"My rescuer!" Myne squealed, tackling Lutz into a hug almost as soon as he walked through the door. He squeezed back, then put a hand to her forehead. Honestly, in another life, he would've been a doctor.

"No fever in two days," her mom interrupted. Then sighed, giving Lutz a wry smile. "Please get her out of here." In any other mood, Myne would've been indignant. She had made for excellent company!

...Perhaps a bit too talkative, but what else do you expect from someone who'd been cooped up in bed for the past three days?

But as it was, she was too relieved to be upset. Finally , she'd get some fresh air.

Lutz withdrew his hand and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

They plodded down the staircase together. Lutz had to pause occasionally so she could catch her breath, but at least she was moving. And hey—even as an adult woman, stairs and her didn't get along. So she counted it as leaps and bounds ahead! Even if leaps and bounds were defined as some stairs...

When they stepped outside, the late-spring breeze cooled the veneer of sweat she'd built up on her skin. A refreshing change after days of staleness. But when she glanced up, Lutz was staring at her.

Oh, no...

Myne tried smiling and reached for his hand, but he smacked it back lightly. "Get on," he said, bending his knees until he was squatting. "And no whining." Myne huffed, but swallowed her pride. It wouldn't do her any good to overexert herself and wind right back in bed.

She climbed on. "Thanks," she said, albeit grudgingly.

Lutz hummed in acknowledgement.

"Any progress with the family?" she asked.

"Some. I showed them around the shop yesterday."

"Really?! How'd that go?"

"It went...better than I expected. A bit rough in the beginning, but I think they've started to come around. I still don't know if my dad approves," he admitted, a little abashed. "But I have their respect at least. It's a step."

"I'm glad." She sighed in relief. Some parents could be quite... harsh with their kids. Not everyone was fortunate enough to have ones like hers who accepted her the way she was, all eccentricities included. She had suspected Lutz's mom would stand up for him once push came to shove since she'd already expressed her support before, but his dad had been the wild card. Hopefully he had more dere dere underneath all that tsun tsun. As for his siblings... Ralph had some of that tough-guy act going on, but at least he was more mature than his brothers, as well as more communicative than his dad. And the two younger brothers... eh. They would be the extras if this were a manga… Didn't count.

Lutz and Myne passed the rest of the walk in a comfortable silence. She didn't get to stretch her legs as much as she'd hoped, but it still beated being inside. It was funny; in her other life, she wouldn't have noticed anything more than the page in front of her nose. But now, just a few days' absence made her miss the faces she recognized on her daily route. The craftsmen practicing their trade out front, like one of those special fairs; the stall-owners hawking the last of the season's crops; and the familiar patches of hair from the local children who were still young enough to play with no apprenticeship to worry about, racing in and out between their mothers' legs. Any change stuck out like a green thumb.

Like how Otto-san was the first to greet them at Benno-san's store. "If it's not our lovely Water Goddess herself!" he declared, striding over to them.

Myne giggled. She still didn't know what that meant, but woe be her if she didn't like being called a "goddess." "Did Benno-san finally let you out of hiding?" she asked.

" Finally . He realized my true talents lie in my charm."

Lutz's back rumbled as he stifled a snort. "Is Benno-san in?"

"Waiting for you in his office."

"Thanks!" Myne chirped, as Lutz let her down.

They could hear from outside the office Benno-san and Mark-san talking in low voices. She caught the words "chefs" and "venue." Guess they were still going ahead with the restaurant. Lutz knocked, and the murmurs froze into silence. After a moment, Benno-san barked, "Come in!"

As soon as they entered, Benno-san stared at Myne, and narrowed his eyes. Myne prepared herself. Here comes another lecture about overworking herself…

"Have you seen the Guildmaster's granddaughter again?"

Myne blinked.

Once the surprise was gone, she felt weariness creep in. Ah, so we're doing this now, she thought dryly. If this spat hadn't started to wear out her nerves, she would've found it funny that he always referred to her as the "Guildmaster's granddaughter;" never Freida.

"Not since the tasting party," she conceded. "I believe Freida's been busy with her baking, and I with my printing press. We'll probably see each other next season."

"I suppose you'll keep spilling your guts to her?" he snapped.

"If you mean selling recipes to her, yes," she said honestly. "I want more people to taste new foods."

Benno-san huffed, rapping his finger irritably on the table. Usually Myne would compare him to a hawk, but right now he looked more like a woodpecker with a grudge against a certain bug.

"That doesn't mean I have to sell her the same recipes I'm selling to you," she added. "I've only given her recipes for sweets. When are you planning to open your restaurant?"

"A year, if all goes according to plan. I'm expecting to find a venue and train cooks this summer." His eyes narrowed. "Of course, I'll need some worthy recipes first."

"Of course," she agreed equably. "But we didn't come here to talk about restaurants, did we?"

Benno-san still looked like he wanted to rip into something, but the corner of his lip twitched. "We did not." He made a gesture towards Mark-san, and the man searched one of the cabinets for a box. He set it on the table as Benno-san beckoned for her and Lutz to take a seat.

"Lutz-san has acquired all the necessary parts for your printing press," Mark-san announced.

