Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.5 - Chapter 5

Zent Candidates

I was about to go back into the archive, resolved to leave everything in Magdalena’s capable hands, when Hannelore timidly called out, “E-Erm, Lady Magdalena...”

“Yes, Lady Hannelore?”

“Rather than continuing to work in the archive, perhaps we should... hide, or something of the like, so that we do not cross paths with Lady Detlinde. Should we not keep our working here a secret?”

Magdalena paused in thought. “It would be safest for you to remain here, as we do not know how many guards Lady Detlinde has brought or what she intends to do... but you are largely correct.”

If we stayed put, then it wouldn’t matter how many guards were accompanying Detlinde; none of them would be able to enter the archive with her. That made it the safest place for us, but avoiding detection entirely was still the best outcome.

“An encounter on the stairs would prove most dangerous of all...” Leonore said. We were all at a loss for words, but the sudden appearance of an ordonnanz brought us back to our senses. It landed on Magdalena’s wrist, then started to deliver a message from Solange. She was speaking in a hushed voice, as if concerned about who might overhear her.

“This is Solange. Lady Detlinde is coming to my office to receive her library registration. If you wish to keep the young ones out of sight, hide them at the back of the closed-stack archive. I will assist you in leaving through another exit later.”

Solange had known that we were eating lunch here in the underground archive, so she had gone to the trouble of contacting us. If she could buy us some time and help us to escape, she would be doing us a tremendous favor.

And here I thought I would get to hang out in the archive all day. Curse you, Lady Detlinde.

“If you wish to avoid her as well, Lady Magdalena, then we could all hide together,” I suggested.

She shook her head. “No, it would be strange for the archive to be open without anyone inside. Furthermore, I must find out who informed Lady Detlinde of this archive and when. She should not know of a place that not even the surviving royal family was aware of. We can also assume that it was a recent discovery for her; otherwise, she would have registered while she was a student.”

True... If she had known about the archive before, then why wouldn’t she have joined the library?

“Even after Professor Solange guides you outside,” Magdalena continued, “take care not to approach the central building. Those who have finished their lunch might still be in the halls. I will send an ordonnanz once Lady Detlinde leaves the library.”

I nodded, gave her my translations, then gathered my things together in preparation to leave. In the meantime, Cornelius sent ordonnanzes to my attendants, warning them not to return to the library for the time being.

“I alone shall deal with Lady Detlinde,” Magdalena announced with a smile. “Hildebrand, do not slow the others down.” She entrusted him to his guard knights, then hurried us all out of the room.

We rushed upstairs. The door leading into the closed-stack archive had been left unlocked for our attendants, so we didn’t face any issues on that front.

Cornelius was standing by the entrance to the reading room and scanning the archive for any blind spots. “Prince Hildebrand, please hide over there, behind the farthest bookshelves. Those of Dunkelfelger, do the same. Lady Rozemyne, come to this bookshelf over here—and take care not to step out from behind it.”

The bookshelves in the closed-stack archive, where so many valuable documents were kept, all had solid back panels, meaning they were perfect to hide behind. Hildebrand and Hannelore were at the very back of the room, since they had so many retainers, while my retinue and I were waiting behind a bookshelf closer to the entrance.

“Are they not done yet...?”

No matter how long we waited, Detlinde never appeared. I was grateful that Solange was buying us time, but standing completely still was starting to hurt.

“The door is unlocked so that attendants can pass through. Remain quiet, as they could enter at any moment.”

I wanna read the books heeere...

There were so many new titles before my very eyes, and not being able to delve into them was agonizing.

Oh, what if I promise to stay quiet? Can I read then? No? Figures. I knew that would be the answer, but it was worth a shot.

I decided to hold my tongue, well aware that my request would only annoy my retainers—and that was when the door suddenly clicked open. Bright light streamed into the closed-stack archive.

“Oh my. And that letter was your reason for coming here?” Solange asked, her soft voice filling the room. She was purposefully making sure we knew why Detlinde was visiting.

“Indeed. I do not know who sent it, but they said that they sincerely wanted me to become the next Zent and that this library contained information crucial to becoming the country’s next ruler. It was surely a gift from the gods.”

