episode_0167

“The Westward voyage is more of a gamble than an adventure.”

Esteban spoke to Rupert as he brought out the precious tea he had brought from the Eastern Continent.

“Please think of it as just romance rather than profit.”

Of course, it was a pretty big investment, from building a new ship to supporting the sailing costs, to just being romantic.

Rupert wasn’t as upset as he thought.

‘If it were before, I would have said you were crazy.’

Back in the old days, when I would dip the old stone bread in soup and eat it, I used to do everything I could to save every penny and earn a little more.

Rupert felt anew that a lot had changed in less than two years.

“While you are here today, I would like to report on the current export situation to other countries.”

Since Rupert was not good at math, it was always Esteban’s job to explain the sales data.

Even now, he was explaining the situation in a way that even Rupert could understand, leaving aside all the complicated calculations and formulas.

“The sales of children’s books are larger than expected?”

“Yes, comic books are popular, of course, but children’s books guarantee a certain level of sales in every country.”

There are also some comics that are particularly popular in certain countries, such as or .

In general, the promotion of children’s books was noticeable.

“This time, it seems that it was helpful to adapt it to the circumstances of the country.”

“Localization was important, after all.”

Among the things that Prince Lee, who helped Rupert and Yuren expand overseas, advised was localization.

– In the Iron Kingdom of Prosen, which values law and order, it would be good if the punishment aspect was prominent, and in the Republic of Isles, there are many people with red hair, so take that into consideration.

Prince Lee emphasized that not all cultures exist on the same continent.

That’s why Rupert slightly adapted the work to suit the culture of each country, or changed the costumes or designs of the main characters.

That part fit well and the fairy tale books became very popular.

‘I think Iolin would like it?’

Seeing that the version of Snow White that had the red-hot iron shoes made for her was popular in the Prussian kingdom, it certainly seemed that the original fairy tales were not without their cruelty.

“It’s a fairy tale book… It’s been a while since we’ve released a new one.”

Thinking back, Rupert realized that he had been neglecting the picture book he had started making for his younger sister Ada.

A moment when I was looking out the window while thinking about creating a new children’s book.

“It’s already snowing.”

“Isn’t it winter now?”

As Rupert saw the first snow of the year falling outside his window, he was reminded of this time last year.

‘The work you made back then was ‘A Dog of Flanders’?’

If before that I had created picture books for Ada, was a work created to help children.

Of course, in the aftermath, we had to deal with Ada crying and biting Nero and Patrasche, but it was definitely a fairy tale that brought about a change in a good direction.

“If you see children selling things on the street these days, will people help them?”

“Yes? Are you talking about when The Dog of Flanders was published?”

At first, Esteban seemed puzzled as if he didn’t understand what he was talking about, but soon realized that Rupert was talking about the time when ‘The Dog of Flanders’ came out.

“Hmm… It’s better than before, but it’s still not as good as it used to be because some time has passed.”

Esteban remembered that when A Dog of Flanders first came out, every kid selling things on the street would always have a dog with them.

Even now, it has become a tradition and you can still often see children walking their dogs on the streets.

Compared to before, the level of interest has decreased significantly.

At first, people who used to buy things for the children without holding back have gotten used to it and are not reacting as much as before.

“We have to make this winter warm.”

Rupert smiled meaningfully after hearing Esteban’s answer.

‘I guess I’ll make something else that’ll make people cry.’

Now, just by looking at Rupert’s expression, Esteban could roughly predict what would happen.

***

“Krun, I think we’ve been focusing too much on our own goods lately.”

“What does that mean?”

Krun, who was working in the workshop as usual, answered Rupert, who suddenly came and spoke, dryly as if it was a trivial matter.

“The essence of our Somerset workshop is publishing.”

“I know that too.”

“But hasn’t there been any change in the books we publish lately?”

“That’s true, but… .”

Kroon was speechless at Rupert’s words.

Although they have certainly been constantly developing technology and creating new products, there have been no recent changes in the publishing sector.

“Look at this.”

“This is…!”

“Yes, these are books that imitate the paper we use.”

At Rupert’s words, Krun began to look through the books he had brought.

