Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter 1

Uniting

After concluding my discussion with Aub Dunkelfelger and speaking with Sylvester about Eckhart and Justus’s arrival, I exited the archduke’s office and reunited with Cornelius, Hartmut, and Lieseleta. My first course of action was to create my Pandabus; I still wasn’t confident in my ability to stride gracefully down the hall, especially while I was in a hurry.

“We have secured Dunkelfelger’s support and shall depart for Ahrensbach tonight,” I said while driving. “Do any of you know how the archducal family’s meeting went?”

“Lady Florencia began using contract magic to swear the knights and other retainers who heard you grow emotional and reveal critical information to silence,” Cornelius replied. “An ordonnanz from the aub arrived partway through, informing us that Aub Dunkelfelger had agreed to help, that we would be going to Kirnberger in the dead of the night, and that he needed to hurry to the Royal Academy. What happened...?”

“I will explain the details later, but the news is anything but bad,” I replied, blocking his question with a smile. I didn’t reveal that Eckhart and Justus had arrived in Ehrenfest as we made our way back to my chambers; instead, I turned to Hartmut, who was on my other side. “Hartmut, have my knights gather in my chambers at once.”

“To discuss invading Ahrensbach, I expect? They have already been instructed to drop whatever they are doing and make their way here. Those who were stationed in the temple should arrive soon—with the exception of Philine and Roderick, who are staying behind to keep an eye on things.”

Hartmut gave his report so nonchalantly that I did a double take at him. “V-Very good...” was the most I could manage in response.

“Being able to assist you is reward enough, my lady.”

By the time we arrived at my chambers, the knights were already there waiting for me. I gazed across them all. Those who were gasping for breath must have come full pelt all the way from the temple.

“Um, Lady Rozemyne...” one of them said. “Lord Hartmut told us only that you have an urgent announcement to make.”

“Indeed,” I replied. “I realize this is sudden, but we shall invade Ahrensbach and steal its foundation tonight.”

“Come again...?”

They couldn’t be blamed for their surprise; the situation had changed quite a lot since the morning. Not even I had expected this turn of events.

I explained the circumstances for my retainers who hadn’t attended the meeting: Georgine was almost certainly about to invade Ehrenfest; Ferdinand was poisoned and stuck in Ahrensbach’s replenishment hall; we were going to launch a rescue operation tonight; I’d used Sylvester’s authority to get Dunkelfelger on our side; and we would soon be reuniting with Eckhart and Justus. It was impossible not to feel the urgency.

Everyone looked tense as I started giving out instructions. There wasn’t much time before we needed to go.

“First, the placement of my attendants,” I said. “Lieseleta, Gretia, head to the library. Ottilie, Bertilde, I want you to stay at the castle. Ottilie’s group in particular should prepare my highbeast riding clothes, shoes, and all the feystones and magic tools around us. I plan to eat and rest in the library afterward, so arrange for the chefs to be moved there.”

“Lady Rozemyne, how many are going to eat with you?” Ottilie asked. “Food will need to be sent as well.”

I gazed around the room and tried to count, but Lieseleta stopped me. “Ottilie, move as much there as you can,” she said. “We will see if we have enough in the library. If not, I will contact Lady Elvira. She will surely leap at the chance to help us once she learns that Lord Eckhart is returning.”

She and Ottilie then began assigning work between themselves.

“After we depart, continue gathering information in the lead-up to Georgine’s invasion. Remain in contact with Florencia, Brunhilde, and Charlotte.”

“Understood.”

Ottilie smiled and said, “This certainly is sudden.” Then she got straight to work. Bertilde, in contrast, wasn’t used to the craziness of serving me. She simply followed along while blinking in bewilderment.

“In that case, Lady Rozemyne, shall Gretia and I go to the library and start getting things ready with Lasfam?” Lieseleta asked.

“Indeed,” I replied. “Your wit is quick. Eckhart and Justus will also need to eat and rest, so your assistance will go a long way.”

“As you will. Time is short, so you must excuse me, but do bring some guard knights when you come to the library. And take care not to give instructions to all of your retainers, or else you won’t have any left with you.”

Lieseleta then left with Gretia.

“Hartmut, Clarissa,” I said, “distribute the magic tools and rejuvenation potions we made to everyone, then—”

“We have enough ready that we can leave at any moment,” Clarissa enthusiastically interjected. “Fear not—once they are distributed, Hartmut and I will take turns resting.”

