Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter 7

Rescue

“Ferdinand!”

He didn’t react. His mana reserves must have been so low that he was barely clinging to life.

I sprinted over, set down my box of potions, and used enhancement magic to flip Ferdinand onto his back. Then I put my arms under his and started pulling him away from the magic circle.

“It’s a good thing I’m so much larger now. Physical enhancements can only do so much to increase your strength.”

I prayed in gratitude to Anwachs the God of Growth, asked to grow just a little bit taller, and then got straight to inspecting Ferdinand. He seemed to be breathing irregularly. I sat him up against the wall and reached for the potion box.

“Let’s see... If he’s unconscious, start with the jureve.”

Ferdinand obviously couldn’t drink the potion on his own, so I took out a magic tool that looked a bit like a mouthpiece to administer it. Poison meant to kill someone instantly and turn them into a feystone was best counteracted with a jureve. I supposed that made sense, especially considering that I’d needed to use one to dissolve my mana clumps.

I was used to being fed potions like this, but now the shoe was on the other foot. Feeling tense, I poured the jureve into the mouthpiece.

Any clumps in him should now be breaking apart. Come on, jureve! Work your magic!

Hoping to weaken the poison even further or at least help Ferdinand recover, I added Flutrane’s and Heilschmerz’s healing to the mix.

“Next comes the antidote.”

I put a cloth soaked with antidote into his mouth, as he had once done for me. This would ease the paralysis of his tongue and make it easier for him to breathe and drink potions.

Oh, I think his mouth just moved a little!

My careful observation was bearing fruit. I resoaked the cloth before stuffing it back in place. Then, when Ferdinand started to work his jaw and his breathing seemed to get less ragged, I removed the cloth entirely and used a syringe-like tool to slowly administer an ultra nasty rejuvenation potion. He would wake up with a terribly bitter taste in his mouth, but it would quickly regenerate both his mana and stamina.

And just as I thought I’d administered enough, Ferdinand began coughing violently.

B-But why?! Have I done something wrong?!

I was no stranger to waking up with the awful taste of a potion in my mouth, but I’d never started spluttering. I must have messed up somehow.

“S-S-Sorry!” I stammered. “It was an accident!” I went to pat Ferdinand on the back, but he seized my arm. “Wha—?”

Ferdinand yanked me down before I could even process that he was conscious. Then he was on top of me, using his body weight to pin me down. He pressed my wrists against the floor, and the chain linking his bracelets dug into my throat.

“Who are you?” he demanded through pained gasps.

Ferdinand must not have recognized me; his eyes were narrowed, and it was clear from his voice that he was on guard. Though the chain wrapped around my neck made it hard to breathe, I just barely managed to eke out a response.

“It’s me! Rozemyne!”

I get it; I’m a lot bigger than you remember! But please try to recognize me! And stop pushing down so hard; the chain really hurts!

“Roze...myne?”

Ferdinand went silent. He studied me up close, then raised only a single hand, holding it a short distance above the ground.

“Impossible. Rozemyne is only this tall.”

“What?! How is it impossible?! And I’ve never been that tiny! There are stuffed animals bigger than that! Raise your hand and— Guh!”

Swept up in my own outrage, I’d attempted to lean closer to him—a stupid move, I now realized, as I’d moved straight into the chain. It hurt so much that I seriously felt like I was going to die.

As I coughed and spluttered, desperately trying to recover, Ferdinand slowly stood up and pinched my cheek. His nimble movements before must have been a front, as the strength drained from his limbs barely a moment later. He crumpled back down to the floor, lying on his side and staring at me.

“Have you lost your mind...? You fool.”

“Bwuh... Look, I already know that I took things a little too far. Please don’t get all sanctimonious about it.”

I’d gone through all this trouble to get here; I didn’t want our first conversation now that he was safe to be a lecture. Was it too much to ask for moving words of gratitude or praise, or for something else more appropriate for our long-awaited reunion?

“‘A little too far’? Good grief... You really are Rozemyne. Nobody else would give such an airheaded response while being choked.”

“I’m glad you understand,” I said, getting up and returning to my box of potions. Now that Ferdinand was conscious, he could drink them without my help. “Now, which one do you need next? I... Wait. Hold on. The chain didn’t get caught on my neck by accident? You were deliberately choking me?!”

I spun around to look at Ferdinand, who was now wearing a most serious grimace. “Did you truly not realize...?” he asked.

“I mean, I didn’t think you’d recognize me, and it was pretty obvious that you were on guard, but I’d just given you a jureve and an antidote! How was I supposed to know you’d attack me? Don’t you think it’s cruel to strangle your savior?”

“How am I the cruel one in this scenario?” Ferdinand retorted. “I shall not state who, but there exists a fool who stole my name and ordered me to live by any means necessary. As a result, in the face of a potential threat, my body moved almost on its own.”

“What? But you were half dead. How was I supposed to know you were going to try to exterminate me? Would it not make more sense for someone ordered to stay alive to accept the potion being administered to them?”

Ferdinand averted his eyes. “I... thought it was poison.”

Aah, okay. I understand where he’s coming from. The ultra nasty potion certainly tastes poisonous.

But I wasn’t responsible for the flavor. The onus for that rested on the person who had come up with the recipe in the first place.

“If you’re going to complain about the taste, then you have only yourself to blame!” I declared.

