Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 6, Chapter 5 Meeting of the minds

Three days after I started living in the temple, a letter arrived from the Head Priest asking if the ceremonial robes ordered from the Gilberta Company were ready yet. Disappointed that he had not written to set up a meeting, I had Rosina call Lutz. He arrived fast since he was in the workshop teaching the orphanage children how to do their winter work.

"Did something happen, Myne?"

"The Head Priest sent me a letter asking when the ceremonial robes will be ready. I'm sorry, but could you ask Benno about them when you stop by the store for lunch?"

And so he did, returning with the reply that it would take three days to finish at the absolute minimum. To give them a little leeway, I sent a reply to the Head Priest saying that the robes would take five days to finish if they went all out. Hopefully, that will keep him from rushing them too much.

When Fran brought me the reply from the Head Priest, he also brought with him a summoning letter for Benno. I gave this to Lutz when he visited my quarters to say goodbye and give me an update on the workshop.

"It looks like he'll be calling Lord Karstedt in seven days from now, and he wants Benno to deliver the finished robes at that time," I said, clinging to him the whole time.

"Fine. I'll give it to him on the way home. But you know, Myne… You haven't improved at all, are you all right?"

"Not really. I want to get home at least once before the snow falls."

Far from getting used to the loneliness, my homesickness was getting worse. It was also quite clear as I gradually spent more and more time clinging to Lutz and Tuuli whenever they came to my room. And Mom definitely couldn't visit because her pregnancy wasn't helping either.

"You know I won't be able to visit every day once the snow starts, right?", Lutz said with a sigh as he gently stroked my head.

Dad was busy enough with his afternoon shifts that he could only visit me once a week, while Tuuli could only visit me every other day. I would feel even lonelier when Lutz stopped visiting me every day to keep an eye on the workshop and his winter work.

"I wish the snow simply didn't exist." My arms around Lutz tightened at the thought of how cold it was, cold enough that snow would start falling at any moment.

On the day of the meeting, the snow started falling just before the third bell. It wasn't enough for the snow to settle, but everyone knew that winter had truly begun.

"Do you think it will settle?"

"Not yet, Sister Myne. There will be nothing to disrupt your meeting," Rosina assured her.

After finishing harspiel practice, I was instructed on how to properly greet Karstedt. Rosina had been forcing me to repeat a beautiful bow over and over again.

The road to elegance is not an easy one…

"Sister Myne, Benno will arrive this afternoon. There is not much time left to practice."

Today's meeting was scheduled for the fifth bell. Benno would come to see me in my rooms beforehand, on the pretext of thanking me for giving him a connection to an archnoble. In the meantime, I had to learn a respectable enough greeting not to embarrass myself in front of Karstedt. And so, I put everything into practice.

"Hello Benno, Mark. Oh? Where's Lutz?"

Benno and Mark came into my room, the former wearing winter clothes with long sleeves in the style of the nobles and the latter carrying a box. I pursed my lips in a pout, waiting for Lutz to come with them.

"It started snowing, so I'm having Lutz prioritize his work in Myne's workshop. He should arrive with the finished work soon - one copy of each. Be sure to bring them to the meeting."

"The winter games? But why?" I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding why Benno would want me to bring toys to a meeting with the Head Priest and an archnoble.

"My gut tells me those things are going to cause quite a stir. I figure now is a good time to hear what the Head Priest and an archnoble think about them before bringing them out to the public."

"Hmm, assuming there's never been anything like that before, I think they'll have a really big impact." I replied after thinking about how the cards and reversi had impacted the Earth, and Benno glared at me with distaste.

"… A really big impact? You threw away the paper and print without considering the consequences, and yet you're warning me about how important some toys will be?"

"Well, to be clear, I know that paper and print are important enough to change the course of history. But my main reason for making them was because I needed them."

It was hard not to know what a huge impact printing had on past civilizations and culture in general. And yet, for me, they were just the necessary steps I had to take to get my books.

"What's the matter, Benno? You look a little sick."

"I am. From you. We are going talk to the Head Priest and an archnoble, you know?"

