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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 2.3 - Chapter 8




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The Dedication Ritual 

I was playing a game of reversi with the High Priest (who had finished his paperwork faster than usual) when, all of a sudden, he held the sound-blocking magic tool out toward me. I reached out and grabbed onto it just as he placed down a black piece. 

“Myne, the Dedication Ritual will begin next Earthday.” 

“Okay.” 

I stared intently at the black piece he had just put down, thinking over my next move, when suddenly he let out a quiet murmur. 

“...Do a poor job,” he said, and I looked up at him in confusion, not immediately understanding what he meant. He warned me to look back down, so as to not show my dumbfounded expression to the world, then explained. 

“Take care not to offer too much mana at once. I have told the High Bishop that you expend twelve small stones worth of mana during your daily offerings and have seven to eight stones worth of mana left after that. He will infer from this that you would pass out if you attempted to offer more than twenty stones, no matter how hard you tried. In reality you are capable of much more than that, but...” He trailed off, reaching for another of the tiny wooden squares with one side painted black that we were using as reversi stones. His eyes never moved from the game board. 

“If you carelessly show him the full extent of your mana, he will likely take it poorly and begin claiming that we deceived him or that we were hiding your worth from him. That is why it would be to all of our benefit if you limit yourself to filling no more than twenty stones on each day of the Dedication Ritual, and preferably you will pretend to look a little sick when leaving.” 

“I don’t mind that, but then wouldn’t we actually be deceiving him?” 

It wouldn’t be hard for me to restrain my mana, but that would make the High Bishop’s misinterpretation that we were deceiving him a reality. However, my observation just made the High Priest grin slightly. 

“It would not be a misinterpretation if we truly were deceiving him, no? I hate when people misunderstand me, but if we did in fact deceive him, I can counter his claims with a simple ‘Indeed we did.’ Furthermore, it will be more convenient for us in the future if you continue to hide the full extent of your power. There is no need for us to foolishly give him information he does not need to have. When you have opponents to beat, it is wise to hide tricks—and in this case, power—up your sleeve.” 

“I see...” 

Although I understood his point, I couldn’t help but picture a scene where the High Bishop says “You deceived me!” only for the High Priest to reply “Indeed we did.” 

...Yeah, the High Priest definitely looks like the villain here. 

The Dedication Ritual began that Earthday. Delia got me in the bath early in the morning and cleansed my body. Then, she put my new ceremonial robes on me. The blue robes had waves and flowers sewn into them with thread of the same blue color, fringed with gold and held together with a silver sash around the waist. The other smaller decorations were done using red, the divine color of winter; it was the color of the hope-giving hearth that weakened the cold. 

“Delia, I would like to use my new hair stick today.” 

I stopped Delia from getting a hair stick from the closet, instead taking a small bundle of cloth Tuuli had delivered just a few days ago out from my desk drawer and handing it to her. 

“Geez! You can’t just put hair sticks in your drawer like that! What would you do if the flowers got all crumpled up?!” 

Delia shook her head as she delicately unwrapped the hair stick. It used red and green thread to fit the winter and spring rituals, but the design itself was largely similar to the one I had worn at my baptism ceremony; there were three large red roses and a string of several tiny green leaves hanging from it, similar to how I had used the small white flowers. 

My family had made this new ceremonial hair stick for me after seeing how sad I was at my other hair stick getting destroyed during the mission I went on with the Knight’s Order. It would be perfect for staving off a lonely winter in the temple. 

“This hair stick certainly does look good on you, but I believe the other one better complemented your hair color, Sister Myne.” Rosina, watching from a short distance away, spoke with a trace of regret after I finished bundling my hair up with the new stick. 

“Sadly, there’s nothing I can do about that. I asked them to use royal colors that would go with the upcoming winter and spring ceremonies, and I can’t help that those colors don’t go well with my hair.” 

After finishing my hair, I waited for Damuel to arrive. Then, together, we headed to the High Priest’s room.

My chambers were the only ones this far away from the nobles’ section of the temple, which made it especially arduous for the High Priest’s attendants to summon me. To save time, he asked me to just wait in his room before the ceremony. My robes, made of the highest quality cloth out there, were both warm and light, making a pleasant swishing sound as I walked down the halls. 

