It was a sunny winter day.
I set out to patrol the village. Normally I would go on foot, but the snow was piled high in various places, so I used the Flying Carpet for my rounds today.
As a result, Kukulkan—my son with Rusty—came along. He had taken quite a liking to the Flying Carpet. Since I was taking him outside, Bulga and Stifano, who took care of him, accompanied us as well.
"Lord Kukulkan, are you feeling cold?"
"Don't take off your muffler, now. Make sure it's wrapped tightly around your neck, okay?"
They clearly cherished the boy, so I had no complaints. For the time being, we made our way through the village along the usual route. Both Kukulkan and the carpet seemed to be in high spirits.
When we returned to the mansion, the other children were waiting for us. Their mothers were there as well, though they remained silent, simply watching over their children from nearby.
...I got the message. It was unfair to take only Kukulkan.
Snow removal had progressed while I was out. It seemed safe enough to walk now, and they were already dressed in warm winter gear.
"All right, let's go."
Kukulkan was heading off for a nap with the Flying Carpet. Understood.
Leaving the boy in Bulga and Stifano's care, I set out on another patrol with the rest of the children. It felt like a small winter picnic.
Delzen Papermaking had begun its trial runs and started manufacturing plant-based paper. I received a report from Eliza, the acting representative of the business.
"Since we've introduced several machines designed by the Mountain Elves, the quality of the paper we're producing is higher than anticipated, and we're able to manufacture a significant quantity."
"That's good to hear."
"Well, actually..."
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes. If we release this paper onto the open market, the current price of paper will likely collapse."
Was it really possible to mass-produce it to that extent?
"We use a method of producing large sheets and then cutting them down to size, which allows for immense volume. For example, if we were making sheets the size of this book, we could manufacture ten thousand in a single day."
I see.
"It's now easy for us to maintain consistent sizes and quantities—things that were previously the greatest weaknesses of paper production. It's only a guess, but I suspect that within ten years, traditional animal paper makers will be wiped out entirely."
Hmm. If that happened, what would become of the plant-based paper manufactured in Village One?
"Unless we attach some form of added value to it, I suspect it will be dragged down by the plummeting market prices."
That wasn't ideal.
"No, it isn't. Therefore, for the time being, I'm proposing that we refrain from selling the paper produced by Delzen Papermaking to the general public. Instead, we should use it exclusively for Delzen Printing. Would that be acceptable?"
If we did that, the impact on the local economy would be minimal.
"At least for now. Once the books produced by Delzen Printing begin to circulate, however, I expect people will start demanding the paper itself."
The question was how long we could ignore those demands. Come to think of it, some civil officials from the Demon Kingdom had mentioned wanting to buy paper in bulk.
"Have you had an opportunity to speak with the Demon Kingdom's civil officials?"
"I sent word through Randan and Beezel. We aren't in full operation yet, so I haven't given them a definitive answer."
"Understood. In that case, I'll handle that matter on our end. You don't have any objections to selling to the Demon Kingdom, do you?"
"I don't mind, so long as you ensure the impact on the surrounding market is kept to a minimum."
"Of course. On a separate note... those tools used in the village to bundle sheets of paper—the binders—I believe they would sell quite well."
We used binders for the paper I received from Dos. Naturally, I had also created a hole punch to go with them. In the village, they were primarily used by the Civil Official Girls.
"Yes, they're incredibly convenient. They make it simple to turn loose pages into a book. Furthermore, paper has always been so expensive that people were hesitant to punch holes in it, but with the supply from Delzen Papermaking..."
That made sense.
"If we intend to dominate the paper trade in the future, it might be wise to establish a business that handles stationery as well."
Binders and punches. Delzen Stationery, then. We could probably sell pens and ink too.
"Shall we set that up here in the Village of the Great Tree?"
"Well, let's see if we can find any volunteers first. If no one's interested, we'll leave it to Village Five."
"Understood."
"Also, I want you to consider how we can protect the people currently making animal paper."
"Protect them?"
"Lu and Tia mentioned that animal paper is easier to use for magic-related purposes than plant-based paper. If it stops being produced entirely, it'll cause problems."
"If there's a specialized demand, shouldn't they be fine?"
"If mages are the only ones buying it, the price will skyrocket, right?"
"That is true."
"And it'll become harder to get a hold of."
"Indeed."
"This is just a guess, but if that happens, Lu and Tia will probably start researching ways to make plant-based paper work for their needs instead."
"Ah, they likely would."
"When that happens, I think the people making animal paper will be in real trouble."
"I see. Well, since you mentioned protection... would you be open to Delzen Papermaking absorbing their operations?"
"As long as it isn't a forced takeover."
"Of course not. I'll proceed in the same manner as we did with the scribes."
Ah, the scribe business. They were people who were hired to write letters and documents, but since there weren't constant requests for correspondence, their primary source of income was transcription—hand-copying books. It was predicted that once printing technology became widespread, the need for manual transcription would vanish, depriving scribes of their livelihood.
I had kept our printing machines out of the public eye for that very reason. If Versa hadn't handed the business over to me, I probably would have kept them hidden for much longer. But since they were out now, there was no going back.
We planned to hire the scribes before they ran into financial trouble. My goal was to have them work at Delzen Publishing, preparing the original manuscripts for our printed materials. Explaining the nature of the work and getting them to agree to the employment would likely be difficult, but...
Eliza had assured me I could leave it to her. In fact, she had already secured employment contracts for several scribes. By saying she would follow the same path, she meant she intended to hire the animal paper makers as well. It wasn't as if Delzen Papermaking was strictly limited to plant-based products. I wanted to establish an animal paper division where they could have stable production and a reliable income.
...Well, this might just be my own selfish meddling. Trying to protect people from the fallout of an expanding business could be seen as unnecessary interference.
"Not at all. Protecting livelihoods is the duty of a Lord. It's a natural course of action—and a vital one when launching a new venture."
"I'm not exactly a Lord, though."
"The Village Head is a Lord who simply happens to hold the title of Village Head."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
"It is. In any case, if they don't care for our methods, the other party is free to refuse. Please don't worry about it too much."
"I understand. It's just that since this is a major project backed by significant capital, I worry about the people caught in its wake."
"Hehe. There will likely be some temporary confusion, but people are resourceful; they'll find a way to make it work to their advantage."
"Do you think so?"
"Yes. One way or another, they're quite resilient."
"All right. I'll trust your judgment and watch how things progress."
"Understood. I'll report back if anything noteworthy occurs."
"I'm counting on you."