Published: August 3, 2025
When I woke up, I was met with a full course of lectures. It started with Lutz and Benno, then Fran and the guild, followed by Darmel and the high priest. For some reason, it felt like more and more people were joining in to scold me.
...But please, spare me the lectures disguised as visits when I’m running a fever and bedridden. Just let me sleep.
The longest and most intense lecture this time came from Darmel. Since I, the protected one, had suddenly collapsed, he was apparently terrified that the high priest would once again judge him as a knight who disobeys his superiors' orders. “I really thought you’d be executed this time, and honestly, I didn’t feel alive at all,” he said angrily with tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. Truly sorry. I’ll apologize in advance, but from now on, we plan to start printing in earnest, so similar incidents will probably happen frequently.”
“You haven’t reflected on your behavior at all, shrine maiden apprentice!”
“I’m reflecting on the need to build up my stamina so I don’t collapse!”
“You’re reflecting on the wrong point!”
Everyone’s endless scolding quickly wore off the excitement I had about metal movable type, and my fever dropped faster than I had expected.
But even after my fever went down, the lectures kept coming. Tired of hearing the same things over and over, I just wanted to go home. The snow had started melting little by little, and the carriage service was resuming, so I thought it was about time to return home.
“I just want to go home...”
To go home, I first needed to write a letter requesting a meeting with the high priest. But before I could do that, a letter arrived from the high priest himself. It wasn’t that he was coming to my room, but rather an invitation asking when would be a convenient time for a meeting.
“Fran, it’s unusual to receive something like this from the high priest. He must be in a hurry. I want to meet as soon as possible—what should I reply? I’m fine even now.”
“Right now would be difficult for the attendants to prepare for your reception. Tomorrow should be fine.”
Fran said this with a wry smile, so I wrote back that tomorrow would be okay.
“Should I bring a gift? He must have already given you a get-well gift, right?”
The high priest brought a huge amount of food as a visit, but since the snow was melting and I was planning to go home soon, I didn’t need all of it. When I leave, I intend to move about half of it to the basement of the orphanage.
“I think bringing some of the sweets we make here would be good. The high priest really liked the cookies.”
“Then how about the pudding I made the other day?”
When Tulli came to visit, I tried making both pudding and ice cream. In the end, I realized ice cream was meant to be eaten in hot weather. It tasted good in the kotatsu, but eating ice cream in front of the fireplace was more ‘cold’ than ‘delicious,’ and it just chilled my body.
“That’s true... Once you get used to the texture, pudding is delicious, but some hesitate to put it in their mouths at first. I don’t think it’s suitable as a gift for someone trying it for the first time.”
Steam-cooked dishes like pudding are rare here, so Ella was quite surprised when I made pudding. Everyone who tried it found the texture odd—they said it disappeared before chewing and felt insubstantial—but since it was sweet and tasty, overall it got a high evaluation.
“Then let’s have Ella bake the cookies the high priest liked.”
We decided on cookies as the gift. Two types: plain cookies and cookies mixed with tea leaves. Both happen to be my favorites.
With the gift decided, I could wholeheartedly start working on the printing press design. The earliest printing machines were originally modified grape presses for making wine, so I thought it would be relatively easy to build here. The problem was, I didn’t remember the precise dimensions or structure.
“Okay, so there’s a tool for applying ink, right? It has a handle like this, with leather stretched here... There’s a spot on the side to hold it, and a place for the paper here... The place to set the assembled type was something like this...?”