Summons from Benno
Lutz and I began making the suketa together while gathering in the forest. Since the frame would be made mostly with wood, it would be relatively easy to put together thanks to our nails.
The hardest part was carving pieces of wood to be the same length. Putting the actual frame together wasn’t too bad, especially since we weren’t making particularly large washi this time. A suketa used for making postcard-sized pieces of washi wouldn’t need a suspension to support it, for instance. I figured it would be wise to mimic the small one I had made in class once.
I drew the frame and wrote what we needed to build it on my slate to show Lutz, and he started cutting the wood while looking at it.
“Ummm, it needs to end up fitting together like this, so you need to cut the wood perfectly straight. Though we can save that for last and make corrections at the end. Well... do you think you can do it?”
“This is a bigger pain than I thought it’d be. Perfectly straight, huh...?” Lutz carved two long frames, envisioning a rectangle with an inner surface area about as large as a postcard. Once the frames for the upper keta and lower keta were ready, he attached a fixed board to them so that the upper keta wouldn’t move when we were swishing around the water inside to spread the pulp. Subsequently, he put a grip on the upper keta for grasping purposes.
“You did it! Lutz, it looks great!”
“This is good enough?”
“Yeah! What we do is slide a screen between the upper and lower ketas, hold them by this grip, and shake them to get the fibers all spread out and flat. We’re almost there.”
Lutz questioned my “almost,” so I shook the keta a bit and pointed to the open crack between them. “Ideally there won’t be a crack here when the upper and lower ketas are pushed together. The frame will be done once you shave them down such that they fit together perfectly.”
“Perfectly?! No way, I can’t do that without my dad’s tools or something...”
“...Do you think he’ll lend them to you?”
“Dunno...” Apparently, Lutz was experiencing some strong kickback from his family over his choice to not follow after his parents into construction and woodworking. He definitely wasn’t in a position to ask for help or to borrow tools.
Lutz’s dad was of the opinion that merchants only cared about money, that they were cold-blooded monsters and he wouldn’t let his own son become one of them. His mom, Karla, was constantly on his back saying that he had given up on becoming a traveling merchant, so why couldn’t he give up once more and become a carpenter? There wasn’t much I could do about that, since Lutz himself was determined to follow his own road in life no matter how hard his family fought back. The best I could manage was telling them how hard he was working while teaching them recipes. ...Once again, I’m pretty useless.
Even in the worst-case scenario of the keta not working at all, it wouldn’t really be a problem. We could just make another one shaped a bit differently. The screen was the problem. We had to make a screen that was like a hundred pieces of bamboo stuck together. We would need a bunch of bamboo, all of similar size, plus string. Not just any string, either; it had to be strong string. We didn’t have any string we could use for our own purposes, and turning the bamboo into strips also seemed hard. Although we just needed a screen the size of a postcard, I could easily imagine that it would be quite difficult to make.
“Well, we made the keta today, so let’s spend tomorrow carving bamboo and making strips. But I wonder how easy it’ll be to make kinda rounded bamboo strips. Maybe square strips will be fine if they’re uniform in thickness and length?”
“I dunno. We just gotta try stuff and see what works...”
I wasn’t much help since I couldn’t use a knife very well yet, but given how many strips we needed, I had to contribute bit by bit. At least we had accomplished our goal of making the keta. That was nice.
“Hey, Myne. Got a second? You come too, Lutz.” On our way home, Otto called Lutz and I over at the gate. That was pretty common when he needed my help as an assistant, but he had never called Lutz over with me.
“Me too?”
“Yep. Here, for the both of you. A letter of invitation.” Otto handed over a board that looked just like the invitation that Corinna had sent. Thanks to all my studies, I could immediately read the names of the sender and the receivers. It was an invitation from Benno to Lutz and me. I had thought that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again until I made paper, and I had no idea why he would send something like that to two kids who weren’t even his apprentices yet.
