Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 2.2 - Chapter 27

The Healing Ritual 

“Myne, we will finish the ritual while the potion is in effect.” 

Once he had finished reprimanding Shikza, the High Priest flourished his cape, touched his right gauntlet, and turned the stone into his white lion thing. The knights all stood up in turn and began bringing out their own creatures to ride. 

“Come here.” The High Priest held out his hand. I walked up to him as gracefully as I could, then extended my own hands. He lifted me up and this time I grabbed the lion’s reins so that I wouldn’t lose my balance. After nimbly jumping on behind me, the High Priest raised a hand. “Depart!” 

He gripped the reins and the once statue-esque white lion began moving as if it had been given life. It extended its wings far and flapped itself into the air, heading towards the ruins of where the giant trombe had just been rampaging. The trombe from a second ago had sucked the mana it needed out of my blood instead of the surrounding earth, so that was fine. But the giant trombe had left a huge crater where it had been, and if I didn’t perform the Healing Ritual to fill the ground back with mana, not even grass would grow on the crater. 

“...I feel that I have wronged you.” The High Priest spoke to me in a quiet voice from behind, perhaps because now that we were in the air he didn’t have to worry about other people hearing him. “I did not intend for you to be hurt, and I did not intend to expose you to such malice. And finally, I did not intend to put you in such a state that a potion was necessary just to give you enough temporary strength to perform the ritual. It was my foolish mistake for not ever expecting the Knight’s Order to go against my orders.” 

His tone was dripping with frustration and remorse. The guards meant to ensure everything proceeded smoothly had in fact done the opposite, and he was regretting assigning them to me at all. But he wasn’t responsible for Shikza going berserk, the malicious rumors about me being spread, or even my poor Devouring health. 

“It’s not your fault, High Priest.” 

“It is. All matters related to you are my responsibility,” he said, his voice firm. Given that the temple could not function without me, commoner or not, he considered it part of his job as High Priest to facilitate my assimilation into the temple. He was indeed the kind of perfectionist that couldn’t trust work to other people and ended up making life harder for himself by trying to do it all on his own. 

“Is the potion working, Myne?” 

“Yes.” 

“Good, then. I know very well that the ritual will place a great burden on you. But it is vital that we show the Knight’s Order that you are capable of performing your duties as an apprentice shrine maiden. I will protect you. Show them that you are fit to wear the blue robes. Shove it in their faces that you are essential to both the temple and the Knight’s Order, the protector of the lands. If the Knight’s Order recognizes your importance, you will have more tools to protect yourself.” 

The High Priest had protected me by stating that I wasn’t a normal commoner, I was an apprentice blue shrine maiden. I needed to do my job well enough that they accepted that I was worthy of the position. 

“...I’m nervous about it, though. This is the first time I’m performing the ritual. I don’t know if I can do it right.” I knew I had to do it, but I was terrified that I couldn’t. It was my first time performing a ritual. 

And yet, the High Priest blew away my worries with a short laugh. “Hmph. You don’t have anything to worry about. I will prepare the stage such that the Knight’s Order will have no choice but to accept you.” 

“...What?” 

“I only start fights that I know I can win.” His chilly voice sent shudders down my spine. It seemed that his anger at his plan being thrown out of order had not faded at all. 

“...Um, Damuel was really kind to me, and he did try to save me. He even yelled at Shikza for my sake, so please don’t take it all out on him.” 

The giant trombe had left a large disc of exposed earth in its wake, which made it look like someone had put a massive brown plate on top of the forest. 

“It feels like there’s enough space to found a farming town here once plants are growing again.” 

“A farming town here would make it quite difficult for the priests and nobles heading out for the Spring Prayer and the Harvest Festival. The earth will lose its strength once again without the Spring Prayer,” added the High Priest. It certainly would be difficult for the priests and nobles to go all the way deep into the forest to perform the ritual, not to mention the townsfolk who might want to go to town. 

