Myne (Anime)/Story

Urano Motosu, a college student who loves books, dies when she is crushed by her book collection during an earthquake. On the verge of death, she prays: "May my next life once again be filled with all kinds of books." Her memories awaken in the body of Myne, a 5-year-old girl who is battling a life-threatening fever. Their memories combine, and she begins her new life as Myne.

She soon discovers that she is the sickly daughter of a commoner soldier in Ehrenfest, a city with a strict class structure and medieval-era technology. Her family — comprising her father, her mother, and her older sister — lives in a dirty townhouse without plumbing. Most distressingly, there seem to be no books at all.

When she struggles to tie her hair back with a ribbon, Myne asks Tuuli to make a hairpin for her. She later goes out to the lower city with her mother, where she discovers that the only writing in the entire lower city is the numerals used to list prices at the market.

Myne becomes faint at the sight of a butcher killing a chicken, and her mother leaves her with a local merchant as she finishes the shopping. The merchant has a book locked away in a case. Eagerly, Myne asks to see it. But he refuses, saying that books are extremely valuable and owned mainly by nobles. Undeterred, Myne resolves that if there are no books, "I'll just have to make them myself!"

Myne struggles to adjust to life as a poor commoner and continues her plans to make books. When her sister Tuuli returns from foraging in the woods with an avocado-like meril fruit, Myne learns how to extract oil from it and uses it to make homemade shampoo. It leaves her hair glossy and sweet-smelling, and her sister and mother are eager to use it as well.

Later, she and Tuuli go to the city gate to deliver their father's lunch. Myne is too frail to walk the entire way, but the neighborhood boys Ralph, Fey, and Lutz volunteer to help carry her. Myne is amused when Ralph compliments Tuuli's hair, but extremely flustered when Lutz compliments hers.

When they arrive at the gate, their affectionate father Gunther praises them for their help. He also introduces them to Otto, a fellow soldier who can read and write. Seeing the parchment and ink he uses, Myne eagerly asks her father to buy her some, but he says it would cost him an entire months' salary. To cheer her up, Otto offers to give Myne a secondhand stone slate and promises to teach her to read and write.

As winter approaches, Myne attends the local Pork Stocking Festival, where commoners slaughter pigs to make bacon and sausage for the cold weather ahead. Once again, she goes faint at the sight of blood, and her family takes her back to the city gate to recover under Otto's supervision. While she's there, he gives her the slate he promised and teaches her how to write her name in the new world's alphabet.

Two months have passed since Urano's memories awoke in Myne, and a harsh winter is underway in Ehrenfest. She and her family spend the season working on winter handiwork, including sewing and basket-making. Myne tries to use reed fibers to make papyrus, but even with Tuuli's help, the work progresses far too slowly. After three days, she gives up and decides to make clay tablets in the spring instead.

Tuuli brings home parues, a winter fruit, and the girls work together to harvest the sweet-tasting juice. Myne is surprised to learn that the parue's soy-like pulp is usually discarded as animal feed. When Lutz and Ralph come to buy some of the extra feed, Myne uses it to make delicious paruecakes. The boys are delighted, since their family usually goes hungry over the winter. Lutz tells her that he'll lend her a hand whenever she needs help in the future.

Myne runs out of pencils for her stone slate and asks to go back to visit Otto at the gate to get more. Jealous of her admiration for Otto, Gunther tells her that she can't go visit him until spring. However, he has no choice but to take her with him to the gate when both Tuuli and Effa leave to harvest parues the next day. While she practices the alphabet, she notices an error in Otto's accounting and corrects him. He asks her to help him with his paperwork, and she agrees in exchange for an unlimited supply of slate pencils and more reading lessons.

At home, Myne talks her father into making her a crochet hook to make a decorative flower hair ornament to complete Tuuli's baptism outfit. Her sister is delighted with the gift.

As spring arrives, Myne announces her plans to go to the forest and make clay tablets, much to her family's dismay. Her father tells her to focus on building up her stamina and improving her health, and forbids her to go foraging until he is satisfied with her progress. In the meantime, he suggests she begin working as Otto's unofficial assistant in hopes of eventually becoming a clerk.

For several weeks, Myne walks to and from the city gate each day with Lutz and Tuuli, works as Otto's assistant, and continues learning to read and write with the apprentice soldiers. Just as she becomes able to walk to the forest without tiring out, she falls ill with a fever and doesn't recover until the end of spring.

