360 - Plans for the Future in Grenore
After parting with Alfred at the Three Crows Tavern, I tried to walk home but Leonardo stopped me. I've walked from the Three Crows Tavern to the Fortress Lord's Residence any number of times, but he said he was worried about me walking alone. I do restrain myself from truly walking alone, and I have Kokumaro plus Aaron and Giselle as guards, but Leonardo still seems uneasy.
"I was thinking of making a detour to the Sedovara Church, so I can't drag Alfred-sama around with me."
"To the Sedovara Church? What business do you have there?"
In the capital, I had dealings with them for meetings about reviving the secret arts, so it wouldn't be strange, but I don't have that much connection with the Sedovara Church in Grenore. It's understandable that Leonardo would find it odd, but even if I personally have no connection with the Grenore Sedovara Church, I do have a connection with Jasper. I don't think it's that strange for me to go visit him now that I've returned to the city of Grenore.
"I thought I'd go give Jasper a gift from the capital and tell him that the three secret arts were completed safely."
"To go see Jasper, huh..."
Mmm -- Leonardo's brow furrowed. Lately Leonardo's overprotectiveness has been getting worse, but originally he's the type who can restrain himself with reason. If I explain my reasons, he'll consider them properly, and with repetition, he'll probably feel reassured that a little outing on my part won't get me kidnapped by spirits.
...Well, I suppose I won't be getting kidnapped by spirits anymore, so there's no need to be on guard.
Really, I wish Leonardo would get used to this and feel at ease already. Worrying too much isn't good for his health, and being excessively constrained makes it hard for me to move. He doesn't need to bind me -- I'm not going anywhere.
In the end, Alfred ended up accompanying me to the Sedovara Church as well. I declined, saying a prince accompanying me just to drop off a gift for Jasper was too much, but Alfred said that if it's just handing over a gift, he wouldn't mind waiting in the carriage. If Jasper found out that a prince was waiting in the carriage while I delivered a gift, his stomach would probably start aching.
...Actually, that might be a little amusing?
Or maybe, with that, Jasper has surprisingly thick nerves so he might not think anything of it. It might be Giselle's stomach I should be worrying about instead.
When we headed to the Sedovara Church in the carriage carrying Alfred, we pulled up to the entrance used by pharmacists, not the one where consultations and medicine compounding are received. Unlike the open front entrance, it's only used by pharmacists, so it's a bit spacious but ordinary in size.
I submitted a request to see Jasper at the reception desk, and since I'd contacted him in advance, Jasper appeared in the entrance hall immediately. Having parted at the beginning of winter, it's been a good half a year since I last saw him, and his appearance is absolutely terrible.
"You're a pharmacist, so please take baths, get sleep, and manage your health. Tending to your hair is the bare minimum of grooming for a working professional when standing before others."
"...Most of our scholars are like this, you know?"
There are dark circles under his eyes, threads are coming loose from his braided hair all over the place, and he seems to smell a bit. The unhealthiness is obvious at a single glance.
Is this what they call "the physician's own neglect"?
Jasper is a scholar-type pharmacist primarily focused on research, but since he also performs treatment and compounding, it's not wrong to consider him a doctor. When I lamented why that doctor was in such a terrible state, the reason apparently lay with his fellow scholars.
While at the Fortress Lord's Residence or the detached palace, one had to pay attention to grooming, but not here. Jasper returned to a place where only people gathered who, given the choice between grooming themselves to avoid the risk of entering a gentleman or lady's line of sight, or advancing their own research even a little, would choose the latter. As if to say that if those around him didn't care about grooming, he didn't need to either, Jasper seemed to have been prioritizing transcription work over his own health management.
"You should have been informed that I was visiting today. I wish you'd at least taken a bath..."
Thinking it would be rude to pinch my nose in front of him, I endured the faint smell. But I can't help that my face goes dead serious instead.
"...Anyway, I've returned from the capital, so I've brought you that news and a gift."
"Here," I said, urging Mirshe forward. The main purpose was to bring her to the Three Crows Tavern, but Mirshe was brought along for work. Carrying luggage is a fine job too.
