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

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 step-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 step-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 step-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 step-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 step-brother to send 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 Bishop, 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 to receive regular income through no work of our own. What do you think?” 

The lack of noble priests and shrine maidens led to the High Bishop having less money he could use on himself, so he said “Squeeze as much out of her as you can,” thereby giving implicit permission for Myne to continue her work. Ferdinand let out a sigh of relief. All the conditions Myne’s family had demanded had been approved. 

“In that case, I will take full responsibility for Myne such that you do not need to trouble yourself with her. She will be forbidden, in general, from entering your room. I will also attach one of my own gray attendants to her so that I can receive more detailed reports on her actions.” 

Ferdinand showed that he was on guard against Myne as well, which made the High Bishop’s eyes gleam with interest. He stroked his white beard and smiled in the nasty way he always did when planning something nefarious. 

“Oh? In that case... I will attach an attendant of my own to her. Delia is around the same age as her, which will be perfect for this purpose. The brat will surely trust her. Also, attach one of the troublemaker orphans to her as a final attendant. See to it that she struggles each day. Squeeze out as much money and mana from her as possible. That’s all she’s good for, in any case.” 

That was not ideal. Ferdinand had intended to attach one of his best attendants to Myne, since she lacked knowledge of noble society and how the temple worked, but with the High Bishop attaching a spy to her, he would be exposed as well. He bowed and left the room, feeling bitter, then returned to his own room. 

“Good gods, he is a pain.” 

The majority of blue priests and shrine maidens in any temple were bastard children — illegitimate children such as Ferdinand — but the High Bishop was a legitimate child and felt pride for his high-status family. The reality behind that, however, was that he had been sent to the temple due to an overwhelming lack of mana despite his heritage. As a result, he had an intense inferiority complex toward those with a large amount of mana. If Ferdinand did not keep a close eye on how the High Bishop treated Myne, it was possible that her mana would rampage once again. 

According to the guildmaster’s report, Myne had gotten a temporary apprentice registration at the Guild with the Gilberta Company’s backing. She then began inventing all manner of products: rinsham, plant paper, hairpins, and pound cake. It seemed that she hadn’t lied when she claimed to have enough money on hand to donate a large gold. She gave up on being a merchant’s apprentice due to her poor health and intended to use the Myne Workshop prepared by the Gilberta Company to continue inventing and selling products. 

In other words, Myne had more than just mana and money — she had a degree of management skill. Ferdinand was so swamped with work that Myne would be much more useful to him than the High Bishop. 

“Still though, she invented this many products within merely a year of registering...?” The Myne Workshop seemed like it would be reaping enormous profits soon. Ferdinand would need to assign an attendant to her that would give detailed reports on her behavior, so that he could ensure that she would not be tricked by a greedy merchant. 

He looked around at the attendants in his room. He would want an attendant loyal to him, accurate in reports, and highly patient to serve Myne. The attendant would also need to deal with the annoying spy the High Bishop would attach to her. 

“Fran, I will assign you to be Myne’s attendant. Give as detailed reports on her and her actions as possible. Additionally, do what you can to prevent Myne and the High Bishop from meeting.” 

“...Understood.” Fran briefly frowned with worry, then nodded quietly. 

“As for her other attendant... Hm. Are there any gray robes who are difficult to deal with, who you would hesitate to assign as an attendant? I will need to implement at least some of the High Bishop’s input, for appearance’s sake.” 

As he thought about it, Fran’s eyes wavered and then lowered to the floor. Arno, the attendant that Ferdinand had brought with him to the High Bishop’s room, threw out a helping hand. 

“What about Gil? He is quite often sent to the repentance chamber, and his supervising priest complains that he never learns.” 

“...Interesting. In that case, I will assign Gil, Delia, and Fran to be Myne’s attendants.”