Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 6, Chapter 6 The knight's order punishment and my future

Benno left the room and Damuel went to the now empty seat. I stood up, thinking that, as a commoner, I should sit at the foot of the table, but the Head Priest stopped me.

"Stay seated where you are, Myne."

"What? But…"

I looked at Damuel but he just looked at me, the corners of his gray eyes crinkled into a quiet smile as he sat down. It would have been a bit much for me to force him out of his seat so I could sit there, so I just sat where I was.

Once everyone was in their seats, the Head Priest looked around at everyone assembled.

"Now then, Myne. I will explain to you what punishments the Archduke decreed after being informed of the incident during the trombe extermination."

"The punishments?"

I had expected Shikza to be punished, but I didn't want to know what that punishment would be. All I wanted was to never see him again. And as if sensing that, the Head Priest lowered his eyes.

"… It is not hard to imagine that this is not information you wish to know, and I myself hesitate to inform you about the affairs of the nobility. But this information will be essential in preparing you for your future." He let out a sigh, then looked at Karstedt and Damuel before dryly continuing his explanation.

"The archduke was extremely displeased that a knight assigned to protect the shrine maiden apprentice not only hurt her, but made extermination more difficult. First, he ordered Karstedt to be stricter in his training of the newcomers, and docked his salary for three months. He also ordered him to provide a quarter of the funds for their new tunics."

"Now, as for Shikza… A knight who refuses to listen to orders in battle would only bring harm to his comrades, and by attacking the target he had been assigned to protect he had disgraced himself as a knight. The archduke had determined that a soldier of the Knightly Order who disobeyed orders and abandoned his duty was worthy of severe punishment."

"Thus, the archduke decreed that Shikza should be executed. Under normal circumstances, his entire family would be punished along with him, but since that would probably only generate more anger for him, Myne, the archduke gave Shikza's father two options: he could either allow his family to be punished or sign a contract to never deal with you again and pay a hefty fee. If he signed the contract and paid the fee, his family would be spared punishment, and Shikza would be recorded as having died an honorable death in battle."

I swallowed hard. Not for a second had I expected that the archduke would have executed Shikza. Considering that Shikza was a nobleman and I was a commoner, I thought that at worst he would receive a light punishment.

"Shikza's father paid the fee and swore not to get involved with you - Said fee was to pay half the cost of his robe. And so, it was written that Shikza died honorably in battle while serving the Knight Order."

Then I realized that the execution had already happened. I looked at Damuel reflectively, knowing that him sitting there meant he had avoided execution. But perhaps he had been given some other severe punishment.

The Head Priest also looked at Damuel, probably noticing my glance.

"Damuel paid a quarter of the cost of your robe and was demoted to the rank of apprentice for a year. His sentence was lightened solely due to your defense of him."

"My defense?"

I couldn't remember defending him, especially in any official setting. I tilted my head to one side in confusion, and Damuel's lips curved as he let out a friendly chuckle.

"You defended me in front of Lord Ferdinand, remember? You said I was kind to you, I warned Shikza and tried to help you. If you hadn't, I would have been punished just as harshly as Shikza."

It seemed that, under normal circumstances, he would have been executed anyway for failing to protect me. But my word had provided evidence that Damuel had tried to stop him, but could do nothing because he was of a lower status than Shikza, which lessened his sentence. He had been demoted back to the rank of apprentice despite having come of age, but considering that the alternative was to be executed alongside Shikza, that was nothing at all.

"My family is at the bottom of the barrel, even among the laynobles, all my life I've been run over by people of higher status than me. Hardly anyone has stuck their neck out and helped me before. It's hard to describe how happy I was when I learned that you had asked Lord Ferdinand to lighten my sentence."

I had a feeling he was exaggerating the importance of what I had done, but judging by how unfair his upbringing seemed to be, I could guess that even laynobles had problems despite being nobles.

The head priest spoke up.

"Also, Damuel has been assigned to be your bodyguard during his year as an apprentice."

"What, bodyguard?!"

"You really are in significant danger," the Head Priest said, looking at me with his golden eyes before turning back to Karstedt. "But you have no sense of self-preservation, so we'll have to explain."

Karstedt met his gaze and nodded slowly before looking me in the eye. His light blue eyes that had looked a little softer only moments before hardened once more.