“Tomorrow? That’s really soon. He must be in a hurry. I wonder why? He’s not going to reject us before we get the samples ready, is he...?” Perhaps an applicant arrived that he had to prioritize above us, or perhaps he had gleaned from our interview just enough information to make the paper himself. Nothing but bad possibilities ran through my mind.
“No, no! Nothing like that!” Otto shook his hands in a hurry, but I just glared at him. He definitely knew something.
“Mr. Otto, do you know why he sent this?”
“Aaah, well, Benno saw Corinna’s hair and really dug into her with questions. I ended up telling him everything I knew, and uuuh, now he wants to talk to you.”
“Then this is all your fault, Mr. Otto! Why’d you tell him about this?!”
“What’s odd about a husband bragging about how pretty his wife is?”
Wow. Did he go and brag just to get revenge on me for taking all the nails? Well, even if I yell at Otto for that, the letter of invitation is already here. I have to go if I want him to take me on as an apprentice.
“On paper this is just an invitation to lunch, Lutz, so we might end up eating a really fancy meal.”
“Oh man! Yeah! I’m definitely going!” Lutz’s motivation shot up in seconds. Commoners are hungry all the time and would snap up any opportunity to have a fancy meal. Personally speaking, even I was interested in what kind of food rich people ate.
The invitation said to go the Gilberta Company after fourth bell, but I didn’t know where that was. “...Where is the Gilberta Company? We don’t know that place.”
“The Gilberta Company is Benno’s store and the first floor of my place.” Otto lived on the third floor of Corinna’s family home, and that had been arranged because her older brother was worried for his cute little sister. In other words. Corinna was Benno’s little sister, which makes Otto his...
“...You’re his brother-in-law?”
Otto grinned. If they were siblings, it would be fair to assume that everything I told Otto had been leaked to Benno. The will to argue drained from me.
The next day, Lutz and I wore the cleanest clothes we had and headed to Benno’s store. After passing the plaza, our surroundings got increasingly fancy as we walked. Lutz had apparently never walked past the plaza to the inner wall before. He was looking all over the place.
“This is... somethin’ else...”
“Uh huh. It’s the same city but everything’s totally different. I was really surprised too when I first went to Otto’s place.”
“If the city’s this different already, I bet they eat some crazy stuff over here. I’m pumped,” said Lutz with an innocent grin.
I let out a sigh and gave him a warning. “Lutz, be careful about how you eat. He’s definitely going to be watching us to see if we have table manners.”
“Whaa?! How I eat?! I’ve never heard about table manners! What’re you talking about?!”
To be fair, I didn’t know either. Or to be more precise, I didn’t know if this world expected similar manners as to what I knew from Japan. I only had one plan for this. “If you just stay calm and mimic how Benno eats, you should be fine.”
“...Gaaah. Now I’m nervous.”
The two of us, nervous for what awaited us, walked on while holding hands.
We arrived at the Gilberta Company before fourth bell rang. Since the invitation said after fourth bell, we had to kill time near the store.
“What should we do?”
“I think now is a good opportunity to look at the store. We don’t know anything about what Benno sells, how many employees he has, or what kind of work his apprentices do.”
“...You’ve got a point.”
Gathering info on a potential workplace was just common sense for me, but this world had no internet or anything like that. If you wanted information, you had to dig through rumors or see the truth with your own eyes. There was nothing else you could do.
Under normal circumstances, you would learn information about your workplace through your parents ’ association with it and through the person potentially hiring you. But Otto and Benno had hid their relationship as in-laws, so I couldn’t trust Otto to tell me what I wanted to know. After all, during the meeting, Otto had introduced Benno as “an associate from his time as a traveling merchant.” Maybe since they both intended to turn us down, they hadn’t explained anything about the job. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to figure this stuff out for myself.
“There’s not much for sale here.”
“Not as many customers as the shops by the market, either. Is he actually making money?”
“His company is definitely profitable. The store’s super clean and all his employees look really sharp. Judging by how professionally they’re acting, I can guess that his main customers are rich people, or maybe even nobles.”
