Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.5 - Chapter 11

Groschel and the Harvest Festival

It was a relief to know that the lower city was fine after all, but from what I could tell, it had reached its limit accommodating the merchants this year. Its current capacity wasn’t enough to manage trade with any additional duchies, and there was no way we could prepare enough high-class inns and workers in time for all the new merchants who would presumably be coming in a year’s time.

It might be time to consider selling how to make rinsham and hairpins...

The gray priests woke up first thing in the morning the next day to gather vegetables from the fields for us to bring back to the temple. I ate breakfast in the meantime.

Today’s menu was soup and salad made with the fresh vegetables from the monastery’s own produce, paired with some bacon brought in from Ehrenfest. We also had some bread slathered with jam made from honey and viorebes, the latter of which closely resembled the black currants found on Earth. The shrine maidens here had gathered the ingredients from Hasse’s forest, which had then been prepared specially for my visit. The sour viorebe contrasted nicely with the sweet, thick honey, making for a truly delicious spread.

“The soup and jam were both delicious,” I said. “I am sure we can thank the fruit and vegetables you have all grown together.”

“The area around this monastery is brimming with your mana, so there is much more to gather in the forest,” Thore said. It seemed that the land around the monastery was even richer than the land surrounding Hasse’s river. I poured an extra amount of mana into the chapel feystone so that they could enjoy delicious fruits next year as well.

After finishing my breakfast, I saw off the carriages heading back to Ehrenfest. Inside were the gray priests who had switched places with new priests and were now going back to the orphanage. Being transported along with them were the vegetables that Thore and the others had farmed, the printed books from Hasse, and the monastery’s budgetary documents.

Dad and the soldiers lined up before me, as they had now done several times before, waiting for me to pay them and see them off as well.

“I imagine that disposing of one’s waste is going to be quite the ordeal once the snow begins,” I said, “and that is precisely why I ask that you help ensure the lower city does not regress by spring.”

“Of course. They are currently making roofs so that waste can be disposed of even when the weather worsens. From there, everyone will simply need to work together. Rest assured, we will continue keeping an eye on things; we soldiers work no matter the weather.”

I nodded, remembering that Dad would work even through snow. It was safe to entrust the lower city to him and the others. The soldiers saluted me, I returned the gesture, and then the carriages started on their return journey.

Once the carriages had disappeared into the distance, it was time for me to go too. I still needed to head to Hasse’s winter mansion and check things with the tax scholar. Monika and Rosina took care of preparing for the departure, while the gray priests and shrine maidens cleaned up from breakfast. I moved to speak to Nora while watching Hugo and Ella deliver boxed lunches to Fran.

“Nora, has the monastery finished its winter preparations?”

“Yes. We now work in cooperation with the people of Hasse. We could not continue to rely on the Plantin Company forever,” she replied.

In the past, those of the monastery had gotten through winter only with the Plantin Company’s help. Now, the monastery had formed a cooperative relationship with the city of Hasse by providing both money and manpower. I would need to thank Richt later and encourage this collaboration to continue.

“Lady Rozemyne,” Fran said. “Everything is ready.”

I nodded. “If you’ll excuse us then, Nora. I entrust the rest to all of you. The monastery is changing slowly but surely, which will no doubt trouble the new priests we have brought here from Ehrenfest. Please help them adjust to life here, while at the same time reevaluating yourselves, such that you do not depart too thoroughly from temple life. Too much change will cause chaos when it is time for you to visit the Ehrenfest orphanage.”

“Understood.”

I headed for Hasse’s winter mansion with Fran and Angelica, walking my Pandabus beside the carriages that were transporting Monika and the others. I reunited with the tax official’s attendants at the winter mansion and then moved to his quarters; I would be double-checking his work while traveling by highbeast.

“Monika, let us meet later.”

“Yes, Lady Rozemyne.”

After watching Monika and the others go, Richt guided me around the plaza. I watched the tax official teleporting harvested crops to the castle, as was his duty. The magic circle-adorned cloth that had been put on yesterday’s stage was now spread out wide. A new set of taxed goods was placed atop it; the tax official touched the circle, making it light up; and then the goods disappeared. A portion of said goods were going to me.

“Richt, I’m told the people of Hasse are assisting the monastery with their winter preparations,” I said. “The gray priests were raised in the temple and know little of the world, so you are doing them a great service by providing them the tools to survive.”

“It is nothing. They are paying for our services and allowing us to gather near the monastery,” Richt replied, returning a smile that seemed to say that everyone needed to stick together. The forest around the monastery was so rich with my mana that it produced rather large fruit, which in turn attracted various animals. It was even a perfect place for hunting.

