The Ink Workshop's Successors

"Mine, I was told to ask what days you have free…"

The summons from the Gilberta Company came about ten days after Kamil was born.

They must have arranged for me to visit the papermaking workshop. Unable to think of any other reason I'd be called in, I looked up at Lutz with a grin.

"They're going to take me to the papermaking workshop, right? Then it'd be better if Fran came along too. How about the morning after tomorrow?"

"No, apparently someone there wants to meet you."

"Oh… that's disappointing."

My excitement plummeted. I'd been looking forward to going to the papermaking workshop, but I pouted and agreed anyway.

"The attendant who comes to pick you up should probably be Gil rather than Fran. I heard they wanted someone from the Ink Workshop."

At Lutz's words, my spirits shot back up in a V-shaped recovery. While I was at it, maybe I could ask about making colored inks too.

"Hee hee~ how exciting, Lutz. …Oh, is it okay for me to meet and talk with people from the Ink Workshop?"

The previous president of the Ink Association had been gathering information about me. The new president might still be collecting intelligence. anxiety surged through me, and Lutz shrugged casually.

"Benno judged that it would be fine, so he agreed to the meeting. I'm sure it's okay."

"Then I'll just look forward to it."

On the appointed day, I headed to the Gilberta Company with Lutz, Damuel, and Gil, who had come to pick me up that morning. Mark, who looked busy, still noticed me and came out to the front of the shop.

"Lady Mine, good morning. Your guest has already arrived."

"Good morning, Mark. You look busy, but would you be able to show me in?"

Mark smiled gently and guided me to a back room in the Gilberta Company, where I found a familiar Ink Workshop craftsman and a young woman. The Ink Workshop craftsman had the same tense furrow between his brows as always.

The young woman had her hair up, so she appeared to be an adult. She had reddish-brown hair braided into three plaits, which were then pinned up — a hairstyle that suggested she didn't pay much attention to her appearance. Her grey eyes, brimming with curiosity, darted about busily observing everything, which made her look younger than she was.

"Hey, hey, Dad. Is that her?"

"She's a lady. Don't point."

Apparently they were father and daughter. She was scolded in a short, low voice, and hurriedly hid the hand she'd been pointing at me with behind her back. But those eyes, like concentrated balls of curiosity, remained locked on me.

"Good morning, Lady Mine."

Benno greeted me and gestured for me to take the seat beside him. I nodded and looked up at Damuel. With a fluid motion, Damuel escorted me and seated me in the chair. As expected of a noble — elegant movements, indeed.

"Since Wolff passed away, I'm the new president of the Ink Association — Bias. It wasn't something I wanted, but having taken it on, I intend to do everything I can."

With that, Bias knitted his brows tightly and let out a deep sigh.

It seemed that Wolff had died under quite suspicious circumstances, and the various Ink Workshop craftsmen had kept pushing the presidency onto each other, making it impossible to settle on a successor. In the end, Bias had ended up taking the position that nobody wanted. What an unfortunate situation.

"I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but… that man was far too pushy, and he stuck his nose where it didn't belong."

Bias hung his head. It sounded like he'd been left to deal with all the aftermath, and it had been extremely difficult. He didn't seem like a naturally talkative person, so his words came out in halting little clusters.

"I want to run my workshop and unite the Ink Workshop. But as you can see, I'm not good with words, and I'm not suited for sales."

Normally, the Ink Workshop's only job was to make ink. Sales would be handled through merchants in the commercial guild or through retail shops.

However, there was only one stationery shop in the lower city that dealt in ink, and aside from supplying them, the Nobility-facing business had been Wolff's exclusive domain, using forceful methods to secure all the profits for himself.

"Up until now, the craftsmen never had to worry about sales — they just had to make ink. But with Wolff dead, someone else has to serve as the point of contact. You can't exactly tell an old man who's been running a stationery shop in the lower city without any contact with the Nobility to suddenly start doing business with them, can you?"

It was true that dealing with the Nobility probably brought in substantial profits, but the headaches that came with it were considerable.

Even Benno, who from my perspective appeared to handle Nobility dealings without any particular problems, still got stomachaches and had his nerves on edge whenever he met with Sylvester or the High Priest. Even a single greeting required memorizing a mountain of protocols, and a single mistake could determine the fate of a company — so that was only natural.

Telling an old man who'd been peacefully running a lower-city shop dealing only with the wealthy commoners to suddenly start dealing with the Nobility was cruel. If the shopkeeper didn't know how to handle Nobility, his successor and apprentices certainly wouldn't either. It would be one thing if they had the opportunity to study up on the Nobility beforehand, but being told "starting tomorrow, good luck" wasn't something you could just nod along to.

