HOT NOVEL UPDATES

Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.2 - Chapter 8




Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

The Battle for Schwartz and Weiss 

“You should be able to fight more easily thanks to my blessing. Remember, however, that we must not strike first under any circumstances,” I said, looking around the room. “All we need to do is defend Schwartz and Weiss until we reach Professor Solange at the library. We are not fighting because we want to—we are fighting simply to protect what Ehrenfest has been entrusted with. Keep this stance in mind.” 

It was important that we didn’t act first so that we could make excuses later if anything happened. 

Angelica and Traugott both leaned forward slightly, as if preparing to jump out and attack in an instant. “Lady Rozemyne, can we attack anyone who attacks us first?” they asked. 

“Do not leave the formation on your own. Our highest priority is getting Schwartz and Weiss back to the library safely; making any moves that are not necessary in realizing this goal will mark you as disappointments of guard knights. Act with the knowledge that Lord Bonifatius shall judge those who are unable to protect their charges as failures.” 

“Ngh... Understood.” 

I was aware that Lord Bonifatius had trained the absolute heck out of all the guard knights who had failed to protect Charlotte and me, and those guard knights had endured two years of intense training while I was asleep. Angelica and Traugott stiffened up the moment I spoke Lord Bonifatius’s name—both of them seemed to have experience being scolded by him on a daily basis. 

“Milady. Not enough mana,” Schwartz said. “Need more mana.” 

“Hm? But I just gave you some...” I replied, thinking back to a second ago. 

The two shumils patted their clothes. “No. Our clothes. Protect. Fight.” 

As requested, I stroked their buttons and filled them with mana. The magic circles woven into their vests lit up for a brief moment before fading again. 

“Stronger now, milady. We protect you.” 

Schwartz and Weiss were the treasures of the library; I was supposed to be protecting them, not the other way around. 

“In any case, let’s go,” Cornelius said. “Don’t let your guards down.” 

We all exited the dormitory, prepared to whip out our schtappes at any moment. Cornelius and Leonore were at the front, since they were the fastest thinkers among the archnobles and were best suited to negotiate if we made contact with the enemy, while the more ruthless Angelica and Traugott were kept in the center near me. I held Schwartz’s and Weiss’s hands while I walked, fully surrounded by tense apprentice guard knights. 

“Think of this as treasure-stealing ditter,” I said. “We just have to protect Schwartz and Weiss on our way to the library. It’s not about fighting—it’s about protecting. Just don’t make that mistake.” 

I was honestly hoping there wouldn’t be an attack at all. We passed through the center building with the auditorium, turned south, and then approached the hall connecting to the library. That was when I saw a bunch of capes flash through the crowd, sporting four different colors in total. 

Wait, what?! It’s not just one duchy?! 

There were only thirty of us from Ehrenfest, but it seemed there were about one hundred people standing before us. At the very front of the crowd were students wearing blue capes, signifying that they were from Dunkelfelger, a greater duchy placed second in the rankings. I gasped and tightened my grip on Schwartz’s and Weiss’s hands. Not only were we facing several duchies, but one of them was a greater duchy—and not Ahrensbach, the greater duchy we had actually been worried about. 

Cornelius stopped a short distance away from the students gathered in our path; then he stepped forward. “Lord Lestilaut. May I ask why you are blocking the hallway?” 

Lestilaut was an archduke candidate. He stood in the middle of the hall with his arms crossed and his feet planted firmly on the ground. His build much more resembled that of an apprentice knight than an archduke candidate. He did not even deign to answer Cornelius, instead responding with a dismissive sneer. The nobles from middle and lesser duchies standing behind him called out in his stead. 

“That’s our line!” one shouted. “What do you lot think you’re doing?!” 

“How disrespectful of you to claim those magic tools left by royalty as your own!” another added. 

“We’ll be taking back those big shumils!” declared a third. 

From our perspective, these people were villains trying to steal away Schwartz and Weiss—but from theirs, we were the villains who had taken magic tools belonging to royalty. Some of our apprentice knights began to tremble slightly as they endured the shouts, which made Lestilaut break into a wide grin. 

“Those magic tools are the heirlooms of ancient royalty, and they belong to the Royal Academy’s library,” he declared. “It is unthinkable for the archduke candidate of a mere thirteenth-ranked duchy to steal them from the library and attempt to make them their own! Return the royalty’s magic tools to where they belong!” 

The students behind Lestilaut cheered in approval, which caused the apprentice knights from Ehrenfest to falter even more. 

