Myne/Story

After being crushed by her book collection during an earthquake, recent college graduate Urano Motosu wakes up in the body of Myne, a five-year-old girl who is suffering from a life-threatening fever. Their two sets of memories combine, and Urano begins her life in a new and unfamiliar world as Myne.

Myne soon learns 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.

Her new family is mostly illiterate, and the only writing in the entire lower city is the numerals used to list prices at the market. While she eventually discovers that writing, parchment and ink do exist, all books are handwritten and prohibitively expensive. Undeterred, Myne resolves that if there are no books, "I'll make them myself!"

When Myne and her sister Tuuli visit their father Gunther at the city gate, she meets his fellow soldier Otto, a former merchant who can read and write. She also learns that her father is actually somewhat literate, though he's not very good at reading and writing.

Myne is eager to learn from Otto, and on subsequent visits to the gate, he gives her a stone slate and shows her how to write her own name. She volunteers to help Otto manage his paperwork and accounting, using the math skills she developed in her Urano days. In exchange, he teaches her to read and write, and gives her a steady supply of slate pens.

Determined to make her life as a commoner slightly easier, Myne uses her knowledge from Earth to reinvent a variety of basic products and recipes, including homemade shampoo, a hairpin, salted candles, and broth.

Because parchment and ink are far too expensive, Myne resolves to make her own paper substitute. She practices strengthening her frail body to be able to go to the forest outside the city. There — together with her friend and neighbor Lutz — she collects materials and tries to make a variety of writing materials, including clay tablets, wood strips, and papyrus. However, all attempts end in failure.

Lutz, who wants to become a traveling merchant, asks Myne to introduce him to Otto as a personal favor. At the meeting, Otto brings along his brother-in-law Benno, the owner of the Gilberta Company in Ehrenfest. They discourage Lutz from becoming a traveling merchant and suggest he become a city merchant instead.

During the conversation, Benno's attention is caught by Myne's hairstick and glossy hair, as well as her plans to make plant paper. He tells her and Lutz that if they can make a working prototype of the paper before their baptism, he will take them on as apprentice merchants.

Determined to finish her prototype and secure an apprenticeship with Benno, Myne and Lutz begin trying to make paper using the washi technique. To her chagrin, she soon realizes that she doesn't even have the materials to make the tools she needs to make paper. To secure some basic supplies, she makes a deal with Otto to exchange nails for the simple all-in-one-shampoo for his wife Corinna.

When Benno hears about the deal, he summons Myne and Lutz to a meeting where he explains that he'll cover all expenses for their paper-making in exchange for buying the sales rights to her shampoo. They also settle on the ownership and profit of any paper produced using Myne's method. The deal is sealed with contract magic.

Lutz is assigned to look after Myne's help and prevent her from collapsing. However, as they work together to make paper, he becomes suspicious of her strange behavior and too-mature outlook for her age. He eventually confronts her, asking if she really is the old "Myne" he knew.

Although she fears losing his friendship, she tells him the truth about her circumstances. She explains that even if she could return Myne's body to her, the original Myne is most likely dead. Eventually, Lutz realizes that the "new" Myne is still the one he shares his memories and made friends with, and accepts her for who she is.

Benno takes Lutz and Myne to the Merchant's Guild to get guild cards, which will allow them to do business and sell products before being baptized. To secure the approval of the Guildmaster, Myne agrees to make and sell decorative hairpins for his granddaughter Freida's baptism outfit.

When they meet to discuss the hair ornaments, Freida guesses that Myne's illness is actually the Devouring, the same illness she herself has. Although the illness is usually deadly, the Guildmaster was able to cure her symptoms by buying expensive magic tools from nobles. In the long term, Freida plans to stay alive by signing a contract with a noble and becoming a mistress as soon as she comes of age.

As Lutz and Myne prepare for their upcoming apprenticeship, they begin to learn merchant's etiquette, wear nicer clothing, and improve their reading and math skills. Myne also learns how to negotiate business deals from Benno, and successfully haggles with him to charge more in exchange for information on how to produce rinsham. They also begin researching a new kind of paper made from trombe.

However, Myne's Devouring continues to worsen, and it becomes clear that she will not survive much longer. Despite Lutz's efforts to prevent her from overexerting herself, she eventually collapses during a visit to Benno. They rush her to the home of the Guildmaster, who still has some magic tools that can save her life.

After the Guildmaster and Freida sell a magic tool to Myne to save her life, Myne spends time in their home recovering until Freida's baptism. She is able to use the money she earned by selling products to Benno to cover the cost of the magic tool. The Guildmaster, who wanted to use her debt to make her his apprentice, is disappointed.

Myne returns home to be with her family. Over the winter, they prepare for her baptism by adjusting Tuuli's old dress and making her a fancy flower hair ornament.

Faced with the increasing likelihoood that she will die within a year, Myne chooses not to pursue an apprenticeship at the Gilberta Company after all. After discussing her options with her family, she decides she would rather accept an early death in the lower city than sign a contract with a noble that would force her to leave her family. Instead, she will continue to work as Otto's assistant as long as her her health holds out.

Upon reporting her future plans of action to Lutz, his mother, Karla gets involved and it is revealed that Lutz is facing backlash from his family thanks to his decision. Karla agrees to support him after learning how serious Lutz is.

When spring comes, Myne and Lutz return to paper-making after discussing Myne's future with Benno. A problem with vested interests in paper occurs, resulting in Benno making a Plant Paper Guild and a compromise: parchment will be used for official contracts.