Even the guard-looking guy standing in front of the store was wearing clothing much more fancy than ours. That was proof his company was involved with vain customers concerned about appearances. Their world was very different from ours. Lutz and I would have to surpass a lot of hurdles to work there.
Diiiing, diiiing...
Fourth bell rang through the city, signaling that it was noon. The store immediately began to close. I would have no idea what to do if it closed completely and there was nobody around. I hurriedly walked up to the guard, who was going inside, and called out to him while holding up the letter of introduction.
“Excuse me! We were invited here for lunch by Benno, but don’t know what to do. Can you help us?”
“Don’t panic so much. He informed me about you two. Wait here until the store’s closed.”
It seemed that at noon the store closed and, excluding one person on noon shift, all the employees left to go eat lunch. I didn’t need to rush at all. I just had to talk to the person on noon shift. It wasn’t long before the store closed. After all the employees left, the person on noon shift guided us deep into the store.
“Sir, your visitors.”
“Yeah. Send them in.”
We were taken to a room that I immediately recognized as one used for holding business discussions. There were chairs and a small table that looked to be designed for interviews. There were shelves on the side wall filled with things I didn’t recognize. Benno was sitting at an administrator’s desk behind which was a shelf crammed with wood boards and pieces of parchment.
...Wait, is that a bookshelf?! Bookshelf probably wasn’t the right word since it didn’t have any books in it, but still, it was a series of shelves packed with things that had words written on them. I started to drift over in its direction, but Benno standing up gave me the strength to dig my heels in and stop in place.
“Hope you two don’t mind me calling you over like this. There’s just something I figured we’d better talk about sooner rather than later.”
“What’s that?”
“Let’s eat first. Talking can come after.” Benno gestured at a chair, which I sat in while staring directly at the first bookshelf-esque thing I had seen in this world. Lutz sat next to me, looking a little nervous.
“It’ll be here soon.” Benno rang the bell on his desk three times. A door on the inside of the room opened and a woman carrying a platter of food walked inside. Apparently the door led to a staircase which connected to the second floor.
“Welcome, Miss Myne and Mister Lutz. I hope you enjoy your meal.”
I thought at first that she was Benno’s wife, but judging by the fact he didn’t introduce her, she was probably just an employee or maybe a maid.
I said “Thank you” in reply and peered at my tableware. We had only been given a plate, a fork, and a spoon. The cutlery wasn’t that different from what we used at home, and only Benno had a knife. It seemed that the food eaten here was determined entirely by Benno, the master of the house. Salad and meat was piled onto our plates with a bowl of soup placed nearby.
“Go ahead and eat.”
Lutz had been doing his best, but once he started eating, my warnings flew right out of his head. He was practically shoving the food into his face. It seemed that I would need to give him a lesson in manners before he started work as a merchant’s apprentice.
I took my fork and watched Benno carefully, but he didn’t eat any differently from what I was used to. Or so I thought, but for some reason, his attention seemed to be more focused on me than Lutz. Am I messing up? Maybe I’m eating just a little differently from what he expects, and that’s making him curious? I thought while working my way through my plate. I was trying my best to avoid being indecent, but it was very possible I was still acting weird.
In any case, the main thing about manners I learned from this meal was that you should indicate that you are full by leaving a little food on your plate. I did my best to clean my plate, figuring it would be rude to do otherwise, and nearly choked when they immediately gave me seconds.
I had been a little excited to eat rich-person food, but in reality, they ate the same things we did — just more of it. The flavor was just about what I was used to. To be honest, the food at my place tasted even better lately, now that we were making proper broth for soup. Lutz seemed pretty satisfied, though. Quantity over quality for him.
“Looks like you two are done, so let’s talk.”
Our talk began with us drinking herb tea and Benno drinking a thick-colored drink that looked but did not smell like coffee.
“First, tell me. Why did you ask Otto for help?” Benno’s angry tone and expression made his frustration clear.
