Ascendance of a Bookworm Volume 5, Epilogue(1/2)
Volume 5, Epilogue
Due to the potion and the magic tool, Myne fell into a deep slumber. Ferdinand looked at her in silence. He moved to pick up the hair stick that Myne dropped from her slacked hand. Even though it was just a mediocre stick made from wood, Myne always tied her hair with it. He initially believed that it was a norm amongst commoners, but not one of the many hairsticks he saw at the Baptism Ceremony were poked through bundled hair. Only Myne used the sticks this way.
Myne was a strange kid. She carried herself in a manner as though she had been educated in a very academic place, but yet she was so clumsy with herself. She had mentioned someone named “Melvil Dewey”, who invented a system for sorting catalogues. But after a deep investigation, this man she spoke of and his system did not exist. Inventions necessary to her popped up incessantly. She rebuilt the orphanage and made the children work, so that the labour they provided would help pay for their necessities. She was so deeply infatuated with books that she even made bibles for the orphans.
There was no denying that Myne was a strange one. Not even a noble child, who received a strict education, could replicate what Myne had done. She didn’t resemble the stature of a small child who had just received her baptism. Although she was weird, her actions carried no malicious intentions.
If Myne’s actions were only that of curiosity, the Archduke would not hand over the magic tool to Ferdinant. However, during the Healing Ritual, Myne had demonstrated an immeasurable amount of mana. It was nearly impossible for a typical child with Devouring to refill the land that did not have any mana at such a fast speed. He suspected that she possessed more mana than the Archduke. No one could tell how much mana Myne would have when she reached her adulthood.
A commoner child with this much mana and the wisdom to produce so many priceless inventions. Just to gain the rights over her, the nobles might just go to war. To help secure Myne some safety, Ferdinand declared that she was in his custody, but it won’t take long before rumours of her spread amongst the nobles. For now, he could give his assurance that Myne would be safe, but he did not know if she was important enough to deserve his protection.
The Archduke was aware of all these, so he offered him the magic tool to comb through her memories to see the world in her dreams that she previously mentioned. He had to judge her worth, and evaluate the possible harm she may or may not cause.
“Well then, at least allow me to verify that she means no harm..” It was easy to judge if someone was a criminal by looking through their memories. However, for Myne, by reading her memories, he had to determine if she was worth it and to foresee her future plans, both of which were difficult to do.
“..What’s hardest is that Myne will not be happy about it.” After all he was using a magic tool to look into her memories, so of course she would be on edge around him and avoid him whenever possible.
To be a noble, one had to bury away their feelings and be extremely careful with their actions, so that they don’t put themselves into danger, hence there was no one in the noble society who had all their thoughts plastered on their faces like Myne. The rules applied to Ferdinand in the temple too Ferdinand had to always be on his toes around everyone while he determined if they were close to the High Bishop and if they were trustworthy. Yet he did not feel the need to be cautious around Myne. Even though she was a pain in the neck sometimes, her pure nature made her thoughts and feelings predictable and easy to read. This comfort made Ferdinand put down his defences.
This was beyond my expectations, but it seems that I am quite fond of Myne, sighed Ferdinand.
He placed an ornament in his head that looked just like that of Myne’s, and then knelt beside the bench Myne was on. After that, he pressed the jewel on his crown onto Myne’s one. He gradually allowed his mana to flow into her which allowed their minds to sync. It was typical for anyone to resist a foreign mana. The potion Myne drank served to weaken this resistance, yet she accepted the mana without any side effects. Although this was convenient, Ferdinand had the urge to chastise her to be a little more defensive and less trusting of others.
He clicked his tongue and said,“Myne, can you hear me?”
“What- I can, High Priest, but where are you?” Ferdinand expected Myne to be afraid or disgusted by this, but she gave a nonchalant expression like this was nothing strange. He wanted to chastise her again.
“I am connecting our minds. You seemed to possess more mana than I expected. You mentioned that all the knowledge you have is from the world in your dreams. It is necessary for me to evaluate the effect of your actions on this land, whether it is for the good or bad. I am deeply sorry, but I will have to look into your memories.”
“Oh, I see. I don’t mind,” responded Myne without concern which shocked Ferdinand. She had no concerns that someone had barged into her mind to look at her memories.
“To clarify this, I will be seeing your actual memories. Are you really fine with that? Do you not feel that this is intruding on your privacy?.”
“Of course, uhm, it’s not a pleasant thing, but.. you looking at my memories will raise my chances of staying alive. It’s much better to let you do so than to be executed for some treason I didn’t commit. Plus, I’m already privileged enough that you’re willing to look through my memories and not be sentenced to death right now, right?” said Myne.