“Those robes sure look like they were worth the insane price,” said Damuel, a hint of awe in his voice as he looked over my ceremonial robes, no doubt remembering how much he had spent to cover just one quarter of their price. 

Unlike the first set, for which I already had the required cloth on hand, the second set had been made from scratch—and with an excessive expedite fee at that. I had furtively asked Damuel how much he had paid and it turned out that, overall, these robes cost more than three times as much as the ones I had bought originally. 

Damuel was a laynoble of a family that could hardly be described as wealthy, even by commoner standards, and had apparently fallen ill when he first heard how much he would need to pay. He had to ask his family for help, and ultimately it was the family of his older brother’s mistress who ended up lending him money to cover most of the cost. 

“You paid for the first set of robes yourself, didn’t you, apprentice? I’m impressed you had that much money lying around.” 

“They made the robes out of cloth I had been gifted, so it wasn’t as expensive as it could have been.” 

“That does make sense, but still.” 

Our discussion ended as we arrived at the High Priest’s room. The man himself was absent due to the ritual, but he had left behind some attendants to take care of me. 

“Good morning, Sister Myne. As soon as the other blue priests have finished performing the ritual, Arno will be sent for you. Please wait here until then.” 

I was forbidden from eating or drinking until the ritual was done, so all I could do was wait. I sat in the seat offered to me as Fran and Damuel stood themselves behind me. It felt awkward to have a noble like Damuel stand while I was seated, so I turned around and looked up at him. 

“You don’t want to sit, Sir Damuel?” 

“Apprentice, a seated bodyguard would be unable to act quickly when it mattered most. An emergency could happen at any moment.” His tone made it clear he wasn’t going to budge an inch, which meant that I had no choice but to remain seated, no matter how uncomfortable it felt. 

I waited quietly in the High Priest’s room, and eventually Arno did indeed come for me. 

“Sister Myne, please follow me immediately,” he called. 

I stood up to follow him out, Fran and Damuel close behind. We exited the High Priest’s room, passing by several doors and finally the High Bishop’s room before turning a corner. Arno walked briskly, unlike my attendants who always slowed down to match my pace. 

Fran, seeing how much I was struggling to keep up, spoke to Arno. 

“Arno, my apologies, but can I request that you slow down?” 

“Oh, I see I was walking a little too fast for Sister Myne,” he said, slowing down. “Forgive me.” 

As we continued, the door at the end of the hallway we were going down was slowly opened by a gray priest. Judging by the fact he was looking inside the room as he did so, he likely wasn’t opening it to match my arrival—he was opening it to let those inside come out. 

The first person to step out was a sizable man wearing white robes secured with a golden sash. I had seen those robes at my baptism and he was the only one in the temple who wore them, so I recognized him in an instant. 

“...The High Bishop.” I murmured his title without really thinking about it. He had mostly faded from my mind as I hadn’t seen him at all since joining the temple, but it seemed that he still viewed me as an enemy; his expression darkened with hate the second he saw me, and he walked toward us with a clear grimace on his face. 

Our timing couldn’t have been worse—his room was behind us and he would be going there now. If we had been just a little later, he would have already been back in his room and both of us could have avoided this unpleasant encounter. 

I moved aside and knelt down, my arms crossed over my chest. Arno, Fran, and Damuel did the same. I could hear the High Bishop’s footsteps and the rustling of his robes growing nearer and nearer. The fact that I knew he hated me just made me more nervous about what he might do, and my heart pounded as I silently waited for him to pass by. 

As I focused my eyes on the ground in front of me, I saw his white robes swish past. He let out an arrogant snort, but that was all; he kept moving without stopping to do anything else. I continued to kneel, keeping my face down until I eventually heard his door shut, at which point I sighed in relief and stood up. 

Arno resumed his guidance, gesturing me through the still-open door to the ritual chamber. 


“Sir Damuel, please wait here. Only priests and shrine maidens are allowed into the ritual chamber,” said Arno. I turned around on instinct, but Arno simply urged me onward, saying that the High Priest was waiting inside. 

