Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 2.1 - Chapter 21

Lutz’s Path Through Life 

“Lutz is still a minor. I need his parent’s permission to take him out of the city to work for days at a time. If we leave without their permission, it’ll be treated as a kidnapping.” 

Benno sighed as he explained the circumstances. I was glad to hear the details, since his list of problems had only mentioned the “struggling to get permission” part. 

“I sent Mark to get their permission, but they wouldn’t budge. Not sure if there’s just some gap between craftsmen and merchants I’m not getting or if his dad’s just real stubborn. Any ideas?” 

“I mean...” At the end of the day, Benno’s problem was getting permission from Lutz’s parents. That was something he needed to talk about with them and Lutz. I might have been Lutz’s childhood friend, but I was a complete third party. Those involved were: Benno, who wanted to take Lutz outside of the city on work, Lutz, who really wanted to leave the city, and Lutz’s parents, whose lack of permission was causing friction. It wasn’t really my place to say anything. But when I explained that to Benno, he scratched his head and glared at me. 

“That’s why I’m asking what you think. Every scrap of information matters here. If Lutz knows more about you than anyone, surely you know more about Lutz than anyone, yeah?” 

Benno always prepared ahead thoroughly, so naturally he wanted to gather information on Lutz’s parents before moving forward. I didn’t know too much about his work life, but it was true that after spending so much time with Lutz, I knew more about him than pretty much anyone else. 

“Why won’t they give you their permission? Isn’t it for his job?” 

“That’s what I want to know. According to Mark, they just said no and left it at that. Lutz mentioned that his home situation wasn’t great when he asked for the attic room, but just how bad is it?” 

Lutz had stopped talking much about his home life after he announced that he was becoming an apprentice merchant and strained his relationship with his family. I could imagine that he definitely didn’t want to feel like he was showing weakness to his bosses, Mark and Benno. 

“Lutz’s family is against him becoming a merchant at all.” 

“Say what? They weren’t just against him becoming a traveling merchant, they were against him becoming a city merchant too?” Benno opened his wide with surprise, and I nodded slowly. 

“Lutz’s dad works in construction, and all his older brothers are apprentices in construction and carpentry-related jobs. His dad wanted him to do the same. According to him, getting stable work as a craftsman is better than riding the highs and lows of being a merchant.” 

“Pretty sure not all craftsmen get stable work.” 

There were workshops out there that went bankrupt after failing to get any jobs, so not even craftsmen were absolutely guaranteed stable work. But a skilled worker would have no problem getting hired in a workshop of the same trade, and they didn’t have to shoulder debt to keep running a store or anything like that. 

“Lutz once told me that his dad told him he would never accept him being a merchant, ever.” He had harsh words for merchants, saying that they lived off the work of others without ever making anything themselves, that one had to be a heartless monster to make it as one, and so on. He was so hostile to merchants that it made me wonder what kind of scam artist had screwed him over in the past. 

“...I’m impressed Lutz pulled through all that.” 

Considering how most kids in the city got their jobs through the help of their parents and family, Lutz was quite the exception. But he was so lively and passionate about his work that I would never say he had made the wrong choice. 

“Lutz was planning to become a live-in apprentice if his parents kicked him out over his decision. Though that ended up not happening since his mom accepted how serious he was.” 

“A live-in apprentice? His family situation’s so bad he would actually consider becoming one of those?” Benno blinked in surprise. Normally, there weren’t any kids crazy enough to willingly throw themselves into the hell that was being a live-in apprentice. Most of them would realize that their home situation, no matter how bad it might be, was better than the alternative. 

“I’m not entirely sure how things are for him right now, since he doesn’t talk about his home life that much. But I am worried that his brothers might not like him very much right now.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“From his family’s perspective, Lutz might look like he’s spitting on his dad’s help to play around instead of working. They might not be able to see how much Lutz is growing and how hard he’s working since they’re not in the same line of work. I’m not sure, since I’ve never talked to Lutz’s brothers about him.” 

But I still knew them better than I knew his dad, whom I had barely even seen before. I knew he looked the most like his eldest son Zasha and that he took pride in his construction work, but that was it. I often saw mothers chatting by the well, but I never really saw the fathers. 

“I think Lutz will run away from home if he learns that his parents are directly stopping his dreams from coming true. He’s stubborn and won’t back down now that he’s made his decision. But being a live-in apprentice is a last resort. It would be too hard for him to live alone as a minor, and I think that even with all this fighting, families should stick together and help each other.” 

Hearing that, Benno briefly looked up at the nearby stairs and gave a wry smile. Benno had worked tirelessly to support his family ever since his parents’ untimely deaths. They were precious to him, and he was such a deeply sentimental person that he would choose to live life as a bachelor after his one true love died. I doubted he would want to damage Lutz’s relationship with his family. 

