Ascendance of a Bookworm

Including Filine and Liselotte, everyone else returned to the castle, but I stayed behind with Angelica on the mini bus and went straight back to the temple from Haldenzel. There was no point in taking Gutenberg to the castle.

When I got off at the temple's main entrance, a carriage from the Plantin Trading Company was already there to pick us up. We unloaded Gutenberg and the others from the mounts and faced Benno.

“The preparations to receive Gutenberg are complete. We will contact you again once the next destination is decided.”

“Thanks to Lady Rosemine, this job went very smoothly. We look forward to your next update.”

Compared to last year’s journey, the number of travel days and the time the work took were on a completely different level. Benno showed a satisfied smile. Zack and Johan also seemed pleased that their serious exchanges with the craftsmen had been fruitful.

“Before next time, I’ll practice explaining how to read the plans to the craftsmen.”

“I’ll try harder to mediate better between Johan and the craftsmen, too.”

After seeing Gutenberg and the others off and turning back toward the temple, I found Fran and the other attendants alongside the head priest, who had his hand to his temple in thought.

“Welcome back, Lady Rosemine.”

“I’m back.”

“...You’ve returned well, Rosemine. You have a report to make to me, don’t you? Ordnance flew over from Gibe Haldenzel, Elvira, and Karlstedt. Strangely, I haven’t received any communication from you, the person involved.”

The head priest glared at me sharply, and I gulped. From my perspective, I had only pointed out that the song sung by men during Haldenzel’s prayer ceremony was different from what was written in the Sacred Scripture, and when we followed the scripture, the goddess did her best. But apparently, for those around me, it was a different matter. This was the kind of situation that warranted a report via Ordnance.

“Once you’ve changed, I will call you to my room.”

“Agreed. Since it concerns the head priest’s Sacred Scripture, your room would be more suitable.”

With that, the head priest turned on his heel and left. I entrusted my luggage to Zaam and Fran, then returned to my room with Monica and changed into the head priest’s robes. Angelica sent an Ordnance request to Darmel to take up the temple guard duty.

I asked Nicola to prepare tea and sweets and sighed deeply.

“This is weighing heavily on me, but please summon the head priest.”

“Certainly.”

Before Zaam returned with the head priest, Fran laid out the Sacred Scripture that the head priest used on the table. Opening the large, ornamental tome, I flipped to the pages that caused the problem.

“Well then, Rosemine. Shall we hear your explanation?”

“Even if you ask, what should I say? I only pointed out that, according to this scripture, the song sung by men during Haldenzel’s prayer ceremony is said to be sung by the retainers of the goddess of earth.”

Showing the scripture, I tried to defend myself. It was Gibe Haldenzel who decided to have a woman sing, my father who put me on stage, and the goddess who brought spring to Haldenzel. I had done nothing special this time.

“...So such a description exists. This is the first time I’ve heard that the head priest’s Sacred Scripture differs from others.”

“Have you not read this scripture, head priest? I thought you read it when we first performed the ceremony...”

“That was only because the former head priest gave permission and told me to read it to you. Without permission, I cannot see the text.”

According to the head priest, the Sacred Scripture passed down to the head priest is a type of magic tool. Rather than being decorated with jewels, it is protected by mana stones. It is said to be linked to the key entrusted to each head priest in succession.

The first time he read it to me, it was only the very beginning, so there was nothing particularly unusual.

“It’s common for the content to change slightly during transcription: making old phrases easier to understand, replacing obsolete words with understandable ones, or even small rewrites due to political pressure. You won’t notice unless you compare them closely.”