Myne's father permits her to go with the other children when she is feeling better, but makes her promise to spend the day resting in the forest instead of foraging. Unwilling to delay her plans further, she secretly brings a trowel with her and begins digging for clay. Lutz catches her doing it and loses his temper, accusing her of making a promise she never intended to keep. Nevertheless, he helps her dig up clay and shape it into tablets. As they wait for the tablets to dry, Myne explains the concept of reading and books to Lutz.

To her horror, Fey and another neighborhood boy stomp on the clay tablets, unaware of their importance. She loses her temper and her eyes change color, frightening Fey and alarming Lutz and Tuuli. Lutz calms her down and promises her that they'll all work together to make new tablets. However, it rains for the next several days and the tablets are once again ruined. As Myne cries in disappointment, Lutz comforts her and helps her make a third set of tablets. While they work, he asks her about her plans for the future. She tells him she wants to live a life surrounded by books, and he admits that his own dream is to become a traveling trader.

Finally the third set of tablets are finished, and Myne reflects on how far she's come. She resolves to write down all the stories her mother told her and keep them with her forever. However, when she puts the clay tablets in her family's clay oven to bake them, they crumble and explode.

Summer arrives, and Tuuli, who is turning seven this season, prepares for her baptism. She uses shampoo and wears the hair ornament her sister made her, which draws attention and compliments from their neighbors. (Myne and Lutz, who were also born in summer, are now six years old.)

Myne and Gunther leave the baptism early to hurry to the city gate. While her father and Otto are in a meeting, Myne helps a soldier read an important letter from a nobleman, advises him on how best to handle the situation and alerts Otto after his meeting is over. At dinner, Gunther gives Myne a knife and tells her that it's her duty to collect firewood for the family now. She eagerly decides to use the knife to make a scroll out of wood tablets (mokkan).

Lutz sees her at work, guesses that she's working on a replacement for her clay tablets, and offers to help. In exchange, he asks her to introduce him to Otto so he can get advice on how to become a traveling trader. Otto tells Myne that becoming a traveling trader isn't something a city child should aspire to, but he agrees to meet Lutz and tell him that in person. She also asks him to pay her in ink instead of slate pencils, but he tells her she'd have to work for free for three years to pay for it. Instead, Myne gathers soot from her family oven and mixes it with clay to make a crayon.

However, when she returns home, she finds out that her mother used her clay tablets as firewood. Distraught, Myne's eyes once again change color, and she collapses with a dangerously high fever. Lutz encourages her not to give up and brings her a less flammable kind of wood; however, her mother accidentally burns those as well. Myne gives into her frustration and despair, and her fever intensifies. However, as she remembers Lutz's encouragement and the promise she made him, she feels inspired to keep trying. Her fever goes down, leaving her wondering what kind of illness she has.

When she returns to the gate, she and Otto reschedule their meeting. She also asks how he would go about making something after several failed attempts, and he advises her to hire someone to make it, and find an investor to fund the concept.

Myne determinedly prepares Lutz for his meeting with Otto, washing his hair with shampoo and advising him to wear his best clothes to make a good first impression. To her surprise, Otto brings along his brother-in-law, the merchant Benno. He immediately notices her glossy hair and and hair stick, and asks to take a closer look at it. When he inquires about her shampoo, however, she tells him that the details are confidential.

Otto tells Lutz that becoming a traveling trader is a foolish idea and suggests that they become merchant apprentices instead. Benno asks the two children what they plan to achieve as merchants, and Lutz eventually arrives at his new goal: to make all Myne's ideas become a reality. Meanwhile, Myne explains that while her best-case scenario is to become a librarian, her backup plan is to make and sell paper made from plants. She says she can have a prototype ready by their baptism next summer, in about one year, and Benno agrees to take them on as apprentice merchants if they succeed.

Delighted, the two children get ready to leave; however, Myne hurries back when she remembers she wanted to ask Otto and Benno whether they know of any illness that causes sudden fevers. Both of them tell her that they don't.

Myne and Lutz begin trying to make paper using the washi method, which she remembers from her life as Urano. She strikes up a deal with Otto to trade him some of her shampoo in exchange for nails, so she can make the equipment they need to get started. She goes with him to meet his wife Corinna and help her wash her hair, and is impressed at the wealthy neighborhood they live in. While Myne is there, Corinna asks her if Otto seems happy at work and whether he seems to miss his life as a merchant. She assures her that he's quite contented with his current lifestyle. Both Otto and Corinna are highly pleased at the results of the shampoo; Otto hurriedly pays Myne her nails and sends her on her way.

Later, Lutz confesses that he's not sure his family will allow him to become an apprentice merchant, since they're all craftsmen and distrust merchants. When they return from the woods, Otto meets them at the city gate and gives them an invitation from Benno, asking them to join him for a meeting.

