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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.2 - Chapter SS4




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Temple Tour 

by Miya Kazuki 

“Nicola, you should see the look on your face,” Monika said. 

I shot her a glare, holding one of my braids against my cheek. “I mean, this is our first time going to the noble section of the temple,” I protested, trying to defend myself. But then I noticed that her dark-brown eyes were wavering anxiously too. She was always the calm, mature one, so seeing her worried actually calmed me down a little. 

We could hardly be blamed for being nervous—only adults were permitted to clean in the noble section of the temple, so up until now, Monika and I had only ever cleaned the orphanage and chapel. But now, Lady Rozemyne had taken us both on as apprentice attendants, and her living quarters were being moved from the orphanage director’s chambers to the High Bishop’s chambers. We would be living there with her in the noble section of the temple, and so Fran was going to give us a guided tour. 

We’re going to be apprentice attendants in the High Bishop’s room, despite us not even being used to the orphanage director’s chambers yet... 

Monika and I had regularly visited the orphanage director’s chambers over the winter to help out with the cooking, so we at least had some experience there. But since we only ever went to the kitchen, it was hard to say we were very used to the place. 

“Things are a lot more lenient in the orphanage director’s chambers. As the noble section of the temple is where the blue priests live, the environment won’t be nearly as forgiving as it is here,” Rosina said, taking a brief pause from the paperwork Fran had given her. 

“Please don’t say that, Rosina. It only makes me more nervous...” 

The only blue robe in the orphanage was the kindhearted Lady Rozemyne, and while that meant the atmosphere in the orphanage director’s chambers was very lax, the same wouldn’t be true for the Noble’s Quarter. There, no mistakes would be permitted—a thought that made me start trembling again. 

“Everything will be fine, Nicola. Fran and Lady Rozemyne are both very kind,” Monika said. 

“You’re right. It will be fine,” I reassured myself, clasping her hand in an attempt to help us both calm down. 

Rosina gracefully tilted her head. “Oh no, Fran is quite harsh. At work, ‘kind’ is the last word I would use to describe him.” 

“And what exactly are you talking about now?” came Fran’s quiet voice. I jumped as I spotted his brown eyes looking down at us, but Rosina simply smiled as though it was nothing and held out some boards to him. 

“Nothing important. It is about time for you to head to the noble section, correct? 

I have finished my paperwork.” 

“Much appreciated, Rosina. Now, take care of Lady Rozemyne while I am gone. If she awakens, the High Priest has said to give her a potion to drink,” Fran replied, not pushing his previous question despite doubtlessly having heard what Rosina said. 

I knew it! Fran is a kind person who knows how to act like an adult! 

“Monika. Nicola. Follow me.” 

Leaving the bedridden Lady Rozemyne to Rosina, Fran exited the orphanage director’s chambers with Monika and me. The hall immediately outside was part of the second floor of the boys’ building. 

“In the temple, blue priests and shrine maidens use the second and third floors. The noble section differs from the orphanage director’s chambers in that all attendants live on the first floor, while the kitchens and servants’ quarters are in the basement.” 

“So we’ll be farther from the kitchen?” I asked, subtly complaining since I so frequently went there to help Ella. 

Fran responded with a bemused frown. “The distance to the well is even greater—that is, the High Priest’s chambers are located the farthest from it. But even so...” 

He pointed to the well that could be seen from the hallway. It was really close to the orphanage directors’ chambers, so we would usually just need to climb up and down the stairs to reach it. But from today onward, our daily task of carrying water would be a lot tougher. 

“You must not use the second-floor hallways while carrying water. Use the western entrance to the noble section and enter the High Bishop’s chambers through the basement.” 

The western entrance was for servants and commoners who brought donations like food. We apparently needed to go this way while carrying water and washing clothes so that the blue priests wouldn’t see us at work. 

Monika glanced over at the well with a dead look in her eyes. “I think I will grow to hate the winter more than I ever have before,” she said, and the thought of walking that far through the snow to gather water made me wholeheartedly agree. 

“I’m sure Ella’s going to look just as sad as you do...” I replied. 

During our brief exchange, Fran had already started walking to the door to the noble section, so we promptly hurried after him. Behind and to the side of the chapel’s altar were storerooms for all sorts of seasonal religious stuff, as well as the repentance chamber where Gil—the former problem child—always used to get sent. According to him, it was a smallish room where you had to pray to the gods close to the altar until you received forgiveness. 

