Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.6 - Chapter 7

Preparing Fey Paper

After breakfast and while I was practicing the harspiel, my retainers coming from the castle arrived. My guard knights switched places, and we started going over our plans for the day.

“This afternoon’s discussion with Benno is going to be confidential, so I intend to hold our meeting in my hidden room,” I said. “Damuel, if you would guard me.”

“And your scholar, Lady Rozemyne?” Hartmut asked with a smile.

I couldn’t help but hesitate. To protect my secrets, I would need to select a name-sworn retainer, but... was Hartmut really my only option? He was overflowing with enthusiasm, and everyone else was averting their eyes, so that appeared to be the case.

“Ngh... You may come, Hartmut.”

“As you will.”

Fran and Monika spent the morning ensuring that my hidden room was ready for use, while I made progress on the handover and other work in the High Priest’s chambers. Melchior and his retainers were there with me, so we discussed the future of the orphanage. Since one of my many duties was serving as the orphanage director, I said that Melchior should select one of his retainers to take over from me. He received this news with a truly troubled expression.

“The orphanage director... The High Priest is a reasonable enough role to fill, as its duties resemble scholar work, but the orphanage director has to look after commoner children, don’t they? That may be closer to attendant work, but it’s still so unique that I’m not sure one year would be enough time to complete the handover. Ah, and my retinue is still rather small... I think a girl would suit the position best.”

Melchior’s retainers were mostly men, as one would expect, and most considered managing an institution of orphans to be outside of their job description. Looking around, it seemed that they were also opposed to taking a female attendant for this purpose.

I understood that appearances were important, but this was concerning. I’d intended to give Melchior one of my attendants, but it seemed unlikely that he would accept Monika or Nicola.

It won’t be easy to change their mindsets either... What to do?

“Most residents of the orphanage have no mana,” I said, “but now the children of the former Veronica faction are among its numbers. There is also the printing workshop to be considered, so unlike before, I think the archducal family should assume control.”

The orphanage director would need to raise the children and deal with those who wanted to buy the grays deeply involved in the printing industry. Thus, the position would need to go to an archducal retainer or someone who could easily report to the aub.

“We could ask one of Charlotte’s or Brunhilde’s retainers...” Melchior began, then shook his head. “Oh, but Charlotte is going to be busy until after Mother gives birth, and Brunhilde is still only engaged... Sister, are you leaving behind any attendants other than Brunhilde?”

I clapped my hands together and turned to Philine, who was working nearby. As both one of my retainers and someone who was used to paperwork, she was the perfect candidate.

“Philine, will you be the orphanage director?” I asked.

“Me?!”

“You wish to protect Konrad over the next three years until your coming of age, correct? The position will suit you well, then. You have seen my work up close, and you already have the necessary skills. Plus, as the director, you will receive an executive allowance—I assume you will want a stable source of income once I am gone.”

Philine received a salary as an apprentice, but she had also been making money by working in the temple and selling me her transcriptions. In other words, my departure would massively impact her income. She was fortunate enough that Elvira was going to cover her room and board, but she would need more money to cover everything else.

“I would propose that you serve as the orphanage director for three years, during which you would train your replacement,” I said. “I will speak to the aub and the others about this.”

Philine had gone to the orphanage countless times, and she would be able to see Konrad there. I also trusted that she would treat the children well and pick her successor carefully.

“But I haven’t prepared the chambers or anything like that...” she murmured.

“All the furniture currently in the orphanage director’s chambers will remain there. I also intend to leave Nicola and Monika with you, as well as either Fran or Zahm. Of course, you would be doing this as a favor to me, so I will cover your costs for three years in return.” Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have reasonable cause to give extra funds to Philine and Philine alone—but assigning her to be the orphanage director made for the perfect excuse.

“Very well,” she said. “I accept this duty.”

“Having one of your retainers as the orphanage director sounds nice, Sister,” Melchior said. “Philine, if you could also help me when you come to the temple, I would very much appreciate that. I don’t think a year is going to be enough time to complete the handover.”

Philine smiled and nodded.

I smiled too. “Of course, Melchior, Philine’s help will come at a cost. I shall create a form detailing the tasks she will carry out and the compensation she should receive for her time. You will also want to compensate your own retainers, as you are asking them to do more than their expected workloads. I am paying mine already.”

As I puffed out my chest, satisfied, Melchior’s retainers stared expectantly at their lord.

