Ascendance of a Bookworm: Fanbook 5 E-Book

Miya Kazuki

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Ascendance of a Bookworm: Fanbook
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 126

Beschreibung

Here is the fifth official Ascendance of a Bookworm fanbook, intended to be read after finishing Part 5 Volume 3. Includes end cards from the anime, coverage of another drama CD, and the longest translated Q & A with author Miya Kazuki to date.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Color Art Gallery

Cover Art Gallery

Miscellaneous Art Gallary

Anime End Cards Gallery (Seasons 1 and 2, Episodes 1 Through 26)

Anime Character Cards with Text by Miya Kazuki

Cover, Color Art, and Miscellaneous Art Rough Draft Gallery

Color-Mixing and Engagement Ceremonies

“Liz’s Troubles” by Suzuka

Character Design Sheets

“Becoming a Gutenberg ~Zack’s Ordeal~” by Ryo Namino

“Drama CD 4 Post-Recording Report” by Miya Kazuki

“Drama CD 4 Post-Recording Report” by Suzuka

Q&A with Miya Kazuki

“A Comfy Life with My Family” by You Shiina

Messages from the Creators

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color-Mixing and Engagement Ceremonies

Midway through autumn, while Lady Rozemyne was traveling around the duchy for the Harvest Festival, an ordonnanz shot into the retainer room. It flew over our heads in a great circle before perching on my arm.

“A message for you, Lieseleta? How rare.”

Most ordonnanzes that came here were meant for either Rihyarda or Ottilie, so even I could only stare at the bird on my arm in surprise. I tapped it with my schtappe, which prompted it to speak in my father’s voice. Its message was simple:

“Take some time off work.”

“He must have chosen a partner for me...” I muttered.

As the head of our household, it was my father’s duty to find me a husband. Some people my age tried to start their own relationships at the Royal Academy, but such unions rarely lasted; one or both parties’ parents usually shot them down. I was a successor to my household, so I could only marry someone who would properly assimilate with my family. It was all very complicated, which was why I’d entrusted my engagement to my father from the beginning.

Of course, I wasn’t completely out of the loop when it came to my future husband. I wanted to follow in my father’s and mother’s footsteps and support the next archducal couple by serving in the castle as an attendant. To that end, I’d made it clear that I strove to marry someone serving Lord Wilfried or a member of their family—or an attendant serving the castle, at least. My father would do his best to accommodate my wishes.

“You are about to enter your last year at the Academy...” Rihyarda noted. “If your engagement has been set in stone, then there is much you will need to do, from ordering clothes to preparing for the ceremony. Take this opportunity to rest; Lady Rozemyne will not return to the castle before the Harvest Festival concludes.”

With that, Rihyarda and Ottilie sent me on my way. They had granted me leave before I could even ask for it.

I wonder whom my father has chosen for me... Lady Rozemyne’s retainers will consist primarily of Leisegangs, so I sincerely hope it’s someone who can help me form a bridge with the former Veronica faction.

My heart raced with concern and anticipation as I made my way home. Father had said he would try to grant my wishes, but there was no guarantee that he would actually succeed.

“Lieseleta, I’ve found you a marriage candidate.”

“Only a candidate?” I asked, tilting my head. Father was the head of our household; what must have happened for him not to have made a decision?

“Your mana capacity has grown through Lady Rozemyne’s compression method, no? I can no longer tell who will match you, which means you will need to meet with him first.”

Under normal circumstances, unwed children had roughly the same mana quantity and elements as their parents, which was why their heads of houses could choose their partners for them. This became a lot more complicated when a person’s mana had grown and changed to an uncertain degree; a single wrong move could impact all future branches of their family tree.

As wondrous as Lady Rozemyne’s mana compression method might be, the sudden changes it brought about in me do have their problems.

I could hardly even sense my father’s mana anymore; it was but a faint, faded presence, and one that would surely vanish entirely if I stuck with compressing for another year or two. Though I supposed my mana could technically stop growing before then.

“I tried to find you an attendant, but none matched your mana, age, and status,” Father explained. “We don’t want a repeat of that earlier incident, do we?”

