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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.2 - Chapter Ep




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Epilogue 

“Welcome home, Lady Brigitte.” 

“And so I have returned, Nadine.” 

With the Harvest Festival over, Brigitte returned from the temple to her room in the knight dorms. Here, she was welcomed with a smile by Nadine—an apprentice attendant who had left her home in Illgner to accompany Brigitte and manage her dorm chambers. Her family was among the few goodhearted ones who had stayed in the province after Brigitte’s engagement was canceled. 

Nadine had been asked to take on the role by Brigitte’s older brother, Giebe Illgner, and then subsequently ordered to by her own parents, but Brigitte was still thankful for her continued service even after she moved to the temple. 

“Lady Brigitte, the warm water is ready and waiting for you.” 

Brigitte removed her light armor, took a bath to refresh herself, and then sat down to enjoy the tea that Nadine had prepared for her. It was her favorite kind, and as she savored the taste, she could feel the tension melting away. Guarding subjects for extensive periods of time always left her feeling uneasy and exhausted. 

“There’s nothing more calming than relaxing in my own room after a day of work,” Brigitte mused. She had informed Nadine of her return in advance so that everything would be ready when she returned, and her trusted servant knew what she liked down to the letter. 

Brigitte also had a room at the temple to sleep in, where Nicola and Monika would help tend to her when necessary, but the lack of magic tools and her own attendant always made it feel somewhat inconvenient. 

“Lady Brigitte, please do not compare your dorm room to the temple,” Nadine said with a thoroughly dissatisfied look. She was a noble herself, and so didn’t want her work compared to that of temple gray shrine maidens. 

Brigitte could understand that, since she herself hadn’t considered the temple somewhere suited for nobles before being assigned to work there. And in reality, the work of commoner attendants just couldn’t be compared to what noble attendants like Nadine could do. 

“As I have said before, Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand carefully prepared my room to suit my every need, so the temple is nowhere near as inconvenient as I had heard,” Brigitte replied, continuing to sip her tea. 

Nadine wasn’t about to change her mind on the topic, but she at least seemed less prickly about it than she had been when they initially arrived. When Brigitte had spent her first night in the temple, Nadine’s eyes were full of despair, and she had muttered something about needing to inform Giebe Illgner of the travesty that was taking place. 

Brigitte knew that he wouldn’t be too surprised, though. After all, her brother had allowed her to serve the archduke’s adopted daughter for Illgner’s sake. 

...He wouldn’t be surprised, but I know for certain that he would curse himself for his failings as a giebe. 

“Even the supposed filth of the temple is nowhere to be seen, at least not where Lady Rozemyne goes,” Brigitte said. “She is being treated very well as a member of the commander’s family.” 

Rozemyne had an absurd amount of mana, and while it was only right that she be adopted by the archduke, it must have been difficult for Karstedt to give up his beloved daughter. He and his family were very worried about Rozemyne now that she was the aub’s adopted daughter. 

“I am aware. The commander summons you each time you go to train, Cornelius interrogates you about life in the temple when you cross paths, and Lady Elvira invites you to exclusive tea parties. Everyone knows that,” Nadine said. 

And she was right. What’s more, everything she had described was usually done in front of other nobles, which made it common knowledge that Brigitte was being favored by the commander of the Knight’s Order and his family. This had in turn changed how others looked at her; there were fewer insulting whispers now, and friends who had previously been avoiding her were now speaking to her again. 

“I know that it was right for you to become Lady Rozemyne’s guard knight, and that this is all in Illgner’s best interests. The fact that the commander’s family trusts you so much after just one season is proof of your hard work. But still. I’m frustrated by your poor reputation in noble society,” Nadine said, her eyes lowered in sorrow. 

Brigitte knew that people believed she had fallen into despair at her engagement being canceled and agreed to enter the temple out of self-destructive desperation. They were only half right, though; she wasn’t self-destructive in the least, and if not for her situation, there was no doubt that she wouldn’t have considered serving Rozemyne or agreed to work in the temple. 

