Ascendance of a Bookworm

Just after receiving the message from the high priest saying, "The send-off will be tomorrow," Ordnance arrived at Brigitte’s place from Ilkner as well.

Gibe Ilkner’s voice repeated the same words three times.

“A new type of paper has been made, but they’re unsure how the ink will adhere to it. We’ll teleport the finished paper to the castle, so could you come and receive it soon? The workshop wants to decide whether to mass-produce it based on how well the ink sticks.”

I clasped my fingers in front of my chest and let out an impressed sigh. To have discovered a new paper formula in just a little over a month—I hadn’t expected that. Lutz and Gil seem to be working hard.

“Is the new paper already ready? As expected of my Gutenberg. I have business at the castle tomorrow, so I will go and collect it immediately.”

The next morning, after breakfast, I planned to go straight to the castle. I asked the high priest if I could come and receive the delivery from Ilkner. Since I would be waiting until the send-off after changing clothes, I figured there would be plenty of time.

The high priest sighed, saying, “How presumptuous,” but when I pointed out that he had prepared the time-killing work set and loaded it onto the mini bus, he agreed to take me to the civil servant’s office where the teleportation circle was.

When we arrived at the castle, Richarda, who had been waiting, changed my clothes, redid my hair, and put on my veil. Then she led me to the waiting room for the send-off.

In the waiting room, the high priest, who should have already returned home once, had changed and come back, spreading out the work set.

“As expected, there’s still quite some time before the send-off. Let’s go pick up the delivery.”

“Thank you very much.”

The room with the teleportation circle was separate from the tax warehouse; it seemed to be the place where wooden tags and documents arrived from nobles all over the territory. Rows of boxes were lined up, and the way the civil servants sorted items teleported there reminded me of the courier and post office in Reno’s era.

“Lord Ferdinand, what is it?”

One of the civil servants approached us, surprised.

“Has a package addressed to Lady Rosemine from Ilkner arrived?”

“Mailboxes have arrived. Please check their contents.”

The high priest skillfully received the mailbox, checked the address on the attached shipping tag, and opened it. He then took out the new paper, letters, and a small metal tag.

“Rosemine, write your name on this tag. It will serve as proof of receipt.”

I signed the metal tag indicated with the magic-powered pen the high priest handed me. After a quick glance, the high priest put the tag back into the mailbox and returned it to the civil servant.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yes. Thank you for your help.”

Holding the new paper and letters, I boarded the single-seat mini bus.

Just by touching it a little, the new paper felt hard and smooth, and if printing with ink works well on this, I think it would be very suitable for making playing cards.

...I need Heidi to check it out. She’ll be thrilled with this new material.

Back in the waiting room, I immediately read the letter. It was from Lutz and Gil, just as I’d heard from Ordnance, asking me to deliver the new paper to Heidi for ink research. Even the gray priests seemed to be energetically making paper.

I decided to try folding the new paper. To check the ink adhesion, I had folded and cut paper small before.

Now, will this hard paper fold? If it doesn’t fold or leaves strange lines, I’ll have to mark it and cut it with a cutter.

I started with a mountain fold. Despite being hard, it didn’t crack or develop strange creases; it folded normally. Then I repeated mountain and valley folds, making an accordion fold.

“Oh, it’s become like a ‘harisen’ (paper fan)!”

The hardness felt just right. Holding the end, I slapped it against my palm with a ‘pashin pashin’ sound. It should make a pretty good noise.