01x05 - Baptisms and Strange Fevers

[bunniefuu]

M: {ED}

F: To sate her desire to make books,

F: Main completed her clay tablets.

F: But her attempt to fire them ended in another failure.

F: Then came summer...

F: And the day of Tuuli's baptism.

Title Card: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Title ,Title Card: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Ep Ep Title: Chapter Five Baptisms and Strange Fevers

Karla: My, Tuuli! You look adorable!

W: Congratulations, Tuuli.

T: Thank you.

M: It is customary in this world to throw a grand celebration for seven-year-olds.

M: The same day, they are baptized at the cathedral.

C: Must be nice to have girls.

E: You do only have boys, Karla. Ralph, Lutz, Sascha and Sieg.

C: What can I say?

C: It's so tiresome.

C: Wow...

C: You even did your hair up so nicely.

C: You look like a princess, Tuuli!

T: Main did it for me.

C: What? Main did?

C: So she has more to her than her unusual recipes.

W: Hey, look. I've never seen a hair ornament like this before.

W: You're right. It's so pretty.

W: How was it made?

W: Wow! Amazing!

M: The hair ornament I made is that unusual?

G: No way!

G: I'm not going to a meeting on such an important day!

M: Only the kids get to enter the cathedral, right?

G: It's a father's duty to wait at the cathedral's plaza during baptism.

M: Isn't it also a father's duty to go to work and provide for the family?

G: I know, I know.

G: Let's go down Central Avenue!

T: What?

M: Smile.

M: As long as you're smiling, you're prettier than anybody else.

T: Sheesh, Main. Don't lie to me.

G: Time to go!

M: Dad...

M: We need to go.

G: Tuuli...

M: You won't make it for the meeting!

O: You're late, Captain!

O: I told you about the meeting today, didn't I?

M: While Dad attended the meeting,

M: I was to practice writing.

G: Otto.

M: Mister Otto's in a meeting right now.

G: Hey, Main.

G: I forgot about that.

G: What do I do now?

M: Shall I read it for you?

G: You can read?

M: I know how to read identification papers and introductory letters from nobility.

M: Mister Otto taught me.

G: It's the latter.

G: Please.

M: He has a referral from Baron Blon,

M: and is going to visit Baron Glaz.

M: This needs the captain's stamp,

M: but he's in a meeting.

M: Show him to the waiting room for lesser nobles.

M: A merchant with a noble's referral

M: should understand if we explain the situation to him.

G: We're going home, Main.

G: We're leaving before Otto catches us.

M: Wait, Dad!

M: I need to report something to him!

O: Main?

M: Oh, Mister Otto!

M: A merchant with a noble's referral is here!

M: I've had him shown to the waiting room for lesser nobles,

M: so please see to him immediately!

O: Well done! That's my assistant!

G: My daughter, you mean!

M: Dad...

E: Is that so?

T: Also, the cathedral was really beautiful and spacious!

G: Really? Good for you.

T: Yep!

M: Tuuli.

M: This is for you.

T: What is this? So cute!

T: And so yummy!

E: Those are some interesting shapes.

E: You may really have a talent for cooking, Main.

T: Thanks for making this.

T: And the hair ornament, too.

T: I was really happy today.

M: Tuuli is such an angel!

G: We have presents for you, Tuuli.

E: They're work clothes and tools.

E: Take good care of them.

T: Thank you, Dad, Mom!

M: Good luck being an apprentice seamstress.

T: Thanks!

M: Will she have to go to work every day?

E: Only for half the week at first.

T: For the other half, I'll go to the forest like always.

M: I see. Thank goodness.

E: Main's baptism is coming up next year, too.

T: Have you decided what to do for apprentice work?

M: Yeah. I wanna run a bookstore.

T: A bookstore?

M: Uh... I'd be selling books, so a merchant, I guess?

G: Well, I don't really understand,

G: but it's fine as long as you have a goal.

G: That aside, this is for you.

M: What is it?

G: You'll be helping with housework in Tuuli's place from now on.