And indeed he was correct—the moment I stepped forward, I saw the High Priest standing alone in front of an altar. Nobody else was there. 

The ritual chamber was like a small chapel. It had a somewhat higher ceiling than the High Priest’s room and was pretty lengthy overall. The walls were pure white—aside from the gold-plated decorations that were displayed at regular intervals—and were lined by white pillars that had elaborate gold reliefs carved into their tops just like the ones in the temple’s chapel. Tall windows were lined up between each pillar, and fires blazed inside of metal standing torches. 

The wall at the far end of the room was covered from top to bottom with a mosaic of vivid colors and striking designs. In front of said mosaic was the multi-leveled altar, which had one burning torch on either side. A red, carpet-like cloth was rolled down the middle of the room, stretching all the way up to and over the altar. On that cloth-draped altar were the divine instruments, though there were no statues of the gods in sight. 

The highest level of the altar was for the King and Queen gods, with the Goddess of Light’s crown resting next to the God of Darkness’s cape. The level beneath had a large golden chalice placed in the center with several smaller chalices on either side—these small chalices had been taken from the farming towns by the blue priests during the Harvest Festival and brought back here, where they would be filled during the Dedication Ritual before being returned during the Spring Prayer once winter ended. And the level beneath that one had the divine staff, spear, shield, and sword. 

The bottom level had various offerings for the gods. There were plants that represented the rebirth of spring, fruits to celebrate a bountiful harvest, incense that encouraged peace, and cloth that symbolized their continued faith. 

“You’re here sooner than I expected, Myne.” 

The High Priest turned around. He was wearing his own ceremonial robes, which looked entirely different from the ones he usually wore. They were blue as well, but plenty of small leaves had been embroidered into the cloth. The decorations had been done in red, the divine color of winter, and he wore the golden sash of an adult. 

“I see there aren’t any blue priests here,” I observed. 

“We simply have too much mana for them to be here,” answered the High Priest, which led me to conclude that their pride would be too hurt if they saw just how much more mana a commoner they mocked as lowborn could offer than them. Though I couldn’t imagine that meeting them would be particularly pleasant for me either, so I didn’t mind their absence. 

“This is not only to protect their pride, though,” said the High Priest, as if reading my thoughts. I looked up in surprise as he continued. “When people gather with the same purpose and chant the same prayers, allowing their mana to flow together, this speeds up the flow of all mana in the vicinity. It becomes easier for the mana to leave the body. If the blue priests became caught up in the amount of mana you release, they would be swept away by the flow and potentially find themselves in life-threatening danger.” 

“...Oh, I see.” 

“I am the only one in the temple who can keep up with you. Let us begin.” 

The High Priest knelt before the altar, placing both hands on the red cloth stretched along the floor. I knelt one step behind him and lowered my head, my hands on the cloth as well. 

The Dedication Ritual was the most important ritual that the temple performed. It was where we priests and shrine maidens filled the divine instruments related to farming with mana to be used for the next year’s harvest. The red cloth strewn across the floor and over the altar was made from thread imbued with mana, so you could make mana flow into the divine instruments just by praying with your hands against it. 

“I am one who offers prayer and gratitude to the gods who have created the world.” The High Priest’s low, deliberate voice echoed throughout the ritual chamber, and I repeated the prayer after him. 

“O mighty King and Queen of the endless skies, O mighty Eternal Five who rule the mortal realm, O Goddess of Water Flutrane, O God of Fire Leidenschaft, O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, O Goddess of Earth Geduldh, O God of Life Ewigeliebe. We honor you who have blessed all beings with life, and pray that we may be blessed further with your divine might.” 

As I spoke the prayer, I could feel the mana flowing out of my body. The red cloth shone brightly, and through the waves of light, I could see my mana reaching the altar. 

“Myne, that is enough,” said the High Priest, gracefully removing his hands from the carpet. I did the same, cutting off the flow of mana before watching intently as its last sparkles were sucked into a small chalice.

“That should be all for today,” said the High Priest while looking at the small chalices. “More mana flowed than I expected.” We had filled seven today, and some simple math led me to conclude that it would therefore take eight days to finish filling all of them. 