“How rude!” I protested, pursing my lips in frustration. “We have not stolen them! I became their master through something of an accident, and so I brought them to my dormitory to fulfill a duty expected of my new position. I acquired Professor Solange’s permission before doing anything!” 

The moment I revealed that I had gotten permission to take Schwartz and Weiss, our opponents lost some of their momentum. “You have permission?” one of them asked. “So you didn’t steal them?” 

It was true that Lestilaut had numbers on his side, but he had gained them through supplying misleading information. He had most likely used his authority as a member of the greater duchy Dunkelfelger to whip these lesser and middle duchies into place so that he could strike at us. 

Sensing the tremor running through his allies, Lestilaut theatrically flourished his cape and raised a fist into the air. “Regardless! For you to have become the master of magic tools belonging to royalty in the first place is the peak of arrogance. And on top of that, you even brought them to the Ehrenfest Dormitory?! Considering that Professor Hirschur thought it necessary to abandon her practical lesson to supervise you, we can only assume those magic tools were highly at risk of getting either dissected or destroyed. Only a failure of a master would expose them to such extraordinary danger!” 

Curse you, Professor Hirschur! I can’t believe she skipped her afternoon classes for this. That must be part of the reason why Lestilaut is so mad... 

“If anyone must become their master, better they be from Dunkelfelger than the pitifully ranked Ehrenfest. Accept the transfer of your mastery and give them to me; then I will spare you from being accused of stealing the royalty’s magic tools. I very much doubt you wish to be accused of treason!” 

Some of the apprentice knights near me echoed the word “treason” in hushed murmurs. There was visible doubt in their eyes; it was all too painful for members of the nobility to be accused of treason against the crown. 

“You are right. I would not like to be accused of treason. Furthermore, I am completely fine with giving Schwartz and Weiss to someone who is willing to treat them in the way they deserve,” I said, looking at Lestilaut. It was true that I wouldn’t have become their master in the first place if there were still archnoble librarians in the Royal Academy. The ideal was for someone working in the library to become their master, not me. 

“Lady Rozemyne...” Angelica began with a cautioning tone, but I shook my head to interrupt her and kept staring Lestilaut down. 

Schwartz and Weiss were the property of the library, made to assist with the work that needed to be done there—one couldn’t simply do as they pleased with them just because they possessed an abundance of mana. If someone were capable of giving them more mana than I and was willing to join my unofficial library committee then I would be happy to transfer my position as master to them. I would need to return to Ehrenfest for the Dedication Ritual, so having someone to keep the ball rolling while I was gone was a very reassuring thought. 

The guy in front of me, however, was clearly a musclehead; I couldn’t imagine he was the type of person who would ever want to join any library committee. 

“If you want Schwartz and Weiss, there are some things I must first ask you,” I said. “What do you plan to do upon becoming their master?” 

“What do I... plan to do...?” Lestilaut repeated, crossing his arms. He clearly didn’t understand the reasoning behind my question. 

“Allow me to rephrase: how often do you visit the library? How frequently have you been going there, and how many books have you borrowed thus far?” 

“The library is no place for an archduke candidate, and so I have never been,” Lestilaut answered. “If we want books, we simply order apprentice scholars to take them out for us. What in the world are you saying?” 

He had never once gone to the library—that alone was enough to disqualify him from becoming Schwartz’s and Weiss’s master. I shook my head, signaling that I was refusing his request. 

“You are unsuited to serve as Schwartz’s and Weiss’s master. One must visit the library once every few days to supply them with mana, and one must give them a great amount so as to not trouble Professor Solange. Someone who has never visited the library before would surely fail in this regard.” 

“I am unsuited...? What do you think you’re saying?” 

“We are in the middle of returning Schwartz and Weiss to the library, and it is my duty as their master to protect them. I will not allow for the library’s magic tools to be stolen by someone who will not use them for their intended purpose. If you stand in our way, you will be the one accused of treason!” 

“Watch your mouth!” Lestilaut barked, but I shouted right back without missing a beat. 

“I shall protect Schwartz and Weiss, and I shall protect the Royal Academy’s library! No matter how much you insult me, nor how powerful of a greater duchy you belong to, I will show no mercy to anyone who attempts to steal these two shumils!” 

 

Ehrenfest’s apprentice knights glared with hostility at those blocking our way. Our duchy was vastly outnumbered, but by showing that we wouldn’t back down even when facing a duchy of a much higher rank, we were able to make those of the middle and lesser duchies become more hesitant. They began looking for peaceful ways out. 

“How are we supposed to tell who’s in the right now?” one asked. 

“I don’t want to be accused of treason...” another said. “We should just ask the prince to make a judgment.” 

