Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 2.3 - Chapter 3

The Ink Guild and the Beginning of Winter 

As autumn came to a close, we finished printing our second batch of children’s bibles. I put aside the twenty we were going to use as textbooks and sold the other forty to Benno, earning six large golds. After months of scraping by the poverty line, I was suddenly rich. 

Not long after, Fran and Rosina came to my place to talk to my family about my health over the upcoming winter, and in the following days I used the money earned from the picture books to fill out my winter preparations even more. And with that, I, my family, and the orphanage had all finished our respective winter preparations, just as the weather got cold enough that it seemed it might snow at any moment. 

Lutz gave me a report as we made our way home from the temple. 

“Myne, Master Benno said the head of the Ink Guild and the foreman of the ink workshop came to see him this morning.” 

“...I guess they noticed the new ink we’re using?” 

As predicted, rich people with connections to nobles were beginning to buy the children’s bibles from the Gilberta Company. You could tell from a single glance that the ink used wasn’t normal ink; there was a big difference between blue-tinged gallnut ink and the solid black paint ink made from soot and oil. 

Naturally, the Ink Guild noticed this right away and started searching for who had made it, but nobody in the guild knew anything. Nobody except the foreman of the ink workshop that I had visited, that is. 

“They said that a kid from the Gilberta Company knew how to make a different kind of ink.” 

That revelation sent the head of the Ink Guild and the foreman in question straight to the Gilberta Company—specifically to ask Benno whether he intended to make another Ink Guild for his new ink. 

The Gilberta Company had a precedent for making new guilds. They had fought against the Parchment Guild to make the Plant Paper Guild and its accompanying workshops, which were now filling the market with plant paper somewhat cheaper than parchment. Although there was an agreement that parchment would still be used for official contracts, plant paper was vastly outselling it thanks to the fact that it could be mass produced; it only made sense that those with a vested interest in ink would be on guard after Benno started using different ink on that plant paper to sell books. 

“Master Benno wants you to come to the store tomorrow. He’s got something to talk to you about.” 

“Okay.” 

That was a standard affair for me, and the next day Lutz and I went to the Gilberta Company first before going to the temple. 

“Morning, Benno.” 

“There you are, Myne. Glad you came.” 

Benno gestured at me to sit at the table while Lutz climbed up the back stairs. As a leherl, Lutz was practicing how to make and serve tea to visitors. 

I sat down after seeing Lutz off, at which point Benno set his pen down and headed to the table. He sat down in front of me and began immediately. 

“As I expected, the Ink Guild came knocking. You said you wanted to teach them how to make the ink and then let them make it all, yeah?” 

“Yes. If you keep expanding your business into so many different fields you’ll just end up with more enemies, and making ink really has nothing to do with the Gilberta Company’s main line of work anyway. As long as they let the Myne Workshop keep making its own ink, I won’t mind selling the production process and letting them take care of the rest.” 

The mass production of ink would be important for spreading print around the world, but trying to manage both processes by ourselves might end up being too much to handle. It made more sense to me to let other people take over these jobs where possible. 

“How much money are you thinking?” 

“Mmm, about as much as I’m giving to the temple, so... How about ten percent of the profits?” 

My suggestion made Benno shake his head with a grimace. “You’re pricing it too low.” 

“But the profits will go way up as the ink spreads, and I want them to sell the ink for cheap just like plant paper is being sold for cheap.” 

My thought process was founded entirely on spreading the product as far as possible, but Benno dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. 

“At least raise it to thirty percent for the first ten years. Then you can bump it down to twenty percent for the ten years after that, then ten percent for the rest of time. That’s about fair for what you’re bringing to the table. You shouldn’t sell new technology so short.” 

“Okay. I’ll leave the percentages to you.” 

Benno was no doubt going with thirty percent instead of something much higher to accommodate me. I knew he had my best interests in mind, so I felt comfortable leaving all that to him. 

“Here’s the tea.” Lutz came down the stairs, looking tense as he set cups down in front of us. 

Benno picked up his cup, examining its contents with a sharp look in his eyes before taking a sip. 

“...Not quite there yet.” 