“Illgner’s future matters more than my reputation, does it not? But in any case, I will be attending one of Lady Elvira’s tea parties tomorrow afternoon. Is everything ready?” 

“Of course. I have finished preparations for us both,” Nadine said with a happy smile, her chest proudly puffed out. She very much looked forward to attending Elvira’s tea parties with Brigitte, since they always served unique and tasty sweets. 

...I really must thank Lady Elvira for her consideration. 

Just as Brigitte had suffered from ill-meaning gossip, Nadine had been forced to endure as others cruelly remarked how hard it must be to serve someone visiting the temple, asking whether she had given up on marriage as well. Eventually, the situation became so bad that Nadine stopped smiling entirely. It was only when Karstedt’s family started offering them their support that the light returned to her eyes. 

“If you’ve finished preparing for the tea party, Nadine, I’ll be spending the morning training with the Knight’s Order.” 

“Wait, on your day off? You intend to train on the day of the tea party?” Nadine asked with a surprised look. 

Brigitte nodded, her lips curling into a wry smile. Considering what had happened on the Night of Schutzaria, she knew that she needed to train as much as possible. She might not have known the details, but considering the material they had been after and Rozemyne’s poor health, it was all too obvious that they were gathering the ingredients for a jureve. And if they needed a ruelle harvested on that particular night, then Brigitte could guess they would be heading back to that same forest next year. That was why she needed to be capable of taking on large hordes of feybeasts for extended periods of time. 


“Guard work in the temple is lengthy and tense, but affords me no time to hone my skills. I need to get training in wherever I can,” Brigitte explained. 

“I see. Though as your apprentice attendant, I would rather you not do any training that might leave scrapes and bruises before the tea party,” Nadine said, looking somewhat worried. 

Brigitte thanked her for her concern, then got into bed.

When Brigitte headed to the knights’ training grounds the next day, just as she had told Nadine she would, she found that Eckhart was there already. He had accompanied Rozemyne during the Harvest Festival and fought alongside Brigitte on the Night of Schutzaria, and judging by how he was swinging his spear against multiple targets at once, it was obvious that he was training for next year’s gathering as well. 

Brigitte readied a similar spear and also began to practice on the targets. It wouldn’t be hard to knock them all out with a low sweep; the tricky part was finding a way to kill them all at once so that they wouldn’t be able to eat each other and get stronger. 

“Brigitte, the commander’s asking for you,” one knight called out just as she had stopped to take a break. 

After giving her thanks, she headed to the commander’s office. Inside was not only Karstedt, but Eckhart as well. 

Karstedt stroked his mustache once before addressing them. “Brigitte, Eckhart—welcome back from your lengthy Harvest Festival assignment. I’ve heard from Lord Ferdinand that the ruelle harvesting ended in failure. He’s asked me to get the details from the both of you, given that it was mostly over by the time he arrived. Who wants to begin?” 

As Karstedt looked between them both, Eckhart began to report on the events of the gathering and what everyone had been doing at the time. 

“Brigitte, is there anything you’d like to add to or contest about Eckhart’s report?” 

“Lady Rozemyne was not responsible for the outcome. She was successfully able to harvest a ruelle from the tree, but a zantze managed to steal the fruit from her. The gathering only ended in failure because of our ineptitude as her guards.” 

That they had allowed a feybeast to even get close to Rozemyne was incompetent, to say the least. And this was only made worse by the fact that, when it consumed the mana-filled ruelle and evolved into a goltze, Rozemyne had ended up needing to protect her own guards by containing it in a Wind shield. 

“There were no other means by which to contain a goltze that strong and with that much mana, but as her guard knights, I feel that our failure is inexcusable,” Brigitte said. 

Eckhart nodded in agreement. “We failed because we lacked information on what special properties the ruelles are imbued with on the Night of Schutzaria. We also didn’t bring enough guard knights, and those of us who were there lacked the skill to protect her. As a result, we were forced to summon Lord Ferdinand.” 

They had managed to keep collateral damage to a minimum by following Ferdinand’s orders, but one wrong move and the Knight’s Order itself would have needed to be summoned. 