After lunch, I went to the orphanage director’s chambers with my three retainers. It was Hartmut’s first time visiting this hidden room, so he was absolutely over the moon. Damuel was glancing between the two of us, having no doubt noticed the slight exhaustion I was feeling. Angelica was guarding the door, as always.

As I sipped the tea that Fran had poured me and ate one of the sweets that Nicola had prepared, Benno and Mark entered my chambers. We exchanged greetings, then went into my hidden room. It was a common enough occurrence... with one very uncommon exception.

Benno’s eyes moved cautiously to Hartmut; then he asked whether everything was okay. He wasn’t sure how openly he could speak, since Fran, Damuel, and Gil were the only ones in my service who normally entered this hidden room.

“Hartmut has given his name to me, so there is nothing to worry about,” I said. “He cannot disobey me, so I will simply order him to keep everything that transpires here a secret.”

“I am delighted that you finally accepted my name, Lady Rozemyne,” Hartmut interjected, overflowing with enthusiasm. “It has been my wish to enter this hidden room ever since I discovered that you hold some of your most important discussions here.”

Benno watched us with an unsteady smile. I could tell that he wanted to leave and that the most pressing thought on his mind right now was probably “I can’t believe you accepted the name of someone like this.”

I wouldn’t have, but he was so damn insistent.

“Please, Lady Rozemyne, do not feel as though you need to hold anything back because I am here,” Hartmut said. “I already know that you are a former commoner, that Gunther is your father, and that you have known Benno since before joining the temple.”

I stared at him, completely taken aback. Benno’s expression was similarly rigid.

He continued, “I was able to determine as much simply by listening to the commoners in the workshop and the orphanage, and eliminating the contradictions as they came. Lord Ferdinand ultimately confirmed the accuracy of my conclusions. Thus, speak to your heart’s content. Pay me no mind at all.”

“Excuse me?!” I exclaimed. “How can you say all that and then expect me to act like it was nothing?! Am I the only one who didn’t know about this?! Damuel, did you know?!”

He looked just as shocked and frantically shook his head the moment our eyes met. “No, this is news to me as well.”

Hartmut wore a casual smile. “I thought that revealing my knowledge of your past before I gave my name would disquiet you, Lady Rozemyne.” He hadn’t wanted me to worry about how to keep him quiet, what the impact on the lower city might be, and what I would do if the truth spread to other nobles.

“Hartmut, have you told anyone else...?” I asked.

“I would never do something so wasteful. It took countless visits to the workshop and the orphanage to make those working there lower their guard around me. Then, I spent my time carefully deriving nuggets of valuable information from their banal remarks. They would never reveal anything outright, so I was forced to gradually crush the minor contradictions that arose and draw my final conclusions from there. As I said, I then confirmed my suspicions with Lord Ferdinand, even at the risk of being executed on the spot. Why would I ever reveal such valuable information to anyone else when I was the one who worked so hard to discover it?”

Hartmut was looking at me as though I’d asked the most obvious question in the world, and that only confused me more. Things got even worse when I asked why he had gone to such lengths in the first place. In his words, he had wanted to figure out why I treasured Damuel as one of my retainers. Had he really worked so hard to learn something that he was going to keep entirely to himself...?

“Ngh... I’m exhausted already.”

Thanks to Hartmut, I was drained before we’d even had a chance to start our discussion. I slumped my shoulders, which prompted Benno—who was sitting across from me—to sit upright.

“So, what are we here to discuss?” he asked. “For you to have summoned us here when the merchants of other duchies could arrive at any moment, something drastic and unexpected must have occurred. Was there an incident during the Archduke Conference?” His dark-red eyes were narrowed as though he wanted to snap, “Hurry up. I’m busy.”

His assumption was correct; something drastic and unexpected had occurred. I straightened my back as well and said, “Everything I want the guildmaster to know is written here in this letter.” I presented the correspondence in question. “The matter I want to discuss with you, Benno, needs to be kept between us.”

“That was a given from the moment we entered this room,” Benno said. He took the letter, handed it to Mark, and then turned back to me, awaiting my next words.

“Although I cannot reveal the exact circumstances... I will need to leave Ehrenfest one year from now.”

“One year...? We already have the Groschel renovations in autumn, and the opening of a second Plantin Company store... and now you want us to go with you to another duchy next spring?” He was doing his very best to maintain a neutral expression, but I could tell that he wanted to scream, “Are you trying to kill me?!”