Hold on a second... You came all the way here simply because an anonymous letter told you to...? Isn’t that ridiculously thoughtless for an archduke candidate?!

I knew that specifically because I’d received so many criticisms for my own thoughtless actions. Had I done what Detlinde was doing right now, Ferdinand would have given me a taste of thunder for sure. I was surprised that she had received the letter to begin with, considering that all such correspondence was supposed to go through one’s attendants.

This is unthinkable behavior for an archduke candidate, but I’m more surprised that she’s actually found what she was seeking.

Ferdinand had said that Detlinde failed to activate the magic circle because she didn’t have enough mana—but if she really was serious about becoming the next Zent, she had come to the right place.

“The letter mentioned that the Royal Academy’s library opens during the Archduke Conference, so here I am,” Detlinde said. “Meetings and tea parties continue to fill my schedule as we speak; had I not seized this opportunity to come, who knows how long I might have had to wait?”

It was rare for someone to be so busy from the very beginning of the Archduke Conference. For the first few days, the archducal couples of each duchy would all gather together for meetings, and only then were invitations given and plans made. One’s schedule would often start quite empty and then gradually become more packed over time.

Back when Ehrenfest had sat near the bottom of the rankings, our nobles had received so few invitations that many of them had considered going home early. That wasn’t the case anymore, though; Sylvester had informed me that everyone’s schedules were completely full.

In other words, he won’t be able to leave and then heroically appear elsewhere like he did when I was an apprentice blue shrine maiden.

Detlinde continued, “Prince Sigiswald triggered the magic circle during his Starbind Ceremony. It stands to reason, then, that the royal family will also come to this underground archive during the conference. I simply cannot allow the prince to get ahead of me—not when I was recognized as a Zent candidate first.”

Hortensia gave a conflicted smile and said in a chastising voice, “Such phrasing may be considered disrespectful to the royal family.”

In response, Detlinde giggled. “A family without the Grutrissheit can hardly be considered genuine royalty. I was chosen by the gods—and, by their will, I shall become a true Zent.” I wasn’t at all sure where her confidence was coming from, but her high-pitched laughter echoed throughout the closed-stack archive.

“But you are the next Aub Ahrensbach, are you not?”

“For now, but I will obtain the Grutrissheit before I become aub.”

Detlinde’s retainers hadn’t said a word this entire time. I wasn’t sure why—maybe they believed her, or maybe correcting her was such a futile effort that they were pretending not to hear her—but it was a very bad move. At this rate, she was going to be imprisoned for treason, and Ferdinand alongside her.

Hortensia cleared her throat, at last putting a stop to the piercing laughter. “Lady Detlinde, if you would allow me to ask a question...” Then, in a deliberately clear voice, she continued, “Are Schlaftraum’s flowers blossoming as beautifully as ever this year?”

“‘Schlaftraum’s flowers’?”

“Oh, are you not familiar with them? They can only be obtained in Ahrensbach, and my husband is rather fond of them. Do ask Lady Georgine about them when you next get the chance.”

With that, Hortensia led Detlinde and her retainers downstairs, and they disappeared from sight.

What are Schlaftraum’s flowers? Lady Detlinde doesn’t know about them, but Lady Georgine does? Hortensia’s married to Raublut, the Sovereign knight commander, right?

Schlaftraum was the God of Dreams, which was probably a hint. I didn’t doubt that it was some kind of secret code that nobles used when they wanted to be discreet, or appear inconspicuous, or test the waters to see how much the other person knew.

Maybe I should ask Ferdinand. That might not be a smart move, though...

It seemed unwise to write to him immediately after being told to minimize contact with him, but this weight seemed too heavy for me to bear alone. Two very important people had suddenly been mentioned: Georgine, who was targeting Ehrenfest, and Raublut, who had sent Ferdinand to Ahrensbach over suspicions of treason. Even I could tell that this was a serious and potentially dangerous problem.

Since this has something to do with Georgine, I’ll need to discuss it with Sylvester as well—but that goes without saying.

As for Raublut, I wasn’t sure whether Sylvester even knew about him. I’d only interacted with the man when I was summoned to the Royal Academy about the bible, and when he came to the library and revealed that Ferdinand was a seed of Adalgisa.