Benno also has a sensitive side, I thought as Benno leaned over with a hand on his stomach. I had always thought of him as a tough guy who loved to pick a fight with someone, so it was a little strange to see him so nervous.

"Why are you so nervous, Benno? You've never had a problem standing up to the guild master and all the vested interests. These two are really good people. You'll be fine."

"Don't put the guild master on the same level as an arch noble! Whose fault do you think this is all about!" shouted Benno before collapsing onto the table and pressing his forehead against it.

A lock of his hair, previously combed back with what was probably some kind of hair gel, fell onto the table.

"Master Benno, please don't hit your head against the table. Your hair is getting mussed." Mark pointed out with an amused smile.

Benno hatefully combed the hair back into place before looking at me with his dark red eyes. "…Bah. It's times like this - and only times like this - that I really wish you could give me some of your wonderful ignorance."

"What? But you're just handing out some robes, aren't you? I remember how happy you were to have a connection to an archnoble."

"You idiot! Use your head and think! In what world would I be summoned to the temple to deliver an order? I'm going to get drilled for all the information I have on you," Benno said with a withering look, forcing me to point at me in surprise.

"Um, me? What exactly would they want to learn about me?"

"I can expect us to share all the information we dug up on the head of the Ink Guild, and then we'll talk about what to do with you. I have information from the lower city, the arch noble has information from the Nobles district, and the Head Priest wants to know everything we do."

Speaking of which, the Head Priest had also talked about gathering information. And that I should stay inside my room until he was done with it. I guess this meeting meant he was done.

"Benno, has anything else happened with the head of the Ink Guild?"

"No, nothing yet. The colder it gets, strange people hanging around outside a store stand out more. Either they don't want to push things, or they've already found out what they wanted to know and are waiting for the winter social season to find out more."

While the city was snowbound, the nobles who had traveled to the farming towns during the Harvest Festival would return to the nobles district. The archduke would stay in the sovereignty - the central region that occupied the highest position among the regions ruled by the dukes, known as duchies - from spring through summer, but the main time for the nobles to socialize was winter. That's where they gathered to exchange information with archdukes from other duchies and strengthen old ties.

"Sister Myne. Master Benno It's about time."

"Thank you, Fran. Then let us depart."

I nodded to Benno and had Fran hold up the finished sets of games from the winter work Lutz had brought. After double checking Mark's box containing the robes, we left my quarters. The hallways to the Head Priest's room were cold and unrelenting. So cold that I really didn't want to leave my room at all.

When we arrived, Fran rang the doorbell and watched the door open. Karstedt had already arrived, and I could see him gracefully sipping tea at the guest table.

"Head priest. Lord Karstedt. I am glad the gods ordained that we meet again. For me, this is an auspicious day blessed by the warmth of Geduldh, the Earth Goddess, and I pray you feel the same."

I had only seen Karstedt dressed in full armor, but now he wore the fine clothes of nobility. His auburn hair was combed back with the same kind of gel as Benno's, and I could see at a glance that he had a sort of broad forehead.

His silky velvet shirt had long, dropped sleeves that I expected from nobles, and I could see that they were made of layers of various fabrics with elegant lace holding them together.

His back was broad and his body visibly muscular thanks to his training, making him a hard presence to ignore. But his fierce aura seemed gentler now than when he had been wearing his armor, and his light blue eyes seemed a bit softer today.

"It is good to see you well, Myne, the shrine maiden apprentice."

"I bless you from the bottom of my heart, Lord Karstedt." I finished my greeting without messing anything, and Benno introduced himself in turn.

We then sat in the seats offered to us by the Head Priest, with our servants standing behind us. The Head Priest was seated at one end of the table with Karstedt on his left, me on his right, and Benno at the other end.

"Thank you all for coming," said the Head Priest. "First, we will look at the ceremonial robes."

Mark stepped forward and handed the wooden box to Benno, who opened it and held it out to Karstedt. The inside was lined with a cloth that enveloped the ceremonial robes, which were as deep as the blue of the ocean. Their wavy embroidery shimmered under the light of several candles that illuminated the otherwise dim room.

"These are Sister Myne's ceremonial robes."