I frantically shook my head. “Not at all. I only have so much influence over the industry in Ehrenfest because of the aub’s permission. Elsewhere, underage children cannot be trusted with such matters, so those involved with the printing industry will not be moved until three years from now, when I come of age. Before then, I must confirm the status of my destination, prepare to establish stores and workshops there, and—”

Benno raised a hand to interrupt my explanation, then crossed his arms and gave me an exasperated smirk. “In other words, we should prepare to leave a year from now.”

“Hm? No, I said three years because—”

“The time limits you provide are always shortened out of the blue. If we plan to have everything done in three years, we’ll never finish in time.”

“Wha—?! Benno, that’s so mean!” I glared at him. “I’m saying it won’t happen before I come of age!”

He scoffed. “There’s nothing mean about it; I’m speaking from experience. Will you be taking all of the Gutenbergs? When an archducal family member leaves their duchy to live elsewhere, their personnel go with them, right?”

“It would be nice if everyone came, but I would not like to force anyone. I am going somewhere far away, and you will not find yourselves entirely welcome. It is possible that I won’t be able to work with you directly as I do now, and taking everyone will slow down the growth of Ehrenfest’s printing industry.”

I didn’t want to take all of the Gutenbergs when they had only just finished training their successors.

“However,” I continued, “I do want a printing workshop where I am going. For that reason, once preparations have been made, I would ask the Gutenbergs to make a trip similar to their yearly ones, but that is all. I also intend to take a select few people with me before the three years are up, including Tuuli from the Gilberta Company and the Renaissance of the Dyeing Guild. Oh, and please inform everyone that those who accompany me will have the chance to bring their families with them, should they wish to.”

“Understood.”

“As for my chefs, I wish to bring Ella and Hugo. Their families are welcome to come as well, but could the arrangements be made stealthily? Ella is currently on break for her pregnancy.”

I went on to note that the apprentice chefs coming from the lower city to train would use Philine’s chambers. Then I continued, “The kitchen should not encounter any issues as long as Nicola is there. I am going to fund the orphanage director’s chambers for the three years until Philine comes of age, so we can expect things to remain as they are.”

“I see,” Benno replied. “Who will be in charge of the Rozemyne Workshop? Printing is a duchy industry, so we won’t be able to purchase the workshop ourselves, will we?”

Indeed, the Plantin Company would not be able to own and operate the workshop when it was located in the temple’s orphanage as part of a duchy industry.

“I should not be getting involved,” I said, “but I believe that assigning Gil to Philine and then keeping things as they are should suffice for the next three years.”

“And after that...?”

“The position of orphanage director should go to an archducal retainer or perhaps even Mother. We can only hope that they will train their scholars well enough over the three years afforded to them. It would seem that Dirk and Konrad are aiming to become a noble and a blue priest who can protect the orphanage and workshop, so I would recommend teaching them while you have the opportunity.” I made sure to mention that Konrad specifically wanted to become a merchant-oriented priest.

Benno’s lips curved into an amused grin. “Tell me, if you intend to move the Gutenbergs, what will happen to Gil and the other gray priests?”

“Three years from now, when my personnel move, I intend to purchase them as employees for a new printing workshop and ask them to join me alongside Philine. I will also buy Nicola at that time.”

In short, everyone slotted into one of three groups: those being left behind, those coming with me, and those who would join me after three years. I would need to discuss each individual with Sylvester and ensure that nobody was purchased by anyone else. If I explained that some of them were being left behind so that the industry wouldn’t collapse and used trump cards during my negotiations with the others, I was sure I would be able to manage.

“Hm.” Benno nodded. “I now understand how you intend to mobilize your personnel and carry out the handover. Once the Gutenbergs return from Kirnberger, you can trust me to lay all the necessary groundwork. Now...” He eyed me carefully. “Is the Plantin Company included among those personnel you require to go with you?”

Elvira had told me to state my desires outright. And since neither Hartmut nor Damuel could see my face from where they were waiting behind me, I gave Benno a provocative grin, as I’d always done so long ago.

“Naturally, I would be delighted if the Plantin Company were to accompany me. Your presence would hearten me, and it would make welcoming the Gutenbergs in three years’ time that much easier. However, as I expected, you are currently drowning in work. Whether you are able to come will depend on your skill.”

“Oho... My skill, you say?” Benno smiled in response, making it clear that he had accepted my challenge. First, though... I needed to order some trombe paper.

“As I expect this will not be an easy move, I will cooperate by bringing wealth to your store. I have a sizable order for you: sell me all the fireproof paper you have.”

“Fireproof paper? And... all of it?”

“At Ferdinand’s request, I desire at least three hundred sheets.”