Lutz and Myne meet Benno for lunch at the Gilberta Company, which turns out to be the same place Myne went when she met Corinna. He scolds the children for going to Otto, not him, for supplies for their paper prototype. He explains that they should come to him first, since the Gilberta Company plans to claim sales rights for the paper they produce. Myne bows in apology, perplexing Benno who isn't familiar with the gesture.

Benno tells them he'll fund all the supplies for their prototype in exchange for the recipe for shampoo, and that once the plant paper is developed, they'll receive ten percent of the profits added to their pay as royalties. However, Myne says she wants to retain the production rights to paper and give Lutz exclusive sales rights, to ensure that they won't be fired immediately after joining. Benno has them secure the deal using contract magic.

Lutz is surprised and wary of how comfortable Myne seems during the negotiations, easily understanding the concept of collateral and doing math without an abacus. On their way home, he asks her: "Are you the real Myne?" She deflects his questions, and he apologizes for acting strange. However, he still seems bothered, and Myne worries that he'll stop being her friend if he finds out the truth.

She wants to finish her dealings with Benno while Lutz isn't watching, to avoid arousing his suspicions. However, she faints on the way to visit the lumber workers with Mark. When she recovers at the Gilberta Company store, Benno strictly orders her to go straight home and recover, and forbids her to come to the store without bringing Lutz to keep an eye on her.

When they meet again, Lutz confesses that he was upset at seeing Myne handle everything alone, saying he felt unneeded. He assures her that he doesn't hate her. However, he no longer refers to her as "Myne". They go to the Gilberta Company together, and Benno assigns Lutz to look after Myne as his number one priority. He also gives them a workshop near the south gate of the city.

Lutz and Myne begin work on their paper prototype in earnest, using their new workshop as a headquarters. They start by going to a range of craftsmen, lumber workers, and carpenters to commission the materials they need. A month and a half later, they go to the forest to collect wood and make paper. Lutz goes to collect firewood, while Myne picks up kindling nearby.

She inadvertently picks up a taue fruit that turns into a trombe when she touches it. Seeing the fast-growing feyplant, Myne calls for help, and Lutz calls the other children to help cut it down. Once the plant is cut down, Lutz explains that trombe usually drains nutrients from the soil to grow quickly, and that the Knight's Order needs to be called if it gets big enough. Myne suggests using the cut trombe to make paper, since it's freshly sprouted and should be soft. To her delight, it works well.

Lutz still seems to be acting strange. He helps her with the paper, but is more withdrawn than usual. He also seems suspicious about her familiarity with using chopsticks and her in-depth knowledge of paper-making, something which the Myne of this world has never tried before. Once they finish their first batch of paper, Lutz insists that they have the conversation they postponed. He asks who Myne really is and she admits that she isn't the original Myne.

Outraged, Lutz demands that she give back the "real" Myne. She says she doesn't mind giving back her body, but explains that she believes the original Myne is already dead. When he lashes out at her, she becomes angry and says that she wouldn't have chosen to steal such a sickly, frail body. He asks how long she's been "Myne", and is surprised to find that his memories and his friendship were formed with her, not the original Myne. In the end, he forgives her and accepts her for who she is.

Together, they bring their paper prototypes to Benno for him to test, and he is thoroughly satisfied.

Benno pays Myne and Lutz for their prototype. When Myne shows him the flower hair ornament she made for Tuuli, he asks the children to go with him to the Merchant's Guild to register for temporary guild cards, which will allow them to do business before their baptism. While they wait to meet the Guildmaster, Myne sees a file cabinet with documents and scrolls on it. She finds a map of the city of Ehrenfest, and Benno helps her learn more about the area.

The Guildmaster isn't inclined to give them temporary guild cards, but is swayed when Benno has Myne show him the hair ornament. It turns out that he has been eagerly searching for the craftsman of the hair ornament so he can commission a baptism accessory for his granddaughter Freida. He approves their registration and orders a hair ornament from Myne. She suggests that they consult with his granddaughter first to make sure it matches her outfit.

Myne is proud to bring home some of the profits from her prototype paper, and her family enthusiastically praises her for her hard work. Lutz's family, however, is still upset that he plans to become a merchant.

Lutz and Myne meet with Freida at the Othmar Company to examine the prototype. She shows them her outfit and they pick out a color scheme, select thread, and agree on pricing. Myne points out that she'll need two ornaments for her two ponytails. Freida insists that she'll pay for both, but Myne wants to give it to her for free in exchange for the thread. Lutz suggests they give her the second hair ornament for half price as a compromise. Freida tries to recruit Myne to the Othmar Company, but she braces herself and manages to firmly refuse.

