Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter SS4

Gunther — A Promise Fulfilled

“Hey! Gunther!” the west commander shouted. “Today’s shipment’s here for you. Bring the apprentices along.”

“Right. Just give me a chance to plug my nose.”

Because I’d agreed to leave Ehrenfest with Lady Rozemyne, I’d needed to put in my notice with the city’s garrison. They’d demoted me to the rank of captain again in preparation for my departure—which was expected to happen at the end of spring—so I now spent most of my time looking after the apprentices.

“Seriously? Another shipment?” they asked when I told them the news, all grimacing. It was hard to blame them; necessary or not, our work was exhausting.

We all took a moment to plug our noses. Then, covering our mouths with cloth, we grabbed the newly delivered barrel.

“Gah, it reeks!”

“D’you think we don’t know that? Shut up and get moving.”

The knights had told those of us at the west gate to start collecting excrement, which we were supposed to dump on the heads of any invaders who tried to force their way into the city. Of course, that was only the first step of our battle plan; people dressed in silver were immune to the mana attacks nobles used, so we commoners had been told to ready our weapons and join the battle.

“Those knights have it easy...” one of the apprentices griped. “All they had to do was give an order. We’re the ones who actually have to collect this crap.”

“Hard to believe a noble came up with a plan like this,” another added. “They must’ve been a real monster.”

I stayed silent, trying to focus on the job at hand. If no ordinary noble would come up with a scheme like this, then it had probably come from Myne. I really didn’t know how to feel about that.

Nah, nah... It couldn’t have been Myne.

My adorable daughter would never have come up with such a disgusting idea. Back home, she’d always been obsessively clean.

“Oy. Don’t complain about the nobles when there’s a chance one might hear you,” I warned. “Lady Rozemyne and Lord Damuel might be protecting us, but don’t get cocky—annoy the wrong noble and your head might roll before word even reaches them.”

The apprentices fell silent; it wasn’t rare for nobles to kill commoners over the slightest inconvenience. They also knew I was speaking from experience since my daughter had, for all intents and purposes, died at the hands of an arrogant noble.

“Look,” I continued. “This ain’t pleasant work by any means, but we’re doing it for a good reason. The duchy’s being invaded right now. Some of our Knight’s Order had to rush to the border a couple days ago, and who knows when the enemy might show up on our doorstep?”

Our commander had told us the invaders were trying to reach the Noble’s Quarter, which explained why there were so many knights hanging around the gates these days. They were so suspicious of anyone trying to get into the city that even merchants here on business from other towns were being thoroughly inspected.

“Plus, the knights said they’d tell us if something big happens. How much of an improvement is that? Not too long ago, they wouldn’t have given us commoners a second thought.”

Slowly but surely, the city of Ehrenfest was changing. Lord Damuel was keeping us in the know, and the knights were paying attention to all the gates, not just the north one. I glared at the apprentices, wanting them to realize how lucky they were, and they all winced in response.

“This is the part where you tell us Lady Rozemyne’s the only one who would do this much for commoners, right?” one of them asked. “We get it. And she cleaned the whole city.”

“Seems like there are plenty of considerate nobles these days. I was told they invite merchants to the temple for business meetings.”

“And you know who made that happen?” I demanded. “Lady Rozemyne—the High Bishop!”

“Yeah, yeah. We know how much you worship her, Captain. How about we just work in silence? We won’t complain anymore.”

The apprentices shut me down the moment I tried to focus our conversation on Lady Rozemyne. I really wanted to brag about my daughter some more, but few people actually cared to listen.

Once we’d moved the waste, we removed our shirts and started scrubbing ourselves as quickly as we could. The water was still cold at this time of year, but how else were we supposed to get rid of the stench?

“You lot!” a passing knight called. He must have thought we were taking a break. “Can you tell me when the ship from Leisegang is due to arrive?!”

I glanced over at my apprentices before I replied, “There are several that come here from Leisegang. Some arrived yesterday. More will come today. They normally start appearing around noon.” I was doing my best to sound proper, as I always did in situations like this.

“That doesn’t help. Tell the guards to be especially suspicious of anyone coming in from Leisegang. Do you understand me?”

The knight spoke sharply and with a tense look in his eyes; our enemies must have boarded a vessel at Leisegang. I was reminded of the eastern commander whose communication error had allowed that noble from another duchy to worm his way into the city. The faster we informed the others, the better.

“I’ll go spread the word,” I told the apprentices. “If anything happens while I’m gone, start the evacuation. You all know which streets you’re meant to cover, right? Triple-check them. Something tells me the time’s finally come.”

