Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-1 - Chapter 11

Eckhart — Travel Tales for Justus

Description: The original, scrapped epilogue for Part 3 Volume 3. Eckhart tells a very impatient Justus what happened while he was accompanying Rozemyne for Spring Prayer.

Author’s Note: Putting aside how these two characters always take things way too far, I ended up scrapping this story because it didn’t feel quite right for the light novel. The things I wanted to convey are the same in both versions, so comparing them might be fun.

“You’re pretty late, Eckhart. How long do you think I’ve been waiting for your ordonnanz?”

“You sure do like to exaggerate. It’s only been ten days. Come on.”

Justus had barely even arrived at my estate before he started complaining. I might have considered apologizing if this were a conversation with my late wife Heidemarie... but I felt nothing for this thirty-something-year-old man who would so readily abandon noble etiquette to feed his obsession with gathering information.

Actually, that last part was untrue. I did feel something: frustration.

I placed the sheet of parchment I had been reading from atop a stack on my desk, then told the attendant who had brought Justus into my office to go prepare tea. Then, I returned my attention to my impatient visitor.

“I just got back from Spring Prayer, which I attended at the orders of both Lord Ferdinand and the aub. It was a journey fraught with surprises that I wish to share with you—which is why I did my best to invite you as soon as I could.”

During the Harvest Festival, Rozemyne had spent only a brief while with Lord Ferdinand. They had acted separately for the most part and reunited only for the goltze hunt. Thus, there were plenty of things that I had just allowed to wash over me—things I had assumed were normal for commoners or those in the temple, where nobles so rarely went.

“Not only did the guard knights know far too little about Lord Ferdinand, everyone accepted whatever occurred simply by saying that the temple was not the Noble’s Quarter,” I said. “It felt like communication was impossible.”

After everything I had seen and heard during this year’s Spring Prayer, what I wanted more than anything was someone to share in my surprise. I’d even regretted Justus needing to leave Hasse to transport the registration medals.

“Riveting tales of travel, huh? Sounds like fun,” Justus said. He then peered down at my desk. “By the way... what were you doing when I came in? Rare to see you searching for something in your study.”

The rude cad. The documents weren’t anything I was trying to keep secret, so I gave him the entire stack.

“Damuel asked me for any documents showing how Lord Ferdinand used gewinnen to teach ditter strategies back in the Royal Academy,” I explained. “So, I was looking for educational resources from the time. He wants to use them to tutor Angelica, apparently.”

“Think she’s gonna make it?”

“No clue” was my frank response. Her grades had nothing to do with me. “It’s unthinkable that a retainer of the archducal family would need remedial lessons. After hearing that Rozemyne wanted to keep someone so incompetent by her side, I genuinely started to doubt her senses.”

Any other member of the archducal family would have cut off a failing apprentice knight without a moment’s hesitation. But this strange forbearance with Angelica, on top of the incident with the citizens of Hasse, seemed to suggest that Rozemyne was incapable of abandoning anyone—no matter how incompetent and unneeded they were.

“To be blunt,” I said, “Rozemyne’s too soft. I don’t think she has the right personality for a member of the archducal family.”

A teasing smile crept onto Justus’s face. “For all your negative talk, you sure seemed invested in finding those documents.” But I wasn’t trying to help Angelica or Rozemyne. Instead—

“I’m doing this for Damuel and Cornelius. Spring Prayer afforded me plenty of time on the road with Damuel, and it became immediately apparent how much he’s breaking his back to teach Angelica and Cornelius.”

“So, what, you’re all buddy-buddy with Damuel now?” he asked, still grinning. “Times sure have changed. I remember your initial opposition to a certain little laynoble being assigned to an archduke candidate indefinitely.”

I nodded. “And those feelings haven’t changed. The burden’s too great for Damuel and his limited mana capacity, and nobody’s going to be happy about him serving Rozemyne. It would sink his career, but his life would be so much easier if she just let him quit. Though, well... according to Lord Ferdinand, Damuel plays a crucial role for his lady.”

