Published: August 3, 2025
The next day, Lutz led Johan and another young man to the director’s office of the orphanage. Since he was about the same age as Johan, I wasn’t sure whether to call him a man or a boy. He had a short, almost crew-cut style of bright red hair and defiant gray eyes.
In contrast to his determined spirit, Johan looked stunned and dazed.
Today, I was wearing the head priest’s robes. Johan seemed taken aback that the patron he’d thought was a wealthy daughter connected to the Gilberta Trading Company was actually the small head priest who had been the talk of the downtown area since the Star Festival. It was understandable.
“Good morning, Lady Rosemine,”
Lutz bowed properly as one would to a noble, and Johan, who had been staring blankly at me, hurriedly knelt down.
“Good morning… Lady Rosemine?”
He tilted his head curiously at the difference in my name. I recited the words we had rehearsed.
“Sorry for calling you here, Johan. As you can see, I have been appointed head priest, so I can’t go out casually anymore. From now on, you’ll have to come visit me instead…”
“N-no! I will come! I will definitely come. There’s no way I’m asking you to come to the workshop!”
Honest and straightforward Johan seemed to have assumed I had been sneaking out undercover as a blue shrine maiden apprentice. The conversation went exactly as planned with Benno and Lutz, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s a relief. Lutz, who is this on your side?”
“He’s a blacksmith from a different workshop, named Zack. He wants to receive support from Lady Rosemine.”
Upon further inquiry, it turned out that in the blacksmith association’s coming-of-age challenge, Johan’s metal movable type had been rated the highest, with Zack coming in second.
Also, Johan had been granted the title “Gutenberg” by his sole patron. While his master and others at the workshop teased Johan with the title, outside it was quite an honor.
“It’s strange that Johan, who had no patron or recognition before the exam started, suddenly gets such high evaluation. Lady Rosemine doesn’t know other craftsmen. I think I’m more deserving of the Gutenberg title. I want you to compare us.”
“… Zack was so determined to become Gutenberg that I brought him here to ask Lady Rosemine directly.”
Lutz raised his eyebrows slightly and added.
Apparently, Zack was a confident blacksmith with a strong rivalry toward Johan. From my perspective, if such a motivated craftsman wanted to join as Gutenberg, I was more than happy. I welcomed as many skilled craftsmen as possible.
“First, let’s see your skills. Let’s go to the workshop.”
“Yes!”
Zack responded eagerly and shot a triumphant look at Johan.
Accompanied by Lutz, Fran, and Darmel, I headed toward the workshop. The guild was out taking the orphans to the forest today, so they weren’t there. Since the gatekeeper had recognized me, I could now go to the forest on my own without Lutz or Tulli.
At a quiet corner of the nearly empty workshop where a few workers were busy, I had paper and ink prepared on the workbench and began to explain.
“What I want you to make next is a roller for producing waxed base paper.”
“Waxed base paper?”
Since both Zack, who was new to this workshop’s work, and Johan, who was entering for the first time, didn’t understand, Lutz showed them thinly waxed base paper, Johan’s iron stylus, and printing machine while explaining the process and materials needed.
“… So, to do this stencil printing, we need paper so thin you can see through it, coated evenly and thinly with wax. I want a roller for that.”
“A roller… like the one we made before?”
“No, it’s different.”
Shaking my head, I gestured for Lutz to explain the mechanism as best as he remembered while glancing at his cheat sheet.
“The waxing machine Lady Rosemine wants has two metal rollers. Beneath the rollers is a tray. Wax is poured into the tray, and underneath it, there’s a place to light a fire to melt the wax… like this.”