Chapter 79
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Paper's Triumph and Dwarven Demands
Uphills Foundation's faculty office.
Clap clap clap clap-!
From early morning, applause echoed through the room.
"Congratulations!"
"Congrats."
"That work uniform looks sharp."
The teachers in the faculty office showered Johannes with words of celebration as he arrived, pushing a cart loaded with textbooks.
"Ahem."
Johannes (16 years old, Uphills Paper full-time employee) let out an awkward chuckle.
He wanted to shout, "I told you I'd succeed and come back!" but held it in.
It was a bit too childish.
Johannes put on his most "mature" expression and spoke.
"Well then. At long last, our 'Uphills Paper' has completed the textbooks. Everyone, take one on your way out."
Of course, his cheeks were slightly flushed.
"This is it, huh!"
"No way, it's really out."
The teachers picked up the paper books one by one.
"It's so light."
"No warping either."
The staff had already been using paper for administrative tasks, so they weren't shocked out of their wits.
Still, they knew its advantages better than anyone.
Paper didn't tear easily like papyrus, nor was it as heavy as parchment.
Work efficiency had visibly skyrocketed.
Staff member Sonia also picked up a book with a pounding heart.
[Science - 01]
Science, huh.
They said it was similar to natural philosophy, but she still didn't know exactly what field it covered.
She murmured to herself.
"The leather straps... are gone."
Parchment books would warp freely depending on humidity.
To prevent that, they reinforced the first and last pages with boards and bound them tightly with thick leather straps.
But this paper book didn't need any of that.
Its neat, rectangular shape appealed to Sonia.
"Heh heh heh."
As Sonia flipped through the book, a strange giggling reached her ears.
She looked up to see Johannes grinning ear to ear.
"What's up? Something good happen?"
"Teacher's smiling."
"...Am I?"
Seeing Johannes's proud face deepened Sonia's smile.
"The kid who bawled his eyes out because he couldn't read a contract... when did you grow up so much?"
"Eheh. That's an exaggeration. I read it all the way through that day."
"Oh. Exaggeration. Now you're using big words."
Sonia still vividly remembered that day.
That day, this boy had clutched the contract in front of her and cried.
'It's been months since then...'
Johannes was now a proper adult.
"A-hem!"
Johannes cleared his throat awkwardly.
Kids grow up so fast.
'I'm glad I applied to the foundation.'
Even if she could read a bit, Sonia was just the second daughter of a noble house.
She couldn't inherit the territory anyway, so working here was far better.
Sonia asked Johannes.
"When will the other textbooks besides science be ready?"
"Oh, for language arts or math, we're copying the existing boarding school materials... well, duplicating them. Just wait a little longer, and those will arrive too."
"It's really coming soon..."
The thought that every child could soon have their own book made her heart swell.
When that happened, Sonia could finally teach in earnest.
"Oh, right. I have something else to pass along."
Johannes pulled a stack of paper from the cart and handed it to Sonia.
"This is... test paper?"
"Yes. Director Isaac said the teachers who score highest on this test will teach science."
"Whoa..."
"Of course, since it'll be everyone's first time teaching it, the selected teachers will learn directly from the director through personal communication."
A subtle tension filled the faculty office at those words.
The chance to learn directly from a genius mage who even swayed the Empire's standards.
Missing this opportunity would be foolish.
One by one, the teachers opened Isaac's textbooks.
Watching them, the corners of Johannes's mouth twitched upward.
"Well then, good luck, everyone! I'm off!"
If nobles gathered in salons, where did merchants meet?
The tavern, of course.
Not the noisy dives frequented by mercenaries or commoners.
The capital's merchants visited exclusive taverns owned by massive trading houses.
Enter [Winegold].
A name smashing together the two things merchants loved most.
Amid dozens of merchants chattering noisily, one man climbed onto a table and shouted.
"Drinks are on me today! Everyone grab a beer!"
Clap clap clap-!
Ooooh-!
He said drinks were on him, but it wasn't entirely free.
The merchants drinking his booze would vouch for his contracts.
He'd just closed a futures deal for next year's wheat.
Merchants sometimes traded those futures contracts among themselves.
No goods changed hands, but money flowed fiercely.
This was a place where anything that made money was fair game.
Thus, rumors in [Winegold] were always about "money-makers."
Today's real hot topic was something else.
"Heard the rumor? Something to replace parchment's been made."
"Hm?"
Just as he was relaxing after sealing next year's deal, an intriguing rumor caught his ear.
"Where'd it come from?"
"Uphills Workshop, I hear."
"Ah... the place that bankrupted 'Footless Horse'?"
The name Uphills Workshop was already famous among merchants.
They'd toppled the leader of the capital's carriage market with a single small invention.
"Thought they only handled metal, but they're doing leather now too? So, if not cowhide, what'd they use? Pig? Goblin?"
"That's the thing... it's not leather. See for yourself."
The merchant pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket.
"Feels like papyrus in texture. Made from reeds too?"
"Nah. Second-hand cloth... rags, basically."