“I very much hope this cooperation between Hasse and the monastery continues,” Richt said.

“Indeed. As do we,” I replied. We smiled at each other, and it was about then that the tax official completed his work.

“Lady Rozemyne, let us head to the next city,” he said.

We flew to the next winter mansion by highbeast, I performed the necessary rituals, and then we departed the next morning once the tax official was done with his work. He and I mostly spoke about this year’s harvest or Hartmut as we traveled. He said that Hartmut had once been an exceedingly uncaring child but that he was now brimming with devotion to the Saint of Ehrenfest. This change apparently came as both heartwarming and concerning to him.

Honestly, I’m concerned too... It’s scary because he’s just that skilled at what he does. He even said that researching me is his life’s work...

“Hartmut will obey his lady’s orders, so please do keep a tight rein on him,” the tax official had said to me. I seemed to recall Ottilie telling me the same thing.

“He is quite skilled,” the tax official said, “so I believe he will prove quite a useful retainer to keep at your side.”

“His mind is quite open as well. He adjusted to temple work in the blink of an eye,” I replied. This news made the tax official stare at me in surprise.

“Hartmut, the infamously stubborn boy who changes his mind for no one, appears open-minded to you?” he asked. “His desire to serve you well must be compelling him to hide his true feelings.”

It seemed that Hartmut was far more devoted than I expected. The term “religious fanatic” popped into my mind for a second, but it carried such negative connotations that I quickly swallowed it back down.

Maybe it’s about time I reward him somehow...

Hartmut had been jealous of everyone’s diptychs, so maybe giving a matching set to my retainers was a wise idea. I continued pondering the issue and eventually finished my part in the Central District’s Harvest Festival, having collapsed and ended up bedridden only a single time.

Of course, I ended up bedridden again soon after my return to the temple.

I was the last one to complete my duties, due to my collapsing incident. Wilfried and Charlotte had narrowly made it back in time to participate in the hunting tournament.

“Ferdinand,” I said. “I am going to Groschel next, as I recall.”

“Contact Elvira first. You are going there not just for the Harvest Festival, but also to retrieve the Gutenbergs and observe the efficacy of their fledgling printing industry, are you not?” Ferdinand asked.

I clapped my hands together in realization. I had been planning to visit Groschel as the High Bishop, stay in the side building for the ceremony, and then grab the Gutenbergs and go, but I was most likely going to have to meet with the giebe as well. Brunhilde’s father was a purebred noble, and it would be a genuine problem if nobody was there to speak with him. Elvira and Brunhilde were essential for filling that role.

“This is Rozemyne. I am thinking of going to Groschel now that the Central District’s Harvest Festival is complete,” I said, contacting Elvira by ordonnanz. Her reply came an instant later: she needed to make various preparations and wanted to bring along some scholars, so we would be leaving three days from now.

With the date decided, I asked Brunhilde whether she would like to come with us. She was underage but that wasn’t a problem, since Groschel was her home province.

“Ferdinand, may I bring Hartmut and Philine with me too, even though I am attending the Harvest Festival as the High Bishop?” I asked. “I brought them with me before so that they could see the printing industry.”

My castle retainers didn’t need to be present for religious ceremonies, but I was going to be operating as a noble and a member of the archducal family, so it was absolutely preferable to have them there. My unusual double life sure was a pain in the neck.

“Yes, it would be wise to bring them with you just in case,” Ferdinand replied. “They may not be needed in the Central District, but we do not know what might be expected of you in Groschel.”

And so, I decided to bring my castle retainers with me. Fran, Monika, and Hugo were also going to be accompanying me. The noble mansion already had chefs, but I would need my own one too, assuming I was staying in the side building as the High Bishop.

As promised, preparations for the ceremony were completed three days later, and we promptly departed for Groschel. The province was like a second Ehrenfest; out of consideration for Gabriele of Ahrensbach, it had been given the portion of the Central District with the highest population and a perfect location alongside the primary trade route in and out of Ehrenfest. And since the city was built to her specifications, the tiny Noble’s Quarter was strictly separated from the commoners’ lower city. There was no winter mansion in sight, and unlike in Illgner, the Harvest Festival was held near the archduke’s estate where commoners did not gather. From the sky, it was hard to tell where the ceremony was even due to take place.

I came here for Spring Prayer when I was an apprentice blue shrine maiden, but back then, I only handed over the chalices...

Not to mention, since Ferdinand had swiftly finished the customary greetings at the mansion, I had barely even been involved.

“Do you know where the ceremony is being held?” I asked the tax official.