Those of the middle and lesser duchies all nodded to each other and started to disperse until, eventually, only those wearing blue capes remained. It seemed that Dunkelfelger was still determined to block our path. 

“I would recommend that you move as well,” I said. “We need to return Schwartz and Weiss to the library.” 

“You will not pass. I am their rightful master. Hand them over before you get hurt,” Lestilaut responded, whipping out his schtappe and morphing it into a sword. Upon seeing that, all of our apprentice knights readied their schtappes as well. 

“I refuse. As I said, you are not suited to serve as their master.” 

“Capture that brat, and the shumils!” Lestilaut roared. He swung his sword, causing a ball of mana to come rushing our way. 

Cornelius instantly chanted “geteilt” to create a shield, which successfully deflected the attack. “Angelica! Traugott! Pave the way!” he ordered. “Everyone else, ready your shields to block any attacks on our way to the library!” 

“Understood!” 

The instant Cornelius entrusted paving the way to our biggest hotheads, Angelica leapt forward with Stenluke in hand, followed at once by a broadly grinning Traugott. Angelica was moving at a tremendous speed thanks to her enhancement magic, and she easily soared over the heads of all the apprentice knights readying their shields. 

“I’m so light! This is amazing! Let’s go, Stenluke!” Angelica cried, instantly reaching the front of our formation. 

Angelica’s manablade had grown significantly and was packed with plenty of mana. She swung it around and mowed down our enemies with such blistering haste that I struggled to even make out the carnage; it was clear that she was dashing around, but it was hard to tell exactly what she was doing. Even so, two things were perfectly clear: she had completely mastered enhancement magic, unlike the Angelica I was used to—and she was blatantly much faster than everyone else. 

“Excuse me, milady.” Rihyarda crouched down in front of me and then picked me up. Since I was still tightly gripping Schwartz and Weiss, they ended up hanging from her back, swaying around, and occasionally bumping into each other. “Take care not to let go of their hands.” 

Once the group of knights started running with Rihyarda at the center, those of our enemies who had morphed their schtappes into bows launched an attack. A volley of arrows made from light rained down on us—more than we could manage with our current shields. 

The second I thought to make a shield myself, I heard a sharp popping sound, as if something had just burst. An instant later, the archers all dropped to the floor. Nobody knew what had happened—neither I, nor they. 


“What was that?!” came panicked cries from all over. It was then that I noticed that Schwartz’s and Weiss’s golden eyes, as well as the buttons on their clothes, were shining with mana. 

“We’ll protect milady. Take their power. Toss it back.” 

“Amazing! Amazing! Praise us, milady.” 

“I would love to, but I can’t let go of your hands right now,” I replied. “Please wait until we’ve reached the library.” 

If the charms on Schwartz and Weiss can reflect attacks from multiple enemies in a wide range all at once, they might be even more impressive than my ones from Ferdinand... He told me to always wear several at once so that I could deal with groups. Though on second thought, I guess Schwartz and Weiss have multiple charms on them as well. 

I nodded to myself, remembering how many feystone buttons they had. 

“Charms from the royalty’s heirlooms...?!” cried a voice. 

“Now! To the library!” 

We rushed to the library amid the confusion, but just as the door came within reach, we heard a loud shout. “Cease! All present, sheathe your weapons!” 

It was Anastasius, riding a highbeast, and with him were his retainers and those from the duchies that had dispersed who had gone to get him. Everyone immediately put away their weapons and knelt in the presence of royalty. I was set down by the door, at which point I knelt as well. 

“I heard there was conflict on the Royal Academy grounds. What is the cause of this uproar?” Anastasius asked in a displeased voice. Lestilaut took this opportunity to state his opinion as fact: Ehrenfest had stolen the library’s magic tools that used to belong to royalty, so he was simply getting them back from us. 

“Royal heirlooms...? Those shumils, I see. Your defense, Ehrenfest?” 

“Yes, my liege. I received permission from Professor Solange to temporarily take Schwartz and Weiss from the library, so that I could complete a duty expected of all their masters. However, despite the fact we need to return them to the library as soon as possible, these students arrived to steal them from us. All we have done is protect the royalty’s magic tools from being stolen.” 

Anastasius looked from me to Lestilaut, saw that we were glaring at each other, and then grimaced in annoyance. “Dunkelfelger! Ehrenfest! Summon your dormitory supervisors! I will hear the details of this matter in a nearby hall.” 

“Prince Anastasius, may I ask to first return Schwartz and Weiss?” I said. “They are magic tools of the library, and their assistance is needed.” 

“It is only logical for magic tools of the library to be returned to the library. You have my permission.” 