“It definitely isn’t great, but he’s getting better. Lutz, do you want Fran to help you a little? He’s a good teacher; both Gil and Delia are way better at making tea now.” 

“That sounds good... Haaah.” 

Lutz was working hard under Mark’s supervision, but his tea just wasn’t good enough to serve to any other visitors yet. For now he was practicing on me. 

“That just leaves the contract magic.” 

“You think we should use it?” 

Contract magic was expensive enough that it was generally only used when nobles were involved. Benno had signed magic contracts with me twice before, but both times he was thinking long-term and laying the groundwork to protect me from nobles. But this time we were just dealing with the Ink Guild, which as far as I knew didn’t have any nobles in it. 

“The deal we’re making will last a long time and involve a lot of money. It’s worth it, and personally, I don’t trust the Ink Guild’s head at all. Might as well play it safe with contract magic—this’ll be a contract with the Ink Guild itself, not him.” 

“A contract with the Ink Guild?” 

It seemed that groups were seen as separate legal entities in this world as well. I tilted my head in thought and Benno gave a slow nod. 

“Yup. It’ll be important in ensuring that the contract remains in effect even when the head eventually changes.” 

It seemed there were many historical cases where people assuming positions of power decided not to honor contracts that their predecessor had signed. It had happened enough times for the judiciary system here to develop the concept of a legal person. 

“We’ll sell the ink production process to the guild. They’ll let the Myne Workshop keep making its own ink. We’ll make them price the ink cheap so it’ll spread along with the plant paper. We get thirty percent of their profits from the ink. That amount will change every ten years. Sound good?” 

“Be sure to tell them that the ink isn’t good for using on parchment since it doesn’t soak in very much.” 

After confirming the details with Benno and Lutz, Mark knocked and stepped inside. 

“Master Benno, two visitors from the Ink Guild are here.” 

“Let them in once I ring the bell.” 

“As you wish.” Mark left the room. 

Benno immediately stood up and set me down on the floor from my chair with a grim expression. He then jutted his chin toward Lutz, who responded with a silent nod before opening the inner door to the stairs. 

“Myne, I’ll negotiate with the Ink Guild. You don’t want to let them see you. Stay with Corinna, and I’ll send the magic contract up for you to sign once it’s all written down.” 

“...Why jump through so many hoops to hide me?” 

I thought it would be pretty weird to sign a contract with one party absent. I blinked in surprise, and after glaring at where the visitors were probably waiting in the other room, Benno explained in a low, dark voice. 

“The foreman of the workshop might be alright, but the head of the guild has connections to merchant nobles and I don’t hear a lot of good things about him. There are a lot of bad rumors. You’ll be better off not letting him see you.” 

“Okay. I’ll trust you on this.” 

I was really curious about this man from the Ink Guild, but I went ahead and climbed the stairs to Corinna’s room with Lutz. Once there he immediately turned to head back downstairs, since it was his job to deliver the magic contract paper. 

“Lutz, tell me what the head of the Ink Guild is like later, okay?” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

After seeing Lutz off, I turned to Corinna. “Sorry about this, Corinna. I just barged in out of nowhere.” 

“It’s fine, Myne. Let’s use this opportunity to do the temporary stitching for your robes.” 

“Okay. Sorry for giving you such a big job that needs to be done so quickly.” 

Corinna guided me to the parlor with a gentle expression. Along the way we saw Otto in the hall, who met us with a friendly wave. He must have been off work today just like Dad was. 

“Sheesh, Myne. I can’t believe you’d make Corinna do hard work for an archnoble when she’s this pregnant.” 

“Otto, how many times have I told you not to poke your nose into my work?” 

“I’m just worried about you, Corinna.” 

Otto didn’t back down even after getting a hard glare from Corinna. They were as lovey-dovey as ever. 

I watched Corinna kick Otto out of the room like she might a petulant child, wondering whether her regular headaches were actually being caused by Otto rather than her pregnancy. 

“I’m worried about you too, Corinna. Has Otto been going overboard lately? He and Dad are famous at the gate for being love crazy. Is he so excited for his first baby that he’s causing problems...?” 

