Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.3 - Chapter 17

Taking Konrad to the Temple

“You are taking him to the temple now, Rozemyne? This was not a part of our plan,” Ferdinand said the moment we left Philine’s home. He was glaring down at me with the eyes of a parent about to tell their child to put a stray cat back where they had found it. Had we been alone in the temple, he certainly would have chastised me for “helping everyone you see without thinking.”

However, I knew him all too well now. Although he would complain and prioritize acting like a noble in public, beneath the surface, he had conflicted feelings about children suffering from abuse. He wouldn’t abandon them unless there was a significant reason preventing him from getting involved.

“I am the temple’s orphanage director; it would be beyond me to abandon a child in need. Could you have abandoned him, Ferdinand?”

“...Fine. I would like to go to the temple and get this over with, but you have many underage guard knights with you. We must first return to the castle.”

Hartmut smiled. “One of the requirements for an apprentice scholar to be involved with the printing industry is being capable of entering the temple and speaking with commoner merchants. Please do bring me with you, Lord Ferdinand,” he said.

It was written on his face that he spoke less out of a passion for his job and more because he wanted to see the saint’s temple for himself... but perhaps that was just my imagination. Either way, I could use his justification to bring Philine along too.

“Ferdinand, surely there is no issue with us bringing the apprentice scholars,” I said. “They are going to be visiting the temple soon enough anyway, so...”

“Excuse me, Lady Rozemyne!” Judithe shot her hand up. “I want to do guard duty with Angelica!”

“It is one thing to have the apprentice scholars come with us, but apprentice guard knights are only allowed to work in the Noble’s Quarter. We can decide whether to expand your duties in a meeting with Aub Ehrenfest, but you must return to the castle for today,” Ferdinand said. He glanced at Judithe, Leonore, Lieseleta, and Cornelius in turn while writing a white bird letter to my attendants stating that we were coming to the temple with an orphan.

Judithe hung her head. She couldn’t defy orders from Ferdinand, and so she brought out her highbeast in preparation for going back to the castle.

“I feel for you, Judithe, but I wasn’t allowed to go to the temple before I came of age either. You should hurry and come of age too,” Angelica said. She puffed out her chest with a bit of pride while bringing out her highbeast.

Judithe smiled. “Angelica, what kind of place is the temple?”

Angelica looked up as she pondered the question; then she smiled in turn. “A delicious place.”

After receiving an answer like that, I could understand why Judithe looked so utterly bewildered. “My personal chefs are there, so the food served in the temple is the same as that produced in the Royal Academy,” I explained. “That is what Angelica is trying to say.”

“Whaaat?! That’s so much better than what we get at the knight dorms! Wh-What else is different?” Judithe asked, her violet eyes sparkling as she looked up at Angelica.

Angelica paused in thought again; then she clapped a fist into her palm. “The temple is tough.”

“What?” Judithe looked at me for an explanation, but not even I knew what was meant this time. I shook my head, which prompted Angelica to explain.

“In the temple, everyone has to do paperwork like scholars. I train with Lord Eckhart there too, so it just feels like a tough place in every way.”

Angelica’s baseline was utterly bizarre. Cornelius was shaking his head, having been to the temple before, while those who hadn’t simply looked on in confusion.

“Oh gosh. It’s so romantic for you to look forward to training with your betrothed. I’m jealous!” Judithe said.

Um, wait. What part of that was even the slightest bit romantic?

As Judithe squealed with delight, I concluded that her baseline for things was equally bizarre. It was hard to tell whether Angelica and Judithe were on the same page at all, and while everyone was stunned by it, not everyone was stunned in the same way.

Lieseleta, Angelica’s little sister, opened her eyes wide and looked between Angelica and me in disbelief. “Everyone does scholar work...? Are you telling me that my sister does paperwork?!” she exclaimed.

“No, I guard the door. All by myself,” Angelica replied with a heroic expression, spurring everyone to start nodding to themselves. They knew her grades—she couldn’t possibly have been capable of doing paperwork.

“I thought for a moment that you were being a burden to Lady Rozemyne not just in the Royal Academy, but in the temple as well,” Lieseleta said. “Please continue to refrain from spoiling the paperwork, Sister.”

“Right. Her temple attendants are really good, so they know not to give me anything.”

Just how much did Angelica mess things up when she tried helping with paperwork? I was starting to feel exceedingly uneasy, but Lieseleta didn’t provide any further details; instead, she just summoned her highbeast.

“Enough chatter, Rozemyne. Prepare to leave,” Ferdinand said. “Allow the child and your apprentice scholars to ride with you in your highbeast. We want everyone who needs to be guarded together.”

“Okay.”

After seeing off the underage retainers who were going back to the castle, I gestured Hartmut, Philine, and Konrad into Lessy. Konrad looked relieved about leaving home, and while Philine was holding his hand to reassure him, her own expression was clouded. Hartmut must not have seen my bigger Lessy up close before because he started looking around everywhere the moment he was inside.