In practice, among the lower-city shops, only those belonging to the owners of the so-called "large shops" had dealings with the Nobility, and that number was far from large. Narrowing it down to shops that might plausibly deal in ink, the count dropped to just a handful.

"The Guild Master's shop handles small Nobility goods like that, doesn't it? Why not ask them?"

Benno raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Bias. Benno didn't say, "I'll handle the ink sales" — whether because ink sales weren't attractive enough to bother snatching work from the Guild Master, or because the trouble outweighed the profits, or because he simply couldn't afford to expand any further.

Bias had apparently been hoping Benno would volunteer, because his shoulders dropped in disappointment and he shook his head.

"I'd love to, but the commercial guild's Guild Master was originally the one handling it before Wolff took over and monopolized it the moment he became president. …You can imagine what would happen if I went back to ask again."

The Guild Master's face must have immediately sprang to mind, because Benno's expression twisted.

"I'd be taken advantage of. I can practically see that old man's slimy grin."

"That's why I thought I'd ask the Gilberta Company."

The Gilberta Company was handling both the Mine Workshop — which had invented new inks and was now certain to become a major client — and the picture books that the Mine Workshop would be producing. It wouldn't be strange at all for them to also take on ink sales.

To Bias's appeal, Benno pressed his temples and shook his head.

"Don't make it sound so simple. Some Nobles might show up saying they want me to take over the shady business that Wolff was quietly handling. And if I end up handling ink sales too, the Guild Master will start making even more trouble than before, won't he?"

I glanced up at Benno.

"…Then you're going to hand it off to someone else?"

I understood Benno's reluctance, but if the Ink Association ended up supplying ink to another shop, I'd have to do business with that shop. Just imagining the effort it would take to earn the respect of people who judged me by my appearance — enough to conduct proper transactions — made me feel weary.

"When we start printing books at the Mine Workshop, it's obvious we'll need enormous quantities of ink. From my perspective, I'd feel much more secure having Benno handle it rather than some other shop."

"You see? Even Lady Myne is saying the same thing. Come on, sir."

"Hmm, well…"

Benno furrowed his brow and looked troubled, but the force of his refusal had weakened compared to moments ago. Picking up on this, Bias looked at me and pleaded with a desperate expression.

"Could you put in a word for me too, little miss?"

"…I don't mind helping you persuade Benno, but in exchange, please cooperate with the development of colored inks."

"Colored inks? What are those?"

Tilting his head beside Bias, who had been sitting quietly up until now, Heidi raised her hand crisply.

"I'll do it! That's the whole reason I came here!"

"Um… you're Heidi, right?"

"Yeah, she's my daughter and the successor to our workshop. She loves making ink, she loves new things, and even though she's past twenty, she still can't sit still. The ones making the Plant Paper-specific ink that Lady Myne proposed are her and her husband."

From a glance, she looked like she'd just become an adult, but she was apparently over twenty and already married. What a surprise.

"Lady Myne's method for making ink was revolutionary — completely different from anything we'd done before. It was really stimulating. I look forward to working with you again."

"I'm Mine. Likewise, I look forward to it."

"Right now, the only prospective buyer for the Plant Paper-specific ink is the Mine Workshop, so buy lots and use lots."

With conventional ink, Plant Paper deteriorated more easily, but it wasn't completely unusable. So even if more people started buying cheaper Plant Paper, they'd mostly just use existing inks. There was no need to buy special ink separately.

More importantly, the recipe I'd shared with the Ink Workshop was for a high-viscosity ink suited for printing. I doubted anyone else would want it just yet.

"Then I should get started on the second volume of picture books sooner rather than later."

"Right. And while I was making the Plant Paper ink, I had a thought — could the same method work for colors other than black?"

Heidi had come up with the idea that colored inks might be possible, but she hadn't been able to make them right away. Her father Bias had warned her: "The Gilberta Company paid an enormous Contract through Contract Magic just for the rights to black ink. They might have all sorts of contracts regarding colored inks too."

Heidi, who was dying to try making colored inks, had come to consult with Benno about whether it would be okay. Since Benno knew almost nothing about ink-making, he had arranged for her to meet me.

"You can make colors other than black. Please, go ahead and make them."

"But the materials — I don't know which ones would be suitable… I was hoping someone might have information, which is why I came here. I've gathered plenty of materials used in paints and dyes, but what kind of materials would work?"

I was about to open my mouth to answer those shining grey eyes looking straight at me, but Benno firmly placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Mine, you know the drill, right?"