"A gift... I was in the capital for quite a while too, you know..."
"But a gift is a gift. I chose dried fruit that keeps well, but..."
I think the timing is just right, I said sincerely, looking over Jasper's condition. Since he kept himself neat at the Fortress Lord's Residence and the detached palace, I didn't think he was the kind of person to be this neglectful of himself when no one else's eyes were on him. It's hard to believe that Jasper, who postpones even sleep and grooming, is eating properly.
"I think these would make good emergency rations. You can pick them up with one hand, so please eat them before you collapse."
"...Does coming back to Grenore mean the secret arts are complete?"
Maybe he thought he'd had enough scolding. I glared a little and pouted at Jasper, who had changed the subject from emergency rations. Managing the health of a grown adult is none of my business, but I'm still worried, so having the topic evaded doesn't sit well with me.
"I came back having completed all three, just as I declared."
You should praise me, I said, puffing out my modest chest. All I did was read Japanese, but a good deed is a good deed. I think I'm entitled to demand a bit of praise.
"Oh, good, good. Well done."
"...Your praise is sloppy. Also, it's totally flat."
"You're one to talk -- your cat is slipping."
My cat is fine, I said, turning away. The young lady act is something I use for nobles, so I probably don't need to maintain it for Jasper or within the Fortress Lord's Residence. I don't, I tell you. I don't.
...Ah, I just heard Hermine-sensei in my head saying something like "A lady never lets her guard down."
I'm aware I've been letting my guard down too much lately, so maybe I should be a little more conscious of it. Still, it's unnecessary with Jasper.
"So, now that you're back in Grenore, what do you plan to do? If you're going to compound medicines using pharmacists, the capital would be more convenient in various ways."
"I might go to the capital again when I'm grown up, but while I'm a child, I'll stay with Leonyaldo Big Brother. Even in Grenore, I can at least do translation work."
I can't actually do the compounding work without borrowing the hands of pharmacists, but the work of translating Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials into the Erath language can be done anywhere. While gradually advancing the translation work, I plan to stay by my brother's side as long as I'm treated as a child.
"I'd like to test in Grenore whether the prescriptions I've translated into Erath are really usable. But I think it's better not to do anything reckless, so for now I'll just do the translation work."
Since that's how the discussion went, I added that they're probably deciding the order of the secret arts to revive in the capital right about now. There will be gaps, but next time the focus will be on all the medicines whose prescriptions were recorded. Seven years seems a bit too long, but at least there won't be any medicines pushed to the back burner from the start like last time.
"Speaking of prescriptions, there were recipes for things other than medicine too. That research material is quite interesting."
"Other than medicine? In the saint's research materials?"
"There were things like how to make lotion with no harmful effects on the body, and how to make soap that can also be used by people."
"Those... the methods probably still exist commonly. The Sedovara Church makes and sells soap that can be used by people."
Since soap is far simpler to make than medicine, it probably managed to become established normally. Like the printing press preserved at the Menhishumi Church, complex things brought by reincarnators haven't evolved since, but things with simple processes, and things that were needed in a bad way, took root in this world.
"If the same things already exist, it might be interesting to have someone make them using my translated recipes and compare whether the same things come out as the recipes that still remain."
It's similar to the experiment done in the capital to see if my translated prescriptions would be understood by other pharmacists. Whether my Erath translations are correct as translations and can accurately convey the content of the prescriptions to whoever reads them is an important issue.
"If there's something that doesn't seem dangerous, you could try making it here. Everyone here is a pharmacist from the Sedovara Church, so we'd need to bring in someone else to do the work..."
"I do have acquaintances who aren't pharmacists, so that's fine."
I'm not short of acquaintances who are laypeople when it comes to compounding. My role is to read the recipes written in Japanese and convert them into Erath, so I'm not suited for the actual work, but Giselle and Mirshe fit this condition.
"But is that okay? You're busy too, Jasper."
"A break now and then is necessary, and the Sedovara Church is convenient for gathering materials one way or another."
