I had heard about it directly from Myne’s family, so I faced some potential problems unless I figured out the guildmaster’s source. I clicked my tongue and sent a return message saying that I could meet him that afternoon, which meant I had to rush and finish my highest priority business before the messenger got back from the Merchant’s Guild.
“Mark, send someone to the smithy and get them to keep on making metal letter types. Get Bierce’s ink workshop to make more printing ink, too. Tell them that we’re gonna spread printing throughout the duchy, at the archduke’s orders.”
Regardless of how the orphanage inspection went, nothing would change the fact that the printing business would be expanding into an industry. The sooner I got things ready, the better.
Mark, having finished changing, nodded and let out a lengthy sigh. “Now that it has come to this, we will have to get the guildmaster involved as soon as possible. We will never be able to keep up if each form takes days upon days to be approved.”
“That’s what I’m gonna talk to him about today. The geezer’s a pain in the ass to deal with, but thanks to his nose for money, he’s not impossible to work with.” I left it at that and finished changing, then grabbed the robes the High Priest had given me and ran up the stairs to Corinna’s place.
“Corinna! We’ve got an urgent job. Alter these robes so they’ll fit Myne.” I spread out the white ceremonial robes, and Corinna widened her eyes in shock.
“But Benno, aren’t those the High Bishop’s robes?”
“I’m asking for Myne’s measurements here, but it’s gonna be the daughter of an archnoble wearing them—Lady Rozemyne, not Myne. Take care not to mix ’em up.”
Corinna lowered her eyes, then gave a deliberate nod. She had probably heard some details from Otto, but she was a merchant who dealt with nobles just like I did. She knew well that, at times, you just had to accept the unreasonable and do your job.
“I understand.”
“Also, they ordered a fancy hair stick to use at her baptism ceremony. That means it should be themed around the color white. Use blue for the season, and some gold for her eyes, too. But, y’know... this is an important job. I think we should get some real experienced craftsmen to do it,” I said, indirectly implying that we should get Myne’s family to make it.
“I agree,” Corinna said with a small giggle. She had heard me loud and clear.
With Corinna clear on what work she had to do, I climbed back down the stairs right as my messenger returned from the Merchant’s Guild.
“Alright, I’m heading to the Guild. Mark, get everything ready.”
“It already is.”
I arrived at the Merchant’s Guild and was immediately let into the guildmaster’s office. I found him waiting inside with his granddaughter, Freida. Judging by how he wasn’t acting pompous like usual, he was probably as worked up about this as I was.
“Benno, you know about Rozemyne, don’t you?”
“I’ll be blunt: everything to do with Rozemyne is being kept extremely secret. Where’s the leak? How’d you find out? Depending on your answers, the nobles could kill us all.”
“...So you do know, then.” Freida smiled. “The noble I signed with has a younger brother who is assigned to guard an apprentice blue shrine maiden, you see.”
Freida began discussing her own circumstances and what had happened when she had gone to get her magic tool emptied. The knight had been brought to her room unconscious, some light had burst into the room out of nowhere and dusted over him, after which he shouted about an apprentice shrine maiden being in danger and rushed to go help her. Given that Myne was the only apprentice blue shrine maiden, Freida checked her magic contracts to check whether she was alive, and there she found that her name had been changed to “Rozemyne.”
That knight she mentioned must have been the bodyguard who had been following Myne around everywhere since winter. I never would have thought that he was connected to Freida and the guildmaster.
“Now then, Benno—tell us everything you know,” the guildmaster said. For a second, I considered whether I should keep the rest to myself, but the geezer and his granddaughter already knew Myne pretty well. The coming days would probably be easier for me if I just went ahead and told them the situation now—that way, they’d be stuck dealing with Rozemyne and the archduke just like I was.
“Sure. But if I do, I’m gonna need you to be fully cooperative from now on.”
“Oh? You, instructing me?” The guildmaster raised an amused eyebrow, acting unfazed, but I saw a faint glimmer of worry in his eyes. No matter how rich he was and how much influence he had in the lower city, a noble could easily snap their fingers and have him dead by noon. Almost everything he and his granddaughter knew about Rozemyne was speculation, and unless they got firm details soon, they had no way to avoid potentially stepping on noble toes. I knew they wanted information more than anything else.
“Yep. I’ll be on top here whether you like it or not.”
“...Are you telling me to hand over my seat as guildmaster?”
“Don’t be stupid! Does it look like I want to deal with guildmaster duties on top of everything else?! No! I just want you to stop being a pain in my ass and show some cooperation!” I didn’t have the time to deal with this city’s guildmaster duties while working on spreading an industry through an entire duchy. That would actually kill me.
We glared at each other for a moment, and then the guildmaster nodded. “Show cooperation, hm? It seems a noble of fairly high status is involved here... Very well.”
I told him and Freida the cover story about Myne dying. She was now the daughter of an archnoble, soon to be adopted by the archduke, and we would be spreading