G: You'll need this to get firewood and forage in the forest.

M: A Kn*fe!

M: Can't I use this to make wood tablets?

M: I'll chop wood into thin strips,

M: shave the surface to smooth them,

M: and write on them.

M: All done!

wood,Sign: ABCDE

M: If I make a lot, they'll be a fine substitute for a book!

M: Thank you, Ancient China!

M: Yahoo!

M: This Kn*fe... is too heavy!

M: Lutz and Tuuli are amazing.

M: I should start with what I can do, too.

M: Well, that's how it goes at first.

M: This could work!

L: What are you making now to replace the clay tablets?

M: Lutz.

M: How could you tell these were a clay tablet replacement?

L: I mean,

L: you're having so much fun.

L: Looked like you were about to rub your cheek against the wood.

L: You were also fascinated by the clay tablets, remember?

M: I had no idea! That's so embarrassing!

L: So, what're you making?

M: Wood tablets.

L: Wood tablets?

L: You'll write on these this time?

M: Yeah. I need lots of these.

L: Okay, I get it. I'll help you.

M: Really?

L: Yeah! But in return...

L: Can you introduce me to this Otto person?

M: Mister Otto?

L: I wanna ask him about the traveling trade.

M: I'll ask when I go to the gate tomorrow.

M: But he's a busy man.

M: Sorry in advance if he refuses.

L: That's fine.

L: Thanks, Main!

M: Mister Otto.

M: How does one join the traveling trade?

O: Huh? You want to be a traveling trader?

O: Wait, is this my fault?

O: The captain's gonna k*ll me!

M: Oh, no! My friend does, not me!

O: Oh...

O: Then you should tell them not to bother.

M: Ah, I knew it.

O: You know what?

M: From the way he spoke, I figured it wasn't a popular profession.

O: Well, he'd probably catch hell from his parents.

M: Also, I thought that a life of constant travel

M: would be too hard on a city kid.

O: If you know that much, why not give him your own advice?

M: Rather than a city kid like me,

M: he'd probably listen if you gave him a dose of reality.

O: Hmm...

M: You have ties with merchants, don't you?

M: If he looks to become a merchant,

M: he can leave the town at times to stock up on goods.

O: If you're acting as a go-between,

O: you must like that kid a lot.

M: Lutz has helped me loads.

M: I want to repay him when I can.

O: I see. Hmm...

O: The next day off should be fine.

M: Thank you, Mister Otto!

M: Oh, right.

M: How do I write on the wood tablets?

M: Slate pencils won't work.

M: Mister Otto, can I be paid in ink instead of slate pencils?

O: You'd have to work three years for free. No advances.

M: What?!

Eyecatch: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Eyecatch: Ascendance of a Bookworm

M: Mister Otto said he can see you on his next day off.

L: Really?

L: Thanks, Main!

M: I hope it proves to be a good meeting for you.

M: Now I just dry them.

M: Next up is...

M: Ink. Ink?

M: Should I go catch an octopus or a squid or something?

M: Now I can write!

M: Not! Where's the sea even supposed to be?!

M: Ash?

M: Ash could work!

M: Mom!

M: Can I have that ash?

E: No. It's used to make soap,

E: thaw ice, and do all kinds of things.

M: I see.

M: How about soot, then?

E: My! You'll clean the oven for me?!

M: Huh?

E: Good luck, Main.

M: So yeah, I did my best.

M: I was bedridden after that, though.

L: Bedridden again?

L: Are you okay?

M: I'm fine now.

M: Anyway, let's try using this soot to write.

M: Guess I'll try mixing it in water first.

M: The soot and water will probably separate.

L: Why not try writing with it?

M: Okay.

L: It's getting fuzzy.

M: This won't work.

L: What next?

M: I think mixing it with oil is the obvious choice, but...

L: No way you can get oil.

M: Mom won't let me have any.

M: What else?

M: It doesn't have to be a liquid. If I can make something like a crayon or pencil...

M: That's it!

M: Let's try mixing it with clay.

