Ascendance of a Bookworm

At the award ceremony, it seemed that in each grade, two or more students from Ehrenfest were called up for recognition—a very good performance. It was said that middle-ranking and lower-ranking nobles were unquestionably excellent in academics, but their practical skills rarely reached the level to be honored as outstanding performers. Since their mana capacity was originally different, there was quite a gap at the starting line.

…Thinking about it, Angelica was unusual—despite being a middle-ranking noble, she was honored for her practical skills by being selected for the sword dance, yet her academic performance was at a failing level.

“My brother was an outstanding student, and my sister was the very best. I’m relieved to have been selected as an outstanding student myself,” Charlotte said, patting her chest with relief. She quietly admitted that the pressure was immense with her siblings being so academically excellent. Wilfried was chosen as an outstanding student but wore a somewhat dissatisfied expression.

“You were selected as an outstanding student, so why does Brother Wilfried look unhappy?” I asked.

“Considering the order they were called, I was just slightly outperformed by Ortwin,” he replied.

Ortwin seemed to be a lord candidate from Drevannel, known for knowing when to stop at a decent level. Probably, because he was particular about his cool armor and weapons, his practical performance was slightly better.

“I will definitely win next year,” Wilfried declared.

After listening to everyone’s stories about the awards, I was called to the lord’s room by Foster Father, who had returned quite late compared to the others. Apparently, we needed to discuss tomorrow’s meeting.

“It was absolutely the right decision to send Rosemine home early, Ferdinand,” Foster Father said right upon opening his mouth. The delay in his return was due to a summons from the royal family. They had asked if the blessing incantation for tomorrow’s coming-of-age ceremony could be entrusted to the saint of Ehrenfest.

Since the attackers who raided today demanded “Dismiss any king who does not possess Gultrishite,” regardless of connections, scripture fundamentalists in large numbers at the Central Temple would become active. They needed to keep the Central Temple in check.

There was no way to tell the royal family, “We don’t care about the relationship between the royal family and the Central Temple,” or “We can’t conduct the ritual without any preparation.” So, in a roundabout way, they refused by saying, “Because the assault today was very taxing physically and mana-wise for Rosemine, she even declined the award ceremony.”

“They persisted, saying, ‘If her condition allows,’ so I brought up the Immeldink incident to reinforce the refusal,” Foster Father continued.

Before the assault in the arena, I had also been attacked by an upper noble from Immeldink. Although they claimed their target was Hartmut, since I was the one attacked, it’s unclear how much of their claim was true. When performing duties as head priest—conducting rituals on the altar—she argued she couldn’t have Guard Knights accompany her, so she didn’t want to appear defenseless in public.

“If it can be avoided, that’s fine. We don’t want to set a precedent where Rosemine replaces the head priest of the Central Temple in giving blessings. Rosemine is the head priest of Ehrenfest Temple, not the Central Temple. No unnecessary tasks,” said the high priest, breathing a sigh of relief. I lightly tugged on his sleeve.

“Lord Ferdinand, may I go see the dedication dance and the graduation ceremony tomorrow? Or will I be staying behind again?”

This year, Brother Cornelius would perform the sword dance and graduate. I wanted to watch, not stay in the dorm. As I looked up at him, the high priest sighed and tapped his temple.

“If you continue to use your frailty as the reason, it’s better to attend only the morning or the afternoon. …Even without such conditions, you’ll probably get so excited by Cornelius’ shining moment and standing next to Leonore that you won’t last half a day before leaving.”