His eyes eloquently said, Don't go chattering away for free. I snapped my mouth shut, nodded once at Benno, then turned back to Heidi.

"I'll take ten percent of the colored ink sales as an information fee."

"That's way too much! Research and development costs a fortune before it even becomes a product!"

Heidi let out something like a scream. I knew that research and development took time and money. I tilted my head thoughtfully.

"I'll take ten percent of sales, but I'll cover half the initial research costs."

"Deal!"

Heidi's face lit up and she immediately thrust out her hand. The deal was struck. The moment I reached to shake Heidi's hand, a hand landed on my head and another on Heidi's — Benno's hand on mine, and her father Bias's on hers.

"Don't just decide things on your own, you two!"

Heidi and I both grabbed our heads and looked at our respective guardians.

"…Huh? But isn't that a fair arrangement?"

"It's not fair. You're offering too much. If you're giving information, a quarter of the initial investment is plenty."

"That does sound about right."

Benno made the correction, and Bias nodded in agreement. As the two guardians began hammering out the finer details, I found myself desperate to talk about colored inks with Heidi. She must have been thinking the same thing, because she was looking at me with eyes full of anticipation.

"Lady Mine, want to come to the workshop? I gathered every material I could think of. I got scolded sternly by Dad for it, but still."

"That sounds wonderful! I'd love to go!"

I don't know what it was, but Heidi and I really seemed to get along. The instant Heidi and I both stood up at the same time, our respective guardians grabbed us by the scruff of the neck and forced us back into our seats.

"We're not done talking yet!"

"Calm down, you idiots!"

Our guardians were perfectly in sync. Benno, still gripping the back of my neck, let out a deep sigh.

"…Fine. The Gilberta Company will handle the ink sales for now. However, our exclusive domain is limited to the Plant Paper-specific ink used by the Mine Workshop — that includes colored inks. For all other inks, if anyone else wants to enter the market, let them. Let them take some of the Guild Master's wrath."

"Understood. Thank you."

Through what sounded like an exhausted exchange between Benno and Bias, the terms of the ink sales were apparently settled.

"Then may I go to the workshop?"

"Let's go try making some new colors right away."

The moment Heidi and I stood up, Benno called Lutz over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lutz, keep a close eye on them. …It's like there are two Mines now."

"Sir, I can barely handle even one Mine, let alone two."

I waved goodbye to Benno, who was seeing us off with a troubled furrow in his brow, and headed for the Ink Workshop.

Heidi apparently couldn't keep pace with my walking speed, because she said, "I'll go ahead and get things ready!" and ran off to the workshop by herself. Bias's face went pale and he apologized to me, but it was nothing to get upset about.

"Hey, Lutz. Heidi seems really enthusiastic about her work, and she's fun, but she's a bit of an oddball, isn't she?"

"…You're one to talk."

Bias guided me to the Ink Workshop, which looked like a science laboratory. There were all sorts of instruments lined up, a set of balance scales, and craftsmen carefully measuring out quantities to make…

gallnut ink.

In one corner, there was a space where the Plant Paper-specific ink I'd requested was being made. Several bottles of finished ink sat nearby.

That was where Heidi, who was supposed to have arrived ahead of us, was being chewed out by a man in his mid-twenties. Something along the lines of "do your work before you play."

"Bias, is Heidi busy, perhaps?"

"…No, that's nothing you need to worry about. Hey, Josef! It's fine today. Let Heidi handle the guests."

When Bias called out in a loud voice, Heidi's face lit up as she turned around, and the man called Josef stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"Sir, are you serious about letting Heidi handle guests?"

"She's a valued customer who wants new colored inks and is willing to cover a quarter of her research costs. There's no need to stop Heidi's work today. Just keep an eye out to make sure she doesn't cause any offense."

Their exchange made it all too clear what Heidi's normal treatment was like.

"Lady Mine, this is Josef. Heidi's husband, and the actual successor to this workshop. Please treat both him and Heidi well."

"I'm Mine, the Workshop Head of the Mine Workshop. I've come today to purchase the Plant Paper ink you currently have in stock, and to observe the process of making new colored inks."

At my words, Josef let out a relieved breath. It seemed he'd been wondering what to do with the Plant Paper ink he'd made, since there hadn't been any customers who wanted it.

"This is the current batch."

"Then please have this delivered to the shop by tomorrow."

Lutz, as a Doppel of the Gilberta Company, would purchase the ink from the craftsman and resell it to the Mine Workshop. It seemed like a hassle, but those were the procedures that had to be followed. I left the business transaction side to Lutz and walked around the workshop. Damuel and Gil also seemed fascinated — lower-city workshops were apparently a novelty. They were looking around with keen interest.