Oh, and I’ve never been sent to the repentance chamber! I actually do my duties! 

We passed it by, and soon the doors to the noble section came into view. They were currently open since spring was ending and the weather was nice, but during the winter, they were almost always kept shut. The hallways beyond it were very different from those in the orphanage, with tapestries and art covering the walls behind fancy ornament-decorated tables. 

“Let’s go, Nicola,” Monika said, a stiff expression on her face as she took my hand and fearfully crossed the threshold. As soon as we were inside the noble section, we saw a door, with hallways stretching out on either side of us. 

“To the left are the chambers for the blue priests who live in the temple. To the right, on the southern side closer to the temple’s front entrance, are the chambers for the blue priests who commute here from the Noble’s Quarter. The northern side closer to the Noble’s Quarter is much more spacious and contains chambers for those from more high-status families. As Lady Rozemyne is an archnoble soon to be adopted by the archduke, she will be moved to the High Bishop’s chambers, located at the most north-western point of the temple,” Fran said, finishing his explanation by noting that there were presently three blue priests who traveled to the temple from home. 

Fran then turned right and started briskly walking past the chambers used by those commuting blue priests. Monika and I followed after him, having to power walk a little just to keep up. He was walking way faster than he did when he was with Lady Rozemyne. 

“The chambers here aren’t very large,” Monika said, her bundled dark-green hair—fashioned after Wilma’s—swaying behind her head like a tail as she peered around curiously. It really did seem a lot more cramped than the orphanage director’s chambers. 

“The commuting priests do not require beds, nor are the stairs used by their attendants located within the chambers themselves.” 

“How do their attendants get from place to place, then?” 

“Here, there are staircases exclusively for attendants. They go from the basement to the third floor, and all the attendants who serve commuting blue priests use them,” Fran explained. The stairs apparently got really busy and crowded since the priests generally came and went at the same time. 

“It’s a good thing our mistress has staircases in her chambers.” 

“Yes, but the attendants of priests living in the temple must deal with washing clothes, bathing their masters, taking care of guests, and so on. We have much more work overall, which makes it untruthful to say we have it easier in the broad scheme of things.” 

Oh, wow... I didn’t know there were so many differences between serving live-in and commuting priests. 

I nodded along as we reached the end of the hallway and turned left, bringing us to one that was much brighter thanks to the light streaming in through the windows. The white ivory walls of the temple made even a little sunshine seem dazzling. 

“This is the front entrance to the noble section, used when blue priests are leaving or returning to the temple. The tables and chairs in this entrance hall on occasion serve as a waiting area,” Fran explained. Examples of such times included when many blue priests traveled simultaneously by carriage, such as during events like the Starbind Ceremony and Harvest Festival, or when return carriages were being prepared for duchy-approved merchants. 

“Wilma mentioned that there are actual waiting rooms too, though...” Monika said, trailing off as she peered down a nearby atrium to see the entrance hall on the floor below. 

“Ah, yes. In the past, blue shrine maidens used the waiting rooms nearby to avoid being seen by men, and so, over time, it came to pass that men used the entrance hall while women used the rooms themselves. Please take Lady Rozemyne to the waiting rooms when necessary.” 

“Understood,” Monika said with a nod. But what I was curious about was the large, wide staircase. It spiraled up so high that I had to bend my head back to keep following it. 

“Fran, is this staircase for blue shrine maidens heading to their chambers? It doesn’t look like it’s connected to the first floor.” 

“This staircase is used exclusively when blue shrine maidens are exiting from the front gate, which is why it is indeed not connected to the first floor. As there are presently no blue shrine maidens other than Lady Rozemyne, the third floor is currently sealed off.” 

It seemed that Lady Rozemyne would have used this staircase had she not been the High Bishop and the orphanage director. But if she ever did stop being the orphanage director, the whole orphanage would certainly be in big trouble. 

I pray that the day when Lady Rozemyne has to use these stairs never comes. Praise be to the gods! 

 

“Nicola, my apologies for interrupting your prayers, but please pay attention and follow me. You must now learn where the meeting room is,” Fran said, regaining my focus once again. 


With that, we turned back in the direction we came and took a right down another corridor. 

