Cinderella
Cinderella
Making a <Cinderella> picture book for noble young ladies.
The first step was obtaining the materials needed to make the book.
"While I'm at it, I should make a new one for Ada too."
At first, since I had neither money nor skill, the quality of the book I made couldn't be called good even as empty flattery.
But this time, since the clients weren't family but nobles who were nothing if not particular, I had to carefully select every single material going into the book and, of course, entrust the work to professionals.
"Master Rupert, I've brought the leather, paper, and sewing artisans from the territory, as you requested."
I had searched the territory for artisans skilled in the three essential materials needed to make the book.
There was no need for me to go out myself, as the butler brought them all, but their expressions didn't look particularly good.
The artisans sat stiffly on the reception room sofa, not even touching the tea set out for guests.
'That's expensive tea, what a waste.'
The meals my family and employees ate were shabby, but the tea and refreshments for visiting guests were a matter of noble honor, so most of our living expenses went toward them—and they were valuable things, yet they didn't even touch them.
"Master Rupert, we know how to repay a debt of gratitude. We're prepared, so please raise our taxes."
As soon as I sat in the seat of honor on the sofa in the reception room to greet them, they abruptly brought up something I couldn't understand.
"What do you mean by that?"
"There's no need to hide that the count's house has fallen on hard times. We all know it was for our sake, so there's no need to speak indirectly."
No, what does that have to do with anything right now?
"That's right. We have all prepared ourselves. For the sake of overcoming the territory's crisis, we can all make sacrifices."
This was giving me a headache.
What on earth were these people imagining when they gathered here?
"The reason I called you all here is not to raise taxes."
"Then just voluntarily, in the form of donations?"
"No, not that—it's to entrust you with work."
Only then did the artisans nod with dumbfounded expressions.
"Ah, if it's something like that, of course we should do it for free."
"No, I'm going to pay you!!!"
This was driving me crazy. How poor must our family be rumored to be that even the territory's residents saw us as beggars?
***
"Indeed, the finest leather used for book covers is sheepskin."
Even on Earth, sheepskin had often been used as a writing material before paper was invented.
This was what was commonly called 'parchment,' and the leather was tough with an extremely long lifespan, making it excellent for preservation.
Especially for book covers, which often carried lettering or illustrations, it was widely used because it took dye well and held it for a long time.
"To cut ten sheets of top-quality sheepskin at this size, it will cost at least 30 silver."
The leather artisan's expression darkened while hesitantly quoting me a price, probably worried that I'd find it too expensive.
'I thought leather would be the most expensive, but it's cheaper than I expected.'
Actually, I was pleased.
"The finest paper for books is magic-stone paper, made by scattering magic stones, which is the very best. It faintly scatters light, so you can read a book at night without fire, and no matter how much time passes, it does not deteriorate."
Magic-Stone Paper, made by grinding Magic Stones—a material obtained from monsters—and scattering the powder through the paper.
I knew about the existence of this paper too.
The family genealogy was the only book in our household made of magic-stone paper, so I had seen it once.
"The price depends on the number of pages in this picture book...."
"The page count will probably be around 30 pages."
"Then for 10 copies, you'll need 50 silver."
Wow, what an insane price. If I hadn't received advance payment from the nobles this time, I would never have even dared to buy it.
But since I was making it anyway, I couldn't skimp on materials.
"For the thread used in binding books, silk thread is the best. It's soft, light, and doesn't stand out, so the traces of binding aren't even visible."
Silk thread meant silk, and this was also not a cheap item, but at least the amount used was extremely small compared to clothing, so it was fine.
"So then, leather 30 silver, paper 50 silver, and sewing including labor costs 20 silver—is that correct?"
The artisans all nodded in unison at my words.
"I'll pay in advance! Please hurry the work as much as possible."
When I immediately had the butler distribute the prepared money, the artisans' eyes widened.
The money I had received as a gratuity from the nobles was 14 gold. There was no way I would find it wasteful to spend less than a tenth of that on production costs.
And that was only because I'd used the finest materials; if I wanted, I could lower the price even further.
"Now then, I should get to my own work."