Benno accompanies Lutz and Myne to paper-making in order to discover what is needed to set up a workshop. Afterwards, Myne and Lutz start preparing things for Lutz's apprenticeship, like buying new clothes and change of clothes as well as ink. He also rents a room among the live-in apprentices to store his new things. After agreeing to meeting Freida at her house, Freida offers Myne a contract for the pound cake and Myne learns the starting price for normal contract rights, and thereby realizes that she's been underselling her products to Benno.

When Myne and Lutz's baptism arrives, Myne enters the temple for the first time. After registering for citizenship, she is excited when the High Bishop reads them passages about the gods from a large book of scriptures. Then, he starts to pray in a posture reminiscent of the Glico pose from Japan. Myne bites back her laughter, but eventually collapses from it and is taken to a different room to recover.

Upon recovery, she leaves the room to look for the bathroom and discovers the temple book room instead. Immediately, she begs to be allowed to join the temple as an apprentice shrine maiden to get her hands on books, and is taken to meet the High Bishop. Mistakenly believing her to be a girl from a wealthy family, he encourages her to ask her parents for permission.

Myne's family is horrified when she asks to become a shrine maiden, explaining that the only commoners who join the temple are unwanted orphans. She eventually agrees to give up on her plans, and returns to the temple to give her refusal to the High Bishop.

When she arrives, she meets the High Priest, who reads to her out of the temple scriptures. When she explains that she has the Devouring, however, the High Bishop and High Priest realize that her mana will be extremely valuable to them and insist that she bring her parents to the temple for a discussion.

Benno realizes that she will almost certainly be forced to join the temple, and begins setting up failsafes to help her negotiate for better treatment and stay connected to her family and friends in the lower city. He has her register the Myne Workshop and uses a magic contract to secure her access to Lutz. He then instructs her what conditions shse should negotiate for, including treatment as a blue shrine maiden rather than a gray shrine maiden.

When the High Bishop realizes that Myne is actually a poor commoner and not a rich merchant's daughter, he drops his kindly act, ignores her demands, and arrogantly demands that her parents give her up to become a gray shrine maiden. When he tries to take her by force, her parents fight back and he threatens to execute them.

Myne is outraged and loses control of her mana, nearly killing the High Bishop. The High Priest steps in and persuades her to spare his life. He then apologizes for her earlier treatment, praises her family's loyalty, and accepts all her conditions for joining the temple as an apprentice blue shrine maiden.

After a month of preparation, Myne begins her apprenticeship as a blue shrine maiden at the temple. Once the fealty ceremony is over, she is assigned three attendants: Fran, a former attendant of the High Priest, Delia and Gil. The High Bishop who still holds a grudge against Myne chose Delia to act as his spy and Gil, a troublemaker, to cause her as much trouble as possible.

Myne is eager to head to head to the book room as soon as possible, and, once there, she refuses to stop for lunch and reads for the entire day. After Lutz arrives to pick her up, Myne heads to Benno so that he can help her take her donation to the temple. Upon her arrival, she sees how much effort Lutz is putting into his merchant apprenticeship, and she resolves to take her own duties more seriously.

During Benno's meeting with the High Priest, Myne works harder to use formal manners and speech, and Fran feels much more comfortable helping her as an attendant. Near the end of the meeting, Myne collapses due to having donated mana and skipped lunch. Worried, Benno picks her up and rushes her out of the temple to rest.

When she returns to the temple with Lutz, Gil lashes out at her in anger for not providing him with food or accommodations as her attendant. Myne stumbles and falls over, causing Lutz to tackle Gil on her behalf. Fran breaks up the fight, explaining that fighting is forbidden in the temple and explaining why Gil is upset with Myne. In the end, she decides to uphold her duties as his master if he does the work expected of him as an attendant.

After Myne scandalizes the High Priest by changing into her blue robes in his office, she is assigned the orphanage director's chambers to use as her living quarters during the day. She assigns Gil to clean up as a test of his willingness to work, and he proves his dedication by doing a thorough job.

Myne gives Fran and Gil clothing to wear in the lower city, and the attendants realize how different life is outside the temple. Both sides gain a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to adapt, and Gil begins to respect Myne as his master.

As the orphanage director's chambers have a kitchen, Benno uses the opportunity to train cooks for his planned Italian Restaurant. Delia begins to do her work as well.

After some time, Myne discovers the horrifying conditions of the orphanage. Driven by her own conscience and Gil's pleas for her to intervene, she goes to the High Priest for help. He initially turns her down, pointing out that she has no clear plan to help the orphans in the long run.

She works with Lutz to develop a more effective plan: Setting up a paper-making workshop in the orphanage that can fund food, supplies and education for the children. After a secret talk with the High Priest in his hidden room, he approves her plan and officially assigns her to the position of orphanage director. The orphanage is cleaned, and Myne provides the orphans with food and rewards for their hard work.

Myne invents the diptych and meets with Johann the smith to create a stylus for it. In addition, she orders boards to make a karuta set and assigns Wilma to help make art for her picture books.

She secures permission to hold a Star Festival for the orphanage and they go out to collect taue fruit. She discovers that taue turn into trombe when they absorb mana, and decides to create some trombe to make more valuable paper. Howver, the fast-growing plants damage the white tiles of the temple. Afterward, the High Priest punishes Myne by placing her in the repentance chamber, but is dismayed when she falls ill and develops a fever.

Lutz runs away from home when his family continues to reject his dreams of becoming a merchant, and Benno considers trying to adopt him. When Myne discusses the situation with the High Priest, he tells her that it's possible to permit an adoption through the orphanage. He sends a letter of invitation to Lutz's family and Benno to discuss the matter at the temple.

Thanks to his mediation, the family resolves their misunderstandings and Lutz decides to return home. Myne bursts into tears of relief. When the High Priest's offers her his handkerchief, Myne notices the embroidery on it and learns his name (Ferdinand) for the first time.

< Myne