Since what I'm doing ultimately connects to the revival of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts, Jasper's opinion was that the Sedovara Church would be fairly accommodating. It feels like a bit too much is expected of me, but I'm grateful for it.
Gratefully, I decided to stop by the Sedovara Church occasionally.
There was the small issue of Alfred clinging to Alf and refusing to leave him just before departure, but after seeing off Alfred returning to the capital, my peaceful life returned. It's sad that my tutor Hermine is no longer here, but not exactly as a replacement, Mirshe has joined the residence. On a plus-minus basis, that's zero. I'll get used to this life soon enough.
"Now then, where should I start?"
Since I'm fully recovered, I face the work I've been kept away from. Just thinking about the things I want to do and my duties as the lady of the house that come to mind makes my head spin with confusion, so I gave up on thinking.
...That's the problem with only thinking in my head. Let's write things out one by one.
Whenever I need to organize my thoughts, my trusty companion the writing board and chalk always help. Sitting on a chair brought from the room I'd prepared for Aurelia, I wrote down work and things I wanted to do as they came to mind on the writing board.
"Hiring more servants, redecorating rooms, ordering new furniture, translation work and its experiments, printing the bobbin lace guidebook... I have a bit too many things I want to do."
I suppose these are technically my duties, but they also feel within the realm of hobbies. I'd like to earn some pocket money doing embroidery piecework like before, but I don't think I'll be able to find time for that.
"For now, let's set priorities."
Regarding increasing servants, Hermine advised me to consult with Kalisa first. Gratefully following Hermine's advice, I consulted Kalisa, and her response was that it would be better to wait until Mirshe has learned the work before increasing the staff. I thought having more hands would be better, but apparently if you bring in new people before Mirshe has learned the job, Mirshe's training becomes insufficient, and Tabitha and Bart's time gets diverted to training the newcomer, ultimately making the work harder rather than easier.
"Increasing staff is difficult too."
So I decided to wait until I see how Mirshe does and put the staff increase on hold. The next thing to prioritize, as I looked down the list, was ordering new furniture. For desk work like translation, furniture that doesn't fit your body puts a lot of strain on it.
"For furniture, I'll need to call merchants and craftsmen and discuss it with them."
"If you'd like the same things as before, we could simply measure Tina-sama's current size and place an order..."
"That seems easier, doesn't it."
If the furniture has the same design, maybe I shouldn't do large-scale redecorating like changing the wallpaper. I thought that would be easier and cheaper, but it seems Leonardo has already made contact with the craftsmen. I plastered on the lady-like smile I learned from Hermine to deal with the merchants and craftsmen who came at a time when Leonardo was home. It seems Leonardo is even more enthusiastic about redecorating the room than I am, so I decided to go ahead and change the wallpaper. Up until now, the room had a mint-green wallpaper with chocolate-colored furniture, giving it a kind of chocolate-mint atmosphere, but this time it'll be a calm young-leaf green wallpaper with furniture in a dark brown lighter than chocolate, aiming for a country style. Leonardo furrowed his brow asking if it wasn't too plain for a young girl's room, but when I said I wanted a warm, simple atmosphere, he accepted it. The decisive factor was 'simple,' I think. Leonardo calculated that if I was satisfied with the simplicity of my own room, I'd spend less time using the attic room.
...Translation work will have to wait until the furniture comes, I suppose?
If I just translate at my own whim, I risk getting absorbed in the work and ending up like Jasper. There are people around me who take care of me and stop me from overworking, but I should restrain myself within the limits I can manage.
"Next is printing the bobbin lace guidebook."
For this, I'll need the help of the Menhishumi Church's printing workshop, so I need to consult them. I thought about who to consult, and decided to talk to Nils first. I said I wanted to meet him to discuss something and asked when would be convenient, but instead of a reply, Nils himself came to the residence.
"I didn't mean to summon you..."
Since I'm the one asking for a consultation, I intended to go to him, I apologized to Nils, whom I hadn't seen in two years. In those two years, Nils had entered his growth spurt and shot up in height, but his build and facial features hadn't changed. And his voice had dropped a register. His face is clearly recognizable as Nils, but with his height and voice changed, he feels almost like a different person.