As they were mentally linked, Ferdinand knew that she was being truthful. Should he be impressed that she was understanding or reprimand her for not being careful around others? Of course the latter, but he would save the scolding for after. He wanted to finish up Myne’s inspection as soon as possible as the process was likely to be draining.
“Now then, would you take me to the said world in your dreams? Try to recall it and we should be able to go there.”
“Wait a moment, does that mean I can go anywhere I want?”
..Why?! Why is Myne so excited that her own memories are about to be searched?!
Myne was looking forward to being searched and these feelings of her’s were sent straight to Ferdinand, and this did nothing but worry him.
This doesn’t look good. I have a bad feeling. Will I be able to stop Myne if she loses control? If I don’t firm myself, she might drag me on tour across all her memories.
“Myne, you only need to show me what I’ll need to see. First, show me the beginning of your knowledge.”
“No problem! We’ll start with my favourite place - the library!” Myne exclaimed in joy.
In the next instant Ferdinand found himself in front of a large and exquisite building. He wanted to look up to see how tall it was, unfortunately could only look through Myne’s eyes, so his point of view was limited. Instead, what came to view was a neatly paved stone pathway, and a gentle gust of wind flowed across his skin. There was no wretched smell of manure like that of the lower city, so the building must have been in the Noble’s District.
“Aaah, it’s been forever!” Myne’s voice reverberated around them.
Ferdinand realised that they were approaching the building. She was relishing in nostalgia as she skipped into the building, so this was likely the world she always talked about. A glass door he had never seen so transparent slid to the side with a humming sound, but Myne did not use any mana to activate it, let alone touch it.
“Myne, do you use magic here too? But if I remember correctly, you said that the Dewey Decimal System didn’t have a section on magic.”
“Ah.. Magic doesn’t exist here. It’s an automatic door that runs differently.”
They don’t have magic, but they possess something else that fulfills the same purpose. How strange but interesting.
“Myne, what country is this? I haven’t heard of a place like this before.”
“It’s called Japan. I used to live here. I died here because I was crushed by books. Before I knew it, I was in Myne’s body.”
Ferdinand was completely lost with what Myne was talking about. But he knew that Myne was speaking the truth due to her honest personality. Never before did Ferdinand come across someone so difficult to understand because they were honest.
“..You died, from being crushed by books?”
He could not imagine how she could be crushed to death because he didn’t believe that there were enough books in existence to crush someone.
Next off, he found themselves surrounded by towering bookcases, each of them were filled to the brim with books.
“..Where’s this?”
“The local public library I visited all the time.”
It was a library packed with an impossible number of bookshelves, lining the halls as far as one could see. Not even the Royal Academy could par up to this. Now it seemed plausible how someone could be crushed to death by books.
“Is everything here.. books?”
“Mhmm, this is a library. Oh, but over the last couple of years, libraries also have videos, CDs, and DVDs. Ah, I’m so happy. This is it! This is the very paradise I have been looking for!”
Ferdinand could tell that Myne was about to breakdown from sheer bliss. She ran across the bookshelves to her favourite spot. All across the library’s floor, a soft carpet had been laid out and it muffled the sound of her footsteps. Ferdinand felt his head throb just thinking about the insane amount of money it took to build this place .
..I see. Seeing how much she loves books and has memories of a library this amazing, I can sort of understand why she was so disappointed at the temple’s book room.
The books here were treasured items, everything was completely different from his world. The books at this library were not chained, so Myne was able to pick up and read any book she wanted. Each of them had designs similar to those she made in the temple.
The library was filled with people from all walks of life - men, women, seniors, and children. Everyone wore a vibrant array of colours, some wore intricate garments that displayed their wealth, while others wore rough clothes that showcased that they were from the poorer side. But even the seemingly poorer ones were touching the books. From Ferdinand’s point of view, it was baffling that poor people were allowed to touch books.
“Myne, is that woman insane? How can a crazy person like her be allowed here?”
“A crazy woman? Who?” Myne’s eyes swept across the hall.
“To your left. She’s a grown woman but her knees are exposed. She must be too poor to afford better clothes, but she continues to dye her clothes. Why doesn’t she just stop dying them? I can’t understand her.”
“Don’t worry. In this world, women can wear anything they wish to, so everyone’s just wearing whatever they want. Anyways, this dream is simply amazing. I can still retain my sense of touch and smell.”