No matter how our upcoming discussion went, Dunkelfelger couldn’t steal Schwartz and Weiss away once they were back inside the library. It was my victory; I had protected them. I entered the library with the two shumils, Rihyarda and my guard knights following alongside us. 

“Hello, Professor Solange. I have come to return Schwartz and Weiss.” 

“Oh my. Lady Rozemyne. That was faster than I expected.” 

“It went so quickly because we all worked together. Incidentally, Prince Anastasius has summoned me, and so I must leave at once. Please excuse me for being so hasty.” I then turned to Schwartz and Weiss and stroked their foreheads. “Thank you for protecting me,” I said, making sure to give them both plenty of mana. 

Schwartz and Weiss were pretty drained, which was a surprise considering how much mana I had given them at noon. It just went to show how much mana they had used to protect me. 

Having safely returned Schwartz and Weiss, I exited the library with a sigh of relief. My duty was now complete, and to be honest, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about going to this discussion. 

“Milady, you must not let your exhaustion show. We are dealing with an archduke candidate from a greater duchy; if you do not face them with dogged determination, you will end up swept into their plans.” 

“So you say, but I have no idea what Lestilaut even wants from Schwartz and Weiss...” I noted. My response caused not just Rihyarda, but everyone present to balk; their expressions practically screamed, “How is it not obvious?!” 

“A first-year archduke candidate of the thirteenth-ranked duchy became the master of two magic tools that cannot leave the library, can be touched only by their master, and require said master’s permission to be transferred to another person,” one student explained. 

“Precisely,” another chimed in. “Who wouldn’t want to become the master of such magic tools?” 

“There are that many people who want to aid the library...?” I replied. “That’s good to hear, at least.” Solange would really appreciate having that many people helping out around the library... Or so I thought, but everyone vigorously shook their heads. 

“Being recognized as the master of magic tools belonging to royalty is the same as being entrusted with their heirlooms—it is a great honor. I imagine they think that taking your place will be enough to earn them more favor from the royalty.” 

I really didn’t feel like handing Schwartz and Weiss over to someone with that kind of mindset. 

“Milady, please speak at the discussion knowing that there are vast gaps between your understanding and the understandings of others.” 

“Right...” 

By the time we arrived at the hall, there was already a row of students wearing blue capes kneeling before Anastasius. Rauffen was in attendance as well, standing beside the prince; it seemed that he was Dunkelfelger’s dormitory supervisor, which was a perfect match now that I thought about it. 

We joined the others kneeling in front of Anastasius. After a moment, one of the prince’s attendants received an ordonnanz; then they frowned with worry. “It seems that Professor Hirschur is too busy with her research to come...” they said. 

“Hmph. Looks like Ehrenfest has been abandoned by their supervisor,” Lestilaut said with a snort. He was clearly mocking us, but we couldn’t even get angry about it. Why? Because he was right. All we could do was glance at each other and shrug. 

“This is normal in Ehrenfest, since Professor Hirschur basically never comes to the dorm, and it’s impossible to contact her once she begins her research. If only we had a better dormitory supervisor. One who was a lot more serious...” I muttered with exasperation, earning a light glare from Anastasius. 

“If you want to change your dormitory supervisor, give the Sovereignty someone who will do a good job. We have only been unable to change your dormitory supervisor because Ehrenfest has nobody fit to become a Royal Academy professor.” 

“That makes sense... I suppose, then, that Professor Hirschur will remain our dormitory supervisor for quite some time.” 

Ehrenfest was currently suffering from a serious shortage of manpower; anyone skilled enough to become a Royal Academy professor or Sovereign official was someone we would rather keep in Ehrenfest to help us. 

“Still, I need your dormitory supervisor here,” Anastasius said. “Rozemyne, can you pull a trick of some kind to summon her?” 

“I believe I can,” I replied. “Rihyarda, your ordonnanz?” 

Rihyarda produced an ordonnanz, at which point I spoke my message. 

“Professor Hirschur, this is Rozemyne. Please come to the hall at once. If our dormitory supervisor does not arrive soon, ownership of Schwartz and Weiss shall be transferred to another duchy, and you will be unable to continue researching them,” I said. Then, once the ordonnanz had disappeared from the room, I smiled at Anastasius. “She should be here soon.” 

Just as I predicted, Hirschur appeared at the hall in the blink of an eye. She arrived so quickly, in fact, that I could only assume she had flown over on her highbeast. Wearing an impassive expression, she knelt in front of Anastasius. “Ehrenfest’s dormitory supervisor, at your service. Has something happened?” 