“I do not. The taxes are taken at the giebe’s mansion, so I know nothing of the ceremony.”

In the provinces ruled by giebes, priests would simply take the registered medals and teleport the selected goods, since the local giebe would do their taxes themselves. Tax officials were therefore able to complete their job without even leaving the giebe’s mansion. Having no other choice, I decided to ask upon landing once the necessary introductions had taken place.

“Giebe Groschel, where is the ceremony going to take place? I would ask that you take me there. This is my first time visiting this province for the Harvest Festival,” I said.

Unfortunately, Count Groschel didn’t know either. He rubbed his chin for a moment before gesturing over an attendant and whispering something into their ear. Not long after, someone who seemed to be a layscholar rushed in and announced that he would guide us there.

“I must attend the ceremony as the High Bishop, but you all may focus on the printing industry,” I said to Elvira and the others. “My attendants and scholars may likewise enter the mansion, as you need not involve yourselves with the ceremony.”

The scholars here for the printing industry nodded and went inside, but Hartmut alone asked to accompany me to the ceremony, an unmistakable sparkle in his orange eyes.

“I am forbidden from entering the temple chapel, Lady Rozemyne, so I seldom have the opportunity to see your blessings with my own eyes. Here in Groschel, however, there is no temple for me to be denied entry to.”

He was so invested in the idea that I couldn’t even muster the energy to turn him down. I simply gave up and allowed him to accompany Fran, Angelica, and me to the ceremony. Most nobles would do everything in their power to avoid the lower city, but he seemed excited enough that I stopped giving it any thought.

“My chef Hugo must be allowed to begin work,” I said to the laynoble before heading to the side building. The Gutenbergs were supposed to be living here, but the interior was completely empty. The blood drained from my face as I looked around and realized that nobody had lived here for a very long time.

“Where are my Gutenbergs?” I asked, shooting the laynoble a sharp glare.

“Th-They are living in the lower city. They... They asked to move there,” he answered nervously. He stammered so incessantly that I struggled to understand him, but the Gutenbergs had apparently asked for quarters closer to the workshop, since having to walk there every day was a waste of precious time and energy. “W-We did not force them to move, nor have we harmed them.”

“Very well. Take me to where the ceremony is being held. Hugo, begin preparing food. Monika, prepare the chambers to be used.”

The Gutenbergs may have moved to the lower city, but Fran and Monika needed to sleep here as a priest and a shrine maiden, respectively. They also needed time to cook and clean.

I climbed into Lessy with Angelica, Fran, and Hartmut and followed after our guide’s highbeast as he took us to the ceremony. Damuel took up the position of rear guard. After a short journey, we arrived at Groschel’s equivalent of a central plaza.

“There certainly aren’t many people here, are there?”

The Harvest Festival was normally attended by all those who wanted to participate in the baptism ceremony, the coming-of-age ceremony, and the Starbind Ceremony. Groschel had a larger population than the other areas we had visited and yet only a few people were gathered. I could guess that only the participants and their families were here, which was a stark contrast to what I was used to from other places, where it seemed as though the entire city was in a festive mood. Still, thanks to there being so few people, I easily found the Gutenbergs among the crowd. They seemed to be doing okay, so all of the anxiety inside of me vanished.

“If you would excuse me...” the laynoble said. He left almost immediately after we arrived, as if he couldn’t bear to remain in the lower city for a moment longer. The foul stench and general filth no doubt appalled him. Even I scrunched up my face without thinking. It had been quite a while since I smelled the horrid stench of the lower city. There was no avoiding the odor, no matter how much one tried to get used to it.

“Hartmut, stand with Angelica,” I said. “And do not interfere with the ceremony.”

“May I assist Fran?” Hartmut asked. He gestured to Fran, who had his hands full registering the medals of the baptized children and checking those here for the coming-of-age ceremony and the Starbind Ceremony.

“Erm... I would not dare trouble you with this, Lord Hartmut...” Fran replied.

“I am an apprentice scholar. I know how to use the medals, and as is natural for a retainer of Lady Rozemyne, I spoke with Wilma and learned the processes for every ceremony,” Hartmut said, now standing beside Fran. He began registering medals without the slightest hesitation, so I signaled with my eyes for Fran to let him have his fun. Two people were faster than one, after all.

The registering and checking were progressing smoothly now that Fran was accepting Hartmut’s assistance, so I started reading a picture book bible to the children. Once I finished telling the story of the gods, I offered a prayer.

“O Schutzaria, Goddess of Wind, please hear my prayer. We offer thee our thoughts, prayers, and gratitude, so that thou might bless these newly born children and grant them thy divine protection.”