The boy nodded, and handed her a screw press from the box. "Johann-san finished this, but he wanted to know if there were any changes you wanted to make. I could not really tell…"

"It looks perfect," she beamed. Lutz exhaled in relief.

Oh dear, were her requests weighing that badly on him?

But his expression cleared, and he smiled. "Tell me how you want it put together," he said, sounding a lot more comfortable.

Myne gave the instructions while Mark-san held the wooden boards together and Lutz nailed them in. Benno-san oversaw it all, back to his hawk-like gaze. The nailing was the easy part. The hard part—something Myne should've foreseen—was getting the screw press through the center of the wood, in a world where modern drills were nonexistent.

That stumped her. All that work, just to be stopped by a tiny hole...

But Lutz tilted his head, with that serious expression he got when something seemed obvious to him and completely elusive to Myne. "If it's just a hole we need, we can make a bow drill."

Myne's eyes widened. "What's that?"

He gave her another disbelieving look. Yep. Completely obvious to him. "It's this wooden bow you make that carves a hole in wood to start fires. My dad taught me how to do it."

Myne had to pause a moment, thinking back in her memory. Was that… that survival thing? She knew a lot about arts and crafts from experience, and history had always been her favorite subject. But learning how to live in the wilderness without any modern luxuries? Not so much.

"Okay…" She still had trouble remembering it, but if Lutz believed it would work, then she'd trust him. "How long does that take to make?"

"Not that long." He looked at Benno-san. "Do you have some thick string, Master?"

The question was barely out of his mouth before Mark-san drifted past them, likely in search of the string. "What else do you need?" Benno-san asked.

"Some sticks. I can get them from the forest, and it shouldn't take long."

"Hurry, then."

"Yes, Master." Lutz started to run out of the store, then remembered himself, and strode out.

"Are there any other issues we should resolve now?" Benno-san asked.

"Not that I can think of."

He nodded. "In that case, you can attend to the accounting while we wait."

Myne held back a roll of her eyes; how very Benno-san.

She finished a page of work by the time Lutz came back with a small pile of sticks. They watched as he sharpened the end of one stick about the width of the screw press. He then tied one end of another stick with the rope Mark-san had brought, looping the rope around the first stick, before pulling it through to the other end until it was taut and bent like a bow. Setting it aside, he lined up the screw press with the top of the printing press, and made a notch where it would go through with the dagger Myne's dad had given her and instructed she always kept on her person. Then he took the bow drill he made, stabilized the center stick, or spindle, in the notch, and started to slide the bow across like a violin.

Myne's memory sparked. "You're not actually going to start a fire, right?"

Lutz shook his head as he continued sawing. "No. I'll blow the sawdust away so it can't."

Her eyes widened as the friction started to drill a hole through the wood. "Lutz! You really are my rescuer!"

He snorted, but his concentration didn't break. He'd stop only long enough to blow the sawdust away or switch hands. About halfway through the wood, he paused to rub his palms. His skin was thick with calluses, but now they were an agitated pink.

"Allow me," Mark-san offered. Lutz hesitated, but at Mark-san's patient—and never flinching—gaze, he acquiesced. Together, the two took turns until a hole was drilled clean through the board.

The screw press slid through like a dream.

"How much do you think one of those bow drills would fetch?" Benno-san asked with a curling grin. Myne couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

The rest of the assembly was easy. Once everything was secured with nails, Myne asked for the apple on Benno-san's desk. "I'm not going to eat it," Myne said impatiently when he gave her an odd look. He acquiesced, handing it to her. Using her dagger, she cut the apple in half laterally, then again, to get a thin slice with the seed pits forming a star in the center.

She folded a piece of paper in half and laid it flat on the stand of the printing press, inked the apple, and gingerly set it ink-side down on top of the paper. Using another paper to put on top of the apple so the juices wouldn't stain the wood, she pushed down on the top of the screw press so the inner board pushed down on the apple slice. After holding it there for a moment, she pulled it back up, and removed the apple slice and piece of paper.

"Ta-da!" she cheered, showing them the star-shaped design.

She was met with beams.

"Very well done, Myne-san," Mark-san complimented.

"Now all we need are the illustrations, and we can send them off to the carvers," Benno-san said.

Lutz nodded, smiling. "We should test a few more designs, just to make sure. Would not want a mistake on our first use."

They tested a few more designs, sacrificing the rest of the apple to carve out some random shapes and letters. As it turned out, it was a good thing they did. After the first letter they printed came out reversed, Myne remembered: the plates they'd make would have to be reversed, lest the end result was.

But by the end of the day, it was an investment well-spent.

Myne grinned. If only her mom could see her now!

The first printing press had been invented!

Myne's Current Account:

2 small copper coins for 1 page of accounting

(S) Copper Coin: 25

(M) Copper Coin: 6

(L) Copper Coin: 0

(S) Silver Coin: 4

(L) Silver Coin: 8

(S) Gold Coin: 20

(L) Gold Coin: 4

Total: 60,210,850 Lyons

The videos I used to learn how to describe old-fashioned methods of drilling:

How to Build a Bow Drill Fire | Live Free or Die: DIY : www . youtube watch ?v=ibaMy_WvhE0

Primitive Technology: Cord drill and Pump drill : www . youtube watch ?v=ZEl-Y1NvBVI