“Yes. First of all—Rozemyne, explain to me how this whole mess began. My understanding is that those magic tools lacked a master and could not be touched. How did you manage to circumvent this?” 

“I was so overjoyed about registering at the library that I prayed to the gods, which turned my mana into a blessing that brought the shumils back to life,” I explained. 

“Are you mocking royalty?!” Lestilaut barked. “Do not lie to our faces!” 

His response was to be expected—nobody believed me at first. Those back at the dorm hadn’t assumed I was lying when I told the story, but even they struggled to accept what had happened. 

“I have told no lies, but that is the extent of my knowledge on the situation,” I said. “Please ask Professor Solange for details; I am sure her input is worth far more than mine.” 

“Indeed. That much is true,” Anastasius replied, nodding in agreement despite seeming unconvinced by my claims. 

The prince’s response appeared to annoy Lestilaut; he started talking about how we Ehrenfest students had tried making the magic tools a part of our dorm, and claimed that they had simply moved to stop that from happening. 

Anastasius raised an eyebrow, and then he turned his gray eyes to me. It was clear to see that he wasn’t going to blindly believe what Lestilaut was saying. 

“I have no intention of making Schwartz and Weiss my belongings,” I noted. “If someone worthy of them wishes to be their master, I will hand them over at once.” 

“Enough lies!” Lestilaut snapped. 

“Silence, Lestilaut. I am speaking to Rozemyne right now,” Anastasius said, silencing the outburst with a simple hand wave. This was the perfect opportunity for me to complain to the royalty about the state of the library and ask for new librarians. 

“Prince Anastasius, I ask that you return some archnobles to the library so that they might serve as Schwartz’s and Weiss’s masters. Professor Solange is a mednoble and cannot maintain them both at once. I am only temporarily serving as their master because she is struggling to finish her library work alone. Please send someone from the Sovereignty to help so they can take the position of master from me. That is the fastest solution to this problem.” 

“I see...” Anastasius replied, nodding with a conflicted expression. “It is my opinion that you speak well and true, but your proposed solution is not quite feasible at the moment. If a temporary master is enough to provide those magic tools with life, that should do for now.” There was evidently a reason the librarians couldn’t be sent back to the library right away. 

With Anastasius having decided that things should stay as they were, Lestilaut smoothly stepped forward. “In that case, Prince Anastasius, I ask that you allow someone from Dunkelfelger to serve as the tools’ temporary master. I believe that I am much better suited to the role than someone from the Thirteenth.” 

“Schwartz and Weiss have no need for a master who never steps foot in the library,” I interjected. “Whoever becomes their master needs to visit the library at least once every three days.” 

As Lestilaut and I once again glared at each other, Rauffen stepped forward with a suave grin. “Prince Anastasius, might I suggest we settle this through a game of ditter?” he asked, launching straight into a passionate tirade about why this was the perfect way to decide which one of us would make the better master. From his point of view, surely nobody who lacked the power to protect heirlooms of royalty could be trusted to serve as Schwartz’s and Weiss’s master. Dunkelfelger merely needed to prove they had the strength to beat Ehrenfest and earn the magic tools fairly. 

“Would that not be unfair, considering that Dunkelfelger always wins the Interduchy Tournament...?” Anastasius asked. 

“In this case, Ehrenfest would only need to guard the tools; they wouldn’t need to attack us,” Rauffen replied. I honestly wasn’t able to say whether that was enough to count as leveling the playing field. 

“I suppose Ehrenfest lacking the strength to protect the magic tools would pose a problem... Very well. Your duchies will play ditter in the knight building’s stadium, with the winner being entrusted with Schwartz and Weiss,” Anastasius decided. 

And so, we had no choice but to obey. We stood up to head to the stadium. 

“Hmph. You managed to scrape by earlier, but it won’t happen again,” Lestilaut snarled under his breath as he passed me. “Don’t think you have any chance of winning.” He eyed me with nothing but condescension, like I was lesser than him, and so I did not respond, instead just returning his gaze in silence. 

“Lady Rozemyne, you must not lose this!” Hirschur said, grabbing me by the shoulders and fixing me with a hysterical stare. The fact she had actually started to talk about her “precious research subjects” indicated that she was maybe a bit too honest for a noble. There was no doubt in my mind that the only things she cared about here were their magic circles. 

“...I won’t lose. I have no intention whatsoever of allowing someone who cares not for the library to become the master of Schwartz and Weiss.” 

Not to mention, when it comes to charms, I’ve most likely got just as many as those two shumils do... 

With that thought, I quietly placed a hand on my arm, gripping one of the charms that Ferdinand had given me. 



Share This :


COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login