Benno

Benno (ベンノ) is the owner of the Gilberta Company (later the Plantin Company) and one of Ehrenfest's most successful merchants. He has curly milk-tea-colored hair and confident dark-red eyes, and dresses more finely than the average merchant.

He seems cold and menacing at first, being hot-blooded, confrontational, and quick to yell, never backing down from a rival or an authority. Beneath the temper, however, he is deeply protective of his family and those he cares about — he once quietly paid Myne enough for a rinsham recipe to buy a magic tool that could ease her illness.

After his father was killed by bandits, Benno abandoned his own dreams and took over the family store to protect it, rebuilding it with the help of his right-hand man Mark. He becomes Myne's indispensable business partner, funding and marketing her paper and printing ventures and mentoring Lutz. For his part in spreading these industries, Myne counts him among her Gutenbergs.