Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

“I’m sorry, you must have been tired.” (Lily)

“I don’t mind.” (Welner)

Lily and I went to see Father when I got home. After I entered his office, I found that Mother along with Norbert were also present there. I wondered why mother was smiling as she was looking at me.

“There’s something I’d like you to see, Father.” (Welner)

“What is it?” (Father)

Thankfully, Father didn’t mention the duel. Or maybe he already knew that mother was going to be lecturing me about it for a while. That’s what I was afraid of, but let’s stop thinking about it for the moment.

“Lily made it for me, hoping it would eventually become a product of the territory.”

I showed him a piece of ordinary white paper, which not only my father but also my mother touched with interest, as if the line “Lily made it” had an effect, but my father eventually turned his gaze toward me.

“What do you use it for?”

“Ten years, huh? I guess that means the conditions aren’t perfect at the moment.”

Very perceptive indeed. And he seemed to be aware of another problem, although he did not point it out.

Along with the problem of ensuring a stable supply, there was also a need to check preservation abilities and durability of this paper.

Moreover, it was also difficult to say whether those who were currently using parchments would switch to this new paper.

Parchments made up of monster/demon hide were cheaper, and the quality was not all that inferior. In short, if we didn’t do something about the processing cost, we wouldn’t be able to sell paper.

“What will you do with it in the meantime?”

“Yes, the plan is like this…”

I had already anticipated this question, so I offered him what I had prepared for the occasion. When my father saw it, he looked at me with curiosity.

“You drew a pattern. What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m going to use it like this.”

Although it was roughly drawn, there were different patterns on the paper that could be seen even before it was unfolded. I handed a sample to Lily which she handed over to Father, so he checked closely.

“I thought we could start by using them in wrapping gifts.”

“I see.”

In short, what we made was wrapping paper, but there was no such word in this world since there was no concept of wrapping things in paper in the first place. Even when giving expensive gifts, they may be wrapped in expensive cloth or put in a bag or a jewelry box.

However, a gift box, regardless of the price and design would have its limits in what it could contain. It was not possible to put certain items inside it. For example, a bouquet of flowers which could only be wrapped in ribbons at best.

However, if the gift could be put in a paper box and wrapped in wrapping paper, an aristocrat could have a painter draw an image appropriate for each recipient on the gift’s wrapping paper such as a family crest. It could be used to create a unique decoration with patterns that matched the recipient’s style.

Since there was no need to use uniform decorations/patterns on wrapping papers, the wrapping paper could be made by different workshops. If someone wanted an exact pattern on every wrapping paper, then I might consider printmaking on a commission basis, but that would need a lot of preparation, especially if the order quantity was very big.

In this world, most painters worked for aristocrats, but there must be people with talent for painting on the streets as well. If people with talent for painting could be given jobs in the form of workshops alongside papermakers, they might be able to perform derivative work.

In Japan, Yamato-e (a style of Japanese painting) was created to be used in maki-e underpainting in the Muromachi period, and there may be room in this world for the creation of sculptures and other works that use paintings as their source material. In the future, it would be interesting if an industrial school specializing in such things could be established in the Count’s domain, but that was a long way off.

Not only oil paints but also watercolors existed here which were similar to what they used in the Middle Ages, and legumes used as a fixing agent for paints could also be found in the Count’s territory.

The materials were originally processed to create a fixing agent for incense that were used in ceremonies, but it would also be possible to use it for other things. If sales of those materials increased, it would increase the territory’s finances.

“You could wrap jewelry boxes with this and then decorate it with patterns and drawings before giving them away. And this.”

I also presented him with a sample message card. This also had a light pattern painted on it, giving it a glamorous look.

“You can write a few words of thanks or love and give it to the recipient along with the gift. It doesn’t have to be as long as a letter and can be used for both men and women. The advantage is that it can be made in this size from the start.”

Like parchment, demon parchment must be cut out from a larger piece in order to use it in a smaller size. The resulting problem would be there would be many useless parts from the cut-out remnants.

From an aristocrat’s point of view, such scraps might not be a big deal, but the issue of size variation was important from a production and distribution point of view. Being able to set the size of the paper to some extent on production  could also be considered as an advantage.

“It has a certain aroma, doesn’t it?”

My mother interrupted me this time when she saw the card, so I answered her first.

“Unlike parchment, it is easy to add fragrance to paper. Normally, perfume would be better, but for today, I used citrus peels to add fragrance.”

Mother suddenly raised a question, “Have you bought Lily a bottle of perfume by any chance?”

Ugh, I think I just accidentally pulled a big snake out of the bushes. It was true that I should have done something like that, but I forgot because of all the work. In the first place, the scent itself was not from perfume so why did mom have to connect it to that topic.

Lily who was following next to me probably felt sorry for causing me a problem, but it was not her fault and I should be the one who should apologize.

Seeing me on the verge of getting another round of mother’s rant, Father asked, “So, you’re going to make me write messages on hard paper (Gift card)?”

(TN: The term Gift Card doesn’t exist in this world.)

Phew, father helped me out. Moreover, he seemed to have noticed my intentions from the way he said “messages” instead of “also messages”. The main purpose of the gift cards was to let people know that paper could be used for writing.

If both the sender and the receiver know that the gift cards could be used for writing, it would become a topic of conversation in both households. The word would naturally spread that the card was useful as a writing tool as well. If it was not good, there would be no way to sell it, but if it had advantages, they could add value to it and sell it.

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