kscans

Chapter 112 - Various Stories of Paper ~The Paper Situation in Another World~ - 3. At the Bookstore (Part 2)

After being shown the paper products in the bookstore by the owner, a leather-bound diary and loose sheets of paper, Yuri was inwardly astounded by their poor quality. The quality of the high-grade paper was decent enough, but the quality of the common-grade paper, when measured against the standards of his past life in Japan, could not, with the best will in the world, be called acceptable.

(Now I see why Adon-san was so surprised when he saw my diary… It has a strangely dull color… they haven’t colored it, have they…?)

He understood after asking the shop owner about the manufacturing process. This paper was made not from wood pulp, but from rag pulp.

(Come to think of it… on Earth, too, paper used to be made by fermenting or beating rags… I read about it in a book when I was in Japan…)

The papermaking technology in this world was still at that level, it seemed. In that case, it was understandable that the common-grade paper, if not the high-grade, was yellowish.

(I think… I read that it was possible to make yellowish paper appear white by mixing in a complementary blue dye… I wonder if they don’t know that technique? Or are they not doing it for cost reasons?)

He had a mind to find out, but he wanted to avoid getting into an intractable situation by saying something careless. He decided that silence was the best course of action and continued to look at the products with a feigned ignorance. As far as he could see, the paper was all white… or rather, ecru, and there was no colored paper. In the case of high-grade paper, they might be adding some kind of white pigment when sizing it.

(…I wonder if they don’t know about things like origami or chiyogami? The uses of paper other than as a recording medium may not be very widespread…)

Putting colored paper aside, Yuri, who had been thinking of buying memo paper, was somewhat disappointed.

(…Or rather… they don’t have the memo pads I need…)

As mentioned before, the only writing materials in this world were leather-bound "diaries," and there was no custom of casually taking notes. Consequently, items like the memo pads or notebooks that Yuri was looking for did not exist. The first reason for this was that paper was far too expensive for taking disposable notes. The second reason was the lack, or scarcity, of writing implements that allowed one to easily write on paper held in the hand. Given that this world’s history was similar to Earth’s, he would have thought that something like a fountain pen would have been invented by now. On Earth, the prototype of the fountain pen was created in first-century Egypt. But in reality, no such thing was to be found, not even in the general store he had just visited. With a goose quill, one had to dip the nib in an inkwell each time, making it unsuitable for writing while standing. He felt that a brush and a portable inkwell would not be out of place, but for some reason, brushes were not considered writing implements. Of course, he remained silent on this matter as well. A loose tongue is the root of evil. It was best not to say unnecessary things.

(Hmm… I’m not happy that the quality is worse than my homemade paper, but… maybe I should buy a large quantity of the mid-grade paper. …It’s a pain to make paper every time… If I cut and bind it, I can use it for memos…)

He was starting to want some cardstock, but to his disappointment once again, the store did not have anything like it. If a store in Laurenzen, one of the leading merchant cities in this country, and a prominent one at that, did not have it, then the probability of being able to obtain cardstock in this country was low. In that case, he would have to make it himself, but if he used his papermaking materials for that, his supply of writing paper would suffer. He would have to make up for that with the paper he bought here, despite his reservations about the quality.

Based on this judgment, Yuri bought a large quantity of mid-grade paper. The shopkeeper was naturally curious, but he did not stoop to such vulgar behavior as prying into the affairs of a boy who seemed to be an acquaintance of a major client like Adon, nor was he so foolish as to spread the word about it. Adon had taken that into consideration when he had allowed Yuri to accompany him.