I gave my body a quick wipe and then rushed to inform the commander, not even bothering to put my shirt back on.

“There’s a ship about to arrive. Anyone who’s free, watch the gate.”

Each time a boat came into view, the crowd at the gate swelled. We’d been instructed to keep an eye out for anyone who carried themselves like a noble or—more importantly—arrived dressed in silver. Even the slightest cause for concern had to be reported to the knights.

“This one’s meant to be carrying a lot of rich merchants, right? Sounds like the perfect place for nobles looking to blend in. Keep a close eye on them.”

Some cheap ships prioritized their merchandise, forcing the people on board to cram themselves into corners and the like, whereas more expensive ones had dedicated rooms for their passengers. The vessel now docking—which had come here from Leisegang—was full of rich merchants, so it went without saying which category it belonged to.

“You boarded at Leisegang, but where are you from?” I asked the first of our new arrivals as they reached the gate. “If you’re a merchant, show us your guild card. And what store are you here to do business with?” Nobles weren’t always easy to distinguish from servant-swarmed merchants, so it was important to gather as much information as we could.

“I am Laugo, a Gerlach merchant,” the man replied in short order, then showed me his guild card. “I deal in plants and came to discuss selling spring herbs as an ingredient for dyes. The ship containing my merchandise should arrive around noon. For now, I intend to visit Vita’s apothecary on the main street and the ink workshop. I am going to be staying at the Doltas Inn, as I always do.”

I recognized this Laugo guy—I’d seen him several times before—and the answers he gave all checked out. It was rare to see him without any servants or attendants, but a lot of merchants assigned their personnel to the ship carrying their product. I nodded and let him through.

The next merchant waiting outside then entered. I gave him the same set of questions as the first and carefully inspected his servants in case any of them were nobles in disguise.

The line’s long enough already. And there’s another ship arriving at noon?

Today wasn’t going to be easy. I tried to psych myself up—and that was when third bell rang.

Gong... Gong...

It wasn’t much later that a knight arrived and ordered us to evacuate the commoners; they had it on good authority that the ship due to arrive at noon was carrying invaders. Nobody had seen our suspects disembark, so we needed to be on high alert.

“Gunther, take the apprentices and start your rounds,” the commander instructed. “We’ll get ourselves ready for a fight.”

Following our orders, the apprentices and I sprinted outside. It was standard procedure to head straight to the other gates to spread news of the danger, but that wasn’t necessary this time; the nobles were keeping each other up to date using white birds.

“Remember your sections!” I shouted.

We started with wells, telling the workers and residents gathered there to evacuate. My section was the area around the central plaza, which included the city’s guilds, but I spread the news to anyone and everyone I saw along the way.

“There’s a ship of enemy nobles headed straight for the city. It’s gonna be dangerous here, so make sure you’re home before fourth bell. Don’t go outside until the fighting’s over.”

I did my best to hurry along the parents enjoying the plaza and the apprentices running errands. Some merchants were setting up their food stalls, but I told them to put their wares away and rush home as soon as they could.

“This won’t be some harmless tussle between drunks,” I said. “Nobles are gonna be shooting magic at each other! The knights have said they’ll try to lead the enemy to the Noble’s Quarter, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be dangerous—and they certainly won’t compensate you for any damage to your merchandise. So pack it away and go!”

Next, I threw open the doors of workshops along the street and shouted inside: “Your jobs aren’t more important than your lives! Close up shop and either hunker down or go home! There’s a dangerous ship arriving at noon!”

It was quite a ways from the main street, but I also stopped by Effa’s workshop. To my surprise, it was empty apart from a few people, and all the work tools had already been put away.

“Oh, is that you, Gunther? Thanks for coming, but we’re one step ahead of you. Your boy told us to evacuate a while ago.”

As it turned out, Kamil had known about the situation ahead of us, and my darling wife had already evacuated. I’d heard that Lady Rozemyne’s personnel and the Plantin Company were being relocated together, and while I wasn’t sure where they’d gone, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they were safe. I could join the fight without having to worry about them.

By the time I finished circling the buildings by the plaza, the main street was swarmed with people heading home. As I called out for them to be careful, my eyes wandered to the temple gate in the distance. Was that where Myne was now? Or was she in the castle? Given the circumstances, I sincerely hoped that she was safe.

Still... Nobles from another duchy, huh?

I was hit with a wave of bitterness as I remembered the day Myne was taken from me. What if something like that happened again? The very thought made my entire body tense up.