"Now all of the archinobles know that there is an apprentice shrine maiden with enough value to be exploited," Karstedt began. "You were given blue robes despite your low status level, you accompanied the Knight Order and completed your duty with a huge display of mana that everyone in the Order saw. The fact that the Archduke himself allowed you to wear blue robes has only added weight to the rumors of your worth."

The Order of Knights was a gathering of nobles; if despising me as a commoner and treating me as such would bring disgrace to their houses as it did to Shikza's, then they had to approach it from another angle. Apparently, it was natural for the nobles to immediately consider ways they could exploit me once they found out what the Head Priest had said and how much mana I had.

"You are a commoner with devourer that no one has signed a contract with, but everyone knows you are in Lord Ferdinand's custody. We believe that a significant number of nobles will begin to curry favor with Lord Ferdinand and the Archduke as they approach you on seemingly friendly terms so that they may one day exploit you."

If we assume that Wolf, the head of the Ink Guild, was connected to these nobles, then Karstedt had an idea of what might be going on.

"A noble who wanted to exploit you could have Wolf kidnap you so they could then rescue you, putting you in a debt of gratitude to them. When dealing with nobles, one must always assume that they are trying to take advantage of others, and if you take this into account, your life should not be at risk barring extenuating circumstances. But no such assurances can be made for your family and friends…"

The Head Priest continued for him.

"For example, it is possible for those working alongside Wolf to have you kidnapped, then sell you to the archduke of an opposing duchy, who will then claim you were his daughter all along. In that case, your real family would be nothing more than an obstacle, a reminder of the truth. Therefore, they would be silenced - one way or another."

The Head Priest's prediction was so grim that I gasped. The very thought of putting my family in danger sent a shiver down my spine. I clenched my fists tightly in my lap, but I couldn't stop them from shaking.

And on top of it all, Damuel explained to me from his perspective as a laynoble how the nobles thought of me.

"Most laynobles are still full of disdain and contempt for you. They don't want to accept that a commoner has so much mana. And honestly, I would have found it hard to believe that a commoner with devourer could have so much mana if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

It seemed the laynobles were more concerned with hating me, out of envy than exploiting me.

"But no laynoble would oppose Lord Ferdinand head-on," Damuel continued, glancing nervously at Karstedt and the Head Priest. "If they do anything, it will be through archnobles. And in my opinion, I think you're most at risk from people who have more personal reasons to hate you."

"Shikza's father is more concerned about the continuation of his household than anything else, but his mother is not," Karstedt said. "They had been forced to give Shikza to the temple due to circumstances and her small amount of mana, and she was very happy when he finally returned home thanks to the Sovereignty purge. I heard that she… that she hates you with all her heart, Sister Myne."

I shuddered. From my own experience, I could well sympathize with the fury one feels at losing a family member. I couldn't even imagine how furious I would be at someone who had hurt my own family. And right now, that fury was directed at me. I could live with that if that rage ended with me, but I was terrified that it was directed at my friends and family.

"… Dangerous nobles, who might attempt murder. Are there nobles foolish enough to tear down their house out of spite?" the Head Priest asked. I clenched my fists in my lap, waiting for Damuel's answer.

With a sad expression, he whispered, "I don't know. If Shikza's mother really harms Sister Myne, her house will be done for sure. But a woman's anger knows no bounds, and I don't know what it will lead her to do. I cannot know."

Karstedt's brows sank into a deep frown.

"If she is willing to destroy her house to satisfy her lust for revenge, the situation may be worse than we thought."

It seemed that nobles were generally restrained by the fear of ruining their house, the honor of their ancestors, and the life of their family.

"I never thought Wolf or Shikza's mother would be so dangerous," Damuel said.

It turned out that Wolf regularly went to the Noble Quarter to sell ink. He was quite well known among the nobles, as they were the ones who bought and used ink the most. However, none of them knew that he was known in the lower city as a criminal who would do anything to strengthen his connections with the nobility.

"My plan had been to raise you here as an apprentice shrine maiden so that one day you could marry into a noble house, but now that plan will have to change," the Head Priest said.

"What?"

Is he saying he would have me marry into a nobleman? I don't think I'd agree to that; surely that's not something I've ever considered myself!

