Visiting the herbalist again was quite valuable, as Misaki soon found out; the old lady seemed more than happy to indulge her in her efforts to understand the flora in the region, and the presence of something that [i]did[/i] fit her criteria for bamboo immediately put her on track for something useful. Even if she couldn't make paper out of wood pulp or something more in line with papyrus, scrolls made out of bamboo (or in this case, a bamboo-equivalent plant) would serve just as well for her purposes.

That was the emergency backup plan, though; as she dropped off what she had collected and bid the old lady farewell, Misaki made a swift beeline towards Lady Mie's entourage—and towards the woman herself.

"I apologize for my late visit, Lady Mie," the white-haired foxgirl began, bowing out of instinct as she spoke, "but this is less of a direct question regarding your wares. Do you by any chance have any paper or ink on hand I could look at? This is an odd question, I admit, but..."

Really, understanding where [i]that[/i] set of things was technologically was just as important for the sake of production. There was no way to make massive amounts of paper in a village like this, especially given the situation, but if bamboo pulp paper made with screens was a viable option, then there was really no reason to not emulate that process. Even if the result was of lower quality than she might have liked, it was still better than nothing.

Ink, on the other hand... That was probably doable with charcoal or soot, but using quality control in situations like this never hurt.

[@VitaVitaAR][@Rune_Alchemist]