The Light Novel series is the source material for the adaptation of the Anime and Manga series. The information and terminology on the article will be based on the source material rather than the adaptions. |
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The Gilberta Company (ギルベルタ商会, Giruberuta shōkai) is a large store in Ehrenfest dealing in clothing and beauty products. The current leader of the store is Corinna, who oversees the workshop, while her husband Otto handles much of the company's trade.
The store was formerly led by Benno. However, he departed from the store to found the Plantin Company, which focuses on the newer printing and paper-making industries.[1]
History
The seamstress who founded the Gilberta Company (the great-grandmother of Benno and Corinna[2]) originally requested a store name from a noble. She was told to use the name "Gilberta," which she eventually adopted as her own name as well.[1] Because the store was originally founded by a woman, ownership of the company is passed down among the female members of the family. The company's female owner traditionally sews the clothing, while her husband or male relative oversees trade.[2]
The company began to grow in renown and size under the leadership of Benno and Corinna's father and mother, who began making and selling clothing to nobles. However, the company experienced a decline when he was killed by bandits while traveling to another city.[3] His wife died shortly after, leaving Benno to run the company and raise Corinna on his own until she reached adulthood.
Due to Benno's youth and inexperience, many of the company's employees canceled their contracts. However, Mark remained with the Gilberta Company even after his leherl contract ended. When Mark's family's company, led by his older brother, attempted a hostile takeover of the store, Mark cut ties with his family and drove their business to ruin, using it as a stepping stone for the Gilberta Company's growth.[2]
By the time Myne first meets Benno, the company is has regained its place among Ehrenfest's most profitable and influential stores. Corinna, the store's successor, has earned a reputation among the Tailor's Guild as an exceptional seamstress.[4]
Story
Myne's first interaction with the Gilberta Company occurs when she meets with Benno and Otto to discuss Lutz's dream of becoming a traveling merchant. Benno, the de facto leader of the company, is intrigued by Myne's hair stick and glossy hair. He agrees to accept Myne and Lutz as apprentices on the condition that they create a successful prototype of plant paper before their baptism the following summer.[5]
Myne later sells the Gilberta Company the production rights for Simple All-in-One Shampoo to Benno in exchange for the tools needed to create their plant paper prototype.[6] The shampoo, which Benno renames "rinsham,"[7] soon becomes a mainstay in the company's catalogue among rich commoners. They later also purchase the rights to sell lacework hairpins.
As beauty products and accessories, the rinsham and hair ornaments are well-suited to the Gilberta Company's line of business. However, when Benno begins selling Myne and Lutz's plant paper, conflict arises with vested interests in the Parchment Guild. At Myne's insistence, Benno negotiates a compromise to make parchment mandatory for official documents and only allow plant paper for other uses, ensuring that stores making and selling parchment will retain some of their current market share. This solution successfully calms the tensions down for a time.[8]
Due to Myne's poor health, she ultimately chooses not to pursue an apprenticeship with the Gilberta Company. Instead, she plans to collaborate with Benno as the forewoman of the Myne Workshop.[9] After Myne and Lutz's summer baptism, Myne joins the temple as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, she successfully negotiates with the High Priest to be allowed to keep her position as forewoman. When she becomes the director of the temple's orphanage, she also coordinates with Benno to establish a new paper-making and printing workshop that will sell products to the Gilberta Company, generating supplementary income to provide for the orphans' needs.
Lutz becomes a lehange with the Gilberta Company after his baptism, and he later leaves home and becomes a live-in apprentice due to rising family tensions.[10] As his situation worsens, Benno proposes adopting Lutz as his successor; however, after a discussion with Lutz's parents, they agree that Lutz will remain with his family and sign a leherl contract instead.[11]
The Gilberta Company maintains a close relationship with the temple through Myne. When Benno decides to establish a high-class restaurant, he sends Hugo and Todd to train as chefs in the orphanage director's chambers, with Ella as an assistant. Later, he also requests assistance from Myne's attendant Fran in training Gilberta Company personnel and waitstaff, including the lehange Leon, in appropriate manners when interacting with nobles.