Not even trombe paper was good enough to be described as “maximal quality.” We would need to carry out more research and return to brewing to improve it even further. Unless we acted fast, we wouldn’t finish in time.

“I intend to have our workshops focus on making it,” I said, “so if you have any stock, I shall take it all. The sooner, the better.”

“Our entire stock...” Benno muttered. “Will you be able to pay immediately?”

“Absolutely. I have the funds that Ferdinand left behind.” It technically wasn’t my money, but I didn’t see an issue with using it for his sake. Plus, it wasn’t like I didn’t have my own income.

“As soon as we return to the store, I will check our stock and ask Mark to deliver as much as we have,” Benno said. It made sense that he was entrusting such a large order to his right-hand man.

I turned to Mark, who was standing behind Benno, and gave him my thanks. He nodded in response, wearing his usual calm smile.

Once my discussion with Benno was over, Hartmut began moaning that he envied those whom I trusted so readily. I replied that he had my trust as well, and that he could strengthen it by training Melchior and his attendants, then immediately started pushing him toward the High Priest’s chambers.

Next, upon returning to the High Bishop’s chambers, I told everyone in no uncertain terms that Philine was going to become the orphanage director once I was gone, and that Monika and the others would transition to serving her. My temple attendants were evidently relieved to hear that my replacement would be a noble with whom they were already familiar.

“Monika shall serve as her attendant,” I said, “and I will assign Lily to oversee the orphanage once Wilma is gone. Now then, Philine... You only have a year to prepare—half a year, if we subtract the time we are going to spend at the Royal Academy. Let us begin the handover posthaste.”

I asked Monika to gather documents related to running the orphanage and stack them in front of our future director. Then I continued, “The documents before you detail the orphanage’s cash flow over the past year; as its new director, you will need to understand how much money it requires each season. I should note that there were some unusual circumstances this year with the children of the former Veronica faction and the aub’s funds. Monika, do keep that in mind when you are guiding Philine through this.”

“Understood, Lady Rozemyne.”

Philine stared at the mountain of documents in astonishment, but only for a moment; she quickly got a hold of herself and picked up the board on top of the pile. Monika leaned over to read it as well, and together they began working their way through it.

“Fran,” I said, “please prepare some tea for Mark as well as the payment to be given to him upon his return.”

“Understood.”

As I opened my hidden room—we would store the trombe paper that Mark brought inside—an ordonnanz flew in and settled on my arm. “It has been some time, Lady Rozemyne,” it said. “This is Brigitte of Illgner. We have prepared your fey paper and are ready to have it teleported to the castle at your convenience. What date would be ideal? We would also ask that the payment and the feystones to cover the teleportation be sent back to us with the boxes we shall provide.”

I could practically feel my eyes sparkling. Her timing couldn’t have been better!

“Lady Rozemyne,” Roderick suddenly interjected, “for this research, it would be better if we used the castle’s workshop.”

“And why is that...?” I asked, tilting my head at him.

“Clarissa cannot enter the one in the temple, so she would make an enormous fuss if we did our work there. I also believe that the brewing will proceed much faster with the support of two mana-rich archscholars, and the castle will give us access to those who performed last year’s joint research with Drewanchel, such as Lord Ignaz and Lady Marianne.”

It was my scholars’ duty to do my brewing—or at least support me when I did my own—so Clarissa would go absolutely crazy if we left her out. Roderick was making some excellent points, but I couldn’t agree right away.

“I cannot say I am too enthusiastic about brewing in the castle. Isn’t everyone there immensely busy at the moment? I expect it would cause quite a fuss if people learned that I was brewing for Ferdinand.”

“Lady Rozemyne, you have two workshops now, do you not?” Damuel noted. “I would suggest brewing in your library. Clarissa can join you there.”

I clapped my hands together. My library’s workshop would allow Clarissa to brew without also subjecting me to any number of unwanted interjections. It would also be a good place to search for other ingredients.

I sent a response to Brigitte asking her to send the paper tomorrow at third bell, then sent an ordonnanz to Lieseleta in the castle informing her of the situation and asking her to prepare the payment, some feystones, and the people necessary to load the paper into my highbeast. I also sent an ordonnanz to Lasfam stating my intentions for the library over the coming days.

It was just before sixth bell—the end of the workday—when Mark slid into the room with a box in his arms. The Plantin Company really had thrown together its remaining stock of trombe paper. I asked Fran to confirm how many sheets there were, then gave Mark an appropriate payment: five large golds. My retainers were dazed to see me hand over so much, but that didn’t matter to me.