Karstedt looked at them and then asked me if they were what I had ordered. I nodded and confirmed that they were, as I had seen the finished product and was ready for them.

"In that case, I present the robes to you, Sister Myne."

"I will be eternally grateful."

I took the robes, and once I had them, Karstedt stuck out his chin to point at something. It was then that I realized for the first time that the person behind him was not his attendant, but was Damuel, the knight from earlier, perhaps serving as Karstedt's squire. He handed Benno a bag with gold inside.

After checking the contents, Benno handed the bag to Mark.

"Benno, I was told you worked extremely fast to complete this order. You have done well. Karstedt. Damuel Your prayers have already been fulfilled." At the Head Priest's words, everyone - Benno, of course, but also Karstedt and Damuel as well - let out sighs of relief.

I asked Fran to take care of the box containing my robe. He nodded and took it off the table.

"Attendants, step back," the Head Priest ordered as he placed a magic tool to avoid eavesdropping. It was a wide-ranging tool that affected a wider area rather than just individuals, as Benno lacked mana and could not power a tool of his own. The Head Priest placed four magical stones around us, then chanted something that sent a wall of faint blue light bursting from the tool and enveloped us in a cube.

I could see the attendants standing behind the wall of light, but I couldn't hear anything behind it. It was easy to guess that they couldn't hear anything from this side either.

Surely there's a magic tool for everything, I thought as Benno shivered beside me. I had gotten pretty used to seeing this sort of thing, but for people in the lower city, almost anything magical was cause for surprise. That said, Benno didn't own a big store for nothing. All he did was shudder, without shouting or looking around me as he would have done in the past.

"Now then, Benno. We have a lot to discuss."

Benno crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"… My knowledge is yours."

"I heard that the Ink Guild began investigating Myne immediately after signing a magical contract with them, with Lutz being their first target. Is that correct?"

"Yes. In general, information is gathered before a contract is signed to influence the proceedings as favorably as possible," Benno explained. "I can't imagine why they would start gathering information after the contract is signed."

The Head priest nodded and looked at me.

"Have you met the head of the Ink Guild before, Myne?"

"No. Benno hid me while the contract was being negotiated, so I know neither his name nor his face."

"The head of the Ink Guild has deep connections with the nobles," Benno began, "and not much is said about him. I decided that minimizing Sister Myne's contact with him would be ideal, and had her wait in another room while he visited."

He explained why he hadn't let me meet the head of the Ink Guild, which caused the Head Priest to let out a laugh with a faint smile of approval.

"You are a wise man, Benno. I applaud your decision. The man you're talking about is Wolf, isn't it?"

"What rumors have you heard, what led you to conclude that he would harm the shrine maiden apprentice?"

The Head Priest and Karstedt asked Benno a series of questions. I knew nothing about the head of the Ink Guild and therefore had no choice but to remain silent.

"Wolf is the head of the Ink Guild, yes. I have heard that he is willing to engage in criminal acts to strengthen his relations with the nobles, but I don't know if these rumors are true, so forgive my lack of details."

Karstedt, frowning, rubbed his chin.

"In that case, I would assume he started gathering information so blatantly because the contract has been signed, so you no longer care if your relationship is affected."

The suggestion made Benno's eyes go wide. It wasn't easy to void a magical contract, which required significant preparation before signing one. But to think of it another way, that also meant that it didn't matter how overtly antagonistic the Ink Guild was now that it was signed. After all, even if they escalated things to the point of harming me, the contract could not be voided without the consent of all parties involved.

Karstedt guessed that Ink Guild had exploited that, and for a second I saw an extremely bitter grimace on Benno's face.

"Benno, what do you think Wolf will benefit from gathering information about Myne? I would like to hear your perspective as a merchant and as one who lives in the lower city?" the Head Priest asked.

Benno chose his words carefully.

"To us merchants, Sister Myne's value is her knowledge of seemingly infinite commodities, though few know how much she is really worth. If Wolf were one of those few, he would no doubt try to bring her to the Ink Guild. But Sister Myne has already joined the Merchants Guild and the Gilberta company. In that case, he probably intends to rely on money to gather as much knowledge as he can, kidnap her to extract her knowledge, or take her loved ones as his hostage to blackmail her."