“My my, is that what people say about him? I imagine your mother has it just as rough as I do then.” Corinna laughed and brought over some blue fabric, which she began spreading on top of a large table. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to finish the ceremonial robes? You really haven’t been given enough time.” 

“It will certainly be a struggle; the workshop is very busy. But it’s still rare for us to get work from archnobles, so our seamstresses are giving it their all. We charged them quite a lot, after all.” 

It seemed that when dyeing the cloth for my first set of robes, they had also dyed extra cloth of the same color to use on another order made by someone else. They were using that extra cloth now, and apparently everyone in the workshop was working at full speed on the embroidery. 

“We still need to do the first fitting for that other order, which gives us plenty of time to dye new cloth before the deadline. But we were told to finish these robes as soon as possible, and while we don’t have the time to use different cloth for your first fitting, I can’t imagine you’ve grown enough for the measurements to be too different from last time.” 

As she spoke, Corinna placed the blue cloth on me with fastening needles stuck through it. It was hard for her to do with her big belly, and it looked like everything she did was a struggle for her. 

“I’m sorry, Myne. I’ll have to call a maid to help. This is a little too much for me to do on my own.” 

“Your belly really is big now. Is it almost time?” 

“Yes, I’ve been told to expect it around the middle of winter. The baby is quite energetic—it’s always kicking around in there. Perhaps it’s a boy?” Corinna rubbed her big belly while ringing a bell to summon a maid. 

But it was Otto who came inside, saying “You rang?” and looking eager to help. I couldn’t help but laugh at Corinna’s exasperated expression. 

“Y’know, now that Myne’s stolen Benno away from us, I think it’s about time I give up and accept my new life working in the Gilberta Company.” 

“Um, Otto. What do you mean I’ve stolen Benno away from you?” 

I don’t even have the arm strength to pick Benno up, let alone take him anywhere. 

“It means what it means. As your financial guardian, Benno’s planning to keep on expanding his business. Which is why he’s in the middle of beating how the Gilberta Company works into my head,” Otto said with a small shrug as he started to help Corinna. He was actually doing a pretty good job—a sign that he had been working hard to learn. 

“Otto, you look so in your element here that I almost forgot you’re a soldier. At this rate it might not be long before you open up your own store with Corinna, huh?” 

“...Well, it’ll be a few years at the very least. I’ll be working hard for Corinna and our baby’s sake.” 

“Yes yes, dear. Work your hands, not your mouth.” 

Corinna finished the temporary stitching while giving instructions to Otto. The length was fine, so we decided to go with the same measurements as last time. She then chased Otto out again and fixed up my hair, which had gotten disheveled from the temporary stitching. 

As I was putting my upper layer of clothes back on, a knock rang out from further in the house, followed by Mark announcing himself. We could hear the footsteps of someone walking to let Mark in; I hurriedly finished dressing myself and nodded right as Mark knocked on the parlor door. 

“Please, come in.” 

“Excuse me, Corinna.” Mark came inside with a sheet of contract paper and Lutz followed behind with a jar of ink. He spread the magic contract out on the round table and confirmed each point with me. It was pretty much exactly what I had discussed with Benno, and the numbers being in our favor showed that Benno had won the negotiations. 

There was just one point I didn’t recognize. A line stating: “The contents of this contract will be recorded in the Ink Guild regulations.” 

“Mark, what does this part about the Ink Guild regulations mean?” 

“Guild regulations must be upheld by all the workshops belonging to a guild. In short, the contents of the contract being recorded in the Ink Guild’s regulations mean that they will apply to the Ink Guilds and ink workshops of other cities as well.” 

The magic contract itself was only magically binding in Ehrenfest, but the guild regulations were upheld across all cities. As such, while there were a number of different Ink Guilds, they all followed the same regulations—though there were slight variations in rules depending on the city and the workshop in question. The way I saw it, guild regulations were pretty much like federal law that existed on top of regional laws. 

“But how will the Ink Guilds of other cities know to apply these rules? Is there some line of communication between them?” 