"The Guide told me to respond with full effort to any request from Tina-sama."
"Ah, I see. Leonyaldo Big Brother donates a large sum every year, after all..."
I felt a bit sorry thinking that was probably why my letter was prioritized.
"That's part of it, but it seems word about the bobbin lace guidebook also came from the Menhishumi Church in the capital."
The Menhishumi Church, which seeks knowledge, welcomes new books, so apparently they were actually waiting for my contact. It seems only I was feeling apologetic about summoning him, while they were waiting eagerly to take immediate action once contacted.
...But if word has already gotten around, maybe it's faster this way.
First, please look at this, I said, showing the beautifully bound guidebook and manuscript I'd printed in the capital. Nils was surprised by the luxurious binding, but this was just me playing with the binding for nobles, so I want to make it affordable for commoners too. I don't plan to use the same binding for the general-public version. I asked about binding, print quantity, and purchasing paper and ink, and kept costs down where possible.
"It really is good to have someone at the Menhishumi Church I can consult with in detail."
"For my part, I'm grateful that Tina-sama considers things and accepts it when I explain why something can't be done."
Apparently, people who print books at their own expense like I decided to do with the Menhishumi Church appear from time to time. For those who know from the start how much bookmaking costs, the pricing is reasonable, but apparently some people start haggling saying it's too expensive. Those types apparently find fault with the workshop over various things, and even after printing is finished, they try to haggle the price down. We discussed the bobbin lace guidebook while mixing in stories of the printing workshop's hardships. When it came time to decide how many copies to print to calculate the initial costs, Nils and I ended up both holding our heads.
"This is also a message from Guide Anna -- she said they'd like to place the book in the Menhishumi Church's library, so please allow them to purchase copies for the Menhishumi Churches within the country and at least those in each country's capital."
"That is... about how many copies would I need to print?"
I don't intend to make book sales a business, but just thinking about the Menhishumi Church's portion alone, it seemed like it would exceed the number of copies I printed in the capital. When I asked Nils how many I should print, he seemed to have a rough idea.
"The Ivizia Kingdom has the capital and five cities, plus there are twelve towns and cities with Menhishumi Churches... so eighteen copies. They'd also like to place three copies in the printing workshop as samples. For Menhishumi Churches in other countries, even one copy would be fine, but they said they'd like to purchase the same number as for the Ivizia Kingdom to have a margin."
Additionally, Guide Anna apparently wants to purchase one copy personally. That makes a simple calculation of seventy-six copies.
"...That's more than I expected."
I'd vaguely thought 'I'll make a book and spread bobbin lace,' but I hadn't really considered the sales method at all. I thought even if I printed a lot, it would be about fifty copies, but the Menhishumi Church's portion alone exceeds fifty. It seems I should decide the print run a bit more carefully.
"Elke-chan and Petrona-chan were saying they wanted to handle it as merchandise too..."
"If those two think it'll sell, then my father might want some too, I wonder...?"
I don't know how many copies the two of them think they can sell, but they'll probably need a fair number. Maybe I should ask about the required numbers first.
"I still don't know the total, but if I tried to print all this at once, we might run out of paper. But if I'm doing stencil printing, I'd want to do it all in one go..."
There's no such thing as cheap factory-produced paper like in my previous life, so each sheet is handmade and a bit expensive. There's no way I could gather the required number of sheets immediately just because I decided to print.
"For now, I think I should consult with Elke-chan and the others first to decide how many copies to print."
"Yes. Then prepare the paper during autumn, and do the printing in winter."
When Nils asked if there was anything else I was concerned about, I didn't hesitate to fire questions at him. Midway through, the conversation turned to love talk about Nils, who should be entering puberty, and when I asked if there was any girl he had his eye on, he blushed. Even if Nils's body has grown, he's still Nils. Honest and adorable. I think this is why the spirits love him.
It's been a while since we've seen Nils. Nils's first love is long in the past.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.