Ascendance of a Bookworm

My name is Mark, and I assist the master at the Gilberta Trading Company. I just turned 37. At this age, it’s common not to remember one’s exact age clearly.

I have served at Gilberta Trading Company since the previous generation, and including my apprenticeship, I have been here for 30 years. The master was born the year I started as an employee apprentice. Time really flies.

There are two types of apprentices for merchants and craftsmen: Darua and Dapra. Simply put, Darua are hired under an employment contract with the shop manager, while Dapra are apprentices contracted to eventually take over the shop or its operations. There are significant differences in the contract money and conditions, but I won’t go into detail here.

At Gilberta Trading Company, we basically take in children from other shops as Darua. Merchant children spend a certain period training at another shop. The length of this period is decided through discussions between the shop and the child’s parents, usually three to four years.

There are many reasons for this: broadening their horizons, understanding subordinates’ roles, separating them from being spoiled, fostering friendships with future shop managers, and so on. They act as bridges connecting different shops.

Originally, I was contracted as a Darua who would return to my family’s shop after the term ended. However, after my father passed away, my elder brother who took over had a very different attitude toward business. After renewing my Darua contract a few times, I re-contracted as a Dapra when I was 15 at my coming-of-age ceremony.

The apprenticeship period for Dapra is eight years. Normally, after training as a Darua at another shop, one contracts as a Dapra roughly between ages 10 and 12. By around 20, they are expected to take over the shop instead of the master.

Because I contracted late, my apprenticeship period as a Dapra was added after my adulthood.

Even so, I had already worked eight years as a Darua and was familiar with the work at Gilberta Trading Company. Thanks to the previous master’s arrangements, unlike typical Dapra apprentices, I was paid nearly the same wage as adult employees rather than apprentice wages. So, the additional eight years of training didn’t feel particularly harsh. I was happy my conditions improved from when I was a Darua and worked hard every day.

However, just before I finished my Dapra apprenticeship, the previous master passed away. The new master had just become an adult and was extremely unreliable as a shop manager. Many Darua under the previous master refused to renew contracts with the new master and left.

Since I hadn’t finished my apprenticeship, I offered assistance to my family to continue working at Gilberta Trading Company. But my elder brother, who had taken over the family shop, not only refused aid but mocked the previous master’s death and declared he would sever ties with Gilberta Trading Company.

How to express my anger at that time? It made me resolve to part ways with my family, to protect Gilberta Trading Company and the master no matter what, and to prove them wrong. I still vividly remember that moment.

When the master asked if I would return home after finishing my apprenticeship, I had no place to go since I had cut ties with my family. Gilberta Trading Company was where I was most needed.

After telling him I would stay at the shop, I worked tirelessly with him to restore the business. We quickly regained momentum and even expanded the shop. I secretly used my family shop as a stepping stone to help rebuild Gilberta Trading Company, but that’s water under the bridge now.

The previous master’s youngest daughter, Corinna, got married, but the elder brother, the current master, lost interest in marriage after the passing of Liese. I, too, missed my chance for marriage before I realized it. Things don’t always go as planned.

Work is fulfilling, and since Corinna’s child and the master are deciding the successors, there are no major troubles threatening the shop’s survival at the moment.