Karstedt looked at me doubtfully. No doubt he thought it was impossible for a girl as young as me to have such valuable knowledge.

"However, I don't think he would be able to learn everything she knows, even through kidnapping and blackmail," Benno continued. "To maximize the amount he gained from her, he would need to keep her locked in an isolated location for long periods of time, which would be extremely strenuous."

I shuddered at the thought of that becoming a reality, not having considered the possibility of someone kidnapping me and imprisoning me for my knowledge. I finally understood how well Benno had been treating me, and the thought of what might have happened if I had met someone else sent more chills down my spine.

"Why would keeping her locked up be strenuous?" asked Karstedt casually. "It should be simple as long as the kidnappers have a spare room or a country mansion. Surely the kidnapping itself would be more of a challenge."

The fact that he was talking about confining people with so much knowledge scared me.

"If her abductor is not fully aware of Sister Myne's poor health, she will die under his care in a matter of days. In Sister Myne's case, the confinement will be more grueling than the kidnapping."

"Yes, I must agree. She spent days in bed with the disease after only half a day in the repentance chamber. If treated as a standard prisoner, she would die before she could teach them anything of value." The Head Priest agreed with Benno on the spot; it seemed that the chamber of repentance incident had really stuck with him.

However, I wished he would forget about it. I get fevers like that all the time. It was no one's fault. Also, while I was at it, I wished he would forget that I was the only blue shrine maiden who was ever put in the repentance chamber.

"It is likely, then, that Wolf plans to sell her to the nobles after he learns what he can from her," Karstedt concluded.

Benno frowned in confusion.

"… I know Sister Myne suffers from the Devourer, but is there any other reason the nobles would want her?"

The Head Priest exchanged a glance with Karstedt, then nodded to Benno.

"I don't intend to fill you in on all the details, but yes, there is another reason. As mentioned, Wolf most likely intends to sell Myne to nobles after getting his hands on her. But it is also possible that a nobleman has ordered Wolf to kidnap her so that they can arrange a ransom and indebt her to them. Once they rescue her, they might even claim that she was their daughter all along. It's also possible that a broader quest for revenge plays a role in this, which means the threat of murder must be considered."

Gaaah! I can already hear Benno demanding to know what I've done! I can already hear the screams! Not the rumbling, but the thunder!

Before the Head Priest listed all the possibilities one by one, I thought the Ink Guild's quest to seek information about me was a bit disgusting and nothing more. It hadn't even occurred to me that I was in that much danger. Now I could understand why the Head Priest had ordered me to stay in my quarters.

"Benno," the Head Priest began, "you will continue to withhold information from her business associates. Myne will not leave the temple during the winter. When she leaves her room it will only be to perform rituals or visit the orphanage. With gray priests accompanying her, she should be safe. Our real problems begin in the spring."

His words earned him the approval of Benno and Karstedt.

"Because they will also gather information and allies during the winter," Benno explained.

"We must think of a plan at once. Benno, what means are there to control this?" said the Head Priest, referring to me.

Everyone looked in my direction.

Finally, Benno shook his head slowly with an exhausted expression.

"I don't know. She can scale something to a ridiculous degree in a matter of minutes, and if you take your eyes off her, she could be at death's door by the end of the hour. If I knew a way to keep it under control, I'd be using it by now."

"As expected. I suppose keeping her within arm's reach is all one can do."

The Head Priest and Benno looked at me and gave loud sighs in unison. Then they looked at each other with wry smiles. They seemed to have bonded.

"Myne, you cause trouble every time you do something. From now on, you will get my and Benno's permission before you take a new course of action or develop a new product," the HeadPriest said, reminding me of the orphanage's winter games.

Benno's insight had saved me once again. I picked up the winter work package Fran had left for me on the floor.

"… I imagine you'll want to see them, then. It's the winter work the orphanage has to do."

"Ah, I remember you mentioning something like that. Show me."

I pulled out the set of cards, the reversi and the fake chess set, lining them up side by side along the table. Benno leaned over to look at them as well, because although he had heard me explain each of them, he had never seen them.