“If not for you, I would have to fill all of these myself. Despite the fact that I also have my duties in the Noble’s Quarter...” The High Priest let out an exhausted sigh, which was rare for him. 

I looked at the small chalices lined up on the altar and nodded to myself. 

Now I see why the High Priest was so kind to me from the start. Anyone would get fed up having to fill all these by themselves. I was wondering why he always donated so little mana during our normal offerings, and now I see it’s because he has work in the Noble’s Quarter that I don’t. That must be rough. 

Thus, I began performing the Dedication Ritual once a day. I offered up my mana with the High Priest each time, never once seeing the other blue priests. This continued for about a week, and just before we finished off the last few chalices, the High Priest brought in about ten new ones. 

“Myne, the ritual has been extended. Can I ask for your continued help?” 

“What happened?” I asked, and was told that the neighboring duchy—which was experiencing an even worse mana shortage than we were—had asked for our help filling chalices, if we had the mana to spare. 

“This is a good opportunity to earn political favors and gain power over them. It would be wise to accept, despite the extra burden.” 

“...Umm. Aren’t we already on good terms with them, though?” 

“Yes, we are, which is exactly why it is important to maintain our power by regularly assisting them. A good relationship means nothing if we are not the ones holding the power.” 

...The world of politics sure is scary. 

Still, considering what one would need to do to protect their own duchy while maintaining good relationships with other duchies, my own conception of friendship simply didn’t apply. Two duchies being on good terms meant something entirely different from two people being on good terms. I could understand that, but it was still hard for me to get used to. 

Regardless of politics though, I didn’t mind offering my help when the archduke asked me to. I had an excess of mana I wasn’t using anyway, and I had no feystones or magic tools of my own to use. 

“I am one who offers prayer and gratitude to the gods who have created the world.” 

The High Priest and I poured mana into the small chalices we were given. That was until, midway through, we were interrupted by the slow creak of the chamber door opening. 

“Praying quite passionately, I see.” 

The High Priest quickly stood up and turned around in front of me, so I did as well. There I saw the High Bishop entering the ritual chamber, despite never having done so before. He took his time walking up to the altar, a bag of something in his arms. 

“Has something happened, High Bishop?” asked the High Priest. He received no reply as the High Bishop silently began taking small chalices out from his bag, placing them one by one on the altar. Once he had lined up about ten of them, he turned around, wearing a kindly smile just like the one he had worn before learning that I was a commoner. 

“Now then, little Myne. Fill these with mana as well. The archduke himself has asked for this to be done.” 

“I have heard of no such thing.” The High Priest gave the High Bishop a dubious look. The light in the High Bishop’s eyes sharpened, but his friendly smile didn’t falter for a moment. 

“I have made no request of you. I am asking Myne to fulfill this duty. Do not tell me that she will obey the orders of you, the High Priest, but not I, the High Bishop.” 

I could refuse or accept his request, but I was making so many enemies just by existing that it wasn’t hard to see that disobeying a direct order from the High Bishop would be unwise. He could probably make my life miserable. 

Ultimately, I glanced back at the High Priest to leave the decision to him. He seemed to understand why I had looked at him, and with a somewhat hard expression, gave a slow nod. 

“We have just finished today’s ritual. With your permission, we can fill them tomorrow.” 

“Do not forget those words.” The High Bishop gave a broad, nasty smile, then left the ritual chamber at the same slow pace as before. A gray priest shut the door behind him, and once silence fell again, the High Priest let out a sigh of relief. 

“I was terrified of you losing your temper again. Regardless, it is clear that the archduke has no hand in these additional chalices.” 

“Are we still going to fill them, then? I don’t mind scoring some free points every now and again, so...” 

The High Priest fell into thought for a moment before answering, a frown on his face. 

“We will continue the ritual as we have. I will question the archduke about this and investigate the matter myself, but the snow will no doubt delay these efforts. Feigning obedience for now will be most convenient. Can I ask for your help yet again?” 

“Of course.” 

And so, I spent yet more of my winter filling up small chalices which seemed to grow slowly in number over time. 



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