The almost-lion descended to the center of the crater, and the High Priest escorted me to the ground. The Knight’s Order landed one by one, their animals returning to their gauntlet as they hit the ground. 

Once all the knights were lined up, they took off their helmets and knelt. It seemed that watching the ritual with helmets on was disrespectful to the gods. The High Priest took off his helmet as well, setting it down by his feet. The ground beneath us wasn’t the kind of black earth we saw back in the forest. It was reddish-brown and dry dirt, like you might find in a school’s sports ground. 

“High Priest, the staff.” Arno held out a staff a bit longer than a full-grown man, which the High Priest took. 

It was a divine instrument—the symbol of the Goddess of Water Flutrane—and it was necessary for this ritual. The staff was made of gold and the tip held a large magic stone, clear green and about the size of an adult’s palm gleaming in the sunlight. The handle was dotted with magic stones lined up next to each other, and most were colored. At a glance, I could see that it was charged up with plenty of mana. 

“Shikza,” the High Priest called out to the knights. Shikza rushed this way, his armor clanking as he speed-walked. The High Priest faced him and held out the divine staff. “You will perform the ritual.” 

Shikza blinked in confusion. The High Priest looked down at him coldly, then gave an exaggerated sigh. “You abandoned your duties, did you not? You must have plenty of mana in reserve. My initial plan was to begin the ritual myself to show how it is done, but due to your tomfoolery giving me extra work, I do not have mana to spare.” 

...That’s a lie! You definitely have tons of mana to spare! The unfathomably foul-tasting potion he had concocted was as effective as one would expect from how hard he sacrificed the flavor. There was no way he didn’t have spare mana after drinking it. 

“Surely you are capable of this. Show Myne the power of a real noble.” The High Priest basically forced the divine staff into Shikza’s hands. He was clearly thrown off by this unexpected development, but the moment he noticed me looking at him, he glared at me and straightened his back. 

“O Goddess of Water Flutrane, bringer of healing and change. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side.” Shikza began chanting the prayer in a loud, clear voice. The large stone in the staff began to shine, and the ground around Shikza began to darken with the bottom of the staff at the center. Not long after the ground darkened, fresh green buds started to pop out. 

I couldn’t help but let out an excited “Wow!” I never thought that just gripping the divine instrument and chanting a memorized prayer would bring about such palpable change to the earth. It was like a science experiment I had seen in an educational video back in my Urano days. 

The earth changed color as it was filled with mana, plants blooming bit by bit. But the growing circle stopped once it hit a radius of about ten meters. 

“Keep going. The crater is far from filled.” The High Priest slammed Shikza once he tried to stop, refusing to allow him to let go of the staff, which continued to drain his mana as long as he was holding it. Shikza’s head was getting heavy from all the mana that had been drained out of him, and soon he collapsed right onto his knees. 

“Hmph. Despite all your arrogance, this was the best you could do. I see that the Knight’s Order truly had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to fill out their ranks.” Without even looking at Shikza, the High Priest grabbed the wavering staff before it fell. He then beckoned me over while holding it up. “You are the only one left, Myne. It is time to do your job.” 

I planted my feet far apart to steady myself and grabbed a hold of the staff, which was so large it would fall over if I relaxed my grip for a moment. Shikza had given a live demonstration of what to do, which eased my fears about messing up. 

...The High Priest was basically telling me to show off, so I guess I should pour in as much mana as I can? I tightened my grip on the staff and lowered my eyes, breathing deeply. I took off the top of the box I usually kept tightly shut to contain my mana, allowing it to go free inside my body. I could feel the overflowing mana surge towards the staff in search of an exit. 

“O Goddess of Water Flutrane, bringer of healing and change. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side. Please hear my prayer and lend me your divine strength. Grant me the power to heal your sister, the God of Earth Geduldh, who has been wounded by those who serve evil.” The green magic stone embedded in the staff shone brightly. My mana whirlpooled around me, kicking up a swirl of wind with me at its center. The wind lifted up my hair while my robes fluttered. 