Bo: All right!

M: Done!

M: How long should we let these dry?

L: Beats me.

M: Wanna try f*ring them?

L: Don't try anything stupid. Do you want another expl*si*n?

M: Urk.

M: Anyway, I can write on wood tablets with this.

M: I've taken a step toward my book-making goal.

M: I'll dry these in storage, too.

M: Huh? They're gone!

M: Why?

E: What's wrong, Main?

M: Mom! Do you know where the wood tablets here went?

E: Wood tablets?

M: They were wood pieces in all shapes and sizes,

M: but they all had their surface smoothed!

E: Oh, the firewood you brought home?

E: I used it, of course.

M: You used it?

M: Why?

E: You can finally help with housework,

E: and you tried so hard to bring that firewood home.

M: I wanted to turn your bedtime story into a book.

M: That's why I gathered those.

E: Oh, if you just want me to tell you bedtime stories,

E: I'd be glad to.

M: That's not... the point...

E: Main?

M: What's happening?

E: Main?

E: Main!

M: I feel like the fever's eating away at me.

M: I'm slowly fading away.

L: Main!

M: Lutz...

L: Are you okay, Main?

L: I heard you collapsed suddenly.

M: Sorry to have worried you.

L: I'll go get your mom.

M: It didn't work out again.

M: Mom b*rned... my wood tablets.

L: Ah... Well, they do look like pieces of wood.

M: I'm fated to never finish a book!

L: Don't b*at yourself up.

M: Lutz?

L: You just need to pick a material that doesn't burn, right?

M: You're so nice, Lutz.

L: I-I need you to introduce me to Mister Otto!

L: So you have to get better no matter what. Got that?

M: Yeah. Thanks, Lutz.

M: But even the bamboo strips Lutz brought me...

M: What was that noise?

M: Mom, what happened?

E: I thought Lutz brought us bamnicht wood,

E: but apparently not.

M: You b*rned it?

E: You don't need to worry. Just rest up.

M: The anger at something I made being b*rned,

M: the frustration of that anger not being understood,

M: the reality that no matter how many things I try, I can never have my books...

M: I've had enough.

M: If my efforts will never amount to anything,

M: then I might as well disappear, right?

Flashback,F: Main.

Flashback,F: Main!

Flashback,F: I'll help with whatever you want to do.

Flashback,F: I need you to introduce me to Mister Otto!

Flashback,F: So you have to get better no matter what. Got that?

M: That's right! I have to keep my promise!

M: I must get better and introduce him to Otto!

M: It's gone down.

M: The fever in my body is smaller now?

M: There's something wrong with this fever.

M: It att*cks me from the inside

M: and keeps changing in size.

M: What illness does this body have, anyway?

O: Are you all right now?

O: The captain told me that your fever didn't go down for five days.

M: Yeah, but I'm fine.

O: You look pale in the face.

M: I've been racking my brain over something.

M: I've tried all sorts of things to make something I want,

M: but I just couldn't do it.

M: What would you do in my shoes?

O: You can just hire someone to do it for you.

M: Hire someone myself?

M: That sounds like a great idea,

M: but what if I don't have any capital?

O: Persuade someone who can do it into doing it for you.

O: If it goes well, you don't hurt your bottom line at all.

M: Once a businessman, always a businessman.

M: But I'll keep that in mind.

O: Oh, right.

O: About that meeting we had to postpone...

M: And so, we decided on a suitable day for Lutz and Otto to meet.

M: "Be at Central Plaza by the third bell."

O: He's a boy you're referring,

O: so I'm sure he'll be very amusing.

O: I'm looking forward to a fun day off.

M: Huh? What's that about?

M: Isn't it gonna be just a meeting?

Next_Chapter,Title: Next Chapter Meeting

M: Head Priest, is there anything special about the upcoming meeting?

F: Why would I know anything about the affairs of commoners?

M: Even you don't know, huh?

F: Unlike you, I do have a good idea,

F: but I'm not going to jump to conclusions.

M: What? Tell me if you have an idea!