One month later, the hair ornaments are completed and Myne delivers them to Freida. As they talk, Myne explains that she's naturally frail, and Freida asks if she has the Devouring, the same illness she herself has. She says that the Devouring can't be cured, only controlled using expensive magic tools.

One year has passed since Myne's awakening in the new world. As Freida warned, her fever seems to be growing stronger. Although Myne tries to "shove it in a box" and keep her feelings under control, she still becomes ill more often than before.

As winter approaches, Benno assigns Lutz and Myne to improve their manners, their appearance, and their reading and writing skills. He also asks for Myne's help troubleshooting the production method of the shampoo. Benno and Myne negotiate a deal for any information she can provide about the shampoo. He offers her two small golds, but she negotiates for three. He allows it, telling her to make and save as much money as she can to treat her Devouring. Benno becomes suspicious that Myne is not the person she seems to be, but he doesn't press the issue when she's reluctant to explain. They also agree to call the product "AIO Shampoo" instead.

Tuuli and Effa are startled when Myne explains they have to ramp up production of their hair ornaments, but they're highly motivated when she promises them a bonus of two medium bronzes for each one. She later advises Lutz to do the same to encourage his brothers to help out.

Gunther takes Myne to the gate. While she's there, an alert comes in for a trombe. She and Lutz go to collect trombe wood from the site and use it to make more paper. As they finish, Myne develops a sudden fever, even though she isn't feeling anxious or upset. She admits to Lutz that it's flaring up more often than before, and as he gives her a piggyback ride home, he breaks down into tears.

They meet with Benno to discuss product ideas. Lutz resolves to help Myne make all of her product ideas to save money and find a way for her to survive. However, just as they optimistically make plans for spring, Myne collapses with a dangerous fever. Benno calls for a carriage to take her to the Guildmaster's house.

Myne awakens in Freida's bed with a shattered magic tool bracelet on her wrist. It reduced the symptoms of the Devouring by drawing of excess mana, but eventually broke when it reached capacity and can no longer be used. It's estimated that Myne has less than a year before her fever once again overwhelms her.

Freida tells her that the only way for her to live a long life is by making a contract with a noble to become a mistress in exchange for access to magic tools, and explains that she has already signed a contract to move to the Noble's Quarter when she comes of age. If Myne chooses to remain with her family, she is certain to die soon.

Myne pays the Guildmaster for the magic tool used to treat her illness. He's disappointed, since he planned to use her debt to force her to join the Othmar Company as an apprentice merchant, but accepts the payment.

Myne and Lutz develop the idea of selling games for commoner families to play during the winter when they're stuck inside.

Myne's family is deeply relieved that she recovered, believing that her illness has been permanently cured. However, after finishing her baptism outfit, she calls a family and explains her true circumstances. She admits that she is likely to die soon, but tells them she would rather die with her loved ones than live a long life alone in the Noble's Quarter.

Myne begins to make plans under the assumption that she will die before the next winter. She decides not to take an apprenticeship with the Gilberta Company, since she is too frail to handle the usual work of an apprentice merchant. She also sells the paper-making rights to Benno, while Lutz retains sales rights.

When Freida next encounters Myne, she is surprised at her decision to remain with her family at the cost of her life. However, she purchases several of Myne's dessert recipes and pays her fairly, since Myne plans to save as much money as she can and leave it behind for her family.

Summer baptism arrives and both Myne and Lutz turn seven. She wears Tuuli's modified dress and a brand-new flower hair ornament to the ceremony, earning high praise from the neighbors. Benno also attends the baptism to watch Lutz and Myne.

When they enter the temple, Myne is excited to see the High Priest reading out of a heavy book of scriptures. However, she can't help but burst into laughter when she realizes the religious prayer pose of this world resembles the "Glico" pose she remembers from Japan. The priests mistake her trembling with laughter for illness and escort her to a waiting room to recover.

Myne looks around the temple, trying to find her way back to the main hall. As she explores, she discovers a small book room filled with scrolls and documents and attempts to rush in, but realizes too late that the room is restricted to members of the clergy, and a magic barrier prevents her from passing.

Eagerly, she asks to become an apprentice priestess to be able to read the books at the temple. The gray priestess she meets takes her to meet the senior authority in the temple, the High Priest. Mistaking her for the daughter of a wealthy family, he explains that he can permit her to join the temple in exchange for a sizeable donation.

