Chapter: 64
The Lizardmen thoroughly searched the wetlands and found what they thought were papyrus plants. As expected, Lizardmen do a great job when you give them a task.
“Almighty Creator Dragon God! Is this the plant you asked us to find?”
“Hmm. It’s right… but it seems like you’ve harvested a bit too much, haven’t you? You didn’t cut them all down, did you?!”
“Ah… should we have left some behind?”
The problem is that you were just way too enthusiastic!!!
A mountain of papyrus stacked high. They had cut down so many that it created a small hill in the wide clearing.
“Alright. The wetlands are vast, so you’ll find more if you look. From now on, though, don’t cut them all down. Harvest moderately and consider planting seeds to cultivate papyrus.”
“Yes, we’re sorry. It’s just that this is the first time the Almighty Creator Dragon God has directly assigned us a task, and everyone got a bit carried away.”
It’s great to be passionate about work, but come on, give it a break!
Well then… how about I teach you how to make papyrus?
“First, cut them to an appropriate length and peel off the outer skin.”
“What’s an appropriate length?”
Hmm, what length is best? About 25 cm should suffice.
Considering the Lizardmen’s hands are slightly larger than humans, a palm’s width should be around 25 cm.
“About 25 cm should do.”
“25 cm is about the length of a palm.”
Ah, I did well teaching them the metric system. Barbaric units like yards and pounds don’t exist in this world!
Those ridiculous units don’t deserve to exist!
Whether I have such firm opinions or not, the chief Lizardman cut the papyrus with an obsidian dagger and said to me:
“We’ve cut and peeled the skin.”
“Good. Now slice the soft inner part of the stem thinly.”
“Thinly, you say?”
“Yes, like you would fillet a fish.”
Then the chief began to carefully slice the inner part of the papyrus.
“I’ve finished slicing.”
“Now, place the sliced inner parts on a flat wooden board and pound them down with a wooden mallet or roll them with a cylindrical object to flatten them even more.”
“Can’t we just press them with our palms?”
“I suppose… hmm, sturdy Lizardmen palms might work. Go ahead and give it a try as a demonstration.”
The chief then pressed the thinly sliced papyrus with his palm, and the flesh started to break down nicely, softening in his grip.
Well, this actually works with just bare hands. Normally, you’d need to pound it with a wooden mallet or roll it out with a pin.
Well, it’s simpler this way, so it’s a win!
“Now soak that in clean water for about seven days.”
“That takes quite a bit of time.”
“It’s to draw out the sugars inside. By the way, the inner part can be eaten raw or cooked.”
At my words, the chief sliced off a piece of the papyrus inner part and popped it in his mouth.
“Wow, you’re right! It has a subtle sweetness and tastes pretty good.”
“Just don’t overdo it.”
We still need to save some for making the papyrus paper, you know.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A week later.
“Shall we check on it now?”
“Oh, yes! A week has already passed. I got a bit sidetracked with other tasks.”
“Looks like you’ve been busy, huh?”
At my words, the chief laughed wryly.
“The chief deals with negotiations with outsiders and coordinating opinions with other tribes, while the high priest focuses solely on hunting, warfare, and martial training. So all the tasks like communing with spirits and blessing newborns usually fall on me.”
Sounds like he’s also swamped. Poor guy.
I’m in the same situation.
“Now, take the soaked inner parts of the papyrus and lay them out horizontally and vertically, crossing them over each other, on a clean piece of leather or cloth.”
The chief spread the clean leather and began to layer the thin, soaked inner parts, crossing them nicely.
“It’s like weaving fabric, but a bit wider.”
“That’s about the idea. Anyway, once it’s densely layered, cover it with another clean piece of leather and press it down heavily for seven days to dry.”
“Another seven days? That adds up to 14!”
“This isn’t something that’s made easily, you know!”
After another seven days passed.
“We’ve finished! Almighty Creator Dragon God!”
“Ooh, it looks pretty decent, doesn’t it?”
And thus, the first papyrus paper was created.
“It’s thin and light. It’s pretty amazing. It feels different from cloth.”
“Right. Now, teach the other Lizardmen to make the same thing. We’ll use this to create long scrolls for writing. This papyrus paper will become something valuable to you.”
“So can we write on this instead of stone tablets now?”
“If that’s what you want, go for it.”
Even if I say that, if logically given a choice between stone tablets and paper, one would naturally choose paper.
It’s light, super portable, and packed with conveniences. Total game-changer compared to stone tablets.
Was that just my delusion?
Even with the invention of papyrus paper, the Lizardmen still preferred writing on stone tablets.
But why… why the stone tablets!?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Thus, papyrus paper, which became the Lizardmen’s specialty, quickly spread across the world.
The thin, lightweight papyrus paper, significantly cheaper than parchment, held enough value to potentially shake the world.
Clay tablets were heavy and not very usable, while parchment was pricey because it required stripping sheep’s skins.
In the East, bamboo slips were gaining popularity, and due to distance from Lizardmen territory, they only trickled in, but some noble folks, like kings, couldn’t ignore the convenience.
In any case, that’s how papyrus paper made its way around the globe.
Oh, and by the way, the Elves were excluded. They freaked out when they saw the papyrus.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Is this something that can replace clay tablets…?”
“Yes, it’s called papyrus paper. It’s thin, lightweight, and perfect for writing. Go ahead and write on it.”
“Oh, Mother of Life, how do I write on this?”
The priest, who received the set of papyrus scrolls I sent through a disguised dragon, was bewildered as he looked at the papyrus scroll.
Hmm. Since they’ve only been writing on clay tablets, they probably don’t even know what ink is.
“Check out the items that came with the papyrus paper.”
“A small stick and a little leather pouch. Is the contents liquid?”
“Don’t drink it! It’s for writing on the papyrus paper. Can you grab a little clay vessel and pour some of the liquid from the pouch?”
The priest followed my instructions and poured the contents from the pouch into a small clay vessel, filling it with black liquid.
“Black water? What is this?”
“That’s ink for writing.”
Having the Lizardmen make the paper was a great start, but they also need ink to write.
The ink was made by mixing the charred remnants of the papyrus and glue made from fish bladders, then adding water to achieve the right thickness.
Hmm, I’m glad the Lizardmen are using fish bladder glue. When I asked if they had anything suitable, the alchemist told me about it.
To think they figured out how to make glue from dried fish bladders without me telling them. How impressive!
The downside? Fish bladder glue doesn’t yield much, so it’s a bit pricey. But hey, it’s just a prototype ink, so that’s not too surprising.
I, for my part, just handed over the papyrus paper scrolls and ink sets to the Lizardmen.
“Now, dip the small stick into the black liquid and try writing with it.”
“Huh? Oh, wow… This is fascinating! Unlike the clay tablets that require a strong push, here I can just lightly stroke the surface and letters appear.”
Well, since you only need to dip the stick in ink, unlike clay tablets where you have to carve letters deeply, it’s way simpler.
But the downside is that there’s no pen nib, so you have to keep dipping the stick into the ink often.
“Should I write here then?”
“Exactly. By writing and sharing that writing with others, you’ll be able to convey knowledge without having to say it out loud.”
Well, there are still some challenges, like needing more papyrus paper to spread around the world or cheaper ink supplies.
But those problems can be handled slowly. We can tackle them step by step.
We’ve just taken our first step here, and if we try to sprint right out of the gate, won’t we just end up flat on our faces?
Let’s take it nice and slow. Calmly.
“So what should I write about?”
I paused for a moment, then replied, “Let’s start by writing about the Afterlife.”
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