Hopefully I can explain today’s events while keeping all the Adalgisa stuff a secret.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a sudden noise as Solange closed the door to the basement. She locked it, then turned around and said, “Everyone, are you there?”

“Yes, Professor Solange.”

“There is another exit over here.”

She took us outside through an emergency exit. Going from the dim lighting of the closed-stack archive to the bright outdoors made my eyes sting.

“This is the back side of the library. It happens to be opposite the central building so, as long as you do not ride your highbeasts, nobody should see you.”

So this was the library’s garden? I could see tables and chairs in place, but the overgrown grass had started to swallow them. I could guess that this had once served as somewhere for the librarians to rest and have tea, way back when the library wasn’t severely understaffed.

“Perhaps you could wander about for a bit while you wait for Lady Detlinde to leave,” Solange suggested. “Spending an entire day underground would surely be bad for your health. In any case, I cannot stay here with you; I must lock the archive doors and return to my office.”

Solange then returned to the library. We had managed to avoid Detlinde, but it was too much to expect me to walk around until she left.

If only I had taken out a book...

But, well... no use crying over spilled milk. I stared off into the distance, in a daze, while Hannelore looked around the garden, evidently troubled.

“Weather this nice makes me wish we could have a picnic,” she said, “but we left our tea and sweets in the underground archive. How shall we pass the time?”

Hildebrand’s head attendant, Arthur, nervously examined our surroundings. “Lady Hannelore, while a picnic does indeed sound nice, we must consider the worst-case scenario and move somewhere more hidden. If we stay where we are now, we might be visible through the reading room’s windows.”

“I agree,” Leonore added. “I do not believe that anyone would use the reading room’s carrels during the Archduke Conference, but the fact remains that we are completely exposed. Shall we head over there? Nobody should see us in the forest.”

She was pointing to the southern end of the garden, at a dense gathering of trees. Sunlight filtered through their branches, painting the forest floor with a complex pattern of shadows. It certainly looked more comfortable than staying out in the open.

“Leonore is correct,” Ottilie said. “Lady Rozemyne, it would be best for you to travel there in your one-person highbeast. You risk falling ill under the intensity of this sunlight.”

“I think you’re underestimating how much healthier I am now...” I murmured, my lips pursed. The second jureve had done wonders for me. It was possible that Ottilie just wasn’t aware of my improvement; she hadn’t accompanied me to the Royal Academy, and I spent most of my time in Ehrenfest at the temple.

“Lady Rozemyne, I am aware that your health is gradually improving, but we have nothing to gain from taking unnecessary risks. If you fall ill, then you will need to wait quite some time before you can next visit the archive.”

That’s true, but don’t say it in front of Prince Hildebrand and Lady Hannelore!

I glanced in their direction, holding back a shriek. As expected, they were still traumatized from seeing me collapse; they and their retainers urged me toward the trees, the blood gone from their faces.

“Rozemyne, let us go,” Hildebrand said. “You may use your highbeast. If you take ill while helping us, then the royal family will be at quite a loss...”

Hannelore nodded. “Prince Hildebrand is correct. As I recall, Dunkelfelger’s dormitory is directly south of here. We might be able to see it after moving through the forest for a bit.”

I couldn’t protest any further when even Hildebrand was pushing for me to use my highbeast. I produced a small, one-person Pandabus, then headed to the forest with the others. It was pretty vexing that I was the only one not on my feet.

This isn’t fair. I could definitely keep up with Prince Hildebrand.

Cornelius sent off an ordonnanz, and we reunited with Damuel and Angelica just as we reached the forest. I wasn’t all too pleased that everyone’s overprotectiveness had pressured me into using my highbeast, but our stroll among the trees gave me some much-needed respite; the air here must have been filled with negative ions.

“It really is strange seeing the Royal Academy not covered in snow,” I said, “but this is quite a pleasant forest.”

“Indeed,” Hannelore agreed. “This is my first time noticing its beauty. The greenery and colorful flowers provide such a wonderful contrast to the ivory buildings.” Like me, she had only ever seen the Royal Academy during the winter, and she was equally impressed by its springtime beauty.

