Ascendance of a Bookworm

I am Lutz, 5 years old.

I have three older brothers—Zasha, Sieg, and Ralf—and I’m the youngest.

This morning, when I woke up, faint sunlight was flickering through the wooden sliding door. After several days of blizzard, the bright sun surprised me greatly.

It’s clear!

Ignoring the cold in the room, I couldn’t help but open the sliding door and look outside. A cloudless blue sky spread out above, and the snow-covered landscape sparkled brilliantly as it reflected the sunlight throughout the town.

“Amazing.”

Since such clear days are rare, both adults and children rushed out into the forest all at once. Missing out would be terrible. I closed the window and dashed to the kitchen.

“Lutz, hurry up!”

“Okay!”

Brother Ralf finished eating and hurriedly started getting ready. I softened my hard black bread in warm milk and ate quickly before getting dressed.

Today was a perfect day for gathering. Everyone in town headed to the forest to gather parue—the fruit that only grows in the snow. We couldn’t afford to lose if we wanted to collect as many parue as possible.

Even considering the whole year, there weren’t many sweet treats we could reliably get, so everyone wanted to get even one more.

Not only elder brother Ralf, but also Zasha and Sieg, who usually worked as apprentices, were going to the forest together. If the four of us collected together, we’d surely get plenty.

We slung baskets and gear on our backs and took off running.

We ran down the stairs and stepped outside. Mom, who was by the well, spotted us and waved.

“Heading to the forest now? Be careful! Try to gather as much as you can!”

“We know!”

“You can count on us!”

Mom always starts chatting with the neighbors at the well whenever she goes outside, even in this bitter cold snow. I really admire her for being able to talk for so long in such weather.

Among Mom’s conversation partners by the well were Tulli and Myne’s mother. Since the mothers are close friends, Tulli, Myne, and I have been close since we were little.

“Tulli already went with her dad, didn’t she? You’d better hurry.”

Myne’s name wasn’t mentioned. Probably Myne was staying home. She usually falls ill on days like this.

Come to think of it, she had collapsed in the cart on the pork processing day last year, just like this year. Although she had a fever last year, she was still brought along, but this year she seemed fine until we reached the village. It’s sad to miss out on freshly made sausages again.

Myne is tiny, frail, cute, and a bit fragile—although we’re the same age, I think of her like a little sister.

Come to think of it, around winter preparations, she unusually said she wanted some straw stems. I wonder what she was planning to do.

“Sieg! Go to that tree!”

“Got it!”

When we arrived at the forest, the battle for parue fruits was already underway. This rare winter sweet can only be gathered in the deep snow within the forest, and only on a clear morning like today. Everyone’s eyes looked wild with determination.

At Zasha’s call, Sieg ran off and started climbing a tree. The other three of us began preparing the fire a little away from the tree.

We shoveled away snow to expose the soil, lit the firewood we brought, and saw Sieg decide which fruits to gather.

“Lutz, get ready to come up soon.”

“Okay.”

I started climbing the parue tree toward Sieg.

Parue is a demon tree. It’s white, seemingly made of ice and snow, and has many branches, making it easy to climb, but the fruits grow high up on the tree.

Normally, you can pick fruits with a knife, but parue fruits can’t be harvested with a knife. That’s what makes it tricky.

“Lutz, ready?”

“Wait a moment.”

I quickly took off my gloves behind Sieg and grabbed the branch near the base of the fruit he was holding.

“Hah, cold. I’m counting on you. I think it’ll be soon.”

“Got it.”

Sieg put his gloves back on and climbed down nimbly.

The thin branch I gripped with bare hands felt as cold as ice, and the surrounding air was chilly, so I could feel my hand’s temperature dropping rapidly.