My house was known for producing attendants, so my father had attempted to secure me someone from the same profession. Neither he nor Mother had managed to find any suitable candidates among those they knew well. In truth, Father had set me up with a prospective husband once before, only for the engagement to fall through; my partner’s and my mana had barely matched at the end of winter, and only a short while later, we had stopped being able to sense each other entirely.

“I apologize for the trouble my compression has caused you,” I said. “However, as I am serving Lady Rozemyne, I wish to increase my capacity as much as I can.”

My father was in quite an unusual predicament—my mana was great enough now that only archnobles would suit me, but few were enthralled with the idea of being reduced to the rank of a mednoble.

Though I regret being such a burden to him and Mother, one can never have enough mana when serving Lady Rozemyne.

Indeed, it was unavoidable when serving a lady as exceptional as mine. I refused to slow the growth of my mana for the sake of marriage, especially when I was more concerned with my work than taking a husband.

“A friend of mine introduced me to a scholar whom he said might suit you,” Father explained. “Do you know Lord Thorsten of Lord Wilfried’s retinue?”

“Yes, of course. He wore his chestnut hair long during his days at the Academy. We’ve rarely spoken, but he seems like quite the scholar.” Perhaps because he was an archnoble who served the archducal family, he felt reasonably similar to Hartmut in how he wore a bright smile while mercilessly entrapping those against him. “Does he have some grave circumstances? I, um... doubt most archnobles would want to give up their status.”

“Lord Thorsten may be an archscholar, but as a third son, he has no inheritance to speak of. He hasn’t accumulated enough wealth to form his own house, so he’s been looking for a family to marry into.”

Setting up a new house was a tremendous investment; in general, only successors inherited their family’s feystones and magic tools, so anyone attempting to forge their own path had to purchase their own furniture and tools in accordance with their status. Without his family’s support, it would take Lord Thorsten a long time to form a new house through marriage.

“Would it not be easier for him to stay single and focus on his work as an archducal retainer?” I asked. “Giving up status to marry me is sure to inconvenience him.”

“Lord Thorsten’s family have their reasons for supporting the engagement. They wish to be connected to Lady Rozemyne, but the Leisegangs are so hard to approach that they settled on our house instead. Is that an issue?”

Noble weddings were often the product of two parties seeking to gain something. If the head of one’s house arranged a marriage to keep their house alive, then refusing was inexcusable outside of the most dire circumstances. Not to mention, I understood just how arduous it must have been for Father to arrange an engagement with an archnoble whose mana matched my own; turning it down now was out of the question.

“Not at all,” I replied. “This arrangement sounds respectable enough and mutually beneficial for both our houses. Lord Thorsten is on board despite having to give up some of his status, correct? Then I can hardly complain. I was prepared to marry someone younger than me to match their mana.”

“I see.” Father’s shoulders relaxed as his tension drained. “My only concern is your color-mixing—the results weren’t ideal the last time we tried it. Did you get some time off work? In two days’ time, you can attempt to mix colors with Lord Thorsten. If all goes well, we can move on to the next step.”

“Understood. I thank you for your exceptionally hard work in this matter.”

“Hah! Compared to all the trouble with Angelica, this is nothing.”

At the end of spring, Lord Ferdinand had received a royal decree ordering his move to Ahrensbach. Lord Eckhart, his guard knight and my sister’s husband-to-be, had decided to go with him. My father and mother had both assumed that Angelica would follow him as his fiancée, but when they attempted to consult with her...

“I already said no.”

Angelica had taken action without even speaking with our parents, inadvertently disrespecting them both. It had made them want to put their heads in their hands.

“If nothing else, we have less reason to worry about Angelica causing trouble among the archnobles,” Father said. “I wanted to pair her with someone more reasonable this time, but...”

Lord Bonifatius and Lady Elvira had said they would make up for the trouble by finding Angelica another partner within their house. My sister had declared that she would only marry someone whose strength surpassed her own, leaving Lord Bonifatius as the one potential candidate to become her husband.

