Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 6 Chapter 11: The Completed Metal Letter Pieces

After receiving the High Priest’s permission to allow a merchant to my chambers, I sent a request to Benno to find a shoemaker for me.

“May you be blessed with the melting of snow. May the Goddess of Spring’s grace you with her kindness.” Benno greeted me with the blessing that celebrated the coming of spring before entering my chambers with the shoemakers.

“May you be blessed by the Goddess of Water Flutrane and her followers,” I returned to blessing while seated in the room.

Damuel, who was now my bodyguard, was carefully inspecting Benno, the shoemaker who was probably the same age as Benno, and his assistant took my feet measurements and asked me what design and material I wanted.

“Hm,” Rosina muttered out loud. “It is important that we prepare shoes for the Spring Prayer first, so Sister Myne will need long horse leather boots.”

“Then we’ll go with white leather,” Delia gave her input.

“Delia, think about it. Sister Myne will have to walk throughout farming towns for the Spring Prayer. Using a darker colour would be better for this occasion.”

Rosina and Delia started discussing it between themselves and I hadn’t got the chance to say my input. Fran listened to them with a frigid expression because I told him to look after them.

Delia preferred cute and pretty things, she liked it more extravagant. She would always go crazy about shopping. If she were to make the final call, the shoes would definitely be too bling.

Conversely, Rosina had a good fashion sense, her experience as Sister Christine’s attendant helped as she knew what I would need, but she did not have a sound judgement in handling money. If she followed Sister Christine’s way of thinking, she would just buy things according to her mood without holding back, and I would go broke. And of course, the things she was requesting for were increasing. From “These look quite nice” and “Since the shoemakers are here, we might as well order these too.”

In the end, Fran had to step in to stop their crazy antics.

“Delia, please do not go overboard with the decorations. Rosina, Sister Myne will grow, so it is illogical to order these many shoes. A better decision would be to order more shoes as she grows older.”

Fran had served the High Priest, so he knew how many clothing items I needed to order according to society’s standards. However, both Fran and the High Priest were guys, so they lacked the sense to appreciate cute and pretty things like Rosina did. So he just needed to keep Delia and Rosina in rein when making important decisions, and all I had to do was make the final decision.

“Sister Myne, are these fine?”

“Yes, I think three pairs will do fine.”

After all that, we decided to order a pair of thick and high horse leather boots that went up to my knees and a pair of soft ankle pig leather boots. Both of them will be used for the Spring Prayers. As for the final pair, it was a fancier cloth one for indoor use at the temple and in the Noble’s District.

After finalising the order and just went the shoemaker was about to leave, Benno approached me.

“Pardon me, but I will need to discuss an important matter with Sister Myne. Fran, may I request that you escort these two to the gates?”

“Delia can do that instead, Fran, please tell Delia to guide these men out. Rosina, please brew some tea.”

Fran gave a nod to Benno, before instructing Delia what to do. She was beaming with excitement on the way out, she was in a good mood because of all that shopping.

“So, what did you need to speak with me about?”

“Sister Myne, Johann recently came by the store. He has finished the request you sent.”

My eyes fluttered with surprise. I became Johann’s (a young smity) patron last autumn. His Ierherl apprenticeship required him to complete a task, and I made an order with him to make multiple sets of metal letter pieces.

“Hm? Um… Benno. You meant the request to make the metal letters, right? Um… I didn’t expect him to finish them this fast.”

The set includes both the uppercase and lowercase of the thirty five letters in the alphabet, I made a request to Johann to make fifty types of every vowel and twenty for each consonant. He hit the ball out of the park, I totally didn’t expect him to finish them over winter.

“He has made a request for you to check them, Sister Myne.”

After all, the task that Ieherl smiths needed to finish was still an order made by a customer. It was an unwritten rule that they present the final product to the customer for their evaluation.

“For convenience, it would be better for you to meet them at the store, but since that’s not possible, would you prefer that I bring Johann and his foreman here?”

“…I will need to consult the High Priest’s about it first.”

“Ok then.”

Damuel and the High Priest were very mindful about people entering my chambers, so I needed to receive their approval about it first.

“Johann has been informed that you cannot visit the store as long as it snows, so please approach the matter with care and make sure the High Priest is informed about all matters.”

So he basically meant: I swear, you better talk to the High Priest.

