Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1 Volume 3

Back to Paper-Making

The snow began to melt and sunny days came in sequence rather than once in a blue moon. It was still cold, but my family permitted me to go the Gilberta Company, so I went there with Lutz to get our pay. We set out with bags we could use to carry the money our winter handiwork had earned.

There was no snow in the middle of the main street, but there were mountains of half-melted snow in the alleys reaching up to my neck that kept the feeling of winter alive. Everyone looked excited for spring, and the people walking along the street all had a skip to their step. There were more carriages and wagons passing along the main street than I could remember seeing for a long time. More people were going to the Gilberta company, too, and despite us aiming for the relatively non-busy afternoon, they were still swamped when we arrived.

Lutz and I began discussing whether we should come back later when we saw Mark walking our way. An employee had recognized us and called for him.

"Hi. Long time no see, Mr. Mark."

"Indeed. Blessed be the melting of the snow. May the Goddess of Spring's boundless magnanimity grace you both." Mark clenched his right hand into a fist in front of his chest and placed it against his left hand, fingers pressed together and stretched out. I had no idea what he was doing and could only blink rapidly in confusion.

"Um? What?"

"...I merely said the traditional spring greeting." Mark looked confused about why we were confused, which told me that his greeting was commonplace in these parts.

"I've never heard it before. Have you, Lutz?"

"Nope, first time I'm hearing it too."

"...Is it maybe a greeting only merchants say?"

"I have never thought much about it, given that it is so commonplace in my family, but given that my job leads to me primarily associating with merchants, that could be the case. Melting snow means more trade, so it is blessed. The greeting in general is one to bless each other with the good graces of the Goddess of Spring," said Mark, teaching us how merchants greet each other. Or at least, how they greeted each other specifically the first time they meet after spring. I interpreted it as the equivalent of saying "Happy New Year."

I pressed my right fist against my left palm in front of my chest as Mark had done and practiced the greeting. "Blessed be the melting of the snow?"

"That's correct."

"And then, um, may the Goddess of Spring's boundless magnanimity grace you," I murmured the greeting to myself several times, but I was confident I would forget it by tomorrow. Once again, I wished I had a notepad. I had my stone slate in my bag, but it wouldn't work as a notepad.

"The master is in a business meeting right now. Might I ask in his stead what brings you here today?" asked Mark, to which I replied while counting everything I had to talk about on my fingers.

"Ummm, first is the money for our winter handiwork. Second, I want to confirm if the large suketa has been finished, since I want to start making paper again soon. Third, I need to talk to Mr. Benno about my apprenticeship, but I guess I can't if he's in a meeting."

"Understood. Let us begin with the handiwork payment. His meeting will end before long." Mark guided us to a table within the store. Lutz and I sat next to each other, and Mark sat in front.

"Um, I present the last of the hairpins. P-Please assess them, sir," stumbled Lutz as he held out the bag of hairpins, not used to being so polite. Mark took them out and counted.

"There are twenty-four here. Including those you delivered, you have brought us a total of one hundred and eighty-six hairpins. Is that correct?"

"Mhm, perfect." We had the exact same number written on our slates. Each hairpin was worth five middle coppers. From that Lutz and I put our one copper share directly into our guild savings. We then put the rest into a separate bag we had brought with us, to make it easier to distribute.