Bierce

Bierce (ビアス Biasu) is first introduced as a foreman of an ink workshop. He later becomes the guildmaster of the Ink Guild.

When Myne first wanted to make ink for printing, she had Benno take her to the ink store. When the store could not answer her questions, she then went to the ink workshop where Bierce was the foreman. Since only one form of ink was made, when Myne asked about different types of ink it made Bierce very confused and annoyed. Myne then went on to describe how to make iron gall ink which was the trade secret of the ink guild. Bierce reacted with surprise and became very interested about other types of ink. At this point Benno quickly picked up Myne and left telling Bierce to direct any of his questions to the Gilberta Company.

After Myne's children's bibles began selling, the ink guild noticed the new black ink rather than the dark blue ink that they made. The ink guild master, Wolf, investigated and found out from Bierce about a "kid from the Gilberta Company" who knew of other types of ink. Wolf then negotiated, eventually signing a magic contract with the Gilberta Company and Myne for the process to make the new ink.

After winter Wolf suddenly died under suspicious circumstances. It is assumed that a noble had him killed. Due to Wolf being involved in some shady practices, none of the ink foremen wanted the guildmaster's position, as they were worried that some nobles would force them to continue these practices. Eventually, Bierce was unable to refuse and became the guildmaster. Since Wolf was the only one selling ink to the nobility, there was now no one in the guild who knew how to interact with nobles. At the same time, Bierce's daughter Heidi wanted to research coloured ink, however fearing that any coloured ink may have been sold using a different contract. Bierce set up a meeting with Benno to ask Benno to sell the ink to the nobility as well as discuss coloured ink with Myne.

Bierce took Heidi along to the meeting with Benno and Myne. It was negotiated that


 * The Gilberta Company would sell all the ink but only has exclusive rights to the printing ink, both black and coloured.
 * Others could negotiate to sell the original iron gall ink.
 * The Myne Workshop would cover one quarter of the research costs of coloured printing ink.

When Bierce and Myne returned to his workshop, he told Josef that they didn't need to stop Heidi's research, but for Josef to watch and make sure Heidi doesn't behave rudely.

Later, Bierce, as the ink guildmaster, awards Josef his beruf certification.


 * It is common in his workshop that his family and the leherls eat separately. They would only eat together if there was an important announcement or a cause for celebration.