I was surprised to hear that Hartmut planned to join the fight. Clarissa was a given, since she was a scholar of the sword from Dunkelfelger, but Hartmut was just a regular scholar. I turned to look at him.

“Lady Rozemyne,” he said, “you would struggle to manage the abundance of magic tools and potions stored inside your highbeast on your own, especially if we also intend to supply Dunkelfelger. Please bring me along so that you can focus on saving Lord Ferdinand.”

“Although I appreciate your resolve, I don’t believe a scholar should gleefully rush onto the battlefield,” I said, crossing my arms. He didn’t even have any ditter experience.

“Oh dear,” Hartmut chuckled. “I did not expect to hear that from a scholar and archduke candidate preparing to charge into battle.”

“Ngh... Time is of the essence, so if you slow down, expect to be left behind,” I declared, frustrated that I couldn’t argue.

Hartmut gave a composed smile. “That will not be a problem for me. I shall ride with you in your highbeast and manage the goods within.”

“You can count on us!” Clarissa exclaimed. “The strength I used to fly straight from Dunkelfelger to Ehrenfest is now in your hands.”

Nooo! That’s not an achievement you ought to be bragging about!

We would want to make a few more kinds of antidote before it came time for us to leave, so I sent Hartmut and Clarissa to the library to do as they liked. I then looked over the guard knights I would be bringing with me to Ahrensbach.

“Laurenz, as you are underage, the choice is yours. You may come with me or stay behind.”

“You have my name, Lady Rozemyne,” Laurenz replied with a wry smile. “Please do not even consider leaving me behind.”

That must have inflamed Judithe’s sense of competition; she shot a hand up and cried, “I don’t want to be left behind either!”

Unfortunately for her, I couldn’t just let her tag along. To begin with, underage apprentice guard knights weren’t allowed to do jobs outside of the Noble’s Quarter. Through negotiations with Sylvester, I’d secured their permission to accompany me in the temple and remain on duty when I visited their hometowns, but invading another duchy was outside that purview.

“Because this is an emergency situation, you must first obtain your father’s permission,” I said. “I could not bring an underage apprentice to a battle in another duchy.”

“No waaay! Ngh... I’m sending him an ordonnanz at once!” She then rushed out of the room with tears in her eyes.

I addressed the remaining knights: “Those of you who are coming to Ahrensbach, take turns going to the knight dormitory to eat and rest in preparation. Of all the adult knights, only Damuel will remain here in Ehrenfest.”

The knights looked at him with wide eyes, then convened to discuss.

I went over to Damuel, who suddenly looked very out of place, and tugged on his cape. Then I gave him a sound-blocker and said, “There is a job I can entrust only to you.”

“Lady Rozemyne?”

“Stay in Ehrenfest and protect those who are most precious to me. Given her relationship with the former High Bishop, Lady Georgine might know about my family and the location of my home in the lower city. She might also have guessed that targeting them would wound me most.”

If someone put the pieces together—pieces such as my reason for entering the temple, my rush to rescue Charlotte, the spread of my trends, and my connections to the lower city—they would immediately be able to see what I cared about more than anything. And as I was still publicly considered to be Ehrenfest’s High Bishop, I was the biggest obstacle to anyone planning to infiltrate our temple and steal our foundation. Their best move would be to eliminate me from the start or take my family and the Gutenbergs hostage to prevent my resistance.

“You knew me all the way back then, Damuel. There is nobody else I can ask. Please.”

“Understood. I... did promise Lord Ferdinand that I would.”

“Wait, you did...?” I asked.

Damuel gazed in the direction of Ahrensbach, as if seeing it across the horizon. “He came to speak with me before leaving Ehrenfest, since I’m the only one who knew you while you were an apprentice blue shrine maiden.”

Karstedt and Sylvester were both aware that I’d once been a commoner, but they had only briefly interacted with me back then. They certainly hadn’t spent time with me on a daily basis. Ferdinand might have given them reports on my life in the temple, but I doubted they truly understood my relationship with my family or how much I cared about them.

“He ordered me to protect your heart, Lady Rozemyne. Your emotional state. He also told me to make sure Hartmut didn’t do anything unnecessary after learning so much about you...” Damuel cast his eyes down a little to look at me and smiled. “Lord Ferdinand certainly is a demanding individual.”