“I think the only tidy solution to this will be to explain the situation to Lutz and have him agree to wait until he’s an adult. By that point he won’t need his parents’ permission and there shouldn’t be problems with him leaving the city. Waiting is the safest choice here.” 

Things would be different if he couldn’t leave the city for his entire life without parental permission, but as it stood, it seemed like it would be best for him to just be patient. There wasn’t any need to force things and shatter his relationship with his family. But Benno shook his head with a grim expression at my idea. 

“That’ll be too slow. He won’t make it in time.” 

Are we in a hurry for some reason? I tilted my head in confusion, and after tight frown, Benno let out a heavy sigh. 

“It’s got something to do with work. I can’t talk about it right now.” As I wasn’t an employee of Benno’s store, it wasn’t my place to dig deeper. I just nodded and moved on. 

“In that case, it would probably be safe to assume that this is going to split apart Lutz’s family no matter what. Lutz will definitely pick his life as a merchant over his family. You wanting to take him to other cities must mean you have high hopes for him, but just how far are you willing to go to take care of an apprentice?” 

Since Lutz was a lehange, Benno wasn’t responsible for keeping him fed or anything like that. If he started taking care of Lutz beyond what the contract stated, he would be isolating him even further from the other lehanges. And if Benno wasn’t even prepared to do that in the first place, becoming a live-in apprentice would make Lutz miserable. It would be better to just maintain the status quo over that. I gave Benno a firm look, prepared to call him out on any half-hearted non-answers, and he raised his hands in defeat. 

“Y’know, personally, I was thinking about adopting him.” 

His answer floored me. I never saw it coming. If Benno was willing to go that far for Lutz, I wouldn’t need to worry even if he did run away from home. With Benno’s silver spoon backing him up, Lutz wouldn’t have to worry about his home life or work life after separating from his family to go outside the city as a merchant. 

“I didn’t think that you cared so much about Lutz, Mr. Benno. If that’s how dedicated you are, you should just talk to Lutz about this and then have a meeting with his parents! It’ll be fine!” 

“Talk to Lutz, huh?” Benno groaned a bit, his hesitation clear on his face. 

“No matter what happens, involving Lutz is important. Up until now he’s making decisions all on his own and we shouldn’t exclude him now.” 

Benno adopting Lutz meant that one day he would inherit Benno’s store. Or to be more specific, since Corinna’s child would be inheriting the Gilberta Company, Lutz would probably inherit the Italian restaurant, the plant paper, and basically everything to do with the Myne Workshop. Which was likely why he wanted Lutz with him when making a new plant paper workshop in another city. Lutz’s hard work had earned Benno’s approval, and realizing that made me feel as happy as I would if I were in his shoes. 

“You’d like for Lutz to be my adopted kid?” 

“It’s not the adoption I’m happy about, it’s that you appreciate his hard work.” 

Benno let out a laugh and rang his bell to summon Mark. It seemed our secret chat was over. 

“Yes, Master Benno?” 

“Call Lutz over.” 

Mark left the room with graceful, fluid movements and returned with Lutz. They were both walking in the same way. It was kind of funny to see how Lutz was mimicking Mark. 

“Lutz, I need to talk to your parents about something. Could you set something up for me? Sooner rather than later.” Benno’s request was so out of the blue that Lutz froze in place and blinked for a second before replying. 

“...My parents? Er, certainly, Master Benno.” Lutz gave his half-hearted acknowledgment, to which Benno nodded before continuing on to give him his work for the day. He wanted Lutz to stay at the temple after taking me there and help the Myne Workshop with the trombe paper currently being mass produced. 

Lutz gave a soft smile just like Mark’s and nodded. “Understood. Let’s go, Myne.” 

Lutz and I began our walk to the temple together. Everything was going so well for Lutz that I couldn’t help but start humming. 

“You’re sure in a good mood, Myne.” 

“I’m happy, so what?” 

“I dunno, I’m just glad Benno’s lecture didn’t get you down.” 

“Ngh... Don’t even remind me.” 

According to what Lutz told me on our walk, Benno had been sending him to the temple while I was sick so that he could begin the mass production of trombe paper. Lutz had been sending the orphans to the forest, getting the black bark, and even taking potatoffels there to make buttered potatoffels just like we used to. 

“Y’know, I think I’m acting a lot more like the workshop’s foreman than you are,” said Lutz. 

I shrugged. We blue shrine maidens weren’t allowed to do manual labor, and there was nothing I could do about that. Everyone was having so much fun that I wanted to join in, but I was literally not allowed to. 

“I’m only the forewoman so I can get income while working as an apprentice shrine maiden. You’re working hard enough that I’ll hire you as assistant foreman with a nice paycheck to boot, Lutz, so keep it up.” 