Damuel’s presence in the temple was clearly treasured, and Lord Ferdinand had said that Rozemyne needed someone who knew her from her commoner days serving as her retainer. He also considered her extreme tolerance with saving Damuel and raising Angelica’s grades an opportunity to prove her compassion as the Saint of Ehrenfest.

“If all this is what Lord Ferdinand desires,” I said, “then I will do everything in my power to support it, simple as that. Thankfully, it seems that Damuel is something of a late bloomer; even as an adult, his capacity continues to increase, bit by bit.”

I went on to detail what Lord Ferdinand had told me about training Damuel, at which point Justus put on a more serious expression and gave the stack of parchment a light smack. “Eckhart, were you really looking through all these for Damuel? Sounds to me like you were just doing it for Lord Ferdinand.”

“Hm... You know what? You’re right. What I said about doing it for Cornelius is still true, though. He never showed enthusiasm for anything before, but now he’s motivated to study and has the support of our parents. Helping him is my duty as his elder brother. Plus, it should make him understand what makes Lord Ferdinand so incredible, which means I’m killing two birds with one stone.”

Justus smirked. “So that’s your real motivation.”

I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that; Cornelius was still going to benefit, after all. His problem was that he’d attended the Royal Academy too late to witness Lord Ferdinand in action—but as that thought crossed my mind, something else occurred to me.

Wait, hold on... Damuel only heard about Lord Ferdinand through Henrik yet seems to understand his grandeur perfectly. Was I unclear when trying to explain things to Cornelius? Or did my lectures not come often enough?

I reflected on my errors. As an elder brother, I was to blame for not speaking about Lord Ferdinand more often and more clearly. But at the same time, Cornelius was now serving a member of the archducal family. Sure, he had only attained that position because our house had required it, but he was now taking his studies very seriously. We would have more opportunities to speak from this point forward—and more opportunities to discuss what made Lord Ferdinand so amazing.

“Leave when you’re done,” I said to the attendants preparing our tea. Then, I offered Justus a seat and took out a sound-blocking magic tool. These tales of my travels during Spring Prayer weren’t to be discussed openly.

“So, what happened?” Justus asked me. “Wish I could have been there with you on the Night of Flutrane.”

“Just be glad you got to see the Hasse executions. I hear you had to twist a few arms to attend not just as a tax official but as the scholar in charge of the registration medals.”

“Well, it was a rare opportunity to see archducal magic up close. I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fingers.”

He was right about it being a rare sight, though I personally only cared when it was Lord Ferdinand performing.

“Eckhart... what did you think about Lady Rozemyne?” Justus inquired. “She was saying some pretty naive things about Hasse’s punishments.”

I considered the question. Justus had praised Rozemyne for working hard and imitating a noble despite her commoner origins, but I thought she had a ways to go when it came to developing the airs and authority expected of an archducal family member. Still, she had at least exceeded my initial evaluation: “My commoner little sister for whom Lord Ferdinand shows much favoritism.”

“I’m still not pleased with how Hasse was punished,” I said, sipping my tea. “Rozemyne still seems to be thinking like a commoner, and her misgivings put Lord Ferdinand through a lot of trouble. For quite some time, I saw her only as someone whose weaknesses inconvenienced my lord... but my opinion began to change when I attended Spring Prayer, and it changed even more when I spoke with Lord Ferdinand about the matter.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Justus leaned forward, his eyes sparkling. “But she was so sickly during the Harvest Festival that she needed to rely on his rejuvenation potions just to do her job. And were you not furious about how she dealt with Hasse? As I recall, you also ranted about how you wished you could combine her mana and stamina and separate them into equal portions. I’m interested to hear what made you change your mind.”

“I still think she was too naive and benevolent in Hasse. To the archducal family, commoners are citizens to be managed, and rebels are to be purged without hesitation. I’m not sure how she’s going to last when she can’t even manage that much... and, in that sense, my impression of her remains the same. But she can also benefit Lord Ferdinand, which is rare. There were so many surprising developments over the course of Spring Prayer that I could scarcely keep my emotions hidden.”