Myne lost interest in the woman and returned her attention to the bookshelf. The books on the shelves had paperbacks similar to those Myne made, but their designs were more intricate. Furthermore, there were more of them than Ferdinand could ever imagine.
Myne looked across the shelves before taking a book off of the bookshelf. She hugged it close to her body and took in a deep breath, taking in its scent. As their minds were linked, Ferdinand smelled the scent of paper and ink, and he felt that sense of satisfaction Myne had too. He wanted to quit this now.
Myne walked to the end of the shelves and sat in a snug sofa, she flipped open the book and began reading. The book was not like the ones he knew with boards tied up together. The chair was soft and very nice to sit on. It was unlike Ferdinand had ever experienced. As always, his sight was only limited to Myne’s, so only the book, floor and bookshelf was in view. He could see inside the book, but they were filled with unfamiliar letters mushed together. The book was mostly likely printed with the method Myne mentioned before. The pages looked just like the ones she made, they were just black and white
“Do the books from your dreams not have pictures?”
“Wah-?! Huh? Who is.. Oh, wait. It’s just you, High Priest.” Myne let out a surprised yelp when Ferdinand asked her.
..I can’t believe this fool. Even though I’m still here, she got lost in her own world.
“Um, pictures, right? The pictures are usually in artbooks and photobooks.” Myne pulled out a heavy book with pages full of coloured pictures. The pictures had so much colour to it and had the tiniest of detail to it, it was outstanding to look at. Ferdinand was amazed by it, but Myne shut the book immediately.
“Can I go back to my reading, High Priest?”
“No, you’re not allowed to. Is this one of those picture books for children that you made before?”
“This is an artbook, a collection of art pieces from a famous person, and they have compiled them in a book. The children’s section is over there,” said Myne as she resumed her tour around the library.
“This is a picture book, and this is what the story about Cinderella is supposed to look like.”
Ferdinand was confused by the art in the picture book and the story Myne had told him before. No one in the world had eyes that occupied so much space on their face, and no one would have clothes or hair like that. Or, well, there is a possibility such a person exists here.
“..The story is even more ludicrous with this drawing now, but it utilises quite a number of bright colours. You need to put color in yours too.”
“I have plans to do so, but ink is too expensive, and it’s not that easy to make. How I wish I could just buy the stuff I need here,” said Myne, and in the next instant they moved to somewhere else with bookshelves too. Instead of being lined with books, the shelves had strange.. things littered with those weird letters and colours.
“Oh, we’re in an art supply store. High Priest, will the stuff I buy here still be with me even after I wake up?”
“Of course not, you fool. Where are we?”
“It’s an art supply stop that I frequented with my mum. This is called paint.” Myne’s world was filled with such a wide array of things, anything from books to paint. Furthermore, the sheer quantity and quality of them was outstanding. Of course, he could know of things Myne showed him, but the amount of culture in her memories was enough to blow him away. Or, to put it another way, her actions were erratic because her thinking were chaotic.
“There are so many different shades of paint.”
“Mhmm. They sell lots of things here. But I prefer bookstores to this.” Once again, they teleported to another place. Myne’s thinking seemed to be as chaotic as her actions. Maybe it would be better to say that she acted this chaotic because of her way of thinking.
“Where are we?” It was a place with shelves full of books, just like the library. Unlike the library, however, there was loud music playing, and the light was so strong that Ferdinand want to squint.
“A store that sells new books. Hehehe, let’s see what’s new.. Wait, nooooo! There’s only books I can rememberrrrrr!”
Myne suddenly became unhappy and yelled something incoherent. It was exhausting to be forced to feel her mood swings. Perhaps the frequency with which she collapsed was because of the severity of her rollercoaster emotions.
“Myne, why is it so bright even though we are inside a building?”
“Oh, that’s because of electricity.” Myne raised her head, above the bookshelves was a row of miniature suns that emitted a strong light.
“How do they work?”
“Um, the lights go one when you flip a switch. It will be tough for you to understand the concept even if I try to explain it. It’s just like how I can’t understand an explanation of magic without trying to study it first.”
Myne’s interest went back to the shelves. Since she didn’t look around, he could see books. There were some intriguing and foregin things in her peripheral, but it didn’t seem like she would turn her attention to them. This investigation didn’t seem like it was going to be a meaningful one.
“Myne, let’s move on from the books.”
“Awww, why? All I want to do is look at books. I can’t have such realistic dreams on my own.” Myne was dissatisfied to the core. She only cared for books.