A light the divine color of Schutzaria shot out of my ring before raining down on the children. Blessings had become a normal sight to those of the Central District and me, but the same was not true for the people of Groschel.

“Whoa, the heck?! What is this?!”

“Ooh! Something’s shining!”

Their reactions made me realize that this was in fact the first time I was giving a blessing in Groschel. The nearby families watched with their mouths agape as the yellow light slowly came down. Gil, meanwhile, stepped forward from the group of Gutenbergs and puffed out his chest.

“Told ya, didn’t I? I’m no liar. Lady Rozemyne’s a saint who gives real blessings, and I’m her attendant,” he declared. His language was crude again, perhaps because he had spent so much time in the province’s lower city. I thought it was a heartwarming display, but Fran seemed to think otherwise—he grimaced, muttering his disbelief that Gil would identify himself as my attendant while speaking in such a manner.

Rest in peace, Gil. You’re going to get lectured when we get back.

Either due to the awed cries of the children or Gil’s loud bragging, a sizable peanut gallery began to form. By the time I had given the blessings for the coming-of-age ceremony and the Starbind Ceremony, quite a large crowd was watching.

“With this, the Saint of Ehrenfest’s legend has spread further,” Hartmut said, an almost drunken look of satisfaction on his face. It seemed that he was exceedingly overjoyed to be present for this moment. I simply did not understand it.

“I haven’t done anything particularly special,” I replied. The blessings used in ceremonies like these didn’t require much mana. It wasn’t too much different from lighting up a ring during noble greetings.

Hartmut, however, shook his head. “It is quite something to use one’s own mana to bless commoners who are incapable of blessing one back,” he said. Once again, I was finding out just how wide of a gap there was between myself and other nobles.

Although the event was called the Harvest Festival, Groschel was similar to Ehrenfest’s lower city in that there was no actual harvest for everyone to celebrate. There were feasts held among neighbors after the ceremonies, and as the excitement faded, people gradually dispersed in groups of two or three until everyone was gone.

I gestured for the Gutenbergs to approach as the crowd continued to thin. Gil was the first one to run over. “You called, Lady Rozemyne?!” he exclaimed. It seemed that he had not entirely forgotten how to speak properly. I decided that I would put in a good word for him if Fran actually did try to scold him, although the thought alone made me chuckle.

“Please spend tonight in the side building. I would very much like to hear about your stay here,” I said.

“We have carriages prepared, since we knew you would be coming for the Harvest Festival,” he replied.

“Let us go to them by highbeast, then.”

I climbed inside Lessy, ready to go to the places where the Gutenbergs were staying to fetch the others, but the gray priests refused to get inside with me.

“We must cleanse ourselves and change clothes so that we are presentable enough to be seen with you, Lady Rozemyne. Riding inside your highbeast would simply be...”

The gray priests had been fine with living in the lower city, but now that I was here, they couldn’t help but be self-conscious.

“There is not much time,” I said. “I will cleanse all of you at once.”

“Erm...”

I had everyone gather into one spot after putting their things into Lessy. Lutz, Gil, Zack, Johann, Josef, and the others looked around nervously, not sure what was about to happen.

“Everyone, please hold your noses and close your eyes,” I said, whipping out my schtappe and filling it with mana.

“Lady Rozemyne, please know your strength,” Damuel hurriedly warned me before grabbing his nose, prepared to get wrapped up in the spell even from where he was standing behind me. The Gutenbergs followed suit upon seeing how quickly he had moved.

“Waschen.”

This time, everything seemed to go well. A wall of water appeared only around the Gutenbergs and then disappeared a few seconds later. A few began to splutter, having opened their eyes and mouth in surprise at being so suddenly submerged in water, but everyone was now clean. As a bonus, the ground where the waschen had touched was now spotless as well.

“There we go. That should do it,” I said. “Now, we ride.”

The Gutenbergs climbed into Lessy with disconcerted expressions. I heard Lutz mutter about that spell being what must have cleaned the lower city.

Astute as ever, Lutz.

Once we were back in the side building, the Gutenbergs changed their clothes and then began speaking about where they were going to sleep tonight and such. I had Monika change me out of my ceremonial robes and into my noble robes. I could just send an ordonnanz to Brunhilde once I was done talking to the Gutenbergs.

“How has life been here in Groschel?” I asked.

They replied that it was not much different from life in Ehrenfest’s lower city. They had endured very little contact with nobles, and thanks to the threatening look I had given the craftspeople of Groschel during our initial arrival, business had progressed smoothly.