“I pray that holy music be granted, casting ripples of the highest order. May I be filled with the royal color to mine own heart’s content.” My mana burst into the staff, seeping into the earth through the staff’s magic stone. The circle of dark earth shot outwards, with fresh greenery sprouting and blooming before my eyes. 

“...You may stop. That is more than enough.” At the High Priest’s prompting, I stopped the flow of mana and locked it back into the box. The staff immediately stopped shining. Before I knew it, the entire crater had been covered in grass that reached up to my ankles. 

“Is that all I need to do, High Priest?” 

“Yes, the earth is now filled with mana. In fact... you went too far.” That last bit was a quiet murmur, so quiet I almost didn’t hear it. I tilted my head in confusion, but the High Priest just shook his head and turned to face the Knight’s Order. I turned around as well and saw that all of the knights were stunned, their faces painted with utter disbelief. All of them had wide eyes, and many of their jaws had actually dropped. 

...Um, what? Why are they all looking at me like that? I went a little hard since the High Priest told me to show off, but um... maybe I did go too far? Their gawking looks made me feel so uncomfortable that I slid behind the High Priest, fidgeting. But he stepped in front of me and cleared his throat. 

“This is the apprentice shrine maiden accepted by both the temple and the Archduke. Are there any here who object to that decision?” 

The knights came back to their senses and all lowered their eyes, keeping their silence. They all stayed in formation with their eyes on the ground. That was probably how they conveyed their lack of objections. As I blinked in surprise, the High Priest nodded. 

“...No objections, then. Good.” Only when the High Priest gave a dismissive “hmph” did the knights look up. But their expressions of surprise were now gone, replaced with the sharp eyes of predators who had found their prey. 

“Eek?!” They looked so scary that I had to swallow an actual scream. I froze up beneath the weight of so many hungry stares. It felt like they had concluded I was prey to hunt and devour. The moment I let my guard down, they would bite. I was the mouse being chased by hungry snakes. 

With trembling legs, I took a stealthy step to the side to hide completely behind the High Priest’s back. 

“I forgot to mention,” the High Priest continued, “but the apprentice is in my custody. I believe you understand the significance of that.” His words calmed their carnivorous stares at once. That was a relief, but out of all of them I was the only one who didn’t actually understand the significance of that. 

“Good. Now, let us return.” Everyone immediately began to prepare to leave while I alone stood blinking in confusion. Arno took the divine instrument from the High Priest while Fran made sure I was okay. The knights put their helmets back on, called forth their animals, and prepared to ride. 

“Come here, Myne.” The High Priest, standing next to the collapsed Shikza with Karstedt, beckoned me over. I held back the urge to run, instead walking to them gracefully. “Myne, do you demand any form of apology for what occurred?” The High Priest lowered just his eyes to look at Shikza. He was asking that since I was the victim, but his expression made it clear he wanted me to answer that no, I did not have any demands. But well, I sure did. 

“I do.” The moment I said that, the High Priest’s brows furrowed hard and he glared at me. Again, I could hear his silent message loud and clear, but I chose to ignore it. “I request new ceremonial robes.” 

My request must have come out of left field for both of them, as they looked down at me with surprise written on their faces. I spread out my arms so they could see my robes more clearly. There were gaping holes that let you see right through my sleeves as they shook in the breeze. 

“Please order a replacement robe exactly like this one. It was new and made just for this occasion, so it was very expensive. A commoner such as myself does not have the money to prepare multiple pairs of ceremonial robes in a row.” 

“I see. They certainly are quite damaged.” Karstedt immediately understood me with a wry smile, but the High Priest looked suspicious, as if something about my words had thrown him off. 

“...Why did you clarify that they should be exactly like your existing robes?” 