I thought back to Spring Prayer. Rozemyne was still as frail as ever, and seeing her grimace as she drank one valuable rejuvenation potion given to her by my lord after another had truly been exasperating. Compared to during the Harvest Festival, however, she had not been bedridden as often—and when I realized that this was because Lord Ferdinand was caring for her, an immense shock ran through me as though I had been struck by lightning.

“Unlike during the autumn,” I continued, “Rozemyne stayed with Lord Ferdinand for this ceremony. It caught me entirely off guard, since I so rarely have the chance to see them together. Lord Ferdinand was treating her with as much care and consideration as he would an especially valuable plant for brewing. He had an eye on her the entire time.”

It was one thing for him to look after medicinal herbs for his research, but never before had I seen him care so much for another human being. Were my Heidemarie still alive, she would have kicked up a huge fuss over it.

“Yeah, Lord Ferdinand showing compassion for Lady Rozemyne after the Hasse execution was something of a shocker,” Justus admitted. “I was standing by at the time, ready to intervene if he was too harsh with her, but my concerns weren’t necessary at all.”

“Right. Lord Ferdinand was forced to fend for himself to survive, which is why he always refused to rely on his retainers. He expected to be attacked the very instant he showed weakness. I assumed he would yell at Rozemyne to get her act together, but instead...”

After enduring so much abuse from Sylvester’s mother while growing up, Lord Ferdinand had developed a habit of never showing any vulnerabilities or weak points. He could perform acts of kindness if he logically determined that doing so would further his interests, but he struggled to prioritize his actual emotions. At times, his attempts to do so ended up indirect and obscure enough that even I wanted to put my head in my hands while watching from afar.

Incidentally, the acts of compassion that had stunned Justus and me were as follows: After the incident in Hasse, Lord Ferdinand had granted Rozemyne time to rest and even let her hold on to her father’s cloak. Then, he had stopped her attendants on several occasions to ask how she was doing. It was rare for him to care for someone so openly—but, at the same time, I was glad to see him opening up a little without suffering for it.

“But that wasn’t all,” I noted. “Get this—Lord Ferdinand, our Lord Ferdinand, said that he’d prefer food that suits his tastes. He even got Rozemyne’s personal chef to make his lunches.”

“What?!” Justus yelped, his voice cracking in shock. “The same Lord Ferdinand who tries to replace meals with mere supplements, claiming that research sustains him much better?!”

Hearing his complete and utter bewilderment satisfied me to no end. This was exactly what I’d craved—someone to share in my surprise. Everyone else had accepted the request without batting an eye, agreeing that it was only natural to desire tastier food. Perhaps that behavior was just normal in the temple.

“Indeed,” I said. “He was firm in his demands and everything. Said that he was willing to endure commoner food on occasion but not every day. And, on top of that, he didn’t even bother to poison-check the meals that Rozemyne’s chefs made for him.”

“What in the... That must be common practice in the temple.”

Only in extenuating circumstances would a noble ever share personal chefs with another; the risk of an attempted poisoning was simply too great, and none knew this more keenly than Lord Ferdinand. Even when he was living in the castle after coming of age, he had rarely ever eaten there. I never would have expected him to assign Rozemyne’s chefs to make his lunch every day.

“And not just that,” I added. “On the road, he negotiated with Rozemyne to buy even more of her recipes.”

Everyone knew from winter socializing that Lord Ferdinand had purchased recipes from Rozemyne in the past, but I’d never thought much about it. He had always shown so little interest in food that I’d assumed it was a gesture performed as her guardian, intended to popularize her recipes as a trend. I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that, upon learning that there were only two chefs who could demonstrate how to make those dishes, he had spent money to secure one of them for himself.

“Ngh... Lord Ferdinand, a gourmet and picky eater?” Justus groaned. “I’ve never heard something so absurd—so unbelievable—in my entire life! Does she know how much I’ve struggled just trying to get him to eat normal meals?!”

“Yet nobody in the temple, not even Damuel, considered it strange! Do you understand how shocked I was?!”

“Oh, absolutely!”

Justus and I enthusiastically shook hands. Back when the previous aub first became unwell and Lady Veronica’s power grew, Lord Ferdinand developed some particularly dire eating habits. We had needed to employ every technique at our disposal to secure him safe food and earn his trust, so the fact that Rozemyne had made so much progress so effortlessly was definitely a shock.

