Published: July 26, 2025
The snow had begun to melt, and clear, sunny days started to stretch on.
Though the cold days still lingered, my family had given me permission to go as far as Benno’s shop. So, Lutz and I headed there to settle the accounts for the winter handiwork.
I packed the bag containing the money collected from everyone who had done the handiwork, along with the completed hair ornaments, and set off for the shop.
The main street had no snow, but in the corners of the alleys, there were snowmen that hadn’t completely melted, and piles of snow shoved aside, frozen hard, could be seen here and there—the remnants of winter.
The people welcoming spring wore bright expressions, their footsteps light, and the number of horse-drawn carts and wagons passing through the main street had noticeably increased.
Benno’s shop seemed busier too, with more merchants coming and going. Although we had aimed for the relatively quiet afternoon, it was still very busy.
As Lutz and I contemplated whether to come back another time, Mark walked toward us. A shop assistant who had begun to recognize us spotted us and called out to Mark.
“Hello. It’s been a while, Mark.”
“Ah, Lutz and Myne. Blessings of the snowmelt upon you. May the goddess of spring bring great blessings.”
Mark lightly bowed his head while pressing his right fist against the palm of his left hand held together in front of his chest.
Lutz and I stared at Mark with wide eyes, unsure of what exactly he was doing.
“Huh? What was that?”
“It’s a greeting to celebrate spring.”
Mark’s expression seemed to say, “I don’t understand why you don’t get it,” and I realized that this was a common greeting exchanged around here.
“I’ve never heard of that before. Lutz, do you know it?”
“No, it’s the first time I’ve seen it too.”
Since even Lutz didn’t know, maybe this greeting was unique to this town or related to a particular profession.
“…Could it be a merchant’s unique greeting?”
“It’s been a tradition in my family for a long time, so I haven’t thought much about it. But since most of my business dealings are with merchants, that might be the case. Since business increases when the snow melts, we greet each other with ‘Blessings of the snowmelt. May the goddess of spring bring great blessings.’”
Mark explained the merchants’ greeting to us. It seemed to be said only once at the beginning of spring. I interpreted it as something like “Happy New Year.”
I tried practicing the greeting myself, pressing my right fist into the palm of my left hand in front of my chest, just as Mark did.
“Blessings of the snowmelt?”
“Yes.”
“May the goddess of spring bring great blessings.”
I repeated it a few times in my mouth, though I was confident I’d forget it by tomorrow. I wished I had a notepad at such times. I had a stone tablet in my bag, but no notepad.
“Master is currently in a business meeting. What is your business?”
When Mark asked, I counted off the things to do today on my fingers.
“Um, settling the winter handiwork payments. Also, I want to resume papermaking soon, so please check with the artisan if the large papermaking screens have been completed. And I have something to discuss with Benno about the apprenticeship, but I guess he’s in a business meeting?”
“I understand. Let’s start with settling the handiwork payments. It should finish soon.”
We were guided to a small table inside the shop. Lutz and I sat side by side, with Mark facing us.
“These are all the hair ornaments from the handiwork. Please check.”
Lutz carefully handed over the bag containing the hair ornaments. Mark took them out and counted.
“Here are 24. Adding what was collected during winter, it totals 186 items. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Nodding, I confirmed the numbers matched what we had recorded.
Each hair ornament was worth five medium copper coins. Of that, Lutz and I took a handling fee, which we deposited with the guild. The rest of the payments were placed in separate bags we brought to distribute easily.