Gah! This time, I’ll stop them at the gate! They’re not getting in my city!

We knew exactly when the threat was going to arrive. I squeezed the charm Myne had given me; I wouldn’t let any bad actors reach her in the temple or castle.

It was close to noon when the clamor of the evacuation finally settled down. I quickly double-checked to make sure I hadn’t missed anyone, then went back to the west gate.

“You sure took your time, Gunther. Lord Damuel’s waiting for you.”

“Lord Damuel?!”

The soldiers assumed I knew Lady Rozemyne’s guard knights from our trips to Hasse. Really, though, I’d met Lord Damuel way back when Myne was still an apprentice shrine maiden.

“Here I am,” I said as I entered the knights’ waiting room, feeling tense. “I was told you have some business with me...”

Lord Damuel had been going over something with the knights when I arrived, but he said, “Right” and came over to see me. We exited the room together to speak privately.

“Lady Rozemyne asked me to protect her family and the lower city...” he began. “To that end, I participated in the evacuation of her personnel, your family included. You don’t need to worry—I made sure they reached their destination safely.”

“Thank you.”

“And when I did, they gave me these.”

Lord Damuel took three charms from a pouch on his hip—the same charms Effa, Tuuli, and Kamil had worn nonstop ever since we’d received them from Lady Rozemyne. We’d been told they would protect us from anything that might do us harm, so why were they here? I wasn’t sure what to think.

“These are...”

“Your family is under the protection of a powerful magic tool Lady Rozemyne made. They asked me to give you their charms to make sure you were just as safe.”

My family was as worried about me as I was about them—these charms proved that more than anything. I could feel the flames of love blazing in my heart as I put them on.

“How is Lady Rozemyne?” I asked. “Is that tool you mentioned protecting her too?” Even if she couldn’t interact with Effa and the others as family, I wanted to know they were together during this crisis.

Lord Damuel gave a half smile and shook his head. “Lady Rozemyne is the archduke’s adopted daughter; she’s currently leading a group of knights to defend Ehrenfest and everyone she cares about.”

All of a sudden, Myne’s old promise flashed through my mind: “My name’s going to change, and I can’t call you ‘Dad’ anymore, but... I’ll always be your daughter. I’ll protect this city, and you, and everyone. I will.” She’d chosen to become a noble to protect us, and it was because of her sacrifice that we’d managed to live this long without being torn apart by the nobility.

And now she’d literally charged into battle for us.

I couldn’t be more proud. That’s my daughter.

The thought that she was trying so hard to keep her promise to protect the whole city was enough to bring a tear to my eye. She was fighting to protect her family.

“Stay safe, Gunther—for Lady Rozemyne’s sake as well as your own. Fight well, and may Angriff guide you.”

I couldn’t help but notice the concern in Lord Damuel’s voice. Myne was the reason we’d met in the first place, and it seemed that my being a commoner hadn’t stopped him from worrying about me.

“Thank you,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “My family’s message has been received loud and clear. Let’s protect this city together—and may Angriff guide you too.”

I stood up straight and tapped my fist twice against my left breast. As a retainer serving the archduke’s family, Lord Damuel was going to be on the front lines, fighting a far more dangerous battle than any of us soldiers.

“We won’t fail,” he replied, tapping his chest twice in response.

Together with the other soldiers, I readied the waste we’d gathered and got into position.

“There’s the ship,” I said. The ones from Leisegang were big and therefore easy to recognize. We kept a close eye on the passengers as they disembarked.

“I see silver cloth! They’re wearing something under their capes!”

“Are those dogs with them?”

Just as we’d been warned, some of the passengers were wearing silver cloth. Those must have been the intruders hoping to target the archducal family. Myne’s enemies.

Come on already...

They were moving so slowly it was driving me crazy. Leckle, the soldier standing in wait beside me, twitched with impatience.

“Don’t dump it yet, Leckle,” I said, urging him to resist his temptations while fighting back my own. “If we strike too early and miss, we won’t get another chance. These are nobles we’re dealing with, remember—they can use highbeasts and magic. Our job is to drop waste on them and tear away their silver clothes. Make it count.”

The last thing we wanted to do was get cocky and start assuming we could take these nobles on ourselves. They had tools and magic we commoners could never even dream of.

Gong... Gong...

Fourth bell rang as our silver-clothed visitors reached the gate. By some strange coincidence—or maybe even fate—the city had marked the start of our battle.

“I’m gonna protect this city and my whole family with it.”