"What? Rags? This?"
The merchant narrowed his eyes, inspecting the paper.
Thin, light, tough.
Barely any ink bleeding either.
Instinctively, he started calculating.
'Made from discarded cloth scraps?'
If true, it would be far cheaper than parchment, even cheaper than papyrus shipped from the Empire's southeast.
"Holy hell..."
This was a goldmine.
Turning trash into gold.
"What's the manufacturing method? How do they make it?"
"No idea."
"Don't bullshit me. Spill it. We could set up a workshop together—you and me invest."
"I really don't know."
If he was stonewalling this hard, he truly didn't know.
Time to find out.
"Anyone try investing and prying info?"
"The boss said no investments, period."
"Sneak in at night?"
"Impossible to even get in. Security's brutal since the 'Lamp Leader' incident."
"What about planting our own guy undercover?"
Last resort.
If that failed, straight-up confrontation it was.
"...That's tough too. Everyone working there now is an Uphills Foundation orphan."
"No outside hires at all. Tough nuts."
Tsk.
The merchant clicked his tongue.
The scent of money was overwhelming, but untouchable.
Torture for a merchant.
He pondered, then downed a whiskey and said.
"Guess we have no choice but to ask the alchemy school folks."
Slip some coin to the alchemy school, and they'd reveal the principles.
"Reverse engineering... it'll cost a pretty penny."
"You serious? You see this paper and say that?"
The merchant shoved the paper scrap at his colleague.
Here, the scent of money was intoxicating.
Even stronger than the futures contract he'd just signed.
His colleague replied.
"Kidding. I gave you the info, so you foot the commission."
"You bastard... that was your play all along."
Sneer.
The merchants exchanged sly grins.
The paper matter was out of my hands now.
With the workshop and foundation driving it forward like twin engines, paper would soon blanket the world.
And money would roll in accordingly.
Next time I hand out performance bonuses, I should teach them how to avoid investment scams too.
Can't have a second Anna incident.
Anyway, the priority now was the levistone.
"Hmm..."
I skimmed the initial blueprints for an airship using levistone as its core.
We had the root technology, but the road ahead was long.
I'd never built a ship before, so aside from the magic-circuit-linked propulsion, the rest was barely a shell.
The problem was manpower.
Even with finished blueprints, we lacked skilled artisans to build it.
The paper workshop could run with foundation kids after a few months' training.
But ironworking or shipbuilding was another level.
It demanded hordes of seasoned blacksmiths and technicians.
'Tobin and Karen alone? No way...'
If I showed Tobin these blueprints as-is, he'd try to kill me.
'Hire outsiders?'
But leaking core tech would be disastrous.
Security was lifeblood for strategic weapons.
'Unless some tight-lipped dwarves walk in on their own.'
Might be better to slowly train blacksmith hopefuls at the foundation.
Long-term view.
Airships weren't urgent anyway.
Then Giuseppe raised his hand.
"Junior, come here a sec."
His senior's expression was off.
Seeing him snort in anger stirred some tension—it had been ages since I'd seen Giuseppe pissed.
"...What's up?"
"Take a look at this."
Giuseppe handed over an official document from the desk.
"What the fuck is this."
Did the Magic Tower advertise reverse engineering services or something?
I told Giuseppe.
"No wonder you're pissed. Those Classical Alchemy School bastards... words won't cut it."
"..."
"Send out Professor Dolloren?"
"...There's a back page. Check that too."
"Ah."
"The Classical Alchemy School guys. Surprisingly upright."
"Yeah."
As expected from the perennial #1 payer of theory usage fees for the [Absolute Temperature] paper.
For reference, the ideal gas school wasn't on the list.
We didn't charge them.
Giuseppe said to me.
"The problem is those 'anonymous trading company' scum. Daring to steal your achievement."
Giuseppe snorted and asked.
"Like you said, junior—tell Professor Dolloren?"
"...Is that necessary?"
Blocking the first attempt was lucky, but these incidents would be routine.
This was a losing battle for the blockers.
Stopping one company now just meant another would try later.
Better to spend that time advancing research.
Not that I'd do paper research myself.
My little siblings were paper experts now—they'd develop it fine.
I trusted them.
I calmed Giuseppe and headed back to my seat.
Then, a letter caught my eye.
The seal on the envelope was unusual.
'Crossed hammer and anvil symbol...'
Good thing the anvil wasn't a sickle.
I pointed at it and asked.
"What's that one?"
"Hm? Oh."
Giuseppe picked up the envelope.
"From the Dwarven Kingdom."
"Dwarves?"
"The seal looks genuine... probably really from the Dwarven Kingdom."
What business did the Dwarven Kingdom have with our school?
I asked Giuseppe.
"Does this happen often?"
"No. Unprecedented."
"...You don't seem surprised at all."
Snicker.
Giuseppe laughed.
"Thanks to you, junior, nothing fazes me anymore."
"Good news?"
"Can see it that way."
Glad to hear it.
I opened the letter from the Dwarven Kingdom.
"..."
"...What the hell is this?"