Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 286

I’ll work on the idea a bit more. First, how can we lower the price per booklet while still maintaining a certain level of quality?

“Instead of parchment, we could use the skin of a different monster, like a demon wolf or a demon boar, which are relatively less disgusting. Another option is to write on a thin board instead of skin.”

Boards and clay boards are alternative materials that could be used when parchment and paper are expensive.

However, Sara objects to this. “But boards break easily, don’t they?”

“That’s the issue. They can break when dropped, are heavy, and need to be handled with care, leading to higher transportation costs. Plus, we can buy leather at a comparable price, so we don’t gain much of an advantage in terms of material costs.”

“You’re right. We’d better avoid using boards.”

In this world, boards aren’t particularly cheap. There are procurement challenges, such as a lack of local connections to sawmills, and the threat of monsters makes large-scale logging impractical, reflecting issues within the industrial structure. I’ve never confirmed this, but I suspect they use a large circular saw powered by a watermill to process the planks. Somehow, I feel the technology isn’t that advanced yet.

“Another option is to try making the booklet smaller. Sara, how big do you think a normal booklet is?”

“Huh? Um, about this size?” Sara gestures to an A3 size.

In this world, books are considered luxury items and tend to be large and ornate. The customers who order books are wealthy individuals like aristocrats and clergy, who expect sizes and bindings that reflect their expenditure. In the original world, it was common to decorate studies with encyclopedias that went unread, so it’s likely something similar here.

“Yeah. I think about a quarter of that size would be fine.”

In other words, a B5-sized pocket book.

“Isn’t that small? Are books that size acceptable?”

“I’m sure the deacon’s books are about that size. I’ve seen them.”

“Um, that’s true. I’ve seen one that the village priest has, but isn’t it a self-written copy of part of a book? Isn’t that a bit different?”

“If it can be made cheaply, the size doesn’t matter.”

Sara’s discomfort can be summarized like this: If it’s for sale, it will cost money and thus be expensive. Since it’s expensive, it should be luxurious and large. On the other hand, if it’s for personal notes, a smaller size is fine. That’s why few people have considered making smaller booklets for sale.

“Plus, there are benefits to being small.”

“For example?”

“First, the cost of materials is lower.”

“But the amount of content remains the same, so doesn’t that just mean more pages?”

“Parchment is made by cutting pieces of leather. If it’s small, it can be made from scraps of leather cut for other uses. So the material costs will surely decrease.”

“That’s true. Even in the workshop, we have leftover leather after making shoes.”

“Also, if it’s small, it’s easier to transport.”

Smaller items are easier to move than larger ones. Since we plan to distribute these booklets to churches throughout the kingdom, having lower shipping costs is advantageous in a world with a poor logistics network.

“Plus, if the booklet is small, they won’t need to write unnecessary details.”