Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter 15

Playground

“Ferdinand, what on earth do you mean...?”

The frustration and nausea that had eaten away at me mere moments ago was gone, replaced entirely by confusion. For all of our problems with Ahrensbach, I’d never expected him to describe it as a playground.

“Ahrensbach has already committed the grave crime of treason; as the aub, you are free to do with it as you please. You could become its savior or make supposed errors that lead to its destruction.”

“Hold on—wouldn’t destroying an entire duchy be an absolute catastrophe?! There are nobles and commoners living here! How can you say something so ridiculous?!”

All of a sudden, I remembered the incident in Hasse. Such an outlandish statement shouldn’t have surprised me; Ferdinand had always been this kind of person. For the crime of attacking an archduke, he had flatly declared that he didn’t care if an entire town of commoners was eradicated.

He really is willing to destroy Ahrensbach.

This wasn’t a cute little act meant to hide his embarrassment about letting Detlinde of all people poison him; I could sense that unless I worked seriously hard to stop him, he really would tear down the entire duchy.

As I put my head in my hands, fearing a repeat of Hasse’s nightmare, Ferdinand gave me a look of disinterest. “You told me long ago that you wanted Ahrensbach, did you not? It has an ocean, for one thing. I recall your envy that the people here could eat fish whenever they wanted. The duchy also boasts several scholars who are trying to derive spices from local plants to minimize trade with Lanzenave, driven by their frustration about the envoys’ recent arrogance. Supporting their research will almost certainly bear fruit.”

What the heck?! Ahrensbach sounds so tasty!

I clapped a hand over my mouth, trying not to drool at the thought of a seafood paradise. The nightmare hellscape that was Ahrensbach suddenly seemed a whole lot more appealing.

“Furthermore,” Ferdinand continued, “now that you have dyed Ahrensbach’s foundation, the duchy’s land is yours. You can use an entwickeln to create whatever you want—even that library city you proposed during one of our lessons.”

“What? A library city?! Can I actually make one?!”

Back when I’d mentioned the idea to Ferdinand, he’d given me a look of complete exhaustion. And when I’d proposed it during one of my Royal Academy classes, Eglantine had merely humored me as one would a child. Was making a library city actually feasible? If so, it didn’t feel right that Ferdinand was encouraging it.

“Your original plan was to construct it in Ehrenfest, which would not have been possible for the reasons I explained. Ahrensbach, on the other hand, already needs to be restructured so that it can produce new exports and establish new industries.”

My heart had already been racing at the thought of delicious fish and spices, and now I was getting a library city to boot?! The way Ferdinand described it—that whole thing about the duchy needing to be restructured—made it all seem easily within my reach. Ahrensbach now felt like a wonderful land of dreams and whimsy.

Ferdinand continued, “You also mentioned establishing temple schools or something of the sort to raise the literacy rate among commoners. That much should easily be achievable. You would not need anyone’s permission, nor would the Zent be able to interfere; he does not have a say in how duchies are managed. You might even be able to force it through now, considering how much reconstruction is going to be necessary in this time of chaos.”

Temple schools, huh? That was a dream of mine once. Improving the literacy rate, thereby increasing the number of authors...

I was genuinely impressed that Ferdinand seemed to remember the details of every idea I’d thrown at him. More than that, though, I was ready to embrace my future as Aub Ahrensbach.

Or I would have been, had a voice in my head not told me to think. Ferdinand would never be this kind.

That’s right. Something veeery strange is going on here!

I slapped my cheeks a few times, trying to calm down. Ferdinand paid this no mind and continued with his siren song.

“Those close to you have already begun preparing to move, have they not? You need only bring them here instead. And as you build institutions accessible to commoners and develop the printing industry with workers of all statuses, you will find it easier than ever to meet with the people you care about. But above all that... the magic contract you signed with your lower-city family applies only to Ehrenfest. It has no power in other duchies.”

“Ferdinand, does that mean...?”

I took a cautious step back. Was he seriously telling me I could reunite with my family? If this was a cruel joke of some kind, I wasn’t sure I’d manage to control my emotions.

“For obvious reasons, if you wish for them to live carefree lives, I would not publicly address them as your family. You could, however, meet them in secret by adding a teleportation circle to their house when you remake the city with an entwickeln.”

“Would it really be acceptable for me to place a teleportation circle for such a personal reason?” I asked, surprised that Ferdinand was even suggesting it.