I got Fran and Zahm to take the paper into the hidden room, then had them check to see whether the workshop had any for me to purchase. I needed as much as I could get my hands on right now.

“Roderick, when you return to the castle, ask Wilfried’s and Charlotte’s retainers whether there is any fey paper left over from our joint research with Drewanchel. I will purchase any that they have tomorrow.”

The next day, I moved the fey paper being stored in the temple into my Pandabus, then flew to the castle as scheduled. Lieseleta had already collected the paper from Illgner, which she then added to our stock. From there, I went to my library with Clarissa and Hartmut—plus my guard knights, of course—to support their brewing.

“Good morning,” I said to Lasfam.

“Lady Rozemyne. I have long awaited your return,” he replied with a smile. “Do come in; tea has been prepared.”

I decided to take a short break while the servants brought the paper in from my highbeast. As I was sipping my drink, Lasfam handed me a sound-blocker, then asked for more information about Ferdinand and the terms I’d negotiated for him.

“Lord Ferdinand entrusted everything to you, Lady Rozemyne, so why has the aub suddenly been put in charge?” he inquired. “Might I request an explanation?”

Hartmut and Clarissa still needed to get everything ready before they could brew, so we had plenty of time for a chat. I explained the rumors about my relationship with Ferdinand that had spread among the nobles, and the general opinion that it was strange for me to look after his belongings when I wasn’t related to him or still under his care. To remedy this, the castle had agreed to start overseeing his luggage, though I would remain in possession of the estate and its key. I also mentioned that Aub Ahrensbach had passed away, that Ferdinand and Detlinde’s wedding had been delayed a year, and that I’d negotiated with the royal family to secure Ferdinand both a hidden room and a guarantee that he wouldn’t be punished by association.

Last of all, I mentioned our reason for coming to the estate today: I was going to use the ingredients I was gathering to make Ferdinand some maximal-quality fey paper—at his request, of course.

“And so,” I concluded, “he is receiving a hidden room in Ahrensbach.”

“That is wonderful indeed,” Lasfam said, still wearing a smile as he praised me. “After all, here at this estate, Lord Ferdinand spent more time in his workshop than anywhere else.”

“Indeed. Please gather together the tools and ingredients we are to send to him, then have them sent to the castle. The aub will bring them with him when visiting Ahrensbach for the summer funeral.”

“How many books from the library would you like me to include?”

“None. All the books in the library now belong to me.” Lasfam met my immediate refusal with wide eyes, so I quickly continued, “Though, um... I would not mind if you were to send him transcriptions of your own making. I expect that Ferdinand will need his research documents and the like.”

Lasfam gazed down at me and smiled. “My intention was not to take away what is rightfully yours. A portion of the books in Lord Ferdinand’s collection were given to him by Heidemarie; I merely thought that Eckhart would appreciate the chance to see them again.”

“Oh, I see. I do not know much about Heidemarie, unfortunately.” I understood that she was Eckhart’s late wife, but that was about it—nobody had seemed willing to tell me anything else. According to Lasfam, she had been in a similar situation as Philine; a second wife forced upon her father by the Veronica faction had taken over her house.

He continued, “As this wife began selling and pawning many of the house’s belongings, Heidemarie took all the books that remained in their library and brought them to Lord Ferdinand. She made it clear that she would not hand over her house’s valuable knowledge to the Veronica faction, and instead offered the books to him.”

I instinctively looked toward the library. How many of the books in there belonged to Heidemarie? Above all else, though, I was sincerely thankful that no valuable books had ended up being carelessly disposed of.

“Eckhart always stayed away from the library because it reminded him of Heidemarie,” Lasfam said, “but I believe that the wounds of his heart have since healed. Last year, he went inside and gazed fondly upon her books.”

“I see...”

As silence fell, Clarissa entered the room—an indication that she was ready to brew. “I am so glad to finally have this chance to do scholar work for you, Lady Rozemyne,” she said, hungrily urging me to stand up. “Just last night, I was looking over the joint research with Drewanchel and seeing what I could improve upon.”

Lasfam watched us with an expression that resembled nostalgia. “Lady Rozemyne, how long will you be staying in the workshop?” he asked.

“Well... I need to have samples of the ‘maximal-quality’ fey paper ready before the funeral, plus I will need to confirm that Ferdinand is doing well, so... I expect to stay in the workshop for several days.” That appeared to worry Lasfam, so I quickly added, “Fear not—unlike Ferdinand, I shall willingly take breaks to eat and such.”

Lasfam gave a wry smile and nodded. “Understood.”