“Hartmut, please sit quietly. I do not answer questions while driving.”

“...Who asked you questions while you were driving?”

“Justus.”

Hartmut chuckled in response, perhaps imagining the scene.

I shot up into the sky in Lessy, following after Ferdinand, at which point Konrad let out a cry of surprise; he had evidently never ridden a highbeast before. We soared through the air and made our way to the temple with guard knights surrounding us. Our destination wasn’t too far from Philine’s home since laynobles lived at the south end of the Noble’s Quarter, close to the north gate. We passed over the Noble’s Gate and arrived at the front entrance of the temple’s noble section.

“Welcome back, High Bishop, High Priest.”

Fran and Monika were waiting for us alongside Ferdinand’s attendants. Even Wilma had come out, since a new orphan was arriving.

“I will compose the documentation for the new orphan,” Ferdinand informed me. “You give him food or what have you.”

As instructed, I took Konrad and the others to the orphanage director’s chambers, where I then asked Nicola to start preparing food. “I apologize for the suddenness of all this,” I said to her.

“Fourth bell was about to ring anyway. This is perfect timing.”

While Nicola was preparing food, I introduced my temple attendants to Philine and Hartmut. “These are Fran, Zahm, Monika, and Wilma. I have entrusted Wilma with taking care of the orphanage. Nicola is currently preparing the food, while Gil and Fritz are in the workshop. I will introduce them to you later. Everyone, these are Philine and Hartmut, my retainers in the castle and apprentice scholars. They will soon be visiting the temple to assist with the printing industry.”

Nicola started bringing in dishes while I was introducing everyone. Each plate made a quiet clink as it was set down.

“Today we have bacon, fluffy bread, and vegetable soup,” Nicola said. “The meal is a bit simple, since we hadn’t planned for your return, Lady Rozemyne. Furthermore, we have sweets on the side. I must admit, I made them in a hurry.”

Nicola placed on the table some crepes with thoroughly beaten cream and rumtopf wrapped inside. I ate one, and then everyone else began eating as well. Philine and Hartmut were immediately taken aback when they tasted the sweets for themselves.

“Sweets like these are served in the temple?”

“Only for Lady Rozemyne,” Angelica explained between graceful mouthfuls of crepe. “Lord Ferdinand doesn’t care much about sweets, so they aren’t served in his chambers. So, Hartmut? The temple is delicious, isn’t it?”

Guard knights took turns to eat, and Angelica’s higher status dictated that she always ate first. Damuel watched us with a longing hand on his stomach as he carried out guard duty, and shrugged as Hartmut and Philine delighted in the sweets.

“Those in the orphanage here are given the leftovers of the blue priests in the form of divine gifts, so their food is better than that served in the knight dorm. There’s plenty to go around too,” Damuel explained. “The orphans are also taught to read and do math before being baptized, meaning they can serve blue priests as attendants or join Lady Rozemyne’s workshop to make books. The gray priests are devoted to the teachings of the gods, and there are none who commit acts of violence... I imagine Konrad’s life will be much better here.”

Philine’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she gave a genuine sigh of relief. “That is good to hear,” she said.

“Fran, how much longer do we have before the High Priest arrives?” I asked. “I wish to write a letter to the Plantin Company, and I will need Gil or Fritz to deliver it.”

“Have you decided on a date to sell the books?” Fran asked while preparing my desk for writing a letter. It seemed the workshop had already finished preparing to sell in the castle.

“Lady Rozemyne, may I observe to see what kind of letter you write?” Hartmut asked.

“...Certainly,” I replied.

Hartmut watching meant I would need to write in strict, formal language, and this struggle would only continue once scholars began arriving in the temple. Putting something like, “Eheheh. I came first in class at the Royal Academy. Isn’t that awesome?” simply wasn’t an option, and with that in mind, I wistfully started writing my letter.

Just as I finished, Ferdinand came with the necessary paperwork for Konrad to be accepted into the orphanage. He apparently wanted to leave a special record, since while the children of nobles had been taken in as blue priests in the past, never had one been taken in as an apprentice gray priest.

Ferdinand and I sat next to each other at the table, while Philine and Konrad sat opposite us. Angelica and Hartmut stood behind me, while Damuel despaired at the crepes being taken away. He had seemingly missed his chance to eat one.

“Now then—we will temporarily take Konrad into the orphanage,” I said. “Since orphans and gray priests can be purchased, you need only save up enough money, Philine. Then you and your brother can be reunited.”

Ferdinand immediately fixed me with a harsh glare. “Hold it. Where do you expect him to live? He cannot live in the room you have granted Philine in the castle. She will need to save enough to buy an entire estate, and that is no simple task. Furthermore... no matter how hard either of them works, that child can no longer become a noble.”

