Making Karuta
Since the teacher had stepped out, the older girls gathered around, so I explained once again how to play karuta.
“I was getting bored with the same kind of writing practice every time, so this is perfect. I’ll help.”
“If it’s a game, we can play at home too, and Lon could join in.”
Tony might be a bit too honest, but it’s nice that he wants to help. And Lun—he always puts his little brother first. He really is a wonderful big brother.
The sheep triplets said they’d handle writing the letters for the reading cards, so first we decided to think of words for the basic characters, and then draw pictures to match.
Nachi wants to work on making guild request forms someday, so apparently he’s been practicing drawing. Now that I think of it, guild papers for things like horn rabbits or herbs did have little sketches on them. Could it be those were all hand-drawn by the staff? Well, of course. It’s not like they can just download data from a PC.
“I don’t know that many names of monsters. And even though Vio asked Hachi and me to help…”
When the older group got excited, Len’s mood clearly dropped. When I asked why, he told me something that adorable.
“We’ll look ’em up for you, Len, so you just write the letters!”
“Tony, you dummy! Len, remember? The teacher said monsters and materials are fine, but first we should start with familiar words.
Like, for ‘li’ it could be ‘Lilium the tailor.’ We can use names of nearby shops or food too.”
Just as I was wondering what to say to cheer up a near-teary Len, Tony tossed out a suggestion like it was nothing. I wanted to point out “That’s not it,” but Kathe beat me to it.
“Kathe, I think that’s a great idea. If we use shop names or food ingredients, it’ll even help us learn how to run errands.”
When I agreed with Kathe’s words, the whole class started buzzing with excitement.
“Well then, shall we start picking words?”
“Yes, let’s. We’ll take this character first, and everyone can suggest words that come to mind.”
“Alright then, I’ll write down the words we decide on in my notebook.”
The triplets took their places: Mare stood at the blackboard and wrote out five basic characters, like “a-i-u-e-o” written vertically with spaces in between.
Mire faced the class, calling on the kids who raised their hands.
Mure returned to her desk to write the chosen words into her notebook.
“Me! Teacher Ariana is the magic teacher!”
“Oh, then me! Vice-Guildmaster Aslan is super scary!”
Kathe was first, quickly followed by Tony. But… is the Vice-Guildmaster scary? To me, he just seems like a handsome guy who loves magic, curious about everything—if a bit of a hopeless case. Still, I raised my hand, and Mire called on me.
“Alke, my dad, is good at wood magic.”
After saying it, I realized that’s not exactly right for karuta. But well, as a kids’ version of karuta for our village, it works.
We kept going like this, coming up with three or four suggestions per letter, then voting for the favorite. Mure copied the chosen words into her notebook.
By the time we reached the “ta” row, Teacher Paul returned—with Teacher Elia, the Guildmaster, the Vice-Guildmaster, and Village Chief Harold.
“Taki is the guild receptionist!”
“Dandada is the weapons and armor shop!”
I caught Teacher Paul’s eyes. His expression asked, “What’s going on here?” so I motioned to Mare to pause.
“Oh my, welcome back, teachers.”
“Yes, but what were you doing just now?”
“Well, we were choosing words for the karuta together. For the first set, we picked people from the village, local shops, things you’d buy, and foods.”
“I see, so that’s what the blackboard shows. Very interesting.”
Teachers Paul and Elia stepped up to the blackboard, listening as the triplets explained. Mure showed them the notebook with the words chosen so far. The kids, meanwhile, happily pointed out which suggestions had been theirs.
“Vio, this karuta game is wonderful. I’ll double-check trademarks, but when I searched before, I didn’t see any children’s toys listed, so I doubt anything like this exists.
We’ll need to register it with the Merchants' Guild. We’ll also be registering children’s scissors, so let’s file both together.”
I was spacing out when the Vice-Guildmaster began explaining the registration. Wait, isn’t it kind of crazy to be saying this is something a five-year-old came up with?
“Well, it’s said that both playing cards and Reversi were invented by a girl not even five years old. Back then, the guild ignored it, and her parents registered it instead. But when she grew up, she was able to re-register under her own name as the creator.
Because of that, children can register inventions now too. But since it could draw unwanted attention, there’s a safeguard: if the inventor is very young, they can choose to keep their name hidden, with either a parent or a town representative listed as proxy until they reach adulthood.
It’s a way to protect them, so their rights aren’t stolen by abusive parents. And the reason it’s not limited to mayors or lords is because sometimes they’re the bad ones. It just has to be someone who can deal properly with the guild to handle registration.”
Yeah, that makes sense. The lord of the town I was abandoned in? Definitely dangerous.
“H hoho! Thanks to you, not just Alke but also those skilled in woodwork will gain a new source of income. This will be a great boon for the whole village.”
The village chief patted me on the head with a smile.
I’d only been thinking about helping Len and Hachi with their studies, but he’s right—if this spreads, Dad and I won’t be able to keep up making them alone. And if we expand to monster and material karuta, adults might join in too, making it a product to sell. In that case, people skilled in woodcraft, especially those with wood magic, could earn from it as a side business.
I hadn’t thought that far, but if it helps the village that’s been taking care of us, I’ll be glad.
The Guildmaster and others decided to stay and observe, so the words kept piling up. I thought it might take another two or three classes, but we finished the list in this one session.
The day after tomorrow, the three of us five-year-olds will write the letters for the picture cards. Those good at drawing will add the pictures, and the sheep triplets will write the reading cards. Writing them all will take time, so we’ll probably need about two classes for that part.
What do you think about this chapter?