“Assistant foreman sounds cool and all, but I’m just helping you out, yeah? This is what I’ve always done.” 

“And you’ll probably keep doing it forever, since you’ll help sell the new products I think up.” 

Benno was probably making Lutz teach the orphans at the Myne Workshop to make paper as part of his training, a necessary step for spreading paper across the country.

“...Oh? There’s nobody here?” 

We arrived at the temple, but none of my attendants were at the gate. It was the first time since becoming a shrine maiden that nobody was waiting at the gate for me. I started to look around for them, but Lutz just took my hand and walked inside the temple. 

“I contacted Fran and told him I didn’t know when you’d get here since Master Benno was lecturing you. Might as well just go straight to your chambers, yeah?” 

“You’re right, it wouldn’t be nice to make them wait outside for so long. Thanks, Lutz.” 

“I’m gonna head over to the workshop. I’ll see you on my way out.” 

Lutz and I split up at the staircase to the chapel. After climbing it myself, I went around the orphanage and headed to my chambers. The door was shut, and since my attendants usually opened it, that gave me pause. I didn’t carry around a bell to summon my attendants, and I would probably get scolded for being improper if I just yelled for them, so what was I supposed to do? 

For a brief while I just stood in front of the door, pondering what a noble would do in my situation. But no amount of pondering would change the fact that I didn’t know enough about the nobility to say anything for sure. It felt so silly to be worrying so much about entering my own chambers that I decided to just open the door with a knock. 

...It’s not like anybody will be there to get mad at me. I can just ask Fran what I should have done later. I knocked on the door and called out “I’m coming in” before opening it. Inside, I saw Fran hurriedly descending the stairs. 

“Good morning, Fran. Sorry to worry you. My fever has gone down and I am feeling quite better.” 

Fran glanced at the stairs with an exceedingly troubled look, then lowered his voice. “Sister Myne, I must tell you th—” 

“Do you not know how improper it is for a young lady to walk on her own without an attendant?” 

“Bwuh?! The High Priest?!” I hadn’t predicted at all that the High Priest would be in my room. My mouth hung open in shock as I looked up the stairs and saw him staring back down at me. 

“Close your mouth. It is unseemly. But more importantly, putting aside the lower city, walking on your own in the temple is exceedingly improper. Take care not to do it again.” 

At Fran’s encouragement I walked up to the second floor, where I meekly listened as the High Priest scolded me while elegantly drinking tea. According to him, the noble course of action would have been to send word ahead and have an attendant wait at the gate no matter what. Alternatively, I could have informed the gate guard of my arrival and waited in a nearby waiting room for an attendant to come get me. 

...That’s a bit too advanced for me. And really, I can’t believe he’s this serious about something as simple as opening a door. When is this lecture going to end? I started to get bored of listening to the lecture, at which point I realized I didn’t know why the High Priest was in my room and used that to change the subject. 

“High Priest, I have learned how to open a door.” 

“This was not about opening a door. Were you even listening? I am telling you how to act like a proper lady.” 

Ohhh. He wasn’t scolding me about the door in particular. I didn’t realize. It looked like the lecture was about to heat up big time, so I interrupted it with a question. “Might I ask the reason for your visit today? It must be something important for you to come all the way to my chambers. Are you not in a hurry?” 

Normally I would already be heading to his room to do paperwork. He had mentioned having more spare time thanks to my assistance, but I wouldn’t want that time spent on lecturing me. My question reminded the High Priest of why he was here, and after a cough, he looked at me. 

“Has your fever gone entirely down?” 

“Oh? Yes, I’m fully recovered. Sorry to have worried you.” 

“That is good to hear,” he said while forming an ice-cold smile. I straightened my back with a jerk, realizing I was about to get the kind of lecture he gave in his secret room. 

“I believe I told you to not cause a stir. Did I not?” 

“Bwuh? Wha?” I had been bedridden with a fever for so many days that, coming right off a talk with Benno, I had no idea what the High Priest was talking about. What stir was he talking about? 

“I went to check if you had cleaned up after yourself and found all the dirt in a wide area completely upended, with some of the stone pavement slightly out of place.” 

I had thought that no blue priests would bother going there, but apparently the High Priest had gone out of his way to check up after us. It seemed he was the kind of hard worker who felt compelled to confirm things himself despite being so busy. His light golden eyes narrowed, affording me no escape. 

“What in the world did you do to cause all that?” 

“Well... Um... Just as I informed you ahead of time, we...” I looked at Fran. What exactly had he told the High Priest? I had no idea what to say to settle this situation. 