“There is a long history of aubs placing teleportation circles to meet with their lovers, so while it might not be commendable, the option is there for you. Oh, and it should go without saying that you would need to act in moderation. For their safety’s sake.”

I narrowed my eyes in a sharp glare. “Moderation, hmm? Does that mean I won’t be able to see them without your permission?” My caution was feeling more and more justified.

A deep frown creased Ferdinand’s brow. “Is there a reason you leapt to such a twisted conclusion?”

I was more interested to know why he’d asked such a stupid question. He’d said so many twisted things since our arrival at the gate that I would have been crazy not to assume the worst.

He continued, “You would be able to spend unfettered, uninterrupted time with your family once or twice per season.”

“Promise?”

“If you allowed me control of your schedule, I would be able to make time for such meetings as necessary. Even Hartmut would be able to arrange one every half year or so.”

By this point, I was ready to stick with my role as Aub Ahrensbach. It had basically everything I wanted. But every sweet deal was sour at its core.

“Nice try, Ferdinand, but you can’t trick me that easily. You’re planning something under the guise of granting my wishes, aren’t you?”

“You would do well not to bandy about such slanderous remarks.”

“‘Slanderous’? I’m speaking from experience,” I shot back, taking a fighting stance.

Ferdinand eyed me as though I were a petulant child. “Fine,” he said. “As you fear, I am indeed planning something.”

“Aha! See?! Now tell me what you’re scheming! If you try to hide anything from me, I’ll make you regret it!”

Despite his insistence on keeping others in the know, Ferdinand was always hiding things and working in the shadows. He placed a contemplative hand on his cheek and said, “Well, I would appreciate a laboratory next to your library. Under the same roof, if possible, so that I could briskly acquire whatever documents I need.”

“Oh, like the feyplant lab you mentioned before?”

“I would also like to research feybeasts and feyfish, but yes, that is mostly correct. You would not mind giving me a small somewhere to indulge my hobbies, would you? Remember that you have an entire duchy to play with.”

So that was what Ferdinand wanted—his very own great laboratory. He really was a mad scientist. I understood where he was coming from, but his request also irritated me.

“You pinched me earlier for saying that you should retire and take it easy! Isn’t this basically the same thing?!”

“There is much I can do here in Ahrensbach that I cannot back in Ehrenfest. As an extension of my lab proper, I would request some isolated areas where I could grow feyplants, raise feybeasts, and keep feyfish taken from the ocean.”

In other words, on top of a lab connected to my library, he wants a botanical garden, a ranch, and an aquarium?

The word “playground” was feeling more appropriate by the minute. Ferdinand wanted me to keep being Aub Ahrensbach so that I could make him his very own research paradise.

“You sure are asking for a lot,” I said.

“Indeed. That is why Sylvester refused to build me a laboratory in Ehrenfest—and why I would rather have one here. I can provide the schematics and the gold dust. The most I need from you is your permission.”

It’s so like him to focus on his own desires at a time like this! He intends to let me wrestle with the duties of an aub while he enjoys a breezy retirement!

It sounded like a pretty lousy arrangement, if you asked me. Ferdinand would get to hole up in his laboratory while I drowned in too much work to ever be able to visit my library.

“No,” I said. “If I stay here as the aub, you’ll need to help me with my work. I won’t permit you to have fun without me.”

“Is that all?” Ferdinand replied with a grin. “That still sounds much easier than my current role here in Ahrensbach.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was on the back foot, so I scrambled to come up with extra conditions. “Um, umm... There’s more, of course! You’ll need to ensure I can visit my family once per season, develop more palatable rejuvenation potions, and compile the results of any research you perform into books for my library!”

“Hmm... Those requests will require a lot of work and take up a considerable amount of my time, but I consider them reasonable. As long as the duchy funds the binding of the books, I shall get the scholars who use my facilities to submit their results as well.”

“Perfect!” I exclaimed.

Ferdinand gave a slight smile. “Now then—do you have any reasons to oppose staying here as Aub Ahrensbach, or can we proceed with that future in mind?”

“We can proceed,” I said, then punctuated my response with a silent WOO-HOO!

“Very good.”

Ferdinand opened up his Book of Mestionora. It looked a lot like the bible given to High Bishops in the temple, which probably explained why he’d called it one when we were outside, but its function wasn’t the same at all. There was no need to search through it, as the page he opened it to already had the magic circle he wanted—a magic circle that was incomplete, I noticed, and therefore wouldn’t activate on its own.

