Kazuki Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 2 Volume 1

1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7183-4606-2
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 4, 407 Seiten

Reihe: Ascendance of a Bookworm

With her baptism ceremony complete, Myne begins work in the temple as an apprentice shrine maiden.
Awaiting within is what she always wanted: a room full of books! But her new life isn't quite the dream she was hoping for; she's surrounded by nobles who scorn her common origins, and even her own servants are causing her trouble. On top of that, she has to constantly battle the weakness of her own body. But with a love for books burning in her heart, Myne gives her all to her new apprentice duties. Thus begins part two of this biblio-fantasy!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kazuki, Miya

Weitere Mitwirkende

Shiina, You

Quof,

Leseproben

Prologue
“High Priest, the High Bishop is summoning you.” “...Looks like that Crushing wasn’t enough to kill him.” High Priest Ferdinand sighed and stood up after hearing the report from his attendant, Fran. He left his room with another attendant named Arno, while regretfully thinking about how much more work he would have been able to do had the High Bishop remained out of commission for longer. Along the way to the High Bishop’s room, Ferdinand passed by the book room. It reminded him of Myne, the child who had caused a huge fuss in order to read the books within it. She was the source of his recent headaches, and the reason he was being called by the High Bishop. There was no doubt that he would be confirming what had happened with Myne and subsequently complaining about it. It was easy to imagine what kind of biting complaints would be coming out of the High Bishop’s mouth. Dealing with him was a pain, but as he was technically the highest authority in the temple, Ferdinand had no choice but to go along with it. He rubbed his temples and squashed his feelings of annoyance. Ferdinand was often mistaken for a twenty-five-year-old, or a thirty-year-old at worst, but he was actually just twenty. His half-brother often said he lacked a youthful spirit, but personally, Ferdinand blamed his environment and upbringing. Ferdinand was in a somewhat special situation. He hadn’t been raised from birth in the temple, but instead had been raised until adulthood in noble society. He was the son of a mistress, but as he excelled in his studies and had enough mana to work with the foundation’s magic device, he was raised to support his half-brother. They were close enough, but his brother’s mother—the wife of his father—was not fond of him even being relegated to a support role. After the death of his father, her rejection of him became more concrete and forceful. Power-seeking adults supported her, and his own mother could not be relied upon. When Ferdinand began to feel that he was in danger of losing his life, his half-brother recommended that he join the temple. In noble society, joining the temple was equivalent to declaring your retirement from the world of politics. But as the temple also used mana and performed holy rituals, those within it actually maintained a close connection to politics. The temple was run by blue-robed priests and shrine maidens from noble authority, and there was essentially another stratified society within the temple based on the status of their families. Ferdinand’s half-brother had jokingly asked him to take control of the temple for him. The current High Bishop was the younger brother of his mother and was a problematic existence for them both, due in part to his arrogance. Ferdinand shrugged his shoulders and said, “Don’t make it sound so simple,” then joined the temple. Life in the temple was peaceful. There were some people controlling matters of finance, some managing the orphanage, and some keeping tabs on noble society. But aside from pouring mana into the divine instruments, Ferdinand did not receive any special work. He had so much spare time that he even asked his half-brother to send him some of the books and writing boards he had left at home. He placed several of the books into the book room so that less financially blessed nobles could read them as well. But the blue priests and shrine maidens in the temple were all those banished from noble society. Few of them had any interest in learning. The first to ever want to read the books, so much so that she burst into tears, was the young commoner girl Myne. But the days of peace did not last long. The political war came to a close and a mass purging was carried out, dramatically decreasing the number of nobles. To bolster their numbers, kids young enough to attend the Royal Academy were summoned home, then shrine maidens young enough to get married were similarly summoned home. Eventually there was an order to send any and all priests and shrine maidens with significant mana to the Sovereignty’s temple. Ehrenfest’s temple now lacked any blue shrine maidens or blue priests young enough to be called home. All that remained were blue priests so weak in mana that the