Once we had all praised our surroundings, Hannelore began to tell me her thoughts about The Story of Fernestine so far. She hadn’t wanted to discuss it while we were with Magdalena.

“I am so, so very curious about what happens next,” she said, trembling with anticipation. “I cannot bear it. If poor Fernestine does not get a happy ending after all she has been through, then I do not know what Dunkel—um, what I will do...”

The second volume had ended on such a cruel note: Fernestine received the prince’s proposal, only for the king to oppose it. Her stepmother’s schemes then saw her engaged to another man, which sent her plummeting into a bottomless pit of despair.

“Hannelore, there is no need to grieve,” Hildebrand said rather firmly. “The prince will come to save Fernestine. Their love for one another is so pure; there is no world in which he gives up on her.” He was clearly up to date with the series as well.

“Is that true, Lady Rozemyne?” Hannelore asked.

They were both watching me with such hopeful eyes that I couldn’t help but smile. “I see no reason to spoil the story when you can just read it for yourselves. I brought the third volume with me to the Royal Academy.”

“Oh my!” Hannelore exclaimed. “Did you? I cannot wait. And, um...” She tensed up a little. “This really is the final volume, I trust?”

I nodded, and only then did she finally smile in relief.

“What’s that...?” Angelica wondered aloud; she had climbed a tree to get a better look at our surroundings. “I see a white building.” We couldn’t even glimpse it ourselves, but she mentioned that it wasn’t particularly large.

“Could it be Dunkelfelger’s dormitory?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. Their dormitory is larger and farther away. This building is so small and overgrown that you wouldn’t see it from above.”

Nobody else seemed to know what Angelica had spotted; the Royal Academy’s dormitories always reached above the treetops. Each one had a basement for the workers and storage, a first floor for the dining hall and common room, a second floor for the boys’ rooms, a third floor for the girls’ rooms, and a fourth floor that functioned more as an attic for extra storage. By no means could they be described as “small.”

“Angelica,” I said, “please investigate, if you would. There might be an open area around the building where we can rest.”

At once, she used physical enhancement magic on herself and nimbly leapt from one branch to another, making her way over to the building. Hannelore gave similar instructions to one of her guards, who darted off as well.

“The door was locked and did not open,” Angelica reported. “It was very filthy and presumably hasn’t been used for at least a decade.”

Hannelore’s guard nodded in agreement. “Its existence came as a surprise to us all, so it seems an ideal place for us to rest while staying out of sight.”

So, at the advice of our reconnaissance squad, we headed to the curious building among the trees. Its disheveled appearance and the overgrown grass around it were enough to prove that nobody had come here in a very long time.

“Ivory buildings do not degrade like this when someone is supplying them with mana. It really must be abandoned.”

“And it certainly is small,” Hildebrand added. “Is it a forester’s shed, perhaps?”

Arthur shook his head. “Those are much smaller.” This building was small compared to dormitories and castles, but it was still much larger than a forester’s shed or a gazebo. It also didn’t have any windows, which meant we couldn’t see inside.

The building was strange, but the statues on either side of the door reminded me of the entrance to the temple from the lower city’s side. “Could this be a shrine?” I ventured. “I remember hearing that my grandfather once destroyed one on the outskirts of the Royal Academy during a game of treasure-stealing ditter. Professor Solange also mentioned that a troublesome student once played pranks at the Academy’s shrines to the gods—before his sudden disappearance, that is.”

I climbed out of Lessy and approached the building. It wouldn’t do to leave a shrine dedicated to the gods in such a terrible state.

“Lady Rozemyne?”

“For now, I will clean it. We cannot sit here and rest while it remains so filthy.”

It only made sense that I should take care of this; Hildebrand and Hannelore had come all the way here on foot and no doubt needed to rest, whereas I had traveled in the comfort of my Pandabus. I reached into the leather pouch on my hip and took out a sheet of fey paper with a magic circle on it.

“What is that?”

“A product of Clarissa’s research,” I said. “This magic circle makes it much easier to cast spells over a larger area.”

I created my schtappe and poured mana into the circle. The paper rose into the air and started to shine, at which point I chanted, “Waschen.” In an instant, the entire building was engulfed in a massive ball of water. Then, the liquid vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a squeaky-clean ivory shrine.