Since the professionals had now taken charge of the book's basic foundation, I had to fill in the book's substance.
First of all, the <Cinderella Ada> I had first made was a picture book solely for Ada,
so I had to turn this into a work for each individual young lady.
In the parts of the picture book where text appeared, I had marked every place that said Cinderella Ada as blank spaces.
Then, when transferring this onto the magic-stone paper the paper artisan brought,
I just had to leave the marked blank spaces as they were.
Later, after copying this with the Magic Tower's printer, I just had to write each family's young lady's name in the blank spaces, and it would be done.
This was truly simple work, so it didn't take much time.
The problem was the illustrations of the most important heroine, Cinderella.
The prince, the fairy, and all the other backgrounds could be copied identically, but Cinderella alone had to be drawn separately for each one.
A picture book for just one single person.
If I had wanted to take it easy, I could have just drawn one pretty Cinderella and made it as is.
'My pride as an otaku won't allow that.'
Since I myself had been a subculture maniac from the start, I knew how moving a customized service for a single customer could be, so this was a part I couldn't compromise on.
For example, even in games, games that let you customize a character and set a name separately usually have much deeper immersion.
Some might sneer and ask if you project yourself onto a game character, but small details affect quality.
'If you don't get overly immersed in the first place, that means the work isn't a masterpiece.'
Personally, I think that becoming overly immersed in a work is only possible if you have that much affection for it.
Developing affection for a work means the work is a good work, and to make such a work, you have to pay attention to even the smallest details.
'Not Ada—from now on, call me Cinderella Ada!'
Just looking at Ada, who had stubbornly even changed her name after seeing a book featuring a Cinderella who looked exactly like her, showed that this was difficult but the right direction.
***
The work proceeded smoothly.
Employees' motivation isn't bought with anything else—it's bought with money.
The artisans who had received advance payment quickly made or obtained the necessary materials and brought them, and I also proceeded with the work in step with them.
'Welcome, Rupert. Baron Sleepy has already told us about you.'
When I went to the Magic Tower with the completed manuscript, a wizard guided me.
And I was able to see for the first time this other world's printer, which looked completely different from Earth's printers.
The printer's exterior was a long cylindrical pillar, and its surface was densely covered with all sorts of magical letters called 'runes.'
And at the bottom of the pillar were the inks and dyes needed for printing, which the user had to fill in themselves with whatever they needed.
Whirrrr
At least the other world's printing press sounded much like one on Earth.
When I placed the original and the paper to be printed on what looked like altars on either side of the printer,
the text and pictures were truly magically engraved onto the printing paper exactly as the original.
'Ah, right, it is magic.'
I wasn't a wizard, so I couldn't understand the principles or how it worked, but the usage was quite simple, and I suddenly thought it would be nice to have one of these, so I asked the wizard who was working.
"Can only wizards use this?"
The wizard shook his head at my words and answered.
"Production is only possible at the Magic Tower, but use is possible even for ordinary people who aren't wizards. In fact, there are occasionally people who purchase them directly."
"I see. Then, by any chance, what's the price of this?"
"Yes, the one you're looking at now is an older model, so you can buy it for about 50 gold."
Never mind.
***
Once I carved the text and pictures into the leather for the cover and handed it to the leather artisan, the artisan began fitting it over the pre-cut plywood.
Before long, the cover was complete.
Next up was the sewing artisan. After neatly stacking the sheets bearing the illustrations and lettering I'd drawn with blood and sweat, the artisan stitched them tightly together in order with a needle and silk thread.
Indeed, a skilled artisan was different—the first book I made had been entrusted to the maid who was said to be the best at sewing in our household.
Compared with the artisan's work, mine was obviously crooked and uneven.
The cover went without saying.
The cover I had made was already peeling, bumpy, and loose, so it was embarrassing to even compare.
Thanks to the artisans' skills, the covers and inner pages for 10 copies were completed in an instant, and now the work of combining them was needed.
The finishing work of applying glue to the spine of the inner pages and attaching them to the plywood cover fitted with leather.
When all those processes were finished, the picture book <Cinderella> was finally complete.