With that, I immediately sent a letter to meet the High Priest. He was almost done with all the work that piled up over the winter, he was probably quite free now so he quickly arranged a date to meet.

“Um, High Priest. Would it be fine for me to invite a smith named Johann and his foreman to my chambers?”

“…Since you address him by his name, I assume that he is an acquaintance.”

“That’s right. I am his patron and I will need to review my order.”

The High Priest nodded, and tapped his finger gently on his temples. “Myne, is this smith aware that you are an apprentice blue shrine maiden?”

“No, not yet. Since Johann had misunderstood that I was Benno’s daughter, it is likely that Benno had not told him anything about me yet.”

“I see. If that’s so, he cannot enter the temple. Visiting Benno’s store directly would be a better choice.”

“But the shoemaker could come, why can’t Johann?” I tilted my head and asked in confusion.

The High Priest sighed.

“The shoemaker was invited to the chambers of an apprentice blue shrine maiden with Gilberta Company’s referral. But Johann would be invited here by Myne under the Gilberta Company to check her order.”

“…Ah.” I covered my mouth with my hand.

The High Priest narrowed his eyes.

“I tried to investigate you from various places during the winter, and Benno seems to have done a good job hiding you. The number of people who know that the child from Gilberta Company and the temple’s new apprentice blue shrine maiden is the same person as few. Needless to say, very few people know your true identity.”

Now that he said it, I did remember Benno chastising me to stay as inconspicuous as possible in public. Since the High Priest’s investigation revealed to him that I was well-hidden, Benno must have exerted lots of effort to do so.

“You are allowed to visit the store. I prefer that you do not announce your position as a blue shrine maiden to everyone.”

“Ok then, I’ll go to the Gilberta Company.”

My face was twitching to make a smile of relief at the thought of possibly being able to leave the temple, but I did my best to hold back my emotions so that I could keep my composure like a dignified noble. Unfortunately, the High Priest dismissed my efforts with a single remark:

“That impatient grin of yours is really unpleasant and disturbing.”

“Damuel, you will continue to protect Myne outside the temple. Myne, you will need to ride a carriage to the store. Do not idly walk outside. You may ask Benno to prepare one. Also do your best to stay out of sight when in public.”

“Got it, I’ll be careful!”

My head shook up and down repeatedly at the High Priest’s nagging, and I gave up trying to hide my smile.

Hold on, my precious little letter pieces! I’ll be seeing you as fast as I can!