Ferdinand never expected to find nothing but books in her memories when he decided to look into her mind. All of this would have been for naught if he didn’t force her to think about something else. He needed something else than her knowledge about this world’s books.
“Myne, do you recall my purpose for being here?”
“How I wish I could forget.. Fine. What would you like to see next?” Myne let out a deep sigh. Ferdinand pondered it for a moment before asking what piqued his interest the most.
“Well then. I would like to see the place you received your education.”
In an instant, their surroundings changed. They were in a small room with desks lined up across the floor. Behind each of them were people wearing the same clothes, sitting and writing on them.
On the small desks, there were books filled with thin pieces of paper, and the paper had weird letters and symbols on them. There were metal containers with many colourful sticks on the table. The people here would look up every now and then as they scribbled letters with the sticks, which they used as pens. An adult stood at the front of the class, writing on a giant slate, he was likely explaining what he was writing. This person was probably a teacher in this school.
“Myne, what’s going on?”
“We’re in class. If I’m not wrong, this is a memory from high school? It’s math class now. This is so nostalgic but I never really enjoyed studying math. I’m more of a language person.” Their surroundings changed again. It was still in the same room, but an older woman was walking around while reading a book.
“This is how everyone gets educated in this country. We start way before the age children get baptised and continue until we reach adulthood.” As she spoke, the room altered again and again. Each room had people studied, but their ages and the instructor who taught them were different each time. It was true that they continued studying from a child to an adult.
“Is studying all you do?”
“Umm, we do study a wide range of subjects, some of them are more practical.”
Their surroundings were rapidly changing. They were outside, where students dressed the same ran around a track. A man was almost naked dove into water. Next, a body of students were playing a song he didn’t know of on an odd-looking flute..
“So you have studied music before..”
“Yup. Though schools don’t teach music in depth. I didn’t compose the song I played on my harspiel, I learnt the song from school.”
Ferdinand finally understood why she was able to play a tune on the first ever harpspiel she had touched. Myne’s extraordinary abilities were a result of the world’s knowledge and the rigorous education she obtained here, so it was only natural that she would be unlike any other commoner.
“The education system was introduced by the local government, it makes sure that everyone here is able to read and do calculations. I’d like the orphanage to be educated this way so that everyone be literate, write and do simple calculations.”
“Why would you do so?” Ferdinand did not understand Myne’s view that everyone should be taught to read. Myne quickly responded to his question.
“If more people are literate, there will be more people to read books. And people need to be literate so that they can write books. If I want to enjoy reading for the rest of my life in your world, I first need to get everyone to read.”
Until now, Ferdinand had been wondering whether there were some malicious intentions to her acts, that she was acting on the command of some evil plot, but now that they were linked, he was completely sure that she was just addicted to reading books and nothing else. That was reassuring in some ways, but it still gave him a headache for other reasons. Nevertheless, her memories tied up all the loose ends he had about her.
“..I knew that you learned to read at an exceptional pace, but I see that was because you were used to being educated.”
“Being used to learning? Hm, I guess so. I’ve never really put much thought into it, but it seems that I’ve been studying for my whole life. Anyways, I forced myself to learn the letters because I wanted to read books that badly.”
Ferdinand soaked up whatever he could see. It was nice seeing students studying peaceful, neatly dressed in identical clothing. There was no evident filth everywhere in this premise.
historical
“Myne, this place is truly lovely.”
“That’s because it’s a new building. But what’s the best about this school is that it has the largest library of any of the nearby schools. That is why I chose to attend this school
They had returned to another library. There was no doubt that this was the school library she praised with glee. The unmistakable dusty smell in the air indicated that there were many old books here. Myne enthusiastically breathed its scent in, but Ferdinand had grown tired of smelling books.
“Myne, we’re done with the libraries. Take me outside.” Their environment changed into a peaceful and pretty garden. There was a stoned pathway, a green patch of grass, and flowerbeds that laid adjacent to a row of trees.
“Is this the Noble’s District?”
“Mm, yes and no. I’d say that the entire Japan closely resembles the Noble’s District than the lower city. We use tools similar to magic tools here.” The concept of a world that utilised magic tools that didn’t run on mana fascinated Ferdinand.
“Oh? Such as?”
“I guess, we can use our vehicles as an example.” Myne turned upward and pointed at something white in the sky. It was soaring in the sky while making a deafening clamor. She turned around to look at small metal structures travelling together at a fast pace along large pavements.
“What are those? It must cost quite some mana to move these metal structures at such a speed.”