“Rozemyne, this is the magic circle for closing the country gate. It is missing a fragment, as I am sure you can see. I would normally attempt to complete it on my own using the surrounding composition as a guideline, but my mana reserves are too low for me to rely on trial and error. Could you use the knowledge you received to complete the circle for me?”

I quickly formed my own Book of Mestionora and muttered under my breath as I started to search through it. “Closing country gates... Magic circle...” It wasn’t long before I found what I was looking for. The missing fragment of the magic circle was so small that it would have been incomprehensible on its own.

Ferdinand used a stylo to draw the magic circle in his own Book, consulting mine as he went.

“Can’t you just copy and paste it?” I asked.

“Ah yes, that incomprehensible spell of yours... It does interest me, but let us leave it for another day. We do not have time to spare.”

Ferdinand completed the magic circle and then cast eendgrenze, which caused the circle at his feet to sparkle. The country gate seemed to be activating. Once it was shut, we wouldn’t need to worry about Lanzenave’s ships passing through.

“That did not drain as much of my mana as I expected...” Ferdinand said.

“Oh, that might be because I used the gate earlier. It drained a ton of my mana the first time I teleported and then considerably less the second time.”

Ferdinand dispelled his Book of Mestionora, muttering that supplying the country gates with mana would be urgent business. I put away my Book at the same time.

“Well, Rozemyne... that has solved our most pressing issue, at least.”

To my surprise, Ferdinand then reached a hand out to me. I took it, not quite sure what he wanted, only for him to lead me toward the exit. In an unusual development, it seemed that he intended to escort me.

We made our way downstairs until we were outside the gatepost, then climbed onto Ferdinand’s highbeast and confirmed that the country gate was shut. Before, when both it and the border gate had been wide open, we’d been able to see the teleportation circle and the white desert beyond it. Now, however, an iridescent door stood in the way.

“Lady Rozemyne!”

“Are you safe?!”

I waved at Leonore and Angelica as they flew overhead. “It’s okay! We didn’t see any Lanzenavians!”

“Rozemyne—while we are here, close the border gate as well,” Ferdinand said. “If we can prevent even a single person from passing through, we can consider it a worthwhile move.”

“Got it.”

I formed my schtappe and did as instructed. Ferdinand then took us high up into the air before landing on the roof of one of the gateposts. The noblewomen rescued from the ocean had already been moved to the castle, and the knights tasked with retrieving feystones knelt before us.

“Well done, everyone. You did an even finer job than I expected,” Ferdinand addressed them. “Assign three people to stand watch here while the rest of you break. We shall fetch the knights operating with Georgine.”

“Sir!”

Once they were done, Leonore stepped forward. “Lord Ferdinand, if all that remains is to return to the castle, I must ask that you let Lady Rozemyne ride with me.”

“Certainly. Our battle here is over, and whatever remains of the cleanup can be done later. The sooner she can rest, the better.” Ferdinand gave me a gentle push, urging me toward my retainer. “Rozemyne, go to the room prepared by Letizia and stay in your highbeast. That is the safest place for you right now.”

He was right that I needed to be careful—we didn’t know how much we could trust Ahrensbach’s nobles—but he was completely disregarding his own safety. If anyone needed some time to recover, surely it was the man who had very recently been poisoned.

“Ferdinand, what will you do while I’m resting?” I asked.

“I shall retire to my hidden room. Leonore, Rozemyne is fairly exhausted from expending too much mana. Please instruct Hartmut to give her twice the usual dosage of an undiluted potion.”

Leonore nodded, but the blood drained from my face. “T-Twice the usual dosage...?” I stammered.

“Your body has grown, so you will need to drink more. Is that much not obvious? You are welcome to refuse, but know that I will forbid you from joining the fight in Ehrenfest.”

“Okay...” I said, my shoulders slumped.

“Lady Rozemyne, please remember your standing when you interact with Lord Ferdinand,” Leonore warned as we made our way to the castle. “You are still publicly engaged to Lord Wilfried, so your cavorting with another man will only arouse suspicion. You and Lord Ferdinand seemed more like an intimate couple than a guardian and his charge.”

“Did we?” I asked, my head cocked. “But we’ve always been this close. Nobody seemed to care before.”