Of course, it was not like I could head over straight away. I needed to inform Lutz who was working in the orphanage to convey the message to Benno so that he can prepare a carriage.

~~~

Benno met and arranged a meeting between me and the smithy. The meeting might be delayed because the carriage could not travel in the bad weather and heavy snowstorm.

“If the letter pieces are what I need then I’ll need to arrange for blank and symbol types to be made too. Maybe I should write the orders for them now.”

I prepared the next order before the date of the meeting, as well as the things I might need there. If there was a chance, I would like to demonstrate the printing process there.

“Maybe I should take the ink, paper, baren, and rag too, just in case. Might as well show them how to use the letter pieces. Fran, please tell Gil get what I need from the workshop.”

“Understood.”

“Um, Sister Myne. May I ask, why are you bothering to visit the lower-city?” Delia looked completely shocked when she saw me chatting so happily with Fran about what I would require for the meeting.

I just grinned back since I was completely clueless how much information Delia had given to the High Bishop. “I’ll be reviewing some goods, afterall I am someone who converses in the arts.”

~~

For this trip, Damuel, Fran and Lutz, who for some reason saw Lutz as a rival, were accompanying me. Lutz was constantly jabbering how it was one of his responsibilities as the overseer of the workshop to assist with businesses with the Gilberta Company as well. Maybe I should just give a short explanation on how the letter pieces work since I am not allowed to do any work myself, after that I would let Gil take over.

The four of us sat inside the bumpy carriage Benno arranged for and set off from the Gilberta Company. Damuel scrunched his face the moment we passed the temple gate because of the putrid smell. It appears that he had never been to the lower city.

“What on earth is this horrible smell?”

“It’s just the smell here in the lower city. You have no choice but to get used to it.”

That’s the reaction of someone who has only been to the embellished Noble’s District and the neat temple. I can relate, really.

My reaction had probably been the same the first time I stepped out to the lower city as Myne. But I didn’t take long to adjust and accept it as a part of everyday life here. Humans were adaptable creatures, it surprised me how easily we could adapt and endure almost everything

“Sir Damuel, I’m afraid this part of the task given to you by the High Priest. You will need to continue protecting me in the lower-city.”

“Ah, that seems so. That will be a tough job.”

When we got to the Gilberta Company, Damuel’s face was still twisted up. Mark came out of the store’s front entrance to meet us.

“Thank you for blessing our humble store with your grace, Lady Myne. Everyone has arrived and is waiting for you inside.”

“Hello, Mark. I am happy to have received your welcome.”

“Apprentice, your hand.”

Damuel extended his hand as if it was an expected thing, but I was stumped. A rich girl would usually allow him to escort her down the carriage, but I was not experienced enough to graciously be escorted.

The steps on the side of the carriage were narrow and the gap between them was big for me. Even with Damuel’s help, I might still fall down.

“Sir Damuel, Sister Myne is not big enough to be escorted down.”

Fran took the initiative to tell Damuel what was going on and carried me down while I stood transfixed with a cold perspiration stuck to my back.

“Ah, of course. Apologies, apprentice. I am not used to tending to little ones so I am not sure how I can escort them.”

“All is well, Sir Damuel. I am the one who should grow up faster so that I can be escorted down.”

But becoming a proper lady is not an easy task, so much so that I don’t know if I’ll be one when I am an adult…I thought all of these to myself as we entered the store, and Mark walked us to the familiar office.

“Master Benno, Lady Myne has arrived.”

Inside the room, was Johann, the smith foreman, Benno, and Lutz who had been waiting.

“I hope the wait has not been too long,” I said when I entered the office.

Johann and his foreman both gasped when I walked in. I was not surprised that they got a shock. I was unlike my usual relaxed and typical self, instead, I was now speaking formally with three companions behind.

“Thank you for coming, Lady Myne.” Benno greeted me, and Johann and the foreman stumbled to do the same.

Fran had pulled back a chair for me, I took a seat in it and smiled at Johann who was across from me.

“Good morning, Johann. I was informed that you had completed the order I assigned to you.”

“Yes, but…” Johann glanced nervously at the three people trailing behind me.

His foreman placed two boxes wrapped in a cloth each on the table. I heard the sound of metal hitting each other inside the box. I was getting excited from just the sound they made.

“We couldn’t fit all of them in a box because it would be too heavy, so we had them split into two.”

To make letter pieces, it first starts with making the letter punches. They were hard metal devices with a letter symbol protrusion, the protrusion were made from filing and chiseling. Making one alone required lots of skills, so that the piece of metal could be carved and filed to a single centimeter in width and height. All of this could only be done by Johann who was a master in precision work.

After making the letter punch, it would be pressed into a softer metal to create a matrix, that was the name of the mold used in letterpress printing to print a letter. After the letter punch has made an imprint on the matrix, you would have to put the matrix in a mold and pour alloy in the same mold. After the alloy cools and hardens, it will form a metal letter that looks exactly like that made from the letter punch. The mold is reused to repetitively make more metal types of that same letter. This whole process is repeated to make multiple identical sets of letters.

“I was surprised to learn that you finished making them. I didn’t expect them to be done this fast…”