Sovereignty’s temple didn’t want them. The temple lost everyone who had been doing the important jobs, which left Ferdinand to take over. He was young and had only recently joined the temple, but due to the status of his family, he was given the role of High Priest. Thus ended his days of peace. “High Bishop, the High Priest has arrived.” The attendant standing by the High Bishop’s door opened it at a speed that matched Ferdinand’s walking pace. The High Bishop was sitting deeply in a chair and angrily tapping his fingers against his desk, his brows furrowed so deeply that his entire face was molded into an angry look. He spoke in a rush the moment he saw Ferdinand. “High Priest, what happened to her?” After walking to the High Bishop’s desk, Ferdinand asked “To whom do you refer?” while speaking gracefully like nobles tend to do. “To that unbelievably rude brat, of course!” The High Bishop stood up and slammed a fist on his desk, shouting like a child throwing a tantrum. Ferdinand had expected this and, under the guise of checking it, held up the wooden board containing his written report in order to block the spit flying in his direction. “In accordance with our initial plans, she has entered the temple. We will undoubtedly struggle to perform the Dedication Ritual without Myne. On top of that, what will we do without her if the Knight’s Order needs our assistance in the fall? Will we refuse them, saying we lack the mana to do our job? Or will we beg other temples for help until more nobles arrive?” The High Bishop had pride as high as the status of his family. He would never ask for outside help under any circumstances. He must have imagined himself bowing to High Bishops from the temples of other regions, because his entire head went red with frustration. “Ngh! If not for our lack of mana, I would have that impertinent little girl executed immediately!” “You would do well not to challenge her directly. If you are Crushed by that much mana again, your heart will likely not last.” Was he so mad that he had forgotten how he had been Crushed to the point of being knocked unconscious? Old, prideful men never ceased to be tedious. So thought Ferdinand as he looked down at the High Bishop grinding his teeth and continued his report, explaining the terms he had discussed with Myne and her parents. “As discussed prior, I prepared a pair of blue robes for her. Likewise, as discussed prior, she will maintain magic tools and be given work in the book room which she so desired to enter.” Ferdinand repeatedly emphasized that the terms were all what they had discussed prior to the incident. Perhaps due to his age, the High Bishop had a tendency to conveniently forget what he himself had said. As expected, the High Bishop glared at Ferdinand, helplessly frustrated that there was no room for him to argue. “Ngggh... High Priest, you...” “Additionally, as Myne is not an orphan, she will commute to the temple from her home. I determined that this would not be a problem due to the number of blue priests doing the same.” “You what?!” snarled the High Bishop, eyes wide. Once again, Ferdinand had predicted that reaction. “...I made this decision after coming to the conclusion that she might otherwise ask for a room in the Noble’s Quarter, given her status as a blue robe.” It was easy for the High Bishop to understand that letting Myne commute from home was better than giving her a room in the Noble’s Quarter. He nodded with a nasty smile. Naturally, he had completely forgotten that he had suggested throwing her into the orphanage before, but it was too late for him to backpedal now. “In addition, Myne is sickly by nature and will not be able to work every day. There is not much work for an apprentice blue shrine maiden to do, so I believe it will be fine if she rests on days where she is of poor health.” “Bah. Seems like she’s as lazy as she is rude.” The High Bishop seemingly felt the need to complain about everything, but Ferdinand already knew that, and thus brushed off his whining with a light shrug. “It is better than her carrying illness into the temple. Additionally, I have given her attendants so that they may watch her health.” “She doesn’t need them!” His replies were so consistent with what Ferdinand had predicted that he sighed while giving yet another prepared answer. “We will experience problems of our own if there is an apprentice blue shrine maiden without attendants. Not to mention that we are currently overflowing with grays. Nothing but good will come from Myne being given some of them.” Many blue priests and shrine maidens had left, but excluding particularly well-liked ones, the majority of gray-robed attendants had been released from their duties and put back in the orphanage. With fewer donations as well, the idle gray priests were an unacceptably large drain on the temple’s slim finances. “In addition, according to my investigation, Myne has been registered as the forewoman of a workshop registered with the Merchant’s Guild. It is easy to say that those serving the gods need not make money, but if she continues her work, we will be able...