Lutz shrunk down a little and I tilted my head in confusion. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you mean. I ask Mr. Otto for help all the time. What exactly are you referring to?”
“I hear from Otto that you got nails through him. You even traded the liquid that makes hair silky for it, yeah?”
“Yes, I did. Is there a problem with that? Otto was the only person I knew who could get me nails, so I thought that was my only option.” I didn’t understand why Benno would be mad at me for negotiating with Otto. Maybe it was a mistake to hand over the shampoo like that.
Benno, seeing that both of us were totally confused, let out a heavy sigh. “From the perspective of a merchant, you two should have asked me for help first. That’s just common sense.”
“We should have asked you, Mr. Benno?”
He gave a firm nod, which meant that it probably was common sense for him, but I personally didn’t agree.
“Why is that, though? We’re not your apprentices or anything yet. If making paper is your test for us, I thought it would be wrong for us to ask you for help.”
“Wrong. If you make the paper, you’ll become my apprentices and the paper will be sold in my store. Thus, you should come to me for help first and foremost. Not Otto.”
Although we were not his apprentices yet, the fact that he had promised to hire us under certain conditions meant that we should have been thinking of him as our boss already. I had been thinking of the paper-making as a test for us to finish on our own, but in reality, it was our first job for him. In which case, what we had done was the equivalent to asking a person from another company for help instead of our boss. That was basically a slap in the face for him.
“I’m sorry. I understand what we did wrong. What we did was like, well, a slap to your face that could have hurt your reputation. We’ll be more careful from now on.”
Benno nodded several times to my apology and straightened up. “Alright. Now, let’s talk business. In return for that liquid that makes hair silky, I will provide the materials you need to make paper. How about it?”
“Wasn’t making paper kind of like a test for us, though? Won’t providing the materials spoil that?” I had thought that he was testing us specifically on whether we could prepare everything ourselves. It’d be a lot easier to make paper with Benno providing all the materials, but I didn’t know if that’s what he really wanted.
“If you can’t do anything without tools, it won’t be a good test of what you can do. And in any case, there’s not a workplace out there that expects its apprentices to do their jobs without help. That said, you don’t officially work for me yet and I’m not going to help you for free. Loans require collateral, but I’m guessing you two don’t have anything that’d work as collateral.”
Naturally, children living in poverty like Lutz and I had nothing that would work as collateral. “You can’t return information once it’s given, though, so I don’t think collateral is relevant here,” I said.
“That’s why I’m not loaning you money, I’m spending it. I’ll buy the information on how to make the liquid. In return, I’ll prepare everything you need to make paper. Not a bad deal, right?”
“I do think it’s a fair deal.”
Requesting the construction of certain tools and ordering certain materials ran the risk of revealing the paper-making process to him, but Lutz and I couldn’t even scrounge up a pot on our own. We needed any help we could get.
“What do you think, Lutz?” I said to my friend, who had been sitting silently next to me. We were making the paper together, so I figured this deal was something we should decide on together, but Lutz lowered his eyes a bit and shook his head.
“...Thinking’s your job, ain’t it? Whatever you wanna do is fine with me, Myne.” Lutz was on board too. My job was now to negotiate the best possible terms for us. If Benno would provide the raw materials for us in addition to the tools, then we could focus entirely on making paper.
“Does ‘everything you need’ just mean tools, or does it include raw materials as well?”
“It does. You’re gonna be testing out different types of wood, yeah? I’ve already heard that Lutz was asking around lumber yards about types of wood.”
Wow. The information network of a merchant sure was scary. It didn’t take any time at all for news of a kid wandering around gathering information to reach his ears.
“How long will this assistance last?”
“Until your baptism. I can’t take you on as apprentices until then. For now, our dealings will take the shape of me buying the things you ask of me. You will earn what’s left after handling and material fees are subtracted. Once you two have been baptized, I’ll sell paper here, and ten percent of the net profit from it will be added to your wages.”