“I said this before, these aren’t magic tools that run on mana. They use something else to work. Honestly, I find jewels that glow and move on mana much stranger.” After giving some thought into it, magic stones that changed colour and shape would be strange for Myne who came from a world that operated on no mana. She was always surprised by everything when she was with the Knight Order. .
“What other tools do you use here?”
“Mmm, it would probably be home electronics?” Myne muttered, and they teleported into another building.
The windows were draped in a fine lace linen. Using a laced curtain as a plain one suggested that they were in an archnoble’s dwelling. A modest light streamed through the curtains, and the room was further brightened by a so-called “lightbulb.” In front of it was a leather couch was large black rectangle on top of a short cabinet.
..What?
Myne’s heartbeat started to accelerate. Her back was drenched in sweat, and her face turned pale. Myne was getting overwhelmed with anxiety, tension, and terror. Yet, deep down, there was a mixture of joy and reminiscence building up. Ferdinand’s brain reeled as a result of her emotional outburst.
“Myne, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“This is the living room in my house. It’s so nostalgic..I’m feeling some.. pain.”Myne murmured in a hoarse tone as her chest tightened. Ferdinand could tell she was on the verge of crying. He had mostly dismissed it the first time she said it since she was so engrossed in her books, but Myne had explained that after dying here, she had become Myne in his world. In that scenario, it was only natural for someone to feel this emotional when they returned to their old home. But he wasn’t going to let himself be manipulated by Myne’s feelings
Ferdinand coughed to clear his mind before speaking to Myne. “There’s a lot of stuff on that shelf. “What are they?”
“..Those are my mother’s works.” She gets interested in anything, but she gives up easily, she moves onto something else after making one or two of them. Of course she can’t make anything great if she doesn’t practice more..”
Even after saying this, Myne reached out to a careful graze across them which contradicted her previous disdainful remarks. “This is a hairpin, and this is a coaster made of lace. These hairpins are now available for purchase at the Gilberta Company. This was the inspiration for the elegant hair stick I made.”
Ferdinand remembered that Myne wore a hair stick when she assisted the Knight’s Order. Hers was better, and it looked a lot like the hairpin on the shelf.
“These baskets were made out of ad papers coiled up into sticks. I used my experience making these to make the baskets for my winter craft. The bag I always carry around was made the same way. Mom, on the other hand, got tired of it after making half of it so I finished it for her instead”
Myne bit on her lips and pointed at the basket.
“These are dolls and plush animals, I know they look shabby. She only finished the head of the white and spherical one, it’s supposed to be a snowman. Here’s an uncompleted patched tapestry..”
The shabby basket was used to store many unfinished projects. Myne removed them and spoke about the past with each one. With each one she touched, their surroundings shifted to a different scene. They all had a black-haired woman who was either persuading Myne to accompany her or complaining that she was done with it. This lady was most likely Myne’s previous mother.
“All her artwork looks the same,” Myne added as she walked out of the room and into a tiny corridor. The hall suddenly lit up when she touched a rectangular thing.
“What just happened?!”
“Oh, that was electricity. The same thing you saw at the bookstore.” Myne raised her eyes and pointed to a white light that was considerably smaller than the one he had previously seen. This rectangle thing used something similar to mana.
Many works of art hung on the walls of the now-bright hall. Each was crudely constructed, to the point where Ferdinand agreed with Myne when she said her mother’s skills were lacking.
“Aren’t they all over the place?” She made her own watercolour and oil paintings, and even a nihonga, she wanted to prove a point that her other paintings were bad due to the materials. She used coloured pencils as a last ditch effort before giving up on art. She then moved on to calligraphy, she thought letters would be simple. She took me to the tea ceremony and flower arrangement class because she believed they were skills I needed to get married. In the end, she was the one who gave up and stopped attending them.”
Myne chuckled as she wiped away the tears that welled up. Ferdinand could sense that she was feeling an indescribable sense of yearning and love. He struggled to relate to her as he was estranged from his family.
“There was a period when we attempted to do everything ourselves in order to save money and to get closer to Mother Nature. She got so wrapped up in it that I hoped she’d stop bothering me, but.. it’s because of her that I could survive as Myne.”
Myne mentioned that she first learned to make the rinsham, soap, hide glue, ink, and the others here. Her vision began to blur as she began to tear up.
“I’m sorry, High Priest. It’s been a while..”
Myne covered her face with her hand beneath her eyes as she dashed into a small room. She stood in front of a porcelain bowl underneath a cabinet and had a metal rod protruding from it. She picked up a nice and fluffy cloth. She then gripped and twisted a handle on the metal rod.
“What?! Wa-->>