“There were no problems in particular,” Gil said.

Lutz nodded. “The gray priests were just a bit overwhelmed...”

The craftspeople had been fine here, since they were used to living in the filth that had once been everywhere in Ehrenfest’s lower city. The gray priests, however, had been raised in the temple, so they had found it especially challenging to adjust to the foul smells and general uncleanliness.

“The smell in Illgner was not particularly bad, since there were few people and waste was used for agriculture, but here it has been quite something...” one of the gray priests said, sounding somewhat unhappy. “We have grown more used to it, though.”

I found it a lot easier to understand the gray priests’ thoughts and feelings now, perhaps because they had spent so long in the lower city, where one needed to be more direct for others to understand them.

“Just as those in Haldenzel struggled, the smiths here failed to earn Johann’s approval for their letter types,” Zack said.

“But they were close, and we discussed them staying in our workshop over the winter,” Johann added. “Could you acquire the giebe’s approval for this, Lady Rozemyne?”

I gave a curt nod. It seemed that Johann had successfully formed a relationship of trust with the smiths. His experiences in Haldenzel had prompted him to speak more often, and Zack had apparently arbitrated between them.

“I’ve taught the carpentry workshop how to make a printing press. They’ll need to work with a smithy going forward, but there shouldn’t be any problems,” Ingo said. The workshop had successfully built two new printing presses. They had smoothly established which kinds of wood to use, how to cut them, and then how to put them together.

“What about the ink workshop?” I asked.

“Me! Me! I can answer thi—!” Heidi shot her hand up, eager to speak, but when Josef saw that I had Hartmut with me, he immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Heidi, I’m begging you. Shut up...” Josef muttered. He then turned to me and cleared his throat. “Ahem... The ink workshop had no problems producing black ink, but the colored ink we know requires materials that cannot be gathered in this area. Instead, they have begun to experiment with ingredients local to Groschel.”

“Thank you, Josef.”

It seemed that, because of the black ink they had successfully produced, the printing itself was able to proceed without a hitch. Now, they simply needed to figure out what other ingredients would make the colored ink they wanted.

“And the paper-making workshop?” I asked.

“It didn’t go very well...” Lutz said, his shoulders slumped. Gil and the gray priests exchanged looks, then they sighed and took out a few sheets of the paper made in Groschel. It certainly appeared to be of a lower quality than I was used to. At first glance, it looked like straw paper.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“The water here is filthy. It affected the paper.”

In Ehrenfest, the wide river to the west of the city was pretty filthy, but the streams running through the forest were naturally clean and provided water that was suitable for paper-making. In Illgner, the water was clean in general, probably because the province was located in the countryside. This was our first time encountering such a problem.

“They must either import clean water or clean their current sources,” I said. “Then again, I suppose this is not an issue that mere craftspeople can solve. I will speak to Giebe Groschel.”

And with that, our discussion came to an end.

I was looking over Hartmut’s notes on the meeting when I noticed Lutz and Gil exchanging looks. They grinned at each other and then both started walking over to me.

“We would like to offer you this gift, Lady Rozemyne.”

“This is a book made here in Groschel to demonstrate the printing process. It does not contain much, and it will not sell to nobles, but we believe it will suit your tastes.”

They had used paper from Ehrenfest, so the quality wasn’t bad. It was very similar to the books I was used to, aside from being a considerable deal thinner. I started thumbing through it, wondering why they had said it wouldn’t sell, and the contents immediately took me by surprise. I gazed up at Lutz and Gil, speechless, and saw that they were both watching me with proud smiles.

“By collecting stories as we establish the printing industry, we can gather tales from a variety of provinces,” Lutz said.

Indeed, the book was filled with stories Gil and Lutz had gathered from the craftspeople of Groschel. They certainly weren’t the kind of tales that would inspire a noble to loosen their purse strings, but to me, the mastermind who had attempted to execute Operation Grimm, this book was a precious gift and a pleasant surprise.

“You dream of a future where even commoners are able to read books freely, no?” Lutz asked with a grin. Hartmut was present, so he couldn’t say it outright, but I could tell that he was referring to our old conversations. Gil was standing beside him proudly, having known that I would appreciate their work.

“Lutz! Gil! This truly is a wonderful gift!” I exclaimed, unable to hide my excitement. They knew exactly how to raise my spirits, as they had proved time and time again.

“We will need to charge you a small fee for the stories, but we will only ask for half of what it cost us to gather them, since the Plantin Company will one day be printing the books,” Lutz said. I nodded in response.

Sure! You can have as much money as you need. Just bring me more stories!