"Lady Mine, over here, over here!"

Heidi beckoned me over to where she'd gathered her materials. True to her word, there were small quantities of all sorts of things collected there. They'd already been ground to powder, so it was impossible to tell what the originals had been. And it wasn't just materials for colors — various types of oil had been gathered as well.

"Heidi, what's all this oil for?"

"I collected as many varieties as I could. Linseed oil alone might not be enough, right?"

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing."

I'd wanted a drying oil for making ink, but among the things I could find in this city, linseed oil was the only one I recognized. Since the fabric here had hemp-like fibers, I'd assumed it must exist.

But linseed oil alone wasn't going to be enough quantity-wise, and it was expensive too. I'd been planning to look for alternative oils myself. Since this was a good opportunity, I wanted to explore the types of oil available in this world.

"There are drying oils that set when exposed to air, and non-drying oils that don't. For ink-making, you want drying oils."

"Um, then aside from linseed oil, there are about four — mish, pede, eize, and tulm."

Heidi rattled off the names as she sorted through the lined-up oils, picking them out one by one. They sounded like walnut and flower names, and I hastily wrote them down on my writing board.

"The inks I know of are mostly made by grinding colored minerals into powder and mixing them. …For instance, with ochre like this, you can get a color somewhere between yellow and brown."

"Good, let's try it. Josef, give me a hand."

Heidi called Josef over and they immediately got started. Josef began kneading ochre and oil together on a marble slab.

"…Huh? It's not turning brown!?"

"Wh-why not?"

Mixing ochre and oil should produce an ochre color. There was no reason it should turn into anything else. And yet, before me, for some reason, there was blue. A vivid blue, like a clear sky, was spreading across the marble, and I was struck speechless.

"L-let's try the other oils too."

In order — mish, pede, eize, tulm — Josef and Heidi mixed each with the ochre. Only eize produced the ochre color I expected; the others transformed into red or blue-green, producing completely unexpected results.

Faced with five colors on marble, I wasn't the only one blinking — everyone was fluttering their eyelids in disbelief.

"This doesn't make any sense, right?"

"…It doesn't, but should we be glad that we can make so many different colors from a single material?"

Who would have guessed that the type of oil could change the color? The results were unexpected, but more colors was a welcome development.

Josef, who had been mixing one after another, rotated his tired arm and looked at me with an exhausted expression.

"Lady Mine, you're remarkably positive about all this."

"What I want is colored ink. As long as it doesn't turn colorless and transparent, there's no problem."

I began recording the results on my writing board.

Lutz looked at the colored inks that had been produced and tilted his head.

"How did this happen?"

"You think so too, right? It's so mysterious, isn't it? We just have to figure out why, right?"

Heidi's face lit up and she grabbed Lutz's hand. She was clearly the type who couldn't rest until she'd solved a mystery.

"Heidi, right now, why it happens doesn't really matter. What matters is what colors we can make."

"What!? Lady Mine, you don't want to know why this mystery occurs?"

Heidi stared at me with wide eyes, as if she felt utterly betrayed. Then Josef's arm reached in from the side and firmly pushed down on her head.

"Heidi, don't drag Lady Myne into your band of eccentrics!"

"Eccentric is such a harsh word! I just thought she and I could understand each other!"

I felt bad for Heidi, but I wasn't actually trying to solve mysteries. I wanted to make colorful picture books for my adorable little brother Kamil. Incidentally, while I didn't feel any desire to investigate mysteries myself, I would wholeheartedly welcome a book compiling research results.

"I'm more interested in results than reasons or causes. The eize gave us the expected color. Now let's try mixing that blue powder into the eize. If we keep going, we might be able to identify patterns and differences."

When I pointed at the blue powder, Heidi smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Agreed on that. Let's keep mixing."

The ochre-colored powder produced the expected result with the eize, but when mixed with the blue — which resembled lapis lazuli powder — it turned into a vivid yellow for some reason. It would be perfect for painting a field of rapeseed blossoms, but yellow wasn't the color I was looking for.

As a side note, the lapis lazuli-like blue had been produced with linseed oil.

"…This might be tougher than I thought."

Facing a vast array of materials and five types of oil, I glared at my results board, keenly aware of the gulf between my own knowledge and the common sense of this other world.

The young couple of the Ink Workshop — before long, they too will be called Gutenberg.

And Mine, bewildered by the walls of this other world.

Next time, we'll continue the color research.