“But why not? We retrieved the magic tool, so if she saves up enough money before his baptism ceremony...” I trailed off. We had managed to reclaim the magic tool for children that had used to belong to Philine’s mother—if we put new feystones into it, surely Philine would just need to buy Konrad when she was able. That was the assumption I had made, at least, but it appeared that living as a noble wasn’t quite that easy.

Philine set the heirloom on her lap and stroked it, her eyes lowered sadly. “Lady Rozemyne, money can be saved and borrowed, but the mana is lost,” she said. I didn’t understand though; the tool was right there.

Ferdinand sighed at my confusion and explained. “You must not consider yourself on the same level as a laynoble child without even enough mana to be a suitable successor. You may have been compressing mana since long before your baptism, but you are an exception; most cannot dye multiple feystones in the blink of an eye. Laynobles use magic tools such as that one to prevent their mana from being mixed with that of others, and they spend years preparing feystones to be used in lectures.”

“Lord Ferdinand is correct—Konrad is already almost five, and all the feystones he saved until now have been lost. He no longer has enough time, even with the tool and the feystones returned to him.”

“No way...” I murmured. I had been sure that, now that they were away from their abusive parents and receiving my support, they would eventually be able to live happily as siblings again. But reality was not so forgiving.

Ferdinand rubbed his temples, having never considered that I actually intended to return Konrad to noble society. “The most you can do as the High Bishop and orphanage director is save the life of a child deemed unnecessary by his parents. You cannot support his life as a noble,” he said. “Furthermore, it would be problematic for you to show such obvious favoritism to just one of your retainers. Be careful of all that you say and do—you are the archduke’s adopted daughter, and it is precisely because you were made High Bishop that you must know what lines are not to be crossed.”

I could only bite my lip in response. He was right. I couldn’t do the same for every noble child who was put before me, and putting some above others based on my feelings would only make me the same as Bezewanst.

“Don’t look so down, Lady Rozemyne.” Philine looked between Konrad and me; then she gave a bright smile. “I feel at peace just knowing Konrad has a safe place to live. I had feared more than anything that he would be left in that place and climb the towering stairway. On top of that, you even recovered our mother’s heirloom for us. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. I will serve you with my absolute all and return the money that you lent me as soon as possible. I will even save up enough to buy Konrad so that we can live together, even if not as fellow nobles. He is my only brother, after all.”

I saw Philine and Konrad smile at each other, and my feelings on the matter settled—the world would be a better place without mana prejudice, and without children dying from having their magic tools stolen.

“Ferdinand... how many children are in situations like Konrad’s?” I asked.

“Magic tools are expensive, so I would say there are likely others among the laynobles.”

“Is there any way we can save them? And commoners with the Devouring too, if possible?” I asked. These questions earned me exasperated looks from not just Ferdinand, but Hartmut and Philine as well.

“You would overreach that much while you are already so busy with the printing industry? You must be a fool,” Ferdinand said.

“But does it not bother you? Plus, given the duchy’s mana shortage, I believe things could change a bit if we accepted them into the orphanage.” The shortage was a serious problem, and we wanted to scrape up as much mana as we could get.

“The mana shortage is temporary. What will you do when the nobility repopulates? The inefficiencies you introduce will be shaved away first. Rather than being driven by emotion, you must think of the future. Right now, you are considering only what is right in front of you.”

I took a deep breath. He had a point, but the children would surely be able to use their mana to secure them some other jobs to do. Perhaps they could work on finding future employment while helping to fill the land with mana. They could prove useful to society while earning their own income. Even if they couldn’t live as nobles, there were other paths available to them—ones that were much better than death, in my opinion.

What can I do...?

“You must stop contemplating this,” Ferdinand said, interrupting my train of thought.

“Hm?”

“In almost all cases, when you begin to contemplate an issue, things shift in an unfathomable direction. Furthermore, something this large will require the aub to make any final decisions. Do not think of such extraneous matters before you first clean up your own business.”

“Understood.”

Still... I want to think about this!

I clenched my fists under the table, and in an instant, Ferdinand sighed from beside me. “You are letting it all show on your face,” he said with a glare, prompting me to raise my hands to my cheeks. “Before you throw noble society into complete chaos by barging into the domestic problems of strangers and giving unrequested assistance, finish your printing work. Is your wish not to become a librarian? One cannot become a scholar without first gathering experience as an apprentice.”

In short, Ferdinand was admonishing me for trying to do too much at once.

“The date for selling books in the castle is fast approaching. Have you finished organizing it with the Plantin Company?”

“Indeed. Fran has reported that the workshop is fully ready too,” I replied. Even during the two years I was asleep, Charlotte and the others had communicated through Ferdinand to set up the Plantin Company’s book fair. It had consequently become a regular event, and I was looking forward to seeing how it turned out this year.