Just looking at the cloth wrapped boxes gave me an amazing rush of exhilaration in my chest. I felt the blood gush into my head, I sighed with bliss as I pressed my hand against my racing heart. I peered at the cloth, as if I could look through it and the box, it felt as though I were Juliet looking for her long-lost Romeo.

Johann scratched his cheek and laughed a bit embarrassedly, oblivious to my haste. “…Everyone pitched in a little because they enjoyed the challenge.”

Johann was the maker of the letter punches and matrices, but the other craftsmen who were bored because they had nothing at hand for the winter, assisted him in mass-producing the letter pieces…

The foreman gave a mighty grin and slapped Johann’s back.

“We competed over who poured the alloy the best and discussed ways to speed it up and we went crazy with laughter that this task was too hard for a leherl. We’d chuckle and say, ‘Of course the only patron who would patronise Johann would order something like this.’ Vulcanift, the God of Smithing, has truly blessed him!”

The foreman had said all that to tease Johann, but it did seem that he truly believed that Vulcanift the God of Smithing had arranged my meeting with Johann. My order needed precision, and Johann was perfect for the job. It was mutual that I was immensely grateful that we had crossed paths.

“We all worked hard to make these letter thingies. Johann, let her see them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Johann loosened and removed the cloth at the foreman’s order. It unraveled two small boxes , each were the size of an A4-sized paper. Inside it was lined with silver metal pieces that despite their boring appearance, they twinkled and glittered when the light reflected off their carved surfaces. It was quite overwhelming for me to see all of the letters placed before me.

“Amazing…”

My hands trembled with awe when I picked up one of the letter pieces. It was a thin layer of metal, sized 2.5 cm on all sides, and a letter shape was imprinted into one side. Despite its small size, the metal was quite heavy, and I lifted it up to examine it from all sides.

I picked another one and placed them next to each other. I squinted my eyes while I checked for any height differences. Any dissimilarity in height would have a significant impact on printing. Thankfully, the pieces were all the same height, which was more than I could ever wish for. A smile had unknowingly formed on my face.

“How is it, miss? Are they what you want?”

I regained myself when I heard the foreman’s voice… When I turned around, I noticed Johann waiting impatiently and nervously for my reviewsl. Satisfied with this, I glanced back between Johann and the boxes, giving a firm nod while holding a letter type.

“They’re amazing! You really are a Gutenberg!”

“Ah?”

“Johann, I dub thee ‘Gutenberg’!”

“Huh?”

Everyone gawked at me with a bamboozled face. Except for Lutz, who had gone absolutely pale and ran over to shake my shoulders

He exclaimed, “Calm down, Myne!”

I glared back at him while remaining seated. “How can I be calm?! We’re talking about Gutenberg here!”

“Idiot, you’re getting too emotional!”

Lutz was losing it a little, but there was no way I could keep my cool with a complete set of letter pieces before me. Nah-ah.

“You’re not giving the proper reaction, Lutz. You know, this is going to change history. Doesn’t that thrill you? Enough to make your head hurt? Come on, just show your emotions! Let us relish in these bliss!”

“Sorry, Myne, but I don’t get it.”

Lutz didn’t seem to get why I was so happy. I looked around and noticed that everyone else was equally perplexed, as if they had no idea what was going on. Was this not a depressing scene that I was the only one in the room who was excited?

“But, this marks the start of the printing era! You’re now witnessing a historical moment here!”

I made a clatter as I stood up, trying my best to enthusiastically expound the magnificence of the letter pieces, but the response was just mediocre.

“This is the rebirth of Gutenberg! The first’s given name was Johannes, and from today onwards he will go by the name Johann! What an amazing coincidence! A once-in-a-lifetime chance encounter! Praise thee gods!” I raised my arms into the praying pose, but Lutz just held his head

“Um, miss? Who’s this ‘Gutenberg’ you keep mentioning?” asked the smithy foreman with a confused face.

Glad that someone was finally making an effort to understand, I slapped my hands together and turned to him.

“Gutenberg is a famous craftsman on par with a god, whose work forever reshaped history and the world of books. Johann is, without a doubt, the city’s Gutenberg!”

Just as I was getting into explaining, I remembered that you needed other things than letter pieces when it came to printing. Paper, ink and a printing press were needed too. Maybe that was why everyone’s reaction was so underwhelming, it’s because I was giving all the credit to just Johann.

“…Oh, I see. Lots of people contributed to this, those who make the ink, making the letter press, Benno making the paper and Lutz who sells the books. It was wrong of me to leave the others out. I see, I see. Apologies, all of you are Gutenberg. All of you are part of the Gutenberg family!”

“You can leave me out of that family.” Benno quickly refused our camaraderie.

“What are you saying, Benno?! That’s not respectful to the Gutenbergs, who will lead the world in printing books! This is something to be happy about, no kidding. Your heart needs to be on the verge of bursting with joy. All right?”

Benno looked at me with frustration and defeat before looking at Lutz. Lutz waved his hand back to signal his defeat too and sighed.

“Since the letter pieces are done, we can start working on the printing press! Let’s go ahead and place an order with the woodworking business now. Haaa, we’re finally going to start printing! Yes! Indeed yes!! Praise thee Metisonora, the Goddess of Wisdom.!”

I went into the praying stance again, causing my excitement to peak so much that I passed out.