Back when I first met him, he had to properly look down to meet my eyes. My head only went up to his stomach, and whenever he wanted to come down to my level, he had to kneel.

As I thought that, Damuel once again knelt—but not to make eye contact with me. He was looking down, so I could only see the top of his head.

“A proper guard knight would tell you to prioritize your safety and stay in Ehrenfest...” he began. Then he paused and gazed up at me. “Farewell, Lady Rozemyne. Do not waver on your path, and save Lord Ferdinand no matter what it takes. For his sake and your own. May all the gods bless you with their divine protection.”

“I thank you ever so much, Damuel. You were my first knight, and you have been my best knight ever since.”

Damuel nodded, then returned the sound-blocker and took his leave.

“Where’s he going?” Cornelius asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“To protect that which is most dear to me. He is my guard knight, after all. Have you and the others decided the order in which you’ll rest?”

They had, so I made my way to the library.

“Lady Rozemyne. I was wondering when you would return. Is Lord Ferdinand...?”

Lasfam must have already heard about the situation from my retainers; as soon as we had exchanged the usual greetings, he briskly approached me. Although he maintained the slight smile he always wore, his green eyes wavered amid an otherwise rigid expression. Anyone who was name-sworn would grow anxious upon learning that their lord was on the verge of death in another duchy.

“I understand your concerns, Lasfam, but you may rest easy knowing that I wrenched permission to save him from the archducal family and even convinced Dunkelfelger to assist us with the rescue,” I said as we made our way to my chambers. “I expect both Eckhart and Justus to leave the Royal Academy and arrive here by sixth bell. Have rooms been prepared for them to rest in? We’re also due to have more dinner guests than expected. Have the chefs arrived yet? Do we have enough food to serve?”

Lasfam responded to my barrage of questions with clear and precise answers. Preparations seemed to be going well.

“I must ask that you have everything ready before the others arrive,” I said. “We will need to hear about Ahrensbach’s situation while we eat dinner and then spend whatever time we have left making the last of our preparations.”

“Understood,” Lasfam replied, not a trace of anxiety in his voice. “I will complete everything by sixth bell.”

But that wasn’t all that I needed of him. “Please contact their homes to see whether they left any clothes behind. I expect they came here in such a hurry that they didn’t grab much at all.”

“I shall prepare a change of clothes for Lord Ferdinand as well. He might need it,” Lasfam replied, more determined now that he had a goal in mind.

Leaving him to his work, I went into my chambers to carry out my own duties. Wandering around would only inconvenience my already busy retainers.

First, I sent an ordonnanz to Brigitte in Illgner. I explained that Ahrensbach had tried to dispatch Ferdinand and was likely about to invade and that Georgine was probably moving about in secret, then explained the function of the silver cloth our foe was sure to use. I also asked her to gather as much information from her province’s commoners as she could and to cooperate with the giebes of neighboring territories.

“If you notice anything suspicious on the border, inform us straight away,” I concluded. “My grandfather can mobilize the Knight’s Order at a moment’s notice.”

Her reply came not long afterward: “Lady Florencia has already contacted the giebes, but I thank you ever so much for your more detailed explanation. It was of great value. I shall inform the giebes around us and the commoners so that they know to be fully on guard.”

I could gauge from Brigitte’s response that the giebes didn’t have a clear picture of the situation, so I sent another ordonnanz to Florencia asking her to reveal more information and to instruct Giebes Gerlach and Garduhn to strengthen their defenses.

Having sent all of my ordonnanzes, I went into my hidden room, formed the Book of Mestionora, and then began looking for a map of Ahrensbach. I wanted to see where its temple was in relation to its country gate. My search revealed the map used during the city’s initial entwickeln and a detailed floor plan of Ahrensbach’s temple, which told me everything I wanted to know.

Getting this book might have hurt like heck, but it was so worth it. There’s so much useful information inside. Praise be to the gods!

I relished my satisfaction while copying and pasting the map and floor plan onto a piece of fey paper Clarissa had made for me. Analyzing maps wasn’t a specialty of mine—I could wander around with one for ages and still not know anything about my current location or my destination—but I was sure that at least one of my knights would be able to help me out.

I wanted to check the floor plan for Ahrensbach’s castle and replenishment hall, but nothing showed up. Such documents weren’t altered except during the most extenuating circumstances, and the only time they were looked at was when the entwickeln was performed. Maybe it was in the section of the Book of Mestionora that had gone to Ferdinand.