I blinked in confusion, not understanding what the Head Priest was saying. I'd rather he didn't try to plan my life that way, especially when it comes to something as important as marriage. Just think what poor man would be forced to marry me for fear of going against the authority of the Head Priest. I would feel so bad for him.

"I wasn't planning to marry any nobleman."

"I believe I told you that regardless of whether you intended to sign with a noble, you would one day bear a noble's children. I thought about raising you here and giving you experience as a shrine maiden so that one might accept you as a wife, but the situation has changed."

I certainly remembered him saying something like that when we were talking about Rosina becoming my attendant. It seemed that even then the Head Priest had already intended to play matchmaker for me. How much did this man like to give himself extra work?

When I was surprised to feel a little astonishment at how serious the Head Priest was and how extreme his sense of responsibility was, he looked at Karstedt.

"Myne, it is also likely that you, your friends and family will be in danger if you are left alone. It is in everyone's best interest that you be adopted by a nobleman as soon as possible."

Being adopted by a noble meant separating me from my family and living with nobles in the nobles' quarter.

… Will I have to leave my family again?

A tremor ran through my heart. Fear had built up inside me as I spent my time alone in the temple - fear that my ties to my family would weaken in their absence - and all that fear exploded at once.

"Karstedt will be able to protect you to some extent if he adopts you, and I can vouch for the strength of his character - will you, Karstedt?"

"Anything for a friend, Lord Ferdinand."

The conversation continued without me as I watched in a daze.

Karstedt leaned forward to look at me more closely. He was an arch nobleman, his eyes crinkled warmly and his muscular body poised to protect me. Considering how much trust the Head Priest had in him, I could guess that I wouldn't find a better foster father anywhere else.

"Myne, will you become my foster daughter?"

"No."

I shot her act of goodwill with a single word. They all looked at me, their eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

"Sister Myne," Damuel began in panic, "An adoption like this is better than anything you could wish for! Why would you refuse the kindness of Lord Ferdinand and Lord Karstedt!"

"Calm yourself, Damuel. Myne, why do you refuse?" The head priest's calm voice was tinged with anger. But still, I couldn't say yes.

"It's just not possible. Spending the whole winter alone in the temple is already breaking my heart; I can't accept leaving my family for the rest of my life. I just can't." I shook my head vigorously, and as I did so I could feel my mana pushing along with my inflamed emotions. It was pushing up from within myself. "I want to go home, I don't want to leave my family anymore!"

"Calm down, Myne!" the Head Priest exclaimed as he rose with a noise from his chair, immediately pushing a clear thumb-sized gemstone against my forehead. The stone turned light yellow in just a few moments - an almost instantaneous change that made the Head Priest struggle.

"Karstedt, Damuel - do you have empty magic stones?"

"Sir!"

Karstedt and Damuel hurriedly pulled out magic stones, which the Head Priest grabbed before picking me up and entering his hidden room.

"I'll take her to my workshop to minimize the damage!"

Upon entering the room, he sat down on the bench, placed me in front of him and then placed another magic stone on my forehead. Stone after stone changed color, and I could feel the mana churning inside me being absorbed.

"I know we're very close to the Ritual of Dedication, but still, you've let too much mana build up inside you. So silly."

"… That's because I've been trapped in my quarters lately and I'm not offering any mana."

It felt like my emotions had been sucked out along with the mana. I wiped the tears from my eyes and let out a sigh. But still, despite all that, the heat that was trying to ravage inside me hadn't completely suffocated, and I lacked the energy to pushed it back into its box.

"I have to say, you seemed pretty mentally unstable there, did something happen? "

"It's all your fault. If you hadn't dug into my memories…"

Thanks to the Head Priest's magical tool, I remembered with perfect clarity a world and a time I could never return to. I saw my old mother, talked to her, and ached for the family I had lost. I had been so busy here that I had done my best not to think of my former family, but he had dug up the memories and left a hole in my heart that would not heal.

That's why I decided to do everything I could to make sure I didn't lose my new family, and why it had hurt me that immediately after making that decision, I had been forced to stay inside the temple. I was still overwhelmed by a sense of loss as I had not had time to heal by spending time with my family.

"… So that's the reason, then."

The Head Priest looked away, his brow furrowed in regret. I realized that he hadn't used the magic tool because he wanted to, and that he had also been affected by the weight of my emotions while we were in sync. I cursed myself for my lack of tact.