That wouldn’t be a problem. We would bring the paper we make here and sell it. The handling fee wouldn’t be a problem since we would still be profiting. However, I felt a little uneasy about what would follow our baptism. I appreciated that the net profits would be added to our wages, but what if he fired us? If he stopped paying us wages, then there was the chance that he would stop sharing the profit as well.
I felt that there was a tall, thick wall standing between Benno and I, reflecting the difference in our life experiences — one rich, one poor. Lutz and I had no guarantee that Benno wouldn’t cut us off once he was making enormous profits from the paper.
“I would rather have the right to make paper than increased wages. Please make it so that only Lutz has the right to sell paper.”
“...What are you getting at?”
“I don’t want to be kicked to the street the moment you have paper for yourself. To me, insurance that you won’t cut us off is more important than potential profits.”
Benno stroked his chin in thought, eyes gleaming sharply. “Well, I can see where you’re coming from. Looking out for yourself is important. Your childish reasoning, however, is full of holes.”
“Ngh... I’m trying to learn.” Given how little I knew about how this world worked, no matter how hard I racked my brains, my childlike ignorance would hold me back.
“So. You just want the rights to sell paper? You won’t push for ownership of the hair liquid?”
“That’s right. I won’t ask for any control over the (simple all-in-one shampoo). You can sell it as you wish.”
I wasn’t concerned with the rights of a simple product to sell. Paper, on the other hand, was something I wanted to spread across the world, and I wanted to ensure that Lutz would have a job as a merchant apprentice no matter how hard his parents fought back.
“Fair enough. I’ll give you full ownership rights for the paper. But the paper will be sold in my store. I won’t give you the right to determine what price it’s sold for. I also won’t increase your wages. Deal?”
“That’s okay with me. This is just insurance, after all.”
If I could ensure that we had a place to work for money, I was happy. There would be plenty of time to focus on profit later. It wasn’t hard to think of tons of things we could sell for money if given the resources to make them: the hair stick Benno was so interested in, my recipes, other products relating to beauty, and so on. There was no need to get too worked up over the shampoo in particular.
“Then we’re done here. I have business at a noble’s villa this afternoon. I’ll be back in the evening. While I’m gone, write down the supply orders for what you need. Write everything you need to make paper.”
I was happy that things were proceeding so quickly, but I hadn’t learned how to write supply orders yet. “...I don’t know how to write those.”
“I’ll leave someone here to teach you. If you finish before the afternoon, I’ll reward you with some nice information.”
“Nice information?”
“There’s a certain form of contract that you use when you really want to protect your own interests that is generally only used for nobles and for situations that involve immense profit. I would bet neither of you have ever seen it before. They’re not used at the markets. I’ll be guaranteeing your right to the paper in a way no oral agreement could ever manage. You’re welcome.”
It was true that I had wanted a signed contract over an oral agreement, but I hadn’t expected Benno to suggest it himself. “...Wouldn’t it be more convenient for you if this were just an oral agreement, Mr. Benno?”
Benno shook his head and grinned. “This contract’s also gonna guarantee my ownership of the (simple all-in-one shampoo). I don’t want you two butting in once the profit starts rolling in. You get full ownership of one thing, but you absolutely and completely lose ownership of another thing.”
“Thank you very much.” We had only met twice and it was clear that neither of us fully trusted the other yet. A signed contract would be for both of our benefits.
As his employees began returning from lunch, Benno instructed one of them to be our instructor. It was a man dressed so much like a butler that I got the urge to call him Sebastian.
“Mark, this is Myne and Lutz. Teach them how to write supply orders for me. Keep an eye on them until I’m back.”
“As you wish, sir.”
Benno prepared to leave, giving out orders to various other employees as well. He spun around right before exiting the door and spoke to Mark.
“Oh, right. Mark. Get the contract magic ready before I return.”
...Um, did he just say contract magic? That’s what it sounded like. Wha? Wait, has this been a fantasy world all along?
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