“Ngh... I wish I’d been there,” Justus griped. “After what occurred on the Night of Schutzaria, I’m guessing there were some strange happenings on the Night of Flutrane too, right?”

“Yep. Some very strange happenings.”

“I knew it!” Justus shouted, slapping his leg in frustration. He then fixed me with a stern glare, almost willing me to continue.

I went ahead and explained what we had seen on the Night of Flutrane, as well as what Rozemyne had seen from her perspective as a girl. Justus hung on my every word, a noticeable glint in his eye. Then, when I concluded my tale, he started to mutter.

“A magic barrier that not even Lord Ferdinand could penetrate, shining balls of mana, flowers and plants that grew larger in response to Lady Rozemyne’s singing...”

“Rozemyne and the girls were completely careless, wandering around and riding the giant leaves while gathering ingredients. I can’t think of anything more dangerous. Lord Ferdinand tried everything in his valiant battle to pierce the barrier, but in the end, we were forced to wait until sunrise.”

Everything had turned out okay in the end; the mana barrier eventually thinned, allowing us to break through, and Lord Ferdinand managed to catch Rozemyne before she hit the ground. Still, it had been a harrowing experience for us all.

I continued, “On a more positive note, the ingredients Rozemyne gathered seem to be pretty rare. Lord Ferdinand was overjoyed when he reported the outcome of the mission to Father. Most of the details washed over me—I can never follow along with those kinds of conversations—but from what I understood, they’re a lot different from the rairein nectar that you got back in the day.”

Justus began to groan, lamenting that he hadn’t been able to join us. He was being such a pain, which was exactly why Lord Ferdinand was opposed to him tagging along on such trips.

“Why not just ask Lord Ferdinand for the details?” I said. “I’m sure he’d tell you. Though I doubt we’re going to return to the Goddesses’ Bath, since men aren’t allowed to enter, nor do I think he’ll give up any of the rare ingredients he got.”

He had said that he wanted to research them, so he probably wouldn’t surrender even one to Justus, who cared only about collecting rare things.

As I recalled what Lord Ferdinand had said about the rairein nectar, Justus gave me a serious look. “Eckhart... do you think a guy could get past the barrier and into the Goddesses’ Bath by cross-dressing as a woman?”

“Not sure you’d be able to trick the gods, but you can give it a shot if you’re that desperate. Just don’t get me or Lord Ferdinand involved. Go on your own.”

Justus crossed his arms and started to mutter under his breath. His “plan” had been flawed from the very beginning. Perhaps it would work, but any deity foolish enough to be deceived by his cross-dressing would cease to be a god in my eyes.

“I’d need to go next year, but I don’t think I’d manage on my own. Better give up on the Goddesses’ Bath, then...” Justus groused. Then, he looked straight at me and said, “Incidentally, Eckhart... have we settled on the summer gathering spot?”

“Mount Lohenberg—but don’t assume you’re coming. Rozemyne is sure to do one strange thing or another, and Lord Ferdinand made it very clear that he can’t look after both of you at once.”

“Excluding me again?” Justus groaned, his head in his hands. “That’s just too cruel.”

I was used to—and more or less immune to—his complaining by now. “Don’t try and tell me you’ve forgotten just how bad things got last time after you killed all those feybeasts. ‘They were sleeping so soundly,’ I remember you saying. ‘Their feystones were free for the taking.’”

Mount Lohenberg had been filled with mana, and just thinking about how close it had come to erupting sent a shiver down my spine.

Justus grimaced. “I remember, and that’s precisely why I won’t do it again. Could you help me convince Lord Ferdinand that—”

“You might not repeat that particular offense, but I’m sure some new discovery or another will inspire you to start poking around. Then you’ll give the same old excuse—that it was your first time making that mistake, that it won’t happen again, yada yada. We’re going to be following a strict schedule; we don’t need that kind of uncertainty.”

Justus responded to my refusal with a vexed glare, but that did not bother me in the least.

After all, I prioritize the wishes of my lord above all else.