seemed he really didn’t want to talk about how he and his brothers were doing. I giggled and thought over everything I needed to make the book.
We had paper. We had ink. We had the stencil templates with the text. We had a roller. We had a stand for printing. Indeed, all we needed to finish the book’s contents was Wilma’s art. But it would be a little sad for the front cover to be blank white paper.
“Hey, Lutz. If you have the time, could you make some paper with flowers inside? I want that for the front cover.”
“Oh, like what you made all that time ago? It sure was pretty. Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll take the kids to the forest tomorrow.”
With everything else done and waiting on Wilma’s art, I got to spend my afternoons basking in the bliss of reading in the book room. One day, after finishing lunch and pumping myself up for more reading, a kid from the orphanage came and delivered a message to Gil, who came up to my room.
“Sister Myne, Wilma’s finished the art template. The kid that stopped by said she wants you to come get them yourself, since she’s got something to ask you.”
I felt my eyes light up at Gil’s report. The templates being ready meant we could get to printing. “Gil, prepare the workshop for printing after lunch. Rosina, shall we head to the orphanage?”
“Sister Myne, please steady yourself. The orphanage has not yet received the divine blessings.” Rosina’s reminder made me realize that I had forgotten that the orphanage ate lunch after me. Gil laughed as I sat back down.
“I’ll come get you when the workshop’s ready. Maybe memorize some prayers in the meantime,” he said, reminding me of another task the High Priest had given me.
I worked on memorizing prayers as suggested while fidgeting with excitement. The High Priest had told me to memorize these prayers perfectly since they would be used if the Knight’s Order were to request assistance from the temple during autumn.
...Oh, right. I should go check and see how my ceremonial robes are coming along.
After being told the kids had finished lunch, I eagerly went to the orphanage with Rosina. Wilma was waiting for us in the dining hall, wearing an anxious frown of worry in place of her usual gentle smile. On the table was a piece of paper.
“Please look, if you would.”
“My goodness!” Rosina let out an awed cry after peeking over my shoulder.
The delicately sliced template had all of Wilma’s trademark style while still being composed of simple lines. The art portrayed the God of Darkness meeting the Goddess of Light. The God of Darkness was mostly cut out, and the Goddess of Light had the shadows of her hair and the creases in her clothes portrayed brilliantly despite mostly being white paper. I wanted to print it right away to see how it looked when inked.
“This is perfect! Let’s print it at once. Gil should have the workshop already prepared.” I stood up to go to the workshop immediately with Rosina holding the template.
“E-Erm, Sister Myne!” Wilma looked at me as if she had just resolved to make the biggest decision of her life. Her lips trembled as she attempted to speak, and only after clasping her hands so tightly her knuckles went white did she manage to choke out words in a trembling voice. “M-May I please accompany you to the workshop?”
“That is quite alright with me, but will you be okay?” I heard that Wilma had never visited the workshop for fear of all the men there. She was worried about the kids, but her attempts to go there were always stalled by shaking legs.
“My fear of men remains as strong as ever... But I have just been ever, ever so curious of how my art will look when printed. The woodblock printing did not go as expected, and I do not know if this new method will be more successful.”
To me the woodblock-printed art was just a little weird, but it seemed to have left a big negative impact on Wilma. I could understand very well just how curious Wilma was to see if changing her style and cutting out silhouette art instead of adding tons of detail would make a difference.
But would Wilma be able to handle it, emotionally? There were gray priests in the workshop whether she liked it or not, and there would be no avoiding them. Would that be too much for her to bear with her fear of adult men?
“I believe that my spirit will be sturdy if I remain with you, Sister Myne, but...” Wilma’s hesitant words blew away my worry for her in an instant. In its place arose a fierce determination, a divine mission to protect Wilma at any cost.
“I shall allow no man to step foot near you, Wilma. Accompany me and you shall be safe.”
“Sister Myne,” interjected Rosina, “is it not the job of an attendant to protect her mistress from men?” She sounded exasperated, but I didn’t care. What mattered was Wilma being motivated to leave the girls’ building of the orphanage, and the fact that she was counting on me.
I took Wilma’s hand gently as she rested a hand on her chest, smiling with relief, and then guided her down the stairs to head to the Myne Workshop through the back entrance.
...I will protect Wilma! I have to show her how reliable I can be! The moment I steeled my resolve, I slipped on the stairs and would have fallen down if not for Wilma embracing me from behind and lifting me back up.
“Are you quite alright, Sister Myne?!”
“Y-Yes, certainly.”
“...Sister Myne, it is good to be enthused, but you mustn’t allow yourself to lose your composure,” advised Rosina with a smile, sending daggers through my chest.
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