“And there we have it,” I announced.

“Th-This is the first time I’ve ever seen a waschen clean an entire building at once,” Hannelore stammered.

After seeing Ferdinand clean the entire lower city after the entwickeln, I’d assumed that it was common practice to use large-scale waschens. Apparently not. Everyone was looking at me as though they’d just witnessed a miracle.

“Of course, I would not have been able to manage such a feat without the magic circle. It is all thanks to Clarissa, praised be her name. Ohoho...”

I was trying to laugh it off when something occurred to me—maybe Ferdinand was to blame for my lack of noble common sense.

“In any case, let us rest,” I said, inviting the others to sit down on the steps by the door. “Prince Hildebrand, Lady Hannelore, would you care to join me? You must be tired.”

Hildebrand raced over with a smile. “I shall accept your invitation, but our journey here did not tire me in the slightest. Mother has been training me to the Dunkelfelger standard, so I’m no less fit than any other child my age.”

Sure, Hildebrand was a member of the royal family, but he still had Dunkelfelger blood running through his veins. Hannelore didn’t seem tired either; in fact, she was already considering whether to send an attendant to her dormitory to prepare tea for us.

Traveling in my highbeast was the right move after all. I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with these two for long.

“Our dormitory is relatively close,” Hannelore remarked. “Would anyone care for some tea?”

Hildebrand’s retainers all shook their heads. “Be at ease,” one of them said. “We do not wish to make ourselves known, and your attendants would struggle to prepare tea by highbeast.”

“In that case, I will rest as well.”

“Come sit with us,” I said. “We can discuss The Story of Fernestine while waiting for Lady Magdalena to contact us.”

As I moved my hand to indicate her seat, it brushed against the locked door behind me. The next thing I knew, I was being sucked into the shrine.

“Bwuh?!”

In the blink of an eye, my surroundings changed from the forest to the inside of an unfamiliar room. It was about twenty square meters in size and contained statues of thirteen gods, the centermost of which depicted a heroic-looking man wielding a spear and a translucent blue slate. This had to be a shrine dedicated to Leidenschaft the God of Fire.

I’d expected the inside of the building to be extremely dark on account of there not being any windows, but the blue slate provided more than enough light.

“This is my first time seeing a shrine like this...” I murmured to myself.

The shrines at the temple and the Royal Academy had statues for the supreme gods and the Eternal Five, but this was the first one I’d seen that was entirely dedicated to Fire. I realized now that the other twelve statues were of Leidenschaft’s subordinates.

“Wowee... I’m going to hit a massive growth spurt after this,” I said, then raised my hands in prayer. “O Leidenschaft the God of Fire, O Erwachlehren the God of Guidance, O Anwachs the God of Growth...”

Please let me grow to be a normal size!

As I finished praying, my mana sparked and got sucked into the blue slate that Leidenschaft was holding. The slate flashed, then some text appeared on it.

Let’s check this out... “Your prayers have reached me, and your worth has been acknowledged. I, Leidenschaft, shall now grant you a word necessary to obtain the Book of Mestionora. This—”

The rest of the text—the mystical word included—was hidden behind the statue’s fingers. “O mighty Leidenschaft, I cannot read your message from here!” I grumbled, and pulled the slate from his hands.

“This word alone, however, will not suffice; a Zent candidate must obtain the words of the other gods as well.”

As soon as I read the last part of the message, the blue slate was absorbed into my chest and fused with the schtappe inside of me. I could sense that it was a combination of a Divine Will and all the mana I had offered through prayer thus far. At the same time, Leidenschaft’s word arose in my mind, much like when I had learned the names of the God of Darkness and the Goddess of Light.

“Kraeftark.”

“That sounds wonderful, thank you,” Hannelore said with a smile as she sat down.

I gazed around, confused. No sooner had the word passed my lips than I had found myself outside the shrine again, with my hand still touching the door. Leidenschaft had evidently summoned me, and not a moment had passed in my absence.

“Lady Rozemyne, is something wrong?” Hannelore asked.

“Oh, no. Nothing at all,” I replied, returning her smile. Everyone was acting the same way as before, which meant that nobody had even noticed my disappearance. Leidenschaft’s word was still engraved in my mind, though.

