Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 2

Contract Magic

Mark, after having the female employee clean up our table, brought in a tray covered with stuff. The word "platter" would be more fitting since he looked so much like a butler, but since it was like a flat circle carved out of wood, the tool was unfortunately less dignified than the carrier.

In any case, he lined the stuff up on the table: flat boards resting on top of one another for some reason, an ink jar, a pen made of some plant that looked like a thin reed, stone slates, slate pens, and some cloth. There was a wide variety of things, and once everything was placed onto the table with perfect alignment, Mark looked up.

"Now then. I will teach you how to write supply orders," he said, then looked at both of us for a second. "Can you write, Lutz?"

"...The only thing I can write is my name." It seemed that the lessons I had given Lutz while making clay tablets had stuck in his head. However, he nonetheless lowered his eyes uncomfortably, knowing that a supply order would require more writing than just his name.

Mark gave a nod and placed a stone slate in front of Lutz. "You can write your own name? I had heard you were not the son of a merchant, so consider me surprised. There will be no issue with the contract. However, all apprentices here learn to read. Let us practice your letters while Myne writes the supply orders." He must not have expected that Lutz could write his own name. I could guess that his initial plans were to teach Lutz how to do so before Benno returned with the contracts.

Mark wrote five basic letters on the slate and had Lutz start memorizing them. He looked pretty used to teaching kids and helping them learn. Maybe he was in charge of teaching the apprentices. "Myne, do you know how to write?"

"There might be some words I don't know, but if you teach me them, I can write anything."

"Then I will teach you how a supply order is written." Mark placed two boards in front of me. One had nothing written on it and the other was already covered with words. That was probably the example order. It had some words I didn't know, but I could read about seventy percent of it.

"These are the letters that form a 'supply order,'" said Mark, pointing at the letters by the top. He then taught me the format of a supply order. It wasn't that hard once I learned the words to indicate who was ordering, what they wanted, and how much. "Myne, do you know what tools and materials you need?"

"Yes, don't worry." I gave a firm nod and started writing the supply orders, but it was harder than I expected to write on a board. I wasn't used to the pen, either, which made writing harder and unpleasant. The soot pen I had made was much easier to use, if you asked me. Though the letters ended up broken and unreadable if you messed up even a little. "Ngggh, this is a lot harder to use than a stone pen."

"Compared to most of those writing for the first time, I would say you're doing quite well."

With Mark's praise giving me a morale boost, I put my all into writing the orders. I scratched away for a bit. Eventually, he took a look at one of the orders and frowned. "Myne, you have pot written here, but how large of a pot do you want?"

"Ummm... I was thinking a pot about as big as the second-biggest pot at my home."

Mark's brows furrowed deeper. It was written on his face that my explanation was incomprehensible. Well... That makes sense. He doesn't know how big the pots we own are. But I don't know what units of measurement are used here. If I can't use centimeters, how can I describe length objectively?

"Hey, Lutz. How big of a pot can you carry if it's full of water?" 

"Huh? Errr, about this big." Lutz made a circle with his arms.