“This is the meeting room. How provinces are distributed among the blue priests during Spring Prayer, the Harvest Festival, and so on are determined here. In most instances, I will be the one accompanying Lady Rozemyne to such meetings, but you would do well to remember this location in case the time comes where you will need to do so instead.” 

From there, we continued past the meeting room until we reached a corner, where Fran stopped. Directly ahead was an atrium, and sunlight streamed in from the lined-up windows nearby. 

“There sure are a lot of atriums here...” I observed. 

“Indeed. They are necessary to allow light in. All living chambers here have windows without exception so that the priests are not kept in darkness. Take care to keep your voice down, as many chambers in this area are presently being used. Now then... I shall show you the most important room in the entire temple for a servant of Lady Rozemyne to know.” 

We took another right and continued walking for a short while until we reached a door. “Here it is,” Fran said, opening it to reveal desks, chairs, and bookshelves, on which were several books that I had seen in Lady Rozemyne’s chambers during the winter. “This is the book room. The paperwork used in the administration of the temple is stored on those shelves. I imagine the both of you will come to this room quite often, since Lady Rozemyne is particularly drawn here. When she starts reading a book, she does not move an inch until sixth bell. Thus, it is our important duty as attendants to borrow books from this room and coax her into reading in her own chambers instead. Remember this well.” 

Up to this point, Fran had been following the High Priest’s recommendations when borrowing books for Lady Rozemyne. But now that she was the High Bishop, she could manage the keys to the book room herself, meaning she could come and go as she pleased. Fran’s prediction was that keeping her out of the book room by any means possible would soon become our most important job. 

“Um... Will we really need to wage war like this, with the book room as our battleground? This isn’t anything at all like what I expected attendants would need to do.” 

“Your assumptions were correct; I had no such work when I served the High Priest. You should consider this specialty work exclusive to those who serve Lady Rozemyne,” Fran replied flatly. 

My jaw dropped a little. I couldn’t believe I had extra work to do—and specialty work, at that! 

Monika let out a small giggle. “I now recall Wilma once saying that each master expects to be served differently, and that you can never be sure what is expected of you until you actually begin serving them. It seems that when Wilma and Rosina were serving a blue shrine maiden named Sister Christine, they were expected only to compose music, play instruments, and create art.” 

“Well, I’m not good at art or anything... I much prefer helping in the kitchen, so I’m glad Lady Rozemyne chose me!” I exclaimed, recovering from my shock almost instantly. Monika burst out into a brief giggling fit, and even Fran gave a smile. 

“Sister Christine was an unusual blue shrine maiden as well, but I would say Lady Rozemyne is one of a kind,” he said. “I have never heard of any blue priest or shrine maiden who showed such compassion for orphans, nor one who had connections with the lower city and actively earned their own money through doing business. This is my first time serving one who acts as both the orphanage director and High Bishop, entrusts their cooking to gray shrine maidens, and asks to spend all day in the chilly book room even when it means being bedridden for three days after.” 

Fran wore a serious expression as he spoke, and it was only then that I realized just how much work he was having to do to keep up with Lady Rozemyne’s unusual behavior. I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of him pondering how best to deal with his master, his poker face remaining unchanged all the while. 

“You sure have it rough, Fran.” 

“It is not easy, but serving Lady Rozemyne is a worthwhile endeavor. In fact, Nicola... she is also the first person ever to take two new attendants at once despite only needing one, simply because she had two gray robes help over the winter and did not want to leave one behind.” 

Monika and I exchanged looks. We already knew we were lucky to have been taken on as attendants together, but we hadn’t known it was entirely thanks to Lady Rozemyne’s goodwill. Had she only chosen one of us, it certainly would have been Monika; she was a lot more skilled than I was so it was an understandable decision, but I still would have been dying of jealousy. 

I really am blessed...! 

It was my mistress, Lady Rozemyne, who had saved the orphanage, showed consideration when choosing her attendants, and taught even an apprentice gray shrine maiden like me what good food truly was. If she had chosen me to be one of her attendants for a weird reason, then I had nothing but gratitude for her weirdness. 

“You would both do well to be grateful for Lady Rozemyne’s concern and serve her appropriately.” 

“Right.” 

As I steeled my resolve once again to serve Lady Rozemyne as best I could, I noticed that a door farther down the hall to the west of the book room was wide open. 

“Fran, that room over there... It looks like its door is open. Is something going on?” 