“These robes were custom made with specific instructions. I asked them to make it such that I could continue to wear them as I grew older, but they ended up destroyed before I could even perform my first ritual. It’s a true shame.” I exaggerated the weight of my plight, and Karstedt cackled. 

“I see that even young women have a love for clothes,” he said mirthfully. “Very well, I will order new robes for you.” Karstedt promised to order me new robes as punishment for his, Shikza’s, and Damuel’s wrongdoing. That was all I wanted. 

“I am extremely grateful. I recommend that you order the new robes from the Gilberta Company. As I cannot participate in rituals without the ceremonial robes, I request that you have them work at an expedient speed to finish before winter.” 

“Winter? Why then?” Karstedt raised an eyebrow, and the High Priest rubbed his temples. 

“The rituals to offer up mana are carried out in the winter. The blue priests and the High Bishop will certainly be snide if she does not have ceremonial robes for the rituals, saying that commoners cannot even prepare robes for themselves, among other things. Regardless of the fact that she lacks robes through no fault of her own,” explained the High Priest, and I nodded solemnly. I wanted to rock the boat as little as possible. The Knight’s Order might not mind my robes being full of holes the next time a trombe pops up, but I needed proper robes for the winter rituals. 

“Understood. I will take care of your robes for you. Anything else?” 

“New ceremonial robes are all I need. Anything beyond that can be done in accordance with the rules of the Knight’s Order. I would not like to earn more ire than I already have.” 

“Hm. A wise decision indeed. I will handle the rest internally, then,” said Karstedt with a satisfied nod. I knelt and bowed my head in thanks.

“Geez! Why are there all these big holes?! The robes were just finished!” 

“Fran, what in the world happened to Sister Myne?!” 

When I returned to the temple, Delia let out a shriek at my raggedy robes and Rosina staggered back with a hand over her mouth. 

“Many things happened, but due to the situation’s involvement with the Knight’s Order, I am not allowed to speak of it.” Fran dodged their queries without revealing anything. 

I changed in a hurry so Lutz wouldn’t see my messed-up robes, but it seemed he knew I had been in danger. He came to the temple not long after I got back, and the second he saw me he rushed up to me and said “Myne! I’m glad you’re okay!” He immediately checked the back of my hand and made sure I didn’t have a fever or any other wounds. Somehow, he knew some or all of what had happened to me. 

“Lutz, why do you know so much?” 

“Out of nowhere, I suddenly heard you crying for help. You said ‘Lutz, help me!’ and like, a vision of what was happening to you popped up in my head. I wanted to go help, but I had no idea where you were. I sure freaked the heck out.” 

On top of that, apparently the mental video he saw of me being wrapped up by the trombe ended with the High Priest turning his black arrow into a shining baton and healing my hand wound. He had spent the last few hours worried out of his mind, having no idea whether I had been rescued or not. 

“Sorry for scaring you, Lutz.” 

“Hey, you’re the one who was in a scary spot, not me... But anyway, what even was with that?” 

I immediately concluded that the blue light I saw at the time was responsible for what Lutz experienced. I looked at my hand, though I had already given the ring back to the High Priest, and stared at it while thoughts of everything that had happened today stirred through my head. 

“I’m just glad you’re safe, Myne.” Lutz hugged me tight, putting his mouth right next to my ear as he spoke. His worry for me was sincere, unfettered by thoughts of status, rules, or mana. His warmth finally made me break down and drop the tough act. I knew he would be there for me, just like I would be there for him, and sometimes, you just needed support like that. 

“...Noble society was really scary,” I murmured, clinging tightly to Lutz.

Naturally, I ended up bedridden after helping the Knight’s Order. I was in bed for days, but that was normal for this season, so my family didn’t say anything about it. I just wished the High Priest wasn’t so obsessed with calling it his responsibility even though it really wasn’t. 

It was very late autumn by the time I could move again, and it was finally getting cold enough that using the river to make paper was impossible. 

