“For now, I’ll try to improve the shape and order one from Johann.” It seemed that an iron would be out of my reach for a bit.
I fell into thought. Lutz did the same, crossing his arms while mulling things over.
“We’ve got the motivation and knowledge, but not the tools. This sure sounds familiar. Myne, think about this some more—do we really have everything else we need?” Lutz asked, remembering how much he had struggled when we didn’t have the proper tools for paper-making. I put a hand on my cheek and tried to remember the exact process for making simple wax paper.
“Umm... You cut the wax down into small pieces, then sprinkle it on top of the paper. This should be easy since we can just shave it down using a tea strainer, which you can buy at general stores. Then we sprinkle the shaved wax on top of the paper, and...” I froze mid-sentence and paled, my mouth agape. Lutz was right. I had forgotten something else. I squatted on the ground, head cradled in my hands. “NOOO! We don’t have (cooking sheets)!”
“Huh?! What?”
I was trying to make wax paper in the most simple way possible, but we didn’t have cooking sheets. Naturally, I couldn’t make those on my own—or at least, I didn’t know how.
“...It’s just not happening.”
“Try and think of a solution before you go off and get depressed. Is there anything that could replace it?” Lutz asked.
I furrowed my brow in thought. Before cooking sheets were invented, people used aluminum foil and paraffin paper. Aluminum foil would get all wrinkled and prevent us from being able to make an even layer of wax, and if you considered paraffin paper as more or less paper that needed a coating of paraffin wax, it was basically the same thing we were trying to make in the first place.
“Umm, it’s something meant to stop the melted wax from getting everywhere, but maybe sticking normal paper in the way will work? I hope it will, but I don’t know. What do you think, Lutz?”
Back on Earth, I was pretty sure that a sheet of copy paper could be used to block any excess melted wax, which meant a sheet of normal paper should work too. At least, I think it should. I want to believe.
“Don’t ask me, I dunno about any of that stuff. Are there any other tools you’d need?”
“That should be everything for making the wax paper, but I’ll want a mimeograph stylus and a file so that I can test whether it would be usable as stencils.” Making wax paper was as simple as melting wax on top of paper and then letting it dry, and while there was a chance that the iron would get wax stuck on it or otherwise dirty up the area, it probably wouldn’t stop us from succeeding. The only issue was whether or not this wax paper would be suitable for making stencils as is.
“A mimeograph stylus and a file... Is Johann gonna make those?”
“Uh huh. Those are both in Johann’s jurisdiction.” I stood up and gave Lutz a big nod, which made Benno’s lips curve into a grin.
“My sympathies to the Gutenbergs you’re dragging around.”
“You’re a Gutenberg too, Benno. It’s not just Johann. Why are you talking like you’re not in the same boat?” I asked, which wiped the grin off of Benno’s face. He grabbed my head in one hand and spoke in a low, growling voice.
“Every single person you’ve called a Gutenberg is buried under a mountain of work right now, struggling each day to keep their head above water. Don’t you think there’s something you should be saying to all these people you’re dumping loads of work onto, day after day?”
“Huh? Um... Err...” I floundered, my eyes darting between Benno and Lutz, unable to think of what he wanted me to say. They both looked at me with the same harsh expression, waiting for me to answer. It was clear that I wasn’t going to be getting any hints.
“Let us continue striving to spread books across the world together?”
“Wrong! Show us some appreciation!” Benno roared, grinding a fist against my head.
“Thank you! Thank you! I exist as I am today thanks to you and Lutz, Benno! I’ll continue being a burden on you both, but thank you for sticking with me!” I yelled with teary eyes.
Benno made it sound like I should feel bad about giving all the Gutenbergs a lot of work, but I only had a limited amount of time I could spend with Kamil. I had no intention of slowing down on making picture books—if anything, I wanted to speed up even more.
Johann looked like he wanted work other than making letter types when I went to get Gil’s stylus, so I gave him the blueprints I had written out for an iron, a mimeograph stylus, and a mimeograph file. When he learned that they were all tools for printing, he truly understood that he would forever hold the title of “Gutenberg,” and before my eyes he wept tears of joy.
Delia’s Progress
I had ordered the tools we needed to make wax stencils from Johann, but it would be some time before they were done. In the end, Wilma finished her art for the next picture book before the tools were ready. It was a story about Flutrane the Goddess of Water and her twelve subordinate goddesses, themed around spring.
“Hey, Lutz. Since it’ll be a while before the tools are ready, should we just start working on
