Bierce/Story

When Myne first wants to make ink for printing, she has Benno take her to the ink store. Due to the store owner being unable to answer her questions, she then goes to the ink workshop where Bierce is the foreman. Since they make and know of only a single kind of ink Bierce is very confused when Myne asks him about different kinds of ink. When she outright asks for ingredients, he becomes suspicous of her, likely thinking she is trying to gleam their trade secrets. To gain the answers she seeks and alleviate this suspicon, Myne describes roughly how to make iron gall ink, which happens to be the type of ink the workshop produces, the recipy of which is highly confidential and only known to members of the ink guild. That this little girl would know the ingredients for ink greatly surprises Bierce and makes him believe that she might really know how to make other kinds of ink and he expresses his interest in this. At this point Benno quickly picks up Myne and leaves, telling Bierce to direct any of his questions to the Gilberta Company directly, rather than Myne.

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

In the following late winter Wolf suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances. It is assumed that a noble had him killed.

Prior to his death Wolf had managed to monopolize trading ink with nobles, by employing very shady practices. For fear of nobles expecting his successor to keep Wolf's promises and deals, as well as potential after-effects of his shady dealings, none of the workshop foremen is willing to take over as the new guildmaster. Eventually, Bierce is unable to refuse and becomes the guildmaster.

Since Wolf was the only one selling ink to the nobility, there is now no one in the guild who knows how to interact with nobles. At the same time, Bierce's daughter Heidi, who was one of the people producing the plant-paper ink has come to suspect that the production method could also be used to produce coloured ink. With the recipy for the black ink being protected by a magic contract, Bierce fears that another magic contract for coloured ink might also exists and thus keeps his daughter from doing any experiments of her own without first talking to the Gilberta Company.

When he is able to arrange a meeting with Benno to discuss the possibility of Benno taking over trading ink with nobles, Heidi eagerly taggs along to discuss coloured ink. Due to knowing barely anything about ink himself, Benno arranges for Myne to join this meeting.

During the meeting Benno is very reluctant to get involved with ink trading, in part for the same reasons that nobody wanted to be the new master of the ink guild and in part due to expecting the Master of the Merchant's Guild putting up strong resistence he doesn't want to deal with right now. But Myne manages to convince him to take it up. In regards to coloured ink, Myne and Heide are on the exact same wavelength and can't wait to start researching it together, but their respective guardians take charge of the negotiations and arrive the following terms:


 * The Gilberta Company will sell all the ink, but only has exclusive rights to the printing ink, both black and coloured.
 * Others can negotiate to sell the original iron gall ink.
 * The Myne Workshop will cover one quarter of the research costs of coloured printing ink and receive 10 % of it's profits once it is being sold commercially.

When Bierce and Myne return to his workshop, he tells 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.

After her third year at the Royal Academy completes, Lady Rozemyne informs her Gutenbergs that she will almost asuredly have to leave Ehrenfest in the spring of next year. Unlike most nobles, she leaves the decision of whether the commoners wish to come with her, or remain in Ehrenfest to them, rather than commanding them.

Bierce's successor and son-in-law Josef himself isn't particularly eager to leave his home, but he doesn't beliefe he can stop Heidi from going with Rozemyne, no matter how hard he tries, so reluctantly agrees to go with their patron to whereever it is she's going. Briece isn't too happy to lose his successor and daughter either, but agrees that this is the best way, or "leave this research-addicted, money-draining idiot with her patron" as he put it.

Bierce himself will remain in Ehrenfest to keep running his workshop and the ink guild.

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