Published: July 25, 2025
Mark had a female employee clear our table, then he brought over a tray carrying various items.
Although calling it a tray might suit Mark’s Sebastian-like character better, the flat wooden circle, carved from wood, could only be described as an お盆.
Mark arranged the items neatly on the table: several stacked boards, an ink pot, a pen made from a thin reed-like plant resembling bamboo, a slate, a stylus, and some cloth.
He placed everything precisely and evenly, then looked up.
“Now, I’ll teach you how to write the order form.”
“Thank you in advance.”
“Ah, yes, please.”
After comparing me and Lutz with a glance, Mark spoke to Lutz.
“Lutz, can you write?”
“…I can only write my own name.”
It seemed Lutz had clearly remembered how I taught him to write his name when we were making clay tablets. However, he lowered his face troubledly, thinking that here, he would need to write more than just his own name.
Hearing Lutz’s words, Mark nodded once thoughtfully, took up a slate, and placed it in front of Lutz.
“You can write your own name? I heard you’re not a merchant’s child… I’m surprised. That won’t be an issue for the contract. However, all apprentices must learn to write. While Myne writes the order form, let’s practice the basic characters.”
Apparently, Mark hadn’t expected non-merchant Lutz to be able to write his name, and had planned to teach him before the contract.
Changing plans, Mark wrote about five basic characters on the slate and started having Lutz practice. Perhaps he was the apprenticeship instructor; he seemed very experienced in teaching methods and pacing.
“Myne, can you write?”
“There might be some words I don’t know, but if you tell me the words, I can write.”
“Good.”
Mark placed two boards side by side in front of me.
One was completely blank, and the other already had writing on it—it was a model, I assumed. Although some words were unknown, I could read about 70% of it.
“This is the character for ‘order form’,” Mark said, pointing to the top word.
He then taught me the format of the order form: who orders, what is ordered, quantities—once explained, it wasn’t very difficult.
“Do you know what tools and materials to order?”
“Yes.”
I nodded firmly and began writing, but writing on the uneven board was harder than I expected. The unfamiliar pen made it even more difficult, and I started to dislike it.
Compared to this pen, the charcoal pencil I made myself was much easier to write with. Although if you smudge it a bit, the characters get messy and turn pitch black, making it unreadable.
“Ugh, it’s harder to write with this stylus than with a stone pencil.”
“For a first try, you’re doing quite well.”
Encouraged by the praise, I worked harder.
As I wrote in a scratchy rhythm, Mark glanced at the order form and furrowed his brow slightly.
“…Myne, you wrote ‘pot,’ but what size?”
“Um… I was thinking about the second largest pot we have at home…”
Mark’s brow furrowed further. His face clearly said, “I don’t understand that description.”
Yeah, that makes sense. You wouldn’t know what ‘our pot’ is.
But I didn’t know the units for pot size. It’s probably not centimeters. How should I explain?
“Hey, Lutz. How big is the pot that you can carry filled with water?”
“Ah? Hmm, about this size.”
Lutz made a circle with his arms.
Delegating the explanation to a child in this world was the right choice… cough cough. It seemed wiser to ask Lutz, who would use it most. Mark immediately pulled out something like a tape measure and quickly measured the circle Lutz made.
“How deep?”
“Lutz, how deep?”
“About this much.”
Again, Mark measured quickly.
We hadn’t had tape measures around before and had managed by rough estimation. There was no need to know exact lengths.
However, if we order from someone else, vague measurements wouldn’t do.
I held my head, groaning softly, then raised my hand toward Mark.
“…Mark, before I fill out the order form, could you teach me the units of length?”