“They are buying the production process for this ink precisely because it will be profitable to them. It is only natural that this Ink Guild would send word to their fellow Ink Guilds in neighboring cities. They will amend their copy of the regulations after learning the production process.” 

I nodded at Mark’s explanation and grabbed the ink. The contract already had Benno’s and the Ink Guild’s names written on it, but not the name of the head of the guild himself. I wrote my name as close to the bottom as possible. 

“So, Lutz. What kind of person was the head of the Ink Guild?” 

“...He had a nasty look in his eyes. He was searching for you.” 

“Bwuh?” 

Lutz clenched his fists and explained, speaking quietly. “He told Master Benno that he knew a kid had brought up the new ink in the workshop. He said ‘Let me see her if she’s here.’ I think Master Benno was right to hide you... He felt a lot worse than the guildmaster.” 

If Lutz was saying this man was a lot worse than the guildmaster, he must have been really bad. Lutz and Benno both being on guard around him was a sign that I should be on my guard too. 

“But anyway, Myne. Hold out your hand,” said Lutz, readying his knife. 

I winced, remembering that contract magic needed blood, and then held out my hand. A sharp, sudden pain shot through my fingertip and blood puckered out. I pressed it against the contract which then burst into a golden flame, burning the paper away and sealing the agreement. It looked as magical as ever. 

“Myne,” said Mark, “please wait here quietly until Master Benno calls for you.” 

“I know, Mark.” 

With the contract signed, I passed the time by talking to Corinna about her baby and ignoring Otto’s weeping about how I wouldn’t be able to help him with work over the winter. 

It was about lunchtime when Benno rushed up the stairs with a furious look in his eyes. 

“Myne, I sent Mark to take Lutz home and call for your dad and sister to come get you. Don’t even think about leaving until they’re here!” 

“...What?! Did something happen?!” I stood up and raced to Benno, who looked out the window with his brow deeply furrowed. 

“I sent Lutz out on an errand to the Merchant’s Guild, and on the way there some men ganged up on him. They started asking questions about ‘the Gilberta Company girl.’ Said he must know about you since he’s a leherl and brought the contract up.” 

“That must mean they’re...” I trailed off, and Benno gave a deliberate nod. 

“They must have been from the Ink Guild, but I can’t figure out why they’d start hunting for info after signing the contract.” 

It made sense for them to want to gather information beforehand to help get better terms for themselves or something along those lines, but the contract was already signed. They had cornered Lutz even though that would obviously put us on guard, and we had no idea why. And there was no greater fear than the fear of the unknown. 

“...There might be something going on behind the scenes here. Keep your eyes and ears wide open out there.” 

“Right.”

“Myne, we’re here.” 

“Dad! Tuuli!” 

They had both just come off work, and judging by how heavy their breathing was, must have rushed over here at full speed. 

“My apologies for calling you over,” said Benno to Dad, standing up from his seat. 

“Nah, I appreciate you going out of your way to protect my daughter. Mind if I ask what the heck is going on?” 

“The Ink Guild has definitely got their eyes on her, but I don’t know who’s pulling the strings,” explained Benno. “The fact that they’re hunting for information after the contract was signed is strange, and them going after Lutz just doesn’t make sense.” 

I could see my dad’s eyes harden. Tuuli, looking nervous, gave me a tight hug. 

“I’m thinking Myne will be safest if you send her to the temple now,” Benno continued. “I’ll leave the decision up to you and your wife, but they won’t be able to do anything to her if she’s in the temple. It’ll also buy us time to dig for information ourselves.” 

“...Right.” 

Dad gave a grave nod, then picked me up with his brow furrowed deeply. “What do you think, Myne? You want to go to the temple? Or do you want to go home?” 

In all honesty, I wanted Dad to take me home so I wouldn’t be lonely. But that would make it more likely that these people would go after Lutz and my family. 

“...I don’t want to leave so soon, but I don’t want anything to happen to you or Lutz even more. I’ll go to the temple. The snow’s going to start soon, anyway.” 

I put on a brave face, but the idea of living in the temple made me unspeakably nervous. I squeezed Dad’s shirt hard. 

And so my winter in the temple began.