One of the products that Somerset Workshop has been proud of is paper.

There were various types of paper, from recycled paper that could be repaired on its own even if damaged to coated paper with a coating on the surface.

Their quality was so high that they were said to be different from other books, and their excellent paper was a source of pride for artisans.

but,

“Still clumsy, but catching up little by little.”

“I didn’t think it would last forever, but it’s fast.”

The paper used in the books Rupert brought was inferior to the paper made in Somerset workshops, but it still had the same characteristics.

If Somerset’s recycled paper was able to recover even if it was completely torn, the recycled paper on the market today could only recover if it was slightly torn.

Although the coated paper was vaguely waterproof, there were still differences in quality, such as it easily getting wrinkled.

“But is there room for further development of this paper?”

However, it was not as if Krun had not thought about this part at all.

He also thought that publishing was the beginning and foundation of Somerset’s workshop, so he had a strong desire to continue developing it.

‘I have no idea in which direction I should develop it.’

Even the so-called best paper, Maseokji, was difficult to create any special features as it was simply made by scattering Maseok.

It’s to the point where I think that even the current level of paper is already at its peak.

“Do you have something in mind?”

But Kroon didn’t think Rupert had said this for nothing.

Rupert was always nagging, but when it came to talking about products, he was serious and would blurt out ideas that even he himself had not thought of.

“There are two main types of paper that I am considering to use for this new work.”

“New?”

“Yes, would you like to take a look?”

Krun nodded at Rupert’s request to take a look.

Rupert’s work is very interesting to him as well as to the tribe, so he never turns down the opportunity to read new works first.

“It’s a fairy tale.”

It felt like it had been a long time since he had read a fairy tale since , so Krun slowly began reading the new work from the first page.

and,

“Oh no!!!”

After reading all the way to the end, Krun held the book Rupert had made as a sample and began to shed tears.

‘This is it! This is the reaction I wanted.’

Rupert could somewhat predict the reactions of people who read this new fairy tale.

Since this was a new work with one of the saddest endings among the fairy tales I had ever read, it was certain that there would be a stronger reaction than ever after its release.

“This was really planned.”

Krun, who was caught shedding tears by Rupert, tried to act calm as if nothing had happened.

Some of the works he had read by Rupert had been sad, but this one was a sadness of a different kind.

Even in the case of , the ending was very shocking, but there were also some beautiful stories in the beginning and middle.

But in this new work, I found myself shedding tears without even realizing it because I felt sorry for the main character from beginning to end.

“Hmm… I think I know what this piece is about. But what kind of paper is it made of?”

Krun, who came to his senses late, asked, wiping his eyes with his sleeve as if nothing had happened.

“What if we give temperature to the paper?”

“Temperature?”

“Yes, some pages are cold and some pages are warm.”

Krun thought for a moment at Rupert’s words.

Certainly, this new work and temperature seemed like a great fit, and the idea of infusing temperature into paper is simple, yet something I hadn’t thought of before.

“Hmm… I guess I should give it a try.”

It would be simple to give it a magical element, but that would be too expensive, so Krun thought that it should be made by mixing certain materials when making paper.

“And there’s one more thing… .”

“Anything else besides this?”

“Yes, I think this only applies to certain scenes.”

“What is it?”

“Let’s try out the technology we developed while making the King of Cards cards?”

“Ah, the illustration is a welcome magic?”

“That’s it!”

Kroon could clearly understand Rupert’s intentions.

In the scene from the new fairy tale that we just previewed, if you use the Illustrated Illusion Magic, one of the techniques used in the card, you will definitely be able to leave a strong impression.

“Rupert, are you the devil?”

Even just reading a rough sample of a new fairy tale had given him a great shock, but when he imagined the finished book made with the new paper Rupert had mentioned, Kroon was not confident enough to read it.

“This winter will be very warm.”

Rupert didn’t care about Krun’s reaction, he was just looking forward to the reactions of people who read his newly completed children’s book.

Rupert, who I intend to show to Ada first.

I was already looking forward to seeing what kind of reaction there would be after reading , a representative fairy tale that comes to mind when thinking of winter.