Published: August 3, 2025
After asking the high priest whether it was alright to bring craftsmen into the room, I immediately asked Benno to bring the shoemaker.
“Blessings upon the melting snow. May the goddess of spring bestow great grace.”
With those words, Benno and the shoemaker arrived together, offering greetings to celebrate the arrival of spring. I welcomed the craftsmen while sitting on a chair in the hall.
“May the goddess of water, Flutlene, and her retainers bless you.”
Darmel, my guard, kept a sharp watch as the shoemaker, who was about Benno’s age, and his assistant quickly measured my foot size and asked about the design and the type of leather I wanted for the shoes.
“Well, priority goes to the shoes for attending the prayer ceremony. I’ll need deep boots made of horse leather.”
“In that case, let’s make them white shoes.”
“No, Delia. Since the prayer ceremony involves walking through villages, a darker color would be preferable.”
Without waiting for my response, Rosina and Delia started deciding. Listening to their conversation, Fran’s expression grew stern. She was here because I asked her to keep watch.
Just as I expected, decorations and requests kept piling up—this one’s nice, let’s add that too. Watching the two of them, Fran sharply cut them off with a single word.
“Delia, no more decorations are necessary. Rosina, Myne is growing quickly; you don’t need that many pairs. You can always buy new ones as she grows.”
Delia loved glamorous and pretty things from the start and would get increasingly excited when shopping, unable to stop. If it were a custom order, the shoes would only become more extravagant.
Rosina had good taste from being Christine’s attendant and understood what was necessary, but her standards for quantity were a bit off. If I thought about things the same way as Christine, who had no financial worries and acquired whatever she liked or fancied, I’d go bankrupt.
Fran, having served the high priest who hated waste, knew well the minimum necessary for proper grooming and etiquette. However, since both the high priest and Fran himself were men, their sense for cute or pretty things was inferior to Rosina’s.
My job was to find a balance—keeping Fran’s limits in mind while incorporating Rosina’s and Delia’s opinions—and make the final order.
“Myne, is this acceptable?”
“Yes, I’ll order these three pairs.”
In the end, since I was heading to the villages, I ordered sturdy knee-high long boots made of horse leather, softer short boots made of pig leather, and a pair of luxurious cloth shoes to wear inside the temple and the Noble District.
After placing the order and as the shoemakers were preparing to leave, Benno glanced at me.
“Excuse me, but I have important matters to discuss with you, Myne. Fran, could you see them out to the gate?”
“Delia, please escort the shoemakers to the gate. Rosina, prepare some tea.”
Fran nodded at Benno’s words and instructed Delia to see the shoemakers out. Delia, excited from shopping, happily left the room with the craftsmen.
“So, what’s this important matter?”
“Myne, Johan came to the shop recently. It seems the assignment item has been completed.”
At “assignment item,” my eyes flickered. Towards the end of autumn, I became the patron of Johan, a blacksmith. I had commissioned him to create metal movable type as an important test to see if he could qualify as a proper apprentice.
“Eh? Uh, Benno, the assignment item is… metal movable type, right? That was really fast, wasn’t it?”
The 35 basic characters had two types for the same sounds. The assignment given to Johan was to prepare type with 50 vowels and 20 consonants for both sets. I hadn’t imagined that he’d finish all of them during winter.
“He wishes to receive your evaluation as his patron.”
Since the assignment was a customer order, the client must see it and evaluate it first.
“It would be best if you could come to the shop, but if you can’t, may I bring Johan and the master craftsman from the blacksmith workshop to you here?”