“It was more acceptable when you looked so much younger. Oh, how could Lord Ferdinand commit such a tremendous faux pas? He must have known what rumors it would cause...”

“I don’t think he cared who was watching or what kind of an impact it might have on my reputation. His only concern was purging the Lanzenavians as quickly and as thoroughly as he could.”

Leonore was indignant about the damage this would potentially cause to my honor. As a knight in my service, she had every right to be annoyed, but we had acted only out of necessity. There hadn’t been any other way for Ferdinand to give out instructions while keeping both his bible and his poor health hidden from the others.

“Should someone who claims to be your guardian really show such open disregard for your reputation?” Leonore asked, evidently furious.

Truth be told, I cared a lot more about Ferdinand’s health and cleaning up this mess than about the public’s perception of me. I couldn’t say that to Leonore, though—it would only make the situation worse.

“I can’t even pretend to know what Ferdinand was thinking,” I said. “We’ll need to ask him later.”

Besides, there’s an even greater problem on my mind...

I paused in thought, still able to feel Leonore’s outrage behind me. Had it been reckless to promise that I would continue being an aub and give Ferdinand a laboratory here in Ahrensbach? Wouldn’t that seem crazy from an outside perspective?

Especially when Ferdinand gets so immersed in his research that he loses sight of everything else. Maybe I should convince Sylvester to build him a lab in Ehrenfest instead...

“Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne! I am moved beyond words!” Clarissa exclaimed the moment we arrived at the castle. “Letters have already been sent to Aubs Ehrenfest and Dunkelfelger!”

“How convenient. I was just about to contact them. Thank you for saving me the time, Clarissa.”

“And we received their responses. Aub Dunkelfelger granted us permission to lead his knights into Ehrenfest. Aub Ehrenfest said, ‘Well done.’”

Clarissa then led us into the castle. We passed several Ahrensbach nobles as we traversed its halls, and they all shouted, “Lady Rozemyne!” upon seeing me. Their enthusiasm spoke to Clarissa’s hard work, but it was honestly kind of scary.

“Um, Lady Rozemyne...” Letizia said when we reached our destination, “we have set up a guest room for you over here.”

“I am touched that you would go to the trouble. You must be exhausted from all that you’ve been through, so please get some rest when you can.”

She gave me a look of concern. “Thank you, but I must wait for my attendants. Dunkelfelger’s knights are having a feast, you see...”

“Ah, that sounds like a most uncomfortable burden. Where might Lady Hannelore be?”

“She went to return the wolfaniels to their owners.”

So the boisterous knights are entirely unsupervised...

I asked Letizia to guide me to the grand hall, where Dunkelfelger’s knights were holding their feast under the guise of a postbattle review. Even through the closed doors, I could hear them raving about the awesomeness of Leidenschaft’s spears, and all the ways they could use Ewigeliebe’s sword in future ditter matches.

I stepped into the hall and was immediately met with a sea of smiling faces.

“Lady Rozemyne!” Heisshitze exclaimed. “The ritual today was splendid. Just absolutely—”

“I came to thank you all for your excellent performance, but I must say... I am shocked. Did Lord Ferdinand not tell you that a ditter match isn’t over until one’s foundation is safe? Is it customary in Dunkelfelger to drink in the middle of a game?”

The air froze over all at once. Several of the knights bunched together in a futile attempt to hide the barrels of beer behind them.

“To think you would feast instead of resting in preparation for tomorrow...” I continued. “I wonder, would Lord Ferdinand even bother to take such knights to Ehrenfest?”

“We shall clean up at once and get to bed. When are we to depart?”

“That will depend on when I recover.”

Once the knights had calmed down, I said poignantly that I was looking forward to their service tomorrow and then exited the hall. Letizia and her retainers were visibly relieved; none of them had the experience necessary to wrangle Dunkelfelgerians.

“I thank you ever so much, Lady Rozemyne.”

“There is no need for that—not when I was the one who brought them here,” I replied. “Now, Lady Letizia... As much as it pains me to deprive you of your rest, could you ask the chefs to prepare food that can be eaten cold? We won’t be able to cater such a large group otherwise.”

I suggested several recipes from among the ones I’d sent her before retiring to the guest room prepared for me. I cleaned myself with a waschen, drank double my usual dose of the ultra-nasty rejuvenation potion, and then climbed into my Pandabus to rest.