Otto (Anime)

Otto (オットー Ottoo) is a soldier who works with Gunther at the city gate of Ehrenfest. He is married to Corinna, the younger sister of the merchant Benno.

A former traveling merchant, Otto is one of the only soldiers at the gate who can read, write, and do arithmetic. He is the one who teaches Myne to read letters.

Otto has brown hair and brown eyes. He is slightly wealthier than the other soldiers, and he dresses in nicer clothing.

Otto has an easygoing, cheerful personality. He is very devoted to his wife and is effusive with praise for his family. However, he still has the businesslike attitude of a merchant and is good at negotiating deals.

He was in the traveling trade before becoming a soldier, and still has connections with merchants. Otto originally planned on buying citizenship in a city near Frenbeltag and start a store there, however he fell in love with Corinna at first sight. To prove he was serious he spent all of his savings to buy citizenship in Ehrenfest and used his connections to obtain a job as a soldier. Despite to the possibility of drawing the guildmaster's ire, that would lead to him never being able to do official business as a merchant again, Otto believed marrying Corinna would be well worth it.

When Myne and Tuuli visit their father at the gate, Otto is asked to read a letter from a noble who needs to pass through the gate. Seeing Myne's interest in reading and writing, Otto offers to give her a secondhand stone slate and teach her to write. When Myne falls ill at the Pork Stocking Festival and stays at the city gate to recover, he follows through on that promise and shows her how to write her name.

During the winter, Gunther once again brings Myne to the city gate while the rest of the family goes out to gather parues. He treats Otto brusquely, feeling jealous of his daughter's admiration for him.

While supervising Myne, Otto teaches her how to write more letters and then starts working on some accounting ledgers. To his surprise, she catches an error in his math. He swallows his pride and asks for her help with his paperwork, and she agrees on the condition that he continue to give her slate pencils and teach her how to read.

Myne begins working as Otto's assistant at the city gate. Because unbaptized children aren't legally allowed to work, her "official" position there is as one of the students he teaches to read and write. He pays her in slate pencils.

Thanks to her experience as a student in her past life, Myne learns to read and write much faster than the apprentice soldiers she studies with. She also gives Otto pointers on his teaching methods. Otto is impressed with her skill and gives her more in-depth reading lessons after the other students leave for the day.

Otto and Gunther attend an important meeting at the city gate. While he's occupied, Myne helps another soldier read an important letter in his place and advises him on how to respond. She also informs Otto about the incident afterward.

When Lutz asks Myne to arrange a meeting between him and Otto, she dismays Otto by asking him how to become a traveling trader. He says that's not a life that any city child should hope for, and is relieved when she says she was asking for a friend. He agrees to meet Lutz and give that advice in person.

When Myne asks him for ink, Otto tells her that she'd have to work for three years without pay for the deal to be worth it.

After Myne's failed attempt to make wood tablets and subsequent fever, she returns to the city gate and asks Otto for advice on how to produce a product. He advises her to find an investor to fund the concept and hire a craftsman to make it. They then reschedule the planned meeting with Lutz, and Otto says he's looking forward to it.

Otto brings along his brother-in-law, the merchant Benno, to his meeting with Lutz and Myne. As planned, he discourages Lutz from becoming a traveling trader, explaining that it would mean giving up his valuable city citizenship and his place in society. Instead, he encourages Lutz to become an apprentice merchant.

When Benno strikes a deal with the kids to take them on as apprentices in exchange for a working plant paper prototype, Otto is dismayed at the prospect of losing Myne as his assistant. While they argue, Myne asks the two adults if they know of any illness characterized by sudden fevers. Otto doesn't, but Benno later privately guesses that it may be a lethal illness called the Devouring.

Later at the city gate, Otto tells Myne how he bought his citizenship to marry Corinna, Benno's little sister and the woman of his dreams. He offers to trade her the nails she needs in exchange for her shampoo recipe. She says the recipe is secret, but agrees to give his wife a jar and show her how to use it. They go to his home in the merchant's district and Myne helps Corinna wash her hair.


 * He spread the rumor that Myne was Benno's Goddess of Water