Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.01 - Chapter Aft

Afterword 

Hello again, it’s Miya Kazuki. Thank you very much for reading Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 4 Volume 1. 

A new chapter of the story has begun. Rozemyne awoke from her coma to find herself two years in the future. She’s had much to worry about, but she’s still charging at full speed toward the Royal Academy’s library. 

The Royal Academy is a school for teaching the children of nobles to become proper nobles themselves. They learn about things like magecraft and brewing magic tools from a variety of rather colorful professors and grow alongside the children of other duchies on their way to becoming Yurgenschmidt nobles, while archduke candidates also learn the magic necessary to rule their duchies. 

It’s probably hard to tell from Rozemyne’s perspective, since royalty and the other archduke candidates are blown to the wayside in her quest for the library, but the Academy is supposed to be a place where you make friends, establish connections to other duchies, and look for a future significant other, much like Damuel did in the past. 

Rozemyne is a former commoner turned archduke candidate, which means she is more annoyed than anything by the flock of retainers who follow her by necessity, and she yearns for nothing more than to be surrounded by books. To be honest, she’s something of a problem child who would vanish into the library forever if she could. 

Some people are troubled by this abnormal archduke candidate, but her guardians acknowledge that she hasn’t yet recovered from her long sleep and still lacks the common sense of a noble, so they don’t mind too much as long as she doesn’t actively cause any problems. Unfortunately for them, all sorts of problems are going to spring up in the next volume. (Hahaha.) 

Of course, a new part also means a lot of new characters. Rozemyne has a bunch of retainers going with her to the Royal Academy. It may be hard to remember them all, since so many were introduced at once, but just do your best and start with those who interact with Rozemyne the most. Don’t worry, she’s just as confused as all of you are! 

For this volume, we prioritized giving illustrations to the attendants who are going to be looking after Rozemyne. Among them we have Lieseleta, Angelica’s little sister and a lover of cute things, and Brunhilde, the trendy daughter of Count Groschel with a keen sense for fashion. There’s also Professor Hirschur, Ferdinand’s former teacher and the ever-absent supervisor of the Ehrenfest Dormitory. Maybe the next volume will show the guard knights? 

This volume’s short stories are from Lieseleta’s and Effa’s perspectives. 

In Lieseleta’s story, I hoped to portray what Royal Academy life is like from the perspective of another noble. It contains all sorts of things you don’t see in the main story, like how other nobles have to ask their parents for attendants to support them, how they share rooms to save on money and minimize labor, how retainers talk when the person they serve isn’t around, how they have fun with their friends, and so on... 

Effa’s story shows us how the lower city reacted to Myne waking up. Tuuli and Lutz rushed home as soon as they got the news, Effa listened with tearful eyes... but Kamil alone had no idea what was going on. Nobody wants to keep a secret in the family, but how much can he really be told...? They’re ultimately forced to make a tough decision... 

Since Part 4 takes place in the Royal Academy, I’ve included in this volume a map of Yurgenschmidt, as was often requested in the web novel. It’s a map I drew myself, so please be gentle. My hope is that it at least gives you a gist of where all the duchies are. Try to think of it as a mood setter more than anything else. 

We’re also announcing the results of the second popularity poll that was held online. The results surprised me once again, and I hope you enjoy seeing them. 

Incidentally, TO Books has announced the sale of the second fanbook. This one will contain the store-exclusive short stories I’ve written in the year since the first one, in addition to a report on the recording for the drama CDs, newly written short stories, another Q&A, original manga from Suzuka-sama, and four-panel comics from Shiina-sama. There really is so much packed into it! 

Also, Ascendance of a Bookworm won first place in the tankobon category of This Light Novel is Amazing! 2018. It’s all thanks to your passionate support as readers. Truly, thank you. 

There’s also new merchandise being released. This includes metal bookmarks; five different acrylic keyholders with art from Suzuka-sama, the manga artist; a letter set made of parchment; and five kinds of postcards. 

This volume’s cover art has Rozemyne in her new Royal Academy clothes, as well as Schwartz and Weiss, the library’s magic tools. Don’t you think it’s the perfect illustration to show her beginning as the founder of the Royal Academy’s so-called Library Committee? The color illustration is filled with new characters, and there are still a bunch who haven’t shown up yet. I can imagine that giving them all proper designs will be quite the task... Shiina You-sama, thank you very much. 

And finally, I offer up my highest thanks to everyone who read this book. May we meet again in Part 4 Volume 2. 

October 2017, Miya Kazuki