Kazuki Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 5 Volume 8

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-7183-4656-7
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Ascendance of a Bookworm

'I'll do anything to save him. Anything.'

Greater duchies, the Sovereignty, the royal family, even the gods themselves-Rozemyne will take on anyone in her quest to rescue Ferdinand. She uses her newly acquired Book of Mestionora to activate Kirnberger's long-dormant country gate. Then, with Dunkelfelger on her side, she speeds to Ahrensbach even faster than Steifebrise. To war!

As the battle against Lanzenave commences, Georgine finally begins her invasion and triggers the Defense of Ehrenfest. Can the combined forces of the temple and the lower city's commoners help keep the duchy safe? And can
Rozemyne secure victory in this game of true ditter?!

The newest volume of this biblio-fantasy contains more than one hundred pages of original content not featured in the web novel. And as always, look forward to more four-panel manga by You Shiina!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kazuki, Miya

Weitere Mitwirkende

Shiina, You

Quof

Leseproben

Prologue

So monotonous and unchanging was life in Ahrensbach that each day seemed to blend seamlessly into the next. Still, Justus knew from experience that even the steadiest streak of normalcy could crumble under the weight of a single momentous event. Several such examples came unbidden to mind: the moment he had proposed giving his name to Ferdinand to secure the man’s trust, the sudden death of the late Aub Ehrenfest that had seen Ferdinand expelled from noble society, the royal decree that had uprooted them all, and now...

“Lady Letizia?! Have you finished supplying mana already?!”

“Please open the door. I am in a hurry.”

Justus exchanged a look with Eckhart. Letizia was meant to be supplying mana, so why could they hear her on the other side of the door?

Although their lord, Ferdinand, had yet to marry Ahrensbach’s Detlinde, he was still supplying the duchy’s foundation. A short while ago, he had gone into its Mana Replenishment hall to help train Letizia and privately discuss something with her.

During Mana Replenishment, only archnoble retainers belonging to a branch of the duchy’s archducal family were allowed inside the archduke’s office. Eckhart and Justus had consequently been advised to rest, but instead, they were waiting diligently outside the door. They had been ordered not to let Detlinde pass and to inform their lord at once if she tried.

“Could something have happened...?”

“Surely not. You-know-who isn’t around.”

Detlinde had yet to make an appearance, so neither Eckhart nor Justus expected any trouble. Only when Letizia rushed out to meet them did they realize just how wrong they were. In her hand was the cage Ferdinand always wore on his hip. It contained the feystone for his highbeast and three name stones enveloped in what appeared to be white cocoons.

“Lord Ferdinand, he... he said to go...” she squeaked.

Justus took in a sharp breath, then struggled to breathe at all. He could hear a loud ringing in his ears. Letizia’s claim was unthinkable, but if she was telling the truth... Normalcy was about to crumble once again.

Life in Ahrensbach had seemed more frustrating than not: Detlinde was repugnant, Lanzenave’s envoys lorded over everyone, there hadn’t been any food shipments since Rozemyne’s disappearance, and Ferdinand was in a terrible state. Only now that it was gone did Justus realize it had actually been quite peaceful.

Justus snatched the cage from Letizia and peered inside. There was no mistaking it—these were their feystones. He couldn’t imagine Ferdinand giving them to anyone unless the situation was truly dire.

As his mind went blank, Justus suddenly remembered a warning from his lord: Given the circumstances, the words seemed more prophetic than ever.

Justus stared down at the cage in his left hand, then gave his chest a quick pat with his right. The slight crinkle he heard confirmed that the form permitting them to use Ahrensbach’s teleportation circle and the records to be given to Aub Ehrenfest were still in his breast pocket. Coupled with the name stones, he now had everything he needed to prove Ferdinand was in danger.

Justus’s entire body began to tremble. His teeth chattered while his legs refused to move, not wanting to abandon their lord even when ordered to. He didn’t know what had occurred in the Mana Replenishment hall. Ferdinand was alive, at least, but he was clearly in grave danger, and neither Justus nor Eckhart could rush to his rescue.

“You,” Eckhart growled. “What have you done to Lord Ferdinand?”