“We’ll have to drop by the Gilberta Company on our way back,” I said as we arrived at the temple. Fran was waiting at the gate. 

“Sister Myne, the High Priest has summoned you to discuss an urgent matter. He has said to come to his room as soon as you arrive, regardless of your harspiel practice.” 

After changing into my blue robes in my room, I headed to the High Priest’s room. Today of all days I would have liked to practice the harspiel. Despite walking with heavy feet, I inevitably reached my destination. 

“There you are, Myne. I suppose Fran conveyed my message? Follow me.” The High Priest walked to the hidden room, his expression a bit harder than usual. He would definitely be lecturing me. I pressed a hand against my stomach while entering the hidden room through the door he opened. 

“Give me all the documents,” said the High Priest with an outstretched hand once I started pushing the documents to the side of the bench like usual. I gathered them all up and handed them to the High Priest. He set them onto his desk and brought over his chair, just like always. But I could see a decorative gold loop with a red gemstone embedded in it, plus a bottle small enough to be hidden in the palm of a hand. 

“Drink this, Myne.” The High Priest opened his hand and held out the bottle to me. The glass was a bit thick, but not so opaque that I couldn’t see the red liquid sloshing inside of it. 

“What is it?” 

“A potion I concocted myself. It will improve the flow of mana within you, which will be important for this magic tool. Swallow it no matter how repulsive the taste might be.” 

He thrust the bottle right into my face, his tone making it clear that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. That really made me not want to drink the potion. I hadn’t forgotten how wretched his last potion had tasted. His eyes narrowed as I faltered, and his lips curved into a slight grin. 

“Would you prefer me to hold your nose and force it down your throat?” 

...He was serious. The High Priest was the kind of person who would do that in the blink of an eye if he felt it necessary. 

I shook my head hard and took the bottle from him, timidly bringing it to my mouth while fearing what flavor it might have this time. It didn’t smell that odd, at least. But taking it slow would just make me suffer the taste longer. I pumped myself up and gulped it all down at once. 

“...Hm?” It didn’t taste bad at all. Truth be told, it was actually a little sweet and tasty. 

“High Priest, it tasted fine to me. It was sweet and tasty. I would really like it if you made that rejuvenation potion taste this good.” I handed him the empty bottle while thinking about how murderously bad the last one had been, but he just opened his eyes wide in surprise. 

“It tasted sweet to you?” 

“Yes. Should it not have?” 

“...Well. That is not important right now. Put this on, and ensure the gem makes contact with your forehead.” The High Priest held the golden loop with a red gemstone. Knowing there was no point in arguing, I took it and put it on with the gemstone touching my forehead. Just like the magic ring, it shrunk in size and fit against my head perfectly, like a circlet. 

“High Priest, you said this was a magic tool, right?” 

“Yes. I asked the Archduke whether I could borrow it, and at last it arrived.” 

“Um, what does it d— Mmm? Wh-What?” I was suddenly hit with a heavy sense of drowsiness. My head spun and my eyelids started to droop all on their own. “Wh-What? Why? I’m so sleepy...” 

“Lie on your side and allow yourself to sleep. There is no need for you to resist.” I could only faintly hear the High Priest. I was hearing his words just fine, but my mind was so foggy it was taking too much time to understand what he was saying. Since he said I didn’t need to resist, I decided to just entrust my body to the sleepiness and assume my normal sleeping posture. I took out my hair stick, took off my shoes, and lay on the bench. Once I was on my side, I immediately felt my consciousness fall into the dark abyss. 

“Good... night...” I used the last of my strength to squeeze out a goodnight. I could feel the High Priest brushing aside my bangs. He must have been close to me, as his voice echoed like his mouth was right next to my ear. 

“This is a magic tool that searches through the memories of witnesses and suspected criminals to ensure that they are telling no falsehoods. It is reserved for grave crimes which require the Archduke himself to intervene, and I will use it to see for myself this world of dreams that you speak of.”