AWDC Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Paper Mill

Tom built the workshop in a month. It was spacious enough for ten adults to work comfortably inside.

“Toma, is this alright?”

“Yes, it’s perfect. I’ll have you add shelves and desks later, but it’s wonderfully made.”

He procured the lumber, leveled the ground, and completed everything from the foundation to the roofing. Tom really is quite skilled.

I inspected the workshop, impressed once again.

“Tom, next I’d like you to make a tub for the water.” I indicated the size I wanted.

“I’ve never made anything bigger than a bathtub, but I can probably manage it.”

Tom really is reliable.

Changing the subject slightly, Tom and the other adults around me used to call me “Toma-san” for a while.

It made me feel awkward and distant, so I asked them to stop using the “san” suffix.

Since then, we’ve been on a first-name basis, calling each other “Tom” and “Toma.”

While the workshop was being built, I recruited people to work there.

Based on the lord’s idea, papermaking was limited to people from the same village.

The papermaking method would be kept secret as much as possible.

We couldn’t allow it to spread to other villages and be copied.

Also, we only gathered people who had small farms or were second or third sons who couldn’t make a living as farmers alone.

They would now receive a salary, or rather, cash, from William Robertson.

Because of that, I expected them to be enthusiastic about learning papermaking.

It was right after the autumn harvest, and we were entering a season with little farm work, so twelve people responded to the recruitment without much advertising.

I consulted with Roy Keene and chose five of them.

Their ages ranged from 18 to 28. The two oldest were married, and the other three were single.

They had gathered when they heard that the lord was recruiting papermakers, without even knowing what papermaking was.

Most of them had never even seen paper.

In any case, I had to teach these amateurs.

We harvested a large amount of the native trees growing by the river.

Thinking about next year, we also cut down and removed miscellaneous trees that couldn’t be used as raw materials.

Next year, I want to secure even more raw materials.

“Toma-san, we’ve bundled up all the wood we collected and finished boiling it. What’s next?”

The oldest of the group mainly confirmed the work procedures.

“Next, we peel the bark from the wood. We boiled it to make it easier to peel.”

I taught the villagers at the workshop how to work, explaining the reasons as I went.

“The bark has soil and sand mixed in, so we have to remove it carefully.

The quality of the paper depends on preventing sand and other things from getting mixed in.”

The method I was teaching was the Japanese papermaking method, *washi*.

Western paper made in modern factories can utilize much of the wood’s woody parts.

However, with the current world’s technology, it’s impossible to mechanize and use chemical agents.

Although the raw materials are limited and it takes time and effort, I think the *washi* method is the best in this world.

I eventually want them to become full-fledged paper artisans, innovate, and improve upon the methods I created.

I want them to be able to manage without me by next spring.

Jim Keene recorded my explanations.

He was Roy Keene’s youngest son, and he had just come of age.

His older brothers had gone to the capital to work as knights.

In this small village, advancement is uncertain.

For a young man with ambition, going to the capital is the obvious choice.

He had also intended to become a knight, but Roy Keene recommended that he join the Robertson mansion as my secretary.

Roy Keene seemed to think that being attached to me, an otherworlder, would be more beneficial for Jim Keene’s future.

“Toma, be strict with Jim and make him learn the job.”

I was treated as an adult a little earlier, but Jim Keene was actually older than me.

“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Toma.”

“I’m Jim. Nice to meet you too.”

Jim Keene and I spoke informally from the beginning, interacting as friends.

Besides the village children, everyone I interacted with was an older adult.

Jim Keene was the closest in age, so we quickly became friends.

“Toma, what are those letters you’re writing?”

Jim Keene looked puzzled when he saw the numbers I used to count the wood for the paper’s raw materials for the first time.

“These are called numbers. They’re convenient and easy to learn.”

When I explained the numbers to Jim Keene, he quickly understood them and realized their usefulness.

“Ah, these are convenient for addition and subtraction.”

Not only the numbers, but also the method of bookkeeping and recording seemed to pique his curiosity.

Jim Keene was initially dissatisfied with staying in the village to help with the mansion’s work.

However, he had changed his mind after seeing the novelty of my knowledge.

“Because, talking to you makes my way of thinking change.”

Jim Keene was surprised by the accounting method of being able to calculate the total simply by lining up numbers on paper.

He was rethinking how much more beneficial it would be to learn from me, who knew so many methods like that, than going to the capital.

Roy Keene hadn’t told Jim Keene that I was a reincarnated person.

That’s why I didn’t dare to tell Jim Keene the truth either.

However, the perceptive Jim Keene seemed to suspect to some extent what I was.

Thinking about the reason behind Roy Keene not revealing my identity, Jim Keene decided not to investigate any further.

“Toma, what do you plan to do in this village?”

“First, I want to make this village prosperous and attract many people to come here.”

“The papermaking you’re doing is part of that, isn’t it?”

“If people can make a living by making paper, they won’t have to worry even with a small farm.”

“If more people live in the village, there will be more things we can do.”

“Jim, let’s go see the capital together someday.”

“Ah, of course. I want to go to the capital where my brothers live someday too.”

While gradually teaching papermaking to the workshop people, Jim Keene and I talked about our dreams for the future.