"I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that," I said, squeezing the Head Priest's sleeve as he pressed another magical stone against my forehead. "You had to do what you did to make sure I'm not a threat, and it's because of that that I'm still alive. I know you did the right thing."

"It's just that, when I think of the family I'll never see again, I remember how important my new family is to me… But I have to spend the whole winter here alone. It's so lonely I could die. And if you tell me now that I can never see them again, maybe I will…"

My heart began to ache as I confessed how I felt, and the tears welling up in my eyes made the Head Priest's face distort in front of me.

"Myne, restrain yourself!"

"I'll never see my family again if a noble adopts me!"

I looked up at the Head Priest, blinking in surprise, and saw him grimacing as he looked down at me.

"A…hug like this will calm you down, correct?"

"…Yes."

Our positions were the reverse of what they had been after using the magic tool. Hearing the Head Priest struggle to say "hug" was kind of cute, and I let out a small chuckle. But it was a bit awkward for him to hug me while standing, so I sat on his lap and looked for a more comfortable position.

"… Myne, you seem to have calmed down already."

"Not yet."

I couldn't hug the Head Priest like I could with Lutz or Tuuli; all I could do was lean against him as I sat on his thigh.

"This is perfect. Just keep squeezing me."

"I don't think this is perfect at all," he said with a frown, but he did as I asked without leaving me. His steady warmth and breathing calmed the storm in my heart.

Only after seeing that he had calmed me enough did the Head Priest mutter an exasperated, "What can be done with you?" Then, like punishing a rebellious child, he explained to me why I had no choice but to be adopted by a nobleman

"Unlike a normal devourer child, you possess an enormous amount of mana. Too much to be ignored."

"…Do I really have that much mana?"

I figured I had more mana than most people because of the knights' reaction during the Healing Ritual, but I didn't think it was a "huge" amount.

"Myne!" The Head Priest, his voice raised in panic, grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. I fell into his arms and was soon wrapped in his long, drooping sleeves.

The Head Priest's expression tightened as he looked at me.

"It is too much mana for an average noble to contain, even after contracting with you. And it should be noted that your mana capacity will grow as you do. You will need to learn to control the mana within you and master the techniques necessary to put it to good use."

Apparently, I would need to become the adopted daughter of a noble in order to go to the Royal Academy and learn about mana, about magic and ways to use it. A noble who signed with me would need to prepare me to use magical tools that used a literally enormous amount of mana so as not to put those around me at risk. But there were hardly any nobles in the city who had magic tools that could withstand my enormous amount of mana.

"Your mana is too much for a single noble to keep. It must be used for the good of the duchy. For the good of the country."

"…I'm not sure I understand."

Ever since I found out I was sick with the Devourer, I was told that I would have to sign on with a noble to soothe the heat and survive. It was hard to believe that I had so much mana that even that wasn't an option for me. It didn't feel real. It felt like it was happening to someone else, not me.

"You need to face reality, Myne. You endanger the lives of everyone around you just by feeling emotional. If you don't learn to control your emotions, you're likely to hurt even your precious family someday."

"… T-That won't happen while I'm with them. The reason I got this way in the first place is because I miss them."

The problem was staying separate from my family. As long as I was with them, I could live in peace.

"So please don't take me away from my family," I said.

The Head Priest closed his eyes tightly, furrowing his eyebrows. It was clear from the expression on his face that he was suffering from a Myne-induced headache, which made me feel a little guilty. I knew I was asking the impossible from him, but I couldn't remain stable without my family. There was no help for that. My heart wanted what it wanted.

"… Ten years," the Head Priest muttered, seeming to have selected an age out of thin air.

I looked at him in confusion, and the Head Priest shook his head in exasperation as he lowered me from his lap.

"The Royal Academy begins accepting students when they are ten years old. That's when you must leave. Until then, you can stay with your family, visiting the temple to offer your mana as you have been before. However," the Head Priest added, his expression hardening to show he was drawing a firm line, "I will not listen to your protests after that. If you are determined to be a danger to others, you will be executed and your family along with you. None will be spared. Remember this well."

"…All right."

It seemed that the Head Priest would not relent in having me adopted once I was ten years old. I put a hand on my chest as the weight of having limited time with my family hit me.

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