He said it was necessary to obtain the Book of Mestionora, right? Aaaaaah... I really wanna read it...

The thought of a new book was alluring enough, but this one belonged to the Goddess of Wisdom herself! I could sense that Hildebrand and Hannelore were discussing something, but I was too distracted to pay them any mind.

I wonder what a book owned by a goddess is like... I can’t wait to find out. I... Wait, hold on. Isn’t “the Book of Mestionora” another name for the Grutrissheit? That means I’m forbidden from reading it, right?

As my dreams crumbled into tiny little pieces, I started to reflect on my actions with a much clearer head. Should I have attempted to contact my knights before reading the slate? Should I have approached it in the first place?

This reminds me of that strange experience we had at The Goddesses’ Bath on the Night of Flutrane...

Back then, magical interference had made us forget to contact our allies, and a barrier had prevented the men from reaching us. Had something similar happened while I was in the shrine?

Okay. Let’s calm down and think about this rationally.

If the Book of Mestionora really was the Grutrissheit, then it would be seriously dangerous for me to acquire it; I definitely didn’t want to become the next Zent. The best way to avoid getting wrapped up in a huge disaster would be to remain completely silent.

Oh, who was I kidding? I wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to read a book belonging to a goddess. I wanted to get my hands on it so bad. So, so bad.

Not to mention, the royal family is searching for the Grutrissheit, right? And they’d appreciate any hints as to its whereabouts.

They were so desperate to learn the requirements to become a true Zent that they were translating documents in an archive they hadn’t even known about until recently. My experience in the shrine would be tremendously valuable to them.

But would they even be able to repeat it...?

My theory was that whenever a ritual performed at the Royal Academy created a pillar of light, at least a portion of it went to these shrines and contributed to the translucent tablets within. In other words, to receive the words of the gods, one would need to perform countless blessings and dedicate plenty of mana. Would the royal family be able to manage that when they were barely able to keep the country from falling apart?

In fact... what would happen if the royal family couldn’t manage it? As someone who was used to delegating tasks that were beyond me to other people, my first instinct would be to dump the work on somebody else. Their only desire was for someone to obtain the Grutrissheit, so it seemed like the perfect solution.

The only issue was that, if the royal family did decide to entrust this duty to somebody else, it would definitely be me.

Sooo... what would the royal family do if they tasked me with getting the Grutrissheit and then I actually did...?

In an ideal world, I would just read it myself, then hand it over... but what if things weren’t so simple? The king had ordered Ferdinand to move to Ahrensbach for being a threat to Yurgenschmidt; if people started viewing me as similarly dangerous, then it was likely that I would receive some kind of royal decree as well.

In the worst-case scenario, they might even execute me.

After all, it was a dispute over the Grutrissheit that had started the civil war. The situation with Ferdinand had already demonstrated what would happen if anyone but the royal family obtained it—and, as I reflected on that, his voice came unbidden to my mind.

“Do you wish to rule, Rozemyne?”

That had been his question to me when the bible showed me the path to become the Zent. My feelings hadn’t changed since then: I just wanted to read books. I didn’t want to be a queen, nor did I want to be the reason for another war. It was in the royal family’s best interests for me to share this information. But it was in my best interests to keep it to myself.

I wanted to consult someone about this, but it was much too serious; there wasn’t a single person I could tell. I gazed up at the sky as I pondered my options... and saw several beams of blue light shoot from the roof of the shrine.

“What are those blue lights...?” I asked, pointing.

Hildebrand followed my finger with his eyes and squinted. “What blue lights?”

Hannelore was squinting too; it seemed that neither one of them could see the lights, even though they stuck out like a sore thumb. Even their retainers were cocking their heads at me.

I blinked a few times and then shook my head. “Oh, my mistake. Perhaps it was just the sunlight.” If the others genuinely couldn’t see the lights, then my best option was to drop it.

“It certainly is bright,” Hannelore said, still squinting up at the sky. The lights were clearly there, but she couldn’t see them at all.

I wonder where they lead...

All of a sudden, an ordonnanz appeared. It landed on Arthur’s arm, then said thrice in Magdalena’s voice that we could return to the archive.