“A blue priest is moving his belongings from one chamber to another. Do not stare, Nicola.” 

“Ah, of course. Sorry.” 

We passed by the book room and kept walking until we reached the end of the hall. Fran turned right and continued forward, then pointed toward a door. “This is the High Priest’s room. Lady Rozemyne will need to travel here the most, as she assists him with his work from third to fourth bell every day. You two are going to be helping as well.” 

“Oh? We’ll need to help too...?” 

“Is that not obvious? The High Priest is taking on the bulk of Lady Rozemyne’s High Bishop duties, so it is work we should be doing in the first place.” 

Fran had used to serve the High Priest—a man said to be incredibly strict and who had even fired several of his attendants before. 

I’m terrible with paperwork... I hope I can be useful. Like, um, at all... 

This was just another area where I was worse than Monika. While I slumped over in sadness, Fran continued his explanation. 

“Under normal circumstances, the High Priest’s chambers would be located at the opposite end of the hall to the High Bishop’s chambers, or directly to the east on the other side of the doors. But the High Priest was so busy when he took the position that he simply continued using his existing chambers.” 

Fran gave a bemused smile. “The High Priest will surely be even busier now that he is helping Lady Rozemyne with her High Bishop work, so I do not believe he has the leeway to move chambers. And, despite her youth, Lady Rozemyne is still a woman; the High Priest has instructed all blue priests living by the High Bishop’s chambers to move elsewhere, and so I doubt he himself would move closer.” 

The blue priest we had seen moving rooms had presumably also been ordered to do so by the High Priest. 

“The chambers near the High Bishop’s chambers are going to be turned into male and female chambers for Lady Rozemyne’s guard knights. Thus, all rooms to the west of these doors shall belong to those affiliated with her.” 

After turning back and passing by the doors leading to the Noble’s Gate, we stopped in front of another room. 

“Behind this door is the ceremonial hall for the Dedication Ritual.” 

“The Dedication Ritual...?” 

The name didn’t ring any bells, and I was sure all the ceremonies and stuff were held in the temple’s chapel where all the gods were. The idea of such a ritual being held anywhere else just confused me. 

“It is an important winter ritual during which the blue priests in the noble section of the temple offer up their mana to the divine instruments. I shall give you more details as we approach next winter. Today, I ask that you read these boards and look over the inside of the High Bishop’s chambers.” 

Fran handed over the boards he had been carrying this entire time to Monika and me. On them were measurements and instructions detailing what furniture and other smaller bits were needed for the High Bishop’s chambers, written in Rosina’s handwriting. 

As we were reading the boards, Fran unlocked the door for us. “This is the High Bishop’s chambers,” he said. 

It was completely barren inside due to everything having already been moved, and this emptiness made it look even bigger than it already was. 

“Merchants and craftsmen selected by Lady Rozemyne’s family will arrive in great numbers to prepare these chambers according to Rosina’s specifications. You two are expected to direct them using those boards as a guide.” 

“Wha? Wha?” 

As I looked between Fran, Monika, and the boards, Monika gazed up at Fran with an expression just as unsettled as my own. 

“Fran, I... I haven’t ever given anyone instructions before.” 

We were apprentices who had only just been taken on as attendants. In our positions, we only ever did as instructed, occasionally asking for advice from those with more experience than us. We certainly weren’t in a position to give anyone else instructions. 

As both Monika and I shook our heads fearfully at Fran’s unexpected orders, he gave a calm smile. “Do not worry—Gil has grown to the point that he is capable of giving orders and running the workshop, and I can guarantee that you are both capable of similar feats. It will simply take a little getting used to.” 

“This is way too much for us! It’s unrealistic! Impossible, even!” 

“Saving the orphanage was also said to be impossible, but Lady Rozemyne accomplished it all the same. Putting forth the effort to accomplish even the most unlikely tasks is a trait expected of Lady Rozemyne’s attendants,” Fran said, his expression making it clear he would accept no disagreements. Then, as Monika and I tightened our grips on the wooden boards, barely containing our screams, he continued. “Now, I shall explain where all the furniture will go. Listen carefully, as I will only be saying this once.” 

“Only once?!” 

As tears welled in my eyes at this unexpected brutality, the words Rosina had said to me not too long ago flashed through my mind. 

“Oh no, Fran is quite harsh. At work, ‘kind’ is the last word I would use to describe him.” 



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