“Guhhh... I don’t have the most important part!”

But wailing wouldn’t help me find it. Eckhart and Justus knew the layout, at least, so I would simply need to rely on them. I shook off my malaise and started copying and pasting any magic circles I found that seemed useful.

Several pastes later, the magic tool used to indicate when someone was calling for me shone. I stepped out of my hidden room to find Judithe, who reported with a sullen expression that she had been told to stay in Ehrenfest. It was hard to imagine her parents saying anything else.

“You don’t need to go to Ahrensbach to serve me as a knight,” I said. “I also need people here in Ehrenfest to protect those close to me.”

“That’s true, but...”

Knights must have viewed invading another duchy as a glorious and enviable job. Judithe seemed a lot more disappointed about having to stay behind than Damuel, who was putting his all into my request despite it being less extravagant.

“Damuel promised to protect those close to me to shield my heart,” I said. “Judithe, I must ask that you protect the temple and the lower city alongside him. The Gutenbergs are crucial to the continued expansion of the printing industry. Steel your resolve and protect both Ehrenfest and the temple. Do not let Lady Georgine inside no matter what.”

Judithe had good eyes and a talent for long-range attacks, so I wanted to station her at the temple with some weapons that didn’t use mana. Bug bombs would probably work wonders against a thoroughbred noble like Georgine.

“Yes, my lady. I shall protect the temple.”

I spent my time making as many arrangements as I could think of, and suddenly it was sixth bell. Eckhart and Justus arrived a short while later; I went to see them the moment I received the news.

“Eckhart! Justus!”

“M-Milady...?”

Justus froze upon seeing me, at a loss for words. Sylvester must not have explained my circumstances during their meeting. Eckhart, on the other hand, didn’t seem very surprised at all. He stared at me for a moment and murmured my name as if seeking confirmation, then immediately began asking about the current status of our situation.

Eckhart cares more about how we’re going to save Ferdinand and the progress we’ve made with our preparations than about my sudden growth spurt. That’s fair enough.

To be honest, having someone barely react at all to my appearance was more refreshing than anything else.

“Eckhart, every single one of the preparations you asked about has already been completed,” I said. “We have secured Dunkelfelger’s assistance and plan to leave to rescue Ferdinand tonight.”

“Excellent work,” Eckhart replied, his eyes filled with hope and genuine approval. “I’d expect no less from my little sister and Lord Ferdinand’s protégée.”

I was so overjoyed. Eckhart only ever praised me when I was doing a lot to help his lord, so my actions thus far must have been exceptionally useful.

“The aub said you are confident you can succeed,” he continued. “Is that true?”

“Yes. And with you two here, our chances have shot up even higher.”

Eckhart nodded upon hearing my answer. My biggest concern had been not knowing where to find the Mana Replenishment hall, but now I wouldn’t have any trouble reaching it.

“Eckhart,” Justus said, “how can you act so normally when she’s changed this much?”

“Does it matter how much she’s changed on the outside?” Eckhart replied without missing a beat. “She’s still my sister, and she still cares deeply about Lord Ferdinand.” He then headed over to Lasfam with a metal cage containing what appeared to be the layattendant’s name stone.

“It might not be a problem, but aren’t you curious?” Justus said. Unlike his fellow retainer, he was unable to ignore my unusual growth. He had even begun to tremble on the spot, torn between asking for more information and focusing on the situation at hand.

It didn’t take him long to decide which mattered more.

“What in the world happened to you, milady?” he asked, inching closer and closer, his brown eyes sparkling with curiosity. “You grew so suddenly—and into such a beautiful woman, might I add. This phenomenon is entirely new to me.”

I was about to respond when Hartmut got between us and said, “I’m glad you asked.” It was kind of scary seeing his orange eyes once again burn with excitement.

“Such a miracle could never have occurred to anyone but Lady Rozemyne, whom the gods love more than any other,” Hartmut began. “It was through a miracle granted to her by Anwachs the God of Growth that she matured so! Allow me to explain its splendor and emotional significance!”

“Well, until Justus gets bored, at least.”

Indeed, Hartmut’s explanations contained so many religious metaphors and so much repetitive praise that even Justus would tire of them eventually. My own retainers disregarded them entirely at this point, since they had needed to listen to the same ramble time and time again.

And of course, Hartmut didn’t appreciate that. He started using the purplest prose he could come up with just so he could say he wasn’t repeating himself.