After tense negotiations,
Main secured the rights to produce and sell her paper.
However,
that made Lutz suspicious of her.
With his unspoken doubts still up in the air,
the two were about to dive headlong into the process of paper making.
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Chapter Eight Lutz's Main
This will be your workshop.
It's already been given a quick cleanup.
You can see your pot and ashes right there,
and we'll have your materials brought here as they're delivered to the company.
Thank you, Mister Mark.
Let's carry the stuff we brought from home inside.
Okay.
Lutz is interacting with me like usual.
I was worried that he'd figured out that I wasn't really Main.
I'm glad we've made up.
I have to return to the store.
Here is the key to this place.
Be sure to lock up and return the key every day.
Understood. Thank you for everything.
So, what are we doing today?
Hmm... Decide what size the steamer will be,
take another look at the order forms, and...
Oh, we also need to make bamboo sticks.
Bamboo sticks? For what?
Drainer
We'll put a bunch of them together to make a drainer.
It's part of the deckle, used to screen the paper solution.
Deckle
It broke again.
These are really difficult to make.
Maybe we should just decide on a length and have someone else make it.
We're going to the lumberer's to order the steamer and stuff tomorrow.
We can ask then.
Yeah...
Huh?
What kinda wood did ya say ya want?
U-Uh... To make a steamer...
Yeah, so what kinda wood?!
E-Er... It should be hard and dry so that the steam doesn't alter its shape.
Okay, good. You do know your stuff.
I'd say you want hedwan, tworso, or peditree.
Which will it be?
How am I supposed to decide?
Do you know, Lutz?
Hedwan is probably the easiest to use.
Do ya have a size in mind?
Yes, it's on the order form.
We would also like a mallet to pound fibers.
Something Lutz can hold and swing.
Pound fibers?
What for?
Unfortunately, I can't tell you that.
Striking the right balance between hardness and weight will be key.
What ya use as a base will also change things.
A base?
I hadn't considered that.
Can we have the mallet and the base made together?
I'll write another order form now.
Sure, that's not a problem... But you're gonna write the form?
Yes.
Will this do?
Y-Yeah...
Unbelievable. This looks good.
Oh, one last thing.
We want bamboo sticks like this one. Can you make them?
Hmm... Precision work like this is beyond me.
You should ask a craftsman.
Understood!
Thank you for all your help!
Sure. Drop by anytime ya need anything.
Bamboo sticks, eh?
Does it have to be wavy?
I was trying to make it nice and straight, actually.
Then coming to me was the right decision.
Is that all you need?
Can you also make a drainer for us?
It's a screen of sorts, with the bamboo sticks tied up in a row like this.
That seems like a pain, but it's not impossible.
However, I will need really sturdy thread for it.
Sturdy thread?
Like in spinne webs.
I can pick something out for you if we can go to a thread seller now.
Absolutely!
Hey, don't push yourself.
You'll go down first.
I'll be fine! I'm not exerting myself...
Then I'll bring her there.
It seems she's once again in the mood to be carried.
Sorry to make you do this again and again.
Oh, it's nothing. Please don't worry about it.
A month and a half later,
we had everything in place to start making our paper.
Blue skies! White clouds!
'Tis the perfect day to make paper, Lutz!
Lutz?
Are you okay?
Do you want me to carry the steamer?
Nah, you can't handle it.
Maybe you should take a break, Lutz.
Nah.
Once we start steaming, we'll have to sit around and wait for a bell's time, right?
That can be my break.
Okay.
I'm gonna go chop some wood.
You watch the pot and rest up.
But you need the rest more than I do.
I can't have you falling sick before we finish the paper.
You can pick up twigs or whatever around here, but don't try to do too much.
And yell if anything goes wrong, okay?
Got it.
We're out of twigs.
Guess I'll go pick up some more.
What is that?
That is one red fruit.
Is it edible?
Ow, hot!
H-Huh? What's with this sprouty thing?
Lutz... Lutz!
What's wrong?
What is this?
Trombe!
Trombe? What's that?
I'll explain later!
What's the matter, Lutz?
We have a trombe!
You run away!
Okay.
See any more sprouting?
There shouldn't be.
What the... What a weird plant.
Are you okay?
Yeah... Lutz, what was that?
A trombe.
If it's not weeded out as soon as it starts sprouting,
it'll suck up all the nutrients in the soil and grow in a flash.
So that's why it sprouted so quickly.
Yeah. It becomes a real danger if it gets too big,
and the knight order would have to be called in.
They have a knight order? Sounds like a fantasy world, all right.
But that's weird.
It's not trombe season yet, and it was growing really fast.
But it hasn't affected the soil here much.
Huh...
What? Don't you find it strange?
Well, I've never seen one before.
Right.
You only started coming to the forest this spring.
I have an idea!
Why don't we try make paper out of that trombe?
There's a bunch lying around, and you chopped it down right after it sprouted,
so the fibers should still be soft.
And so we started making the paper with trombe.
Will this do for the steaming part?
Probably.
Let me try peeling the bark off.
Oh, wow!
It came off!
This might be the perfect material for paper!
I'm surprised you can tell.
So, what next?
We stretch it out and let it dry.
When it's fully dried, we wash it in the stream again.
Hey...
What?
Never mind. We'll talk about it when we finish the paper.