“Both Fran and the orphans stated that they harvested wood to turn into paper. That they threw taues amongst themselves. And finally, that you fell sick with a fever. Nothing more.” 

“...And that’s all that happened.” I nodded repeatedly after he finished. That probably meant that nobody had leaked how the wood they’d harvested was from trombes sprouted from taues that had drained my mana. Since I didn’t know exactly what the High Priest knew, I kept my mouth shut so as to not say anything unnecessary. I could ask Fran what he had said later. 

“For everyone to answer the same, they must be telling the truth. But you cannot deny causing a stir after doing enough of something to push the stone pavement itself out of place,” said the High Priest. I steeled myself for a barrage of questions, only for him to glare at me. “Myne, I sentence you to one day in the repentance chamber.” 

Wait... He’s not questioning me? Benno would definitely question me until he got the answers he wanted. Are you sure about this? Perhaps due to having asked the orphans about the situation while I was bedridden, the High Priest pursued the subject no further and simply punished me instead. 

“The repentance chamber?” 

“Yes. You will pray to the gods while reflecting on what you have done.” 

I was honestly a little disappointed, but in contrast to my general apathy toward chilling in detention for a day, Fran’s face paled and Delia shouted “Unbelievable!” out loud. 

“I have never heard of a blue shrine maiden being sent to the repentance chamber! It would be disgraceful!” 

“High Priest, I beg you to reconsider!” 

It seemed that I was the first apprentice blue shrine maiden in history to be sent to the repentance chamber. But to be honest, as mentioned, I would pick chilling in detention over the High Priest digging into what happened at the Star Festival with his frosty rage freezing me over. 

“Attendants, I have earned this punishment by breaking my promise with the High Priest. It is only natural that I take responsibility for my actions. I am happy as long as the orphans are not punished.” 

I would gladly take any punishment that didn’t lead to the orphans getting penalized in association. They had so much fun that day and I didn’t want their happy memories of the festival tarnished by lectures and time in the repentance chamber. 

“High Priest, where is the repentance room, and what should I do within it? Er, I mean, I understand that I need to repent, but is there anything in particular I need to do?” 

Visions of punishments I had suffered back in my Urano days ran through my head: Being forced to clean, having to write “I won’t do it again” a hundred times, and so on. But the High Priest just raised an eyebrow in disbelief. I had apparently just asked a question with an answer exceedingly obvious to anyone in the temple. 

“What else but offering prayers to the gods?” 

Wait... He wants me to do that silly praying pose for the whole day? The sheer intensity of the punishment left me at a loss for words, at which point Gil tried comforting me by saying he was used to it and would go in with me. But that was naturally against the rules, so I went to the chambers on my own. 

“Reflect on what you have done.” The High Priest brought me to the repentance room right next to the chapel and directed me inside. It was a small room made of the same white stone as the chapel, and I could see thin slits at the top for letting in air. It also let in light, which made the white room brighter than most. The room was chilly despite it being summer since even the floor was made of stone. It would probably be miserable in the winter, but it wasn’t so bad in the summer. 

“Sister Myne, will you be okay?” 

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” 

Fran and Gil’s worried faces vanished from view after the wooden door closed. Without anyone watching there was nobody to check if I was actually praying, so I immediately sat in a corner. The chilly floor was very calming. In order to kill time, I decided to take out Benno’s list of problems (which I had stealthily hidden in my skirt pocket) and think about them. I could do all that repenting stuff when the High Priest came to check on me.

“Mmm, I think an introduction-only system would work well for this problem. But what about this problem? I feel like it’d be kinda awkward to ask the High Priest if I can eat lunch and dinner with him just to learn more about noble food. Yeah... fwaaaah.” 

A big yawn swelled up out of me as I stared at the list of problems. Maybe I still wasn’t feeling too well. I was getting really sleepy out of nowhere. Judging by how hungry I was, it was probably past noon. 

I folded up the list of problems, stuck it in my pocket, and lay down on the floor. I closed my eyes and let the pleasant fog take me over so I could recover a bit through an afternoon nap.

“Myne, why are you sleeping when you should be... Fran!” 

“Ah! Sister Myne?!” 

My body had chilled to the bone while I napped on the cold stone floor. By the time the High Priest came to get me, I was feverishly stuck to the floor, unable to move at all. I could hear Fran cradling his head and saying that he would apologize to my mom for letting me get sick again the day after I went back to the temple. 

“Had she not recovered?!” 

“If I may, High Priest. I believe you underestimated the extent of Sister Myne’s poor health. I did request that you reconsider sending her to the repentance chamber.” 

“I see. You spoke not for her honor, but for her health...” 

By ignoring Fran’s warning, he had gotten me sick right after I recovered from my last fever. The High Priest considered that his full responsibility, and in the end, he ended up being the one repenting.