“I see. With that many feybeasts swarming the tree, it seems we will need more firepower next year,” Karstedt noted. 

“In that case, I would suggest removing Damuel the layknight and instead bringing along more archknights and medknights,” Brigitte said, remembering his inability to deal with the huge swarm of feybeasts. It was hardly his fault, given that he was a layknight without much mana, but she believed it would be best to leave him behind next year. After all, this was on a completely different level from guarding Rozemyne in the temple, where most people considerably lacked mana. 

Karstedt stroked his chin as he considered Brigitte’s suggestion. “I understand your point, but we want knowledge of this gathering kept to a minimum, with as few people involved as possible. And seeing as this is personal business, I wouldn’t be able to command the Knight’s Order to accompany us anyway. In this case, even a laynoble would be better than nothing at all.” 

“True enough,” Brigitte replied. If only those familiar with Rozemyne’s private life could be involved, it was probably best to bring Damuel. 

“Lord Ferdinand and I will accompany you all on the Night of Schutzaria next year. Until then, focus your training around wide-range attacks.” 

“Yes, sir!” Brigitte said with a salute. While she thought the aub having his very own guard knight accompany his daughter’s material gathering was beyond overprotective, she wasn’t against it; the love that the Karstedt family had for one another warmed her heart, and it was thanks to this affection that Brigitte’s efforts to help her brother were being rewarded. 

“...Incidentally, how is Rozemyne holding up as the High Bishop? And are you having any problems in the temple, Brigitte?” Karstedt asked, changing the subject and giving his usual questions once they had finished going over the Night of Schutzaria. 

Brigitte told him about Rozemyne’s time in the temple and what she had heard from other knights. “Three female knights asked to serve Lady Rozemyne the other day, but Lord Cornelius refused them without ever bringing the matter to you. He believes they saw that Angelica guards her only in the castle, and assumed that they could do the same without ever going to the temple.” 

The truth was, however, that Angelica simply wasn’t allowed to leave the Noble’s Quarter because she wasn’t yet of age. As soon as she was, she too would join Rozemyne in the temple and lower city. The girls had asked to serve Rozemyne not knowing that, and Cornelius turned them down without explaining why. 

“He warned me that Angelica is likely to become the subject of jealousy, since she gets to serve Lady Rozemyne as an apprentice guard knight without needing to visit the temple,” Brigitte continued. 

Cornelius had warned Brigitte over and over again that Rozemyne could drop dead in an instant if they weren’t careful, which was why he was being exceptionally cautious about the people who got close to her. Again, such overprotectiveness was heartwarming, but it robbed him of a level head at times. This was in part due to the fact that Cornelius was still a child, but this wasn’t really a matter that Brigitte could state her honest opinion on since he was an archnoble and she a mednoble. 

“...I see. I haven’t informed many others that Angelica will be accompanying her to the temple as well, since that allows us to better judge the intentions of those asking to serve Rozemyne. But that jealousy might prove problematic. I will tell Cornelius to explain why he is refusing them next time.” 

“Understood. Furthermore... I have heard that some intend to serve Lady Rozemyne only until they come of age. Once they have graduated from the Royal Academy, they plan to return home and begin preparing for marriage. Only a very rare few such as Angelica are willing to continue visiting the temple after coming of age, so please take care.” 

“Understandable, considering the brief window for marriage that women have. You have my thanks for your feminine perspective, Brigitte; a man such as myself wouldn’t notice details like that. But in any case, that should do for now. You have a tea party to attend this afternoon, right? Go and enjoy yourself. Elvira poured her all into the sweets that are being served today,” Karstedt said warmly, his kind words bringing a smile to Brigitte’s face.

That night, Brigitte sent an ordonnanz to her brother, Giebe Illgner. 

“Dearest brother, I am gaining the trust of the archduke’s family as one of their retainers. Lady Rozemyne expressed her interest in Illgner’s varied lumber industry during the Harvest Festival. Am I proving useful to Illgner? I believe that my decision to serve Lady Rozemyne was the correct one. She is an adorable girl, though admittedly strange in more ways than one. Please look forward to her winter debut.” 



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