You can never predict when trombe will grow.
We'll have to try other plants as well.
Is Lutz still suspicious of me?
The paper making process continued to go smoothly,
but I couldn't tell what was on Lutz's mind.
Today, we boil the dried bark!
We just have to let it boil for a bell, right?
Yeah, but we also need to stir it...
Gah! I just remembered another thing we're missing!
What is it?
Lutz, make me two long sticks to stir the pot.
Basically...
Bamboo would be nice.
Chopsticks
Will this do?
Yeah! Thanks, Lutz!
It's impressive that you can hold them like that to stir the pot.
U-Uh... Yeah, aren't I cool?
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Today's work involves
me removing any knots and bruises in the fiber
and Lutz beating the fiber down.
Once the edile fruit mixed in water produces a sticky starch,
we mix the fiber in it,
completing the paper solution.
We finally got to a stage I'm familiar with!
You see, I made paper out of milk cartons back when I was Urano.
Are you really familiar with it?
I've done this before. I got this.
When and where?
I, uh... I-I...
It's a girly secret! No prying!
Why are you shaking it like that?
It balances out the thickness of the paper.
Huh. And you know that because you've done it before?
Lutz...
Please don't glare at me like that.
A few more days passed...
Everything went smoothly,
and we finished our first pieces of paper.
It's paper.
It's actually paper.
We really did it.
It'll be dry by sunset.
Once it's dried, we have to peel it off carefully so it doesn't tear,
and we'll be all done.
So it's as good as finished, right?
I said we'd talk when we finished the paper, remember?
Do you want to do it out here or inside the workshop?
Here is fine.
So, what did you want to talk about?
Tell me...
Who are you?
You know how to make paper, and even said you'd done it before.
There's no way you're Main.
You're right.
Then if you're not her...
Where is the real Main? Give her back!
Okay.
I don't mind giving her back,
but it'd be better if I did it back home.
Why?
Because I'm pretty sure only a corpse will remain after I'm gone.
Y... Wha... Wh... What are you saying?!
You mean she's gone forever?
She's never coming back?!
I think so.
Answer me this:
did you devour Main with your fever?
That's half-right and half-wrong.
I believe that the real Main was consumed by her fever, too.
But I am not the cause of the fever.
Hell, it's eating away at me, too.
What does that mean?!
Isn't this all your doing?!
Didn't Main disappear because of you?!
Tell me I'm right!
You know...
It's not like I wanted to be Main!
I lived and died in a different world,
but suddenly I found that I'd become some child!
If I had the choice, I'd never have picked such a sickly body!
You didn't want to take Main's place?
Would you want to?
Her body is so frail, just walking a little leaves it bedridden the next day.
Is that fever gonna eat you alive, just like Main?
Yeah, probably.
So if you want me gone, just say so.
I'll go away anytime.
Why are you telling me that?
Because I would've been long gone already if it wasn't for you.
I fell sick after Mom used my wood tablets as firewood, remember?
At the time, I didn't mind if the fever swallowed me whole.
Try as I might, I was never getting my books, so I didn't care anymore.
But then...
I saw your face,
remembered the promise I made to you, and came back to myself.
What promise?
To introduce you to Otto.
Oh, but that was...
We met Otto and Benno, so I fulfilled my promise.
I even managed to make paper.
I do still want to complete a book,
but if you want me gone, I'm okay with that.
That's just absurd!
Since when have you been Main?
What do you think?
When do you think I stopped being the Main you knew?
Why, you...
Was it when you started wearing that thing?
Yeah, that's correct.
That's almost an entire year ago!
The family hasn't realized?
They have noticed that I'm weird,
but I don't think they've ever considered that I might not be Main.
Besides, Dad was saying he was happy just seeing how active I'd become.
I see.
Lutz?
I don't think it's my place to decide. It should be Main's family.
Are you saying things can stay like this for now?
And you're okay with that?
Again, it's not my place to decide!
Are you sure you don't want me gone?
I'm not the real Main, you know?
It's fine.
It's not like Main will come back once you're gone.
Besides, if it's been you for an entire year,
most of my memories with "Main" are actually of you.
So... You can still be Main to me.
Lutz's words made everything fall into place deep inside of me.
It may have only been a tiny piece,
but it was the final piece of the puzzle that is my life here.
And as the river grew colder,
and paper-making became that much harder...
Mister Benno, we've brought prototypes of the paper.
Oh?
We've made three samples of varying thickness each from two plants.
Let me see for myself how good it is.
Wow, it works.
It's easier to write on than parchment, but it does blot the ink a little.
It's not that big a problem, I suppose...
So, do we pass?
Can Lutz be your apprentice?
You pass.
Yay!
We did it, Lutz!
Yeah!
This one is higher quality.
We made those from trombe.
What? Trombe?!
Hmm... It'd be nice if we could mass-produce paper from it.
No way! Not with something that dangerous!
Do you want to turn the forest into a wasteland?!
Huh? We can't use it?
Next Chapter The Guild Master's Granddaughter
How do you like that, High Priest?
I went and finished my paper!
Good. Now you can finally start making books.
U-Uh, no. There's a lot left to do yet.
Apparently, you need some kind of license to sell paper.
And the next step in the book-making process will need even more capital...
I see you still have a long, long way to go.
Illustration by Hachikawa Kyu