As the store continues to expand under Benno's ambitious leadership, the Gilberta Company faces growing scrutiny from other large stores for overstepping their boundaries as a clothing and accessory business. Gustav, the master of the Merchant's Guild, begins to offer stronger resistance, to the point of delaying proceedings related to a magic contract previously approved by the archduke. To reduce tensions and share the burden of his increasing workload, Benno brings Gustav and the Othmar Company into the Italian Restaurant as investors, with Gustav's granddaughter Freida serving as a primary representative and her cook Leise as a chef.
Despite Gustav and Benno's new partnership, the dissatisfaction of other stores continues to grow. To protect Corinna's interests and his own profits, Benno decides to split paper-making and printing into a new company, which Rozemyne names the Plantin Company. He leaves leadership of the Gilberta Company to Corinna and Otto, who is trained by Fran to interact with nobles. The store continues to sell rinsham and hairpins, and earns acclaim among nobles later that year for their role in creating Brigitte's new style of dress.
Even before joining Corinna's workshop, Tuuli works closely with the Gilberta Company as Rozemyne's personal hairpin craftswoman. When she turns ten and her contract at her previous workshop ends, she signs an official contract with Corinna as a leherl. The business grows as Rozemyne and Elvira popularize rinsham and hairpins among the highest echelons of Ehrenfest society.
Following Rozemyne's entry into the Royal Academy, the Gilberta Company is commissioned to make hairpins for several high-ranking nobles including Eglantine of Klassenberg (as a graduation gift from her escort Prince Anastasius[12] for Adolphine of Drewanchel;[13] (as a gift from Prince Sigiswald); for the escort partner of Lestilaut of Dunkelfelger;[14] for Detlinde of Ahrensbach as an engagement gift;[15] and for Hannelore of Dunkelfelger.[16] As it becomes fashionable to give Ehrenfest hairpins as a romantic gift to one's escort partner, the Gilberta Company works to train more hairpin craftspeople. However, Tuuli remains the foremost expert for hairpins and the only person capable of meeting the required standards to cater to royalty.[17]
Personnel and Associates
Current
Owning Family
- Corinna - Current owner of the Gilberta Company
- Otto - Husband of Corinna and economic leader of Gilberta Company
- Renate - Child of Corinna and Otto and most likely successor.
Leherls
Lehanges
Former
Former Owning Family
- Benno and Corinna's Father - Deceased, Economic leader of the Gilberta Company
- Benno and Corinna's Mother - Deceased, Owner of the Gilberta Company
- Benno - Former Economic leader of the Gilberta Company, left to found Plantin Company.
Former Leherls
- Lutz - left with Benno to found Plantin Company.
- Mark - Longtime employee and right-hand man of Benno, left with Benno to found Plantin Company.
Former Lehanges
- Lutz - Was first promoted to Leherl and then left with Benno to found Plantin Company
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 3 Volume 4. Chapter 3: Benno's Request
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 3. The Master and I
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 3. The Roots of the Guildmaster's Worries
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 3. Visiting Corinna
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 1. Chapter 24: Meeting with the Merchant
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 2. Chapter 3: Summons from Benno
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 2. Chapter 18: Why It Failed and How to Fix It
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 3. Chapter 13: Result of the Meeting with the Vested Interests
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 1 Volume 3. Chapter 11: Back to Paper-Making
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 2 Volume 1. Chapter 21: Lutz's Path Through Life
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 2 Volume 1. Epilogue
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 4 Volume 3. Chapter 10: Meeting with the Prince
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 4 Volume 7. Chapter 3: Sylvester's Order
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 1. Chapter 2: The Fellowship Gatherings (Third Year)
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 4 Volume 8. Chapter 20: Ferdinand's Estate
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 9. Chapter 8: Fitting
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 4 Volume 8. Chapter 16: Another Discussion and Making Rejuvenation Potions