"What are these?"

"Those are playing cards. There are many games you can play with them, but I intend to start by teaching the children at the orphanage to play a game called Memory. You shuffle the cards and then lay them on the table with the art side down. Then you flip over two cards, and if they are both the same number, you keep them. Whoever has the most cards at the end of the game wins."

It was difficult for the younger children to hold a hand full of wooden cards in their small hands, so concentration was the only game I was planning to show them for the time being.

The rules intrigued Karstedt, so we began to play, using only half the deck to save time. Suffice it to say that the Head Priest with his excellent memory completely crushed us.

"As I said, there are many games you can play with them. They'll be easier to use once we've worked out a formula for harder paper and can get them out of that instead of wood."

I taught them about blackjack, poker, and hearts, among other games, and it seemed that Karstedt was quite pleased with the cards in general.

"We have divination cards that are activated using mana, but there are no cards made for fun. And, overall, it's nice that you can play so many games with just one deck of cards. No doubt these will become very popular among nobles."

"They are also good for learning numbers. I made them so that the children at the orphanage can learn to do math," I explained.

The Head Priest nodded before pointing to the reversi board.

"What about this, then?"

"This is reversi. You place the stones in the boxes, and when the stones of one color get stuck between the stones of the other, they change color. Whoever has the most stones of his color at the end wins."

The Head Priest seemed the most interested in reversi. We began to play, me as his opponent, and I explained the rules as we went along. Tiles were laid out, tiles were flipped, and after all the squares were filled, the board was covered in white. I had won.

"…Did I lose?"

"It's hard to win right after learning the rules. I'm sure you'll start beating me after we play a few more games." I shrugged as the Head Priest stared at the board in a daze.

I had beaten the Head Priest since playing reversi for the first time and didn't know any of the strategies, but he was smart enough to figure them out on his own in no time. I had done everything possible to him specifically because I knew this was my only chance to beat him.

"Then we'll play again. This time I'll win."

"Head Priest, let's save the rematch for next time. We'll play again if you buy the game."

"Very well. Consider it bought."

Benno's shoulders shook a little after seeing the Head Priest buy it instantly. He gave me a subtle nod of good work under the table.

"Ahem! And finally, what are these?"

"Um, these are (chess) pieces. They are played on the same board as reversi. Each type of piece moves in a different way, and you win by moving one of your pieces to your opponent's king."

I cleaned up the reversi stones and explained how each chess piece moved while Karstedt stared at the board with narrowed, contemplative eyes.

"… This looks like gewinnen."

"Oh, so there is another game like this, should I make some changes so they are not so similar?"

I understood that even on Earth, board games had existed for a long time. It was only natural that this world would have something similar.

"There is no need. It's a game played among nobles and requires mana. The goal is to take territory and the fighting strategies are completely different. This game will work well in the lower city, I imagine."

"I don't think they'll sell much if the nobles don't buy them…"

There weren't many people in the lower city wealthy enough to spend money on something that was purely for entertainment; almost everyone had their hands full keeping their families alive. My safest bet would be to combine chess with reversi and market it as an alternative way to play gewinnen.

With our discussion of winter work over, the Head Priest under the soundproof barrier. He and Karstedt summoned their assistants, who bought the reversi and the cards respectively.

I sold them for four large silvers - a premiere price since we were not planning to sell them until the spring started. Considering that I anticipated their market price would start at around five to seven small silvers, we scammed them a bit.

"Our partnership continues to be fruitful, Benno; I approve. May you be blessed with the divine protection of Geduldh, the Earth Goddess."

"I thank you for your time, honorable Head Priest. If you will excuse me, I will leave now. It has been a pleasure, Lord Karstedt. Sister Myne." Benno crossed his arms in front of his chest and walked out, Mark did the same behind him before following suit.

After watching them depart, I looked at the Head Priest.

"In that case, I think I'll be leaving as well. It's been a-"

"We have more to discuss with you. Take this."

He placed four of the magical sound-blocking tools on the table. The Head Priest, Karstedt and I took one, and Damuel took the remaining one.

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