“Very well, then you relinquish all rights to complain about being choked. You ordered me to live by any means, did you not? And on that note, why did you not just order me to unhand you? Good grief... Enough with this exchange. Bring me the rest of the potions.”

“You’re trying to change the subject, aren’t you?”

“Not at all. I merely told you what you should do.”

Is this seriously how he’s going to act after coming back from the brink of death?!

“I cannot yet move freely. First, bring me more of the antidote. Once that has been consumed, do something about these bracelets. Not having a schtappe is terribly inconvenient.”

Limp and on his side, Ferdinand started telling me what to do. I was technically his master now that I had stolen his name, so why was he giving me orders? I pursed my lips at this reversal, though I still prepared the potion as instructed and watched attentively as he drank it.

“Is it because you can’t move that you feel the need to run your mouth?” I asked.

“I ‘run my mouth’ because of the manner in which you administered the antidote. And if you want me to take your complaints seriously, I would advise wiping that great big smile from your face. As it stands, I cannot tell whether you are upset or overjoyed.”

I pressed my hands to my cheeks. Ferdinand was right: I was grinning from ear to ear. I gave my face a few gentle slaps, trying to adopt a harder expression, but it was no use.

“I don’t think I can do anything about it,” I said, conceding to my emotions and smiling to my heart’s content. “I’m glad you’ve recovered enough to grumble.”

Ferdinand blinked several times, then closed his eyes and frowned. “Good grief. You really are something else.”

“Oh? Feeling embarrassed, are we?”

“No.”

I gave his cheeks a few light prods. He raised a trembling arm to stop me but couldn’t muster the strength; it didn’t even get halfway before dropping back down.

Ferdinand sighed with resignation and glared at me. “Mark my words: you will pay for this when I am able to move again.”

“I should hope so. As soon as you’re better, I expect some head pats, your sweetest ‘very good,’ and maybe even some hugs. You can also pinch my cheeks if you want. So please... Get better soon.”

A tear rolled down my cheek. It helped that the tension was finally leaving my body and that I could take comfort in our casual exchange. But most of all, I was just so glad that he was still alive. I couldn’t help but sob.

I’d gone to such great lengths to save Ferdinand, securing the support of Ehrenfest’s archducal family, rallying Dunkelfelger, and using the Book of Mestionora without the slightest hesitation. Every time someone had questioned me, I’d declared that I would succeed—but in truth, I’d never stopped worrying. Perhaps we would arrive while he had mana to spare only to find that he had run out of stamina. Or maybe he would regain consciousness to find that the poison had done irreparable damage to his body. Such thoughts had run rampant through my mind.

But I did succeed. Ferdinand is alive. He’s getting better.

He was conscious again. Yes, he had strangled me, but it was a small price to pay to know that he was on the mend.

“Do not weep...” Ferdinand said. He tried to raise his arms again, but to no avail. The most he could do was grimace and clench his fists. “In the first place, there was no need for you to come to my rescue. Justus must have given you my message, so why are you here? To what end did you come?”

My tears immediately stopped flowing. If he had said that to make me cry more, it would have worked without a doubt... but he was being serious.

“I did not think your memory was so poor, Ferdinand. I threatened you so clearly. To your face, as well.”

“You did, but the circumstances have changed immensely since then. I... Why are you getting angry?”

This guy really doesn’t get it.

“How could I not?! I said I would make the world my enemy if you weren’t happy! And you’re the one who called for me!”

“I did no such thing.”

Ferdinand tried to turn his head to the side, but I grabbed his thick skull and wrenched it back, forcing his golden eyes to meet mine. “But you did. I saw what was happening to you from all the way in Ehrenfest. That time Lutz saw me in a dangerous situation, it was because I was staring death in the face and desperately called for his help. That means you must have called out for me, Ferdinand. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have made it here in time.”

“Fine. Fine. Just let go of me. You are too close. Your face—”

Ferdinand was spouting such nonsense that I couldn’t bear it any longer. I continued forcing him to look at me, then took advantage of our close proximity to headbutt him. He grunted from the pain and glared at me.

“You are the reason I said you should not have come,” he complained.

“Excuse me?”

“You refused to answer my question, ignored all warnings, and went on a rampage to obtain the Book of Mestionora, all of which culminated in Erwaermen instructing you to kill me. Am I mistaken?”

I glared back at him. “He did, but so what? I told him to his face that I wouldn’t lay a finger on you.”

“Hold on. As I understand it, one of us must die for the book to be completed. And without it, Yurgenschmidt will collapse. What do you think will come of refusing his instruction?”

“Hm? I mean, who cares?” I replied, tilting my head at him. “There’s no point in saving Yurgenschmidt if you’re not in it. Isn’t that super obvious?”

Ferdinand stared at me in shock. “What in the world are you saying? You make it sound entirely as if you value me over our entire country. You must choose your words more carefully and—”

“How many times must I say it? The greater duchies, the Sovereignty, the royal family, and even the gods themselves—I would make an enemy of the entire world to save you.”

“I do not believe you said ‘the gods’ before...” Ferdinand muttered, rolling over so that he was face down on the floor. That he could move at all meant he was getting better.

I smiled, observing his improvement. “Oh, is this your first time hearing that part? My apologies, but that’s just how it is. Now, let us come up with a way to complete the Book of Mestionora without either one of us having to die.”