It surprised Lady Rozemyne, as it would anyone. Her retainer, a mednoble, had thus asked to wed into a branch of the archducal family.

My sister genuinely admired strength—I understood that much—but any regular noble would consider her an upstart attempting to worm her way into a prestigious branch family. Mother had shrieked, “Spare me your nonsense! Anything but the third wife of an archducal family member!” while Father barked, “Think of the age gap! Think of your status! You can’t claim to want ‘the strongest partner’ without consulting us first!”

“Good grief...” Father sighed at the memory. “I don’t know how it happened, but Angelica’s future is entirely out of our hands. She might as well already be married into Lord Bonifatius’s family.”

Father had elected not to dwell on the matter any longer, and who could blame him? Lord Bonifatius and Lady Elvira were too invested in the matter for our mednoble family to speak out against them.

“Um, in any case...” Father said. “Your mana capacity is already hard enough to plan around, but I would still appreciate you not marrying a member of the archducal family.”

“Worry not—I shan’t cause you the same troubles as my sister. It is my every intention to carry out my duty as your successor.”

That said, I suspect Lord Bonifatius will choose a more suitable partner than Father could ever have hoped to.

Father had done his best to find Angelica a husband, but she, too, had more mana than most other mednobles. He and my mother were also mostly connected to other attendant houses, so I doubted they would come across anyone strong enough to satisfy my sister’s demand. Lord Bonifatius, meanwhile, was known to dote on her. He would respect her request to continue serving as a knight and do everything in his power to secure her a partner as strong as she desired.

I strove to perform my duties as my house’s successor for both my sister’s happiness and my father’s peace of mind.

“This is Lieseleta,” I said, contacting both Rihyarda and Brunhilde by ordonnanz as soon as I returned to my room. “Two days from now, I will be meeting with Lord Thorsten. Please tell me what you know about him and his extended family.”

“This is Rihyarda,” came my first response. “Goodness, what an excellent choice for supporting the next archducal couple. That man has been with Wilfried since the boy’s baptism; I imagine he is beaten only by Oswald in length of service. He endured many hardships due to his engagement being canceled and his lord’s unstable position, but even then, his loyalty has never once wavered.”

Rihyarda went on to detail Lord Thorsten’s grades at the Royal Academy, the circumstances behind his serving Lord Wilfried, and the current quality of his work. Her information network really was unbeatable; she had served as an attendant longer than anyone else and seemed to know more or less everything. The only downside was that she always spoke from the perspective of whether something was good for the aub and the duchy at large. Perhaps because she had spent so long serving the archducal family as a branch member, she seldom considered the preservation of noble houses.

“This is Brunhilde,” said the next ordonnanz that arrived. “Lord Thorsten is an archnoble of the former Veronica faction. He joined Lord Wilfried’s service at Lady Veronica’s request, and his engagement was canceled when she was detained. I cannot speak for him personally, but I doubt his family holds Lady Rozemyne in high regard. You will need to take great care to avoid your house’s faction and rules being swayed against the patriarch’s will.”

Brunhilde was being educated to serve as a future giebe, so she knew exactly what to be wary of when it came to taking a husband into one’s household. My only qualm was that she spoke as a Leisegang, which made her especially cautious about Lord Thorsten.

Taking both responses into account, I started rehearsing the color-mixing and engagement ceremony. Both would need to be done in accordance with archnoble customs.

Color-mixing was performed with a magic tool and allowed two people to check the balance of their mana, the ease with which it dyed, and the compatibility of their elements. The process often took place three times before an engagement was formally decided: first between parents to see whether the engagement was feasible, then between the prospective couple as they met for potentially the first time, and then once more when announcing the engagement to their extended family.

In two days, I would perform the second of the three color-mixings. This was normally done for safety’s sake and usually served as more of a social event than anything else, as it took place only after the parents had confirmed the harmony of their children’s mana, but mine would prove far more important. Lord Thorsten and I didn’t have the same mana as our parents, so we didn’t yet know whether we were a good match. If our color-mixing went well, we would demonstrate as much to our parents, receive their blessings, and exchange engagement feystones. Only then would our engagement be publicly acknowledged.