“Eep...!”

The dark, menacing voice had come from Justus’s compatriot. Eckhart was grabbing at Letizia while her guards moved to protect her. A fight was ready to break out at any moment.

Seeing his colleague’s white-hot anger pulled Justus back to his senses. He couldn’t let Eckhart draw his weapon—and with that newfound resolve, his legs finally moved. He reached out and grabbed the furious knight by the collar.

“ECKHART! Forget this interrogation! Our orders come first, and what did our lord tell us to do?!”

The outburst took Eckhart by surprise, but it did nothing to soothe his anger. He gritted his teeth and glared at Letizia.

There was no time to wait for Eckhart to cool down; unless they made a quick escape, he would surely be imprisoned for turning his weapon on a member of Ahrensbach’s archducal family.

Justus glanced between Letizia and the door, then turned on his heel and started running to the teleportation hall. Even when Strahl and Sergius sprinted out of the archduke’s office and gave chase, he ignored their shouts; slowing down and getting caught wasn’t an option.

“This way.”

Running through the castle would arouse suspicion, so once they’d shaken their pursuers, Justus urged his now silent companion down a narrow corridor meant for servants, then slowed to a more natural pace. He smiled and waved at the passing servants as if nothing were the matter while taking his name stone from its cage.

“Justus?!” Eckhart exclaimed.

“Unless I free my name stone, I’ll ascend to the towering heights before I can do as Lord Ferdinand instructed.”

Eckhart’s eyebrows shot up in anger as he cried, “Don’t say that!”

Paying his fellow retainer no mind, Justus got to work. The white cocoon unraveled as he extracted Ferdinand’s mana, exposing the name stone within. The mana enveloping him vanished at the same time. He normally didn’t think much about it, but its absence weighed heavily on him.

“I’ll carry out his last wish no matter what it takes,” Justus said. “If you want to die with him, that’s fine by me. I’m more than willing to give your feystone to Lord Karstedt or Lady Elvira when giving my report to Lord Sylvester.”

Eckhart grimaced at the thought of dying so shamefully and returning home a failure. Then he held out a hand and said, “Give it to me. Once we’ve delivered the information and evidence Lord Ferdinand gathered to Aub Ehrenfest, I’ll find out whether he’s still alive. If not... I’ll ascend with him.”

“Sounds good to me,” Justus replied; such a bold response was completely in character for his fellow retainer. One could identify one’s own name stone from its mana but not someone else’s, so he simply handed over the cage.

“This one,” Eckhart said in short order. His hand shook as he plucked out a name stone.

Justus retrieved the cage in silence and continued down the corridor at a brisk pace, though he cast a side-glance at his compatriot. Eckhart was undoing his name-swearing with tears in his eyes. He was trembling so violently now that one would notice even at a distance.

Eckhart had lost both his first wife, Heidemarie, and their unborn child when poison was mixed into their food. Back then, he had tried to follow them in death—but as he was a name-sworn, his life wasn’t his own. Ferdinand had ordered him to live for Heidemarie and to fill the void made by her passing.

Heidemarie had always declared with a smile that she and Eckhart would tend to Ferdinand as a married couple, so ever since her death, Eckhart had thrown himself entirely into serving his lord. It had become his life’s purpose to act as if she were there with him, doing the same.

Eckhart needed to unseal the name stone proving his loyalty—the greatest indicator that he was willing to put his life on the line for his lord. Few would understand the true depth of misery he felt at having his lack of resolve thrust in his face.

Justus looked at the last name stone sitting in the cage. Lasfam was still in Ehrenfest; as a mere layattendant, he wouldn’t have been able to protect himself in Ahrensbach, so he had been told to wait until Ferdinand was married and secure in his position as the archduchess’s first husband. He probably felt worse than anyone about the Starbinding having been delayed.

Justus’s words to Lasfam echoed in his mind:

In the end, neither he nor Eckhart had managed to protect their lord.

If something happened to the stone, it would mean that Ferdinand was dead. It was impossible to predict whether they would get it back to Lasfam before that happened.

Just thinking about Ferdinand passing away made bile rise in Justus’s throat. Unpleasant though it was, he had no...