When Myne asks her family for permission to become an apprentice priestess, her father strictly refuses. He explains that the only commoners who join the temple are unwanted orphans, and that the life of a gray priestess is brutally demanding. Myne is heartbroken to be forbidden after at last finding a place she can read books, but eventually agrees to give her refusal.

She returns to the temple and encounters the Head Priest, the second-highest authority in the temple under the High Priest. He is assigned to read to her out of the temple scriptures, and he comments that she learns very quickly.

When she explains that she can't join the temple because she has the Devouring and is very frail, the priests call for the temple's golden grail to check her mana capacity. Shocked by the results, they tell Myne to bring her parents back with her for a secondary discussion.

Myne and Lutz later meet with Benno, who realizes that the temple sees her as a valuable source of mana due to the recent shortage. He tells her that she is likely to be forced into the temple and warns her to take all possible precautions to negotiate for better treatment and secure access to her friends and family.

Myne tells her parents and her sister about the letter of invitation she was given and explains that entering the temple under the right conditions could allow her to treat the symptoms of her Devouring by giving mana to the church. Gunther agrees that it's a good plan to ensure her survival, but Tuuli is very worried about trying to negotiate her treatment with nobles.

Myne, Gunther, and Effa go to the temple to meet the High Priest and discuss terms. However, as soon as he realizes that her family is not wealthy or educated, he begins treating them arrogantly and demands that Myne be taken from him by force. Her father fights back to protect her.

When the High Priest threatens her family's execution, Myne loses her temper and her control of her mana. She chokes the High Priest and nearly kills hem before the Head Priest intervenes to stop her.

With the High Priest unconscious, the Head Priest sits down with Myne and her family, apologizes for their previous treatment, and negotiates with them properly to settle Myne's conditions for entering the temple.

When Justus goes to investigate Myne in the lower city of Ehrenfest, he passes her by a few times without realizing it. On the first occasion, he arrives at the Gilberta Company moments after she left. The second time, he passes by her and her mother Effa on their way home from shopping at the market.

Myne is eager to join the cathedral as an apprentice blue-robed priestess, but she has to wait several weeks while preparations are made. In the meantime, she visits the Gilberta Company, where Lutz has begun working as a lehange apprentice. Under Mark's tutelage, he practices welcoming customers to the store and using formal manners.

She tells Benno about her successful negotiations for joining the temple: She'll be allowed to live at home, rest when she's ill, and continue running her studio. Her duties will be to serve as a custodian of the library and magical artifacts at the cathedral. Benno comments that the Head Priest seems like someone she can rely on for help.

On her way back to the lower city, Myne meets Lutz's mother Karla and tells her how hard her is working at his new apprenticeship. However, she keeps her own plans to join the church secret. Instead, she shares the cover story that she will continue working as Otto's assistant and helping her mother around the house. Karla also mentions that a man visited the lower city recently and asked questions about her.

She relays the news to Benno, and he guesses that it's the same person who broke into the Merchant's Guild a few days before. After that, Tuuli, Effa, and Myne go to show Corinna her altered baptismal dress and gain her insight on the new hair ornament, and then sell Benno the rights to produce hair ornaments.

Later, Benno goes to Freida's pound cake tasting event, where Myne is helping out as a waitress. He scolds her for being reckless when he's busy trying to suppress information about her, and complains that she sold the recipe for pound cake to Freida instead of him. Myne points out that he's been ripping her off for new product ideas, and says that it would be useless to give him recipes when he doesn't have sugar, a highly trained chef, or access to a professional oven. With a sense of rivalry, Benno decides he'll just train his own chefs to be able to make the recipes.

The next day, Myne and Lutz walk to the cathedral, where they are formally greeted at the gate by Fran. Lutz bursts into laughter at hearing him call her "Lady Myne," and they part ways. Myne apologizes to Fran, but he coldly tells her there is no need. As he escorts her to see the Head Priest, Myne struggles to keep up with his quick walking pace. They also pass a blue-robed priest, who scornfully calls Myne a commoner. The gray-robed priests and priestesses also seem resentful of her.

The Head Priest guides Myne through her oath-taking ceremony and gives her a set of blue robes to wear at the temple. He then introduces her to her new retainers: Fran, Delia, and Delia, scolding her to maintain the attitude and formality expected of her position.

As soon as the Head Priest leaves the room, Gil begins arguing with her, while Delia admits she only took the position as a way to worm her way into the High Priest's favor and become his concubine. Fran impatiently tells Myne that it's her duty to discipline her retainers. Myne threatens to replace them, but her words leave no impression at all. She wonders how she's supposed to adjust to her new and unfamiliar life as a priestess.

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