Ascendance of a Bookworm

The lords' family meeting had ended, and Merhior was the only one who stood up with a bright expression. Everyone else rose with faces that seemed to be swallowing down something difficult to say.

“Rosemine, what you need is not temple duties but the work of the lords' family within the castle, isn’t it? If you wish to leave the temple against Lord Aub’s will, I will assist you.”

At Grandfather’s words, everyone in the conference room stirred uneasily. Foster Father, Foster Mother, and Wilfried all stiffened their expressions at the same time. What exactly did Grandfather mean by that? Nobody could quite tell.

Before Grandfather spoke to me, my thoughts had been about whether I could nurture a civil servant capable of dealing with merchants within the remaining three years I could stay in the temple, and also about how the temple attendants should rearrange their lives. So what slipped out of my mouth was an honest reply without pretense.

“If you are willing to assist me, please help me stay in the temple as long as possible, Grandfather.”

Foster Father, Foster Mother, and Wilfried all showed slight relief on their faces at my words, but then Grandfather’s face stiffened in shock. Yet I didn’t understand why Grandfather was so surprised. When I tilted my head in confusion, he looked a little disappointed and left the room.

“Big sister Rosemine, what should I do in the temple?”

As soon as we left the conference room, Merhior’s bright indigo eyes sparkled with excitement as he asked. Seeing Merhior so eager cheered me up as well, and I decided to talk about the temple until we returned to the North Wing.

“Your life will basically be based in the castle, but for a while you will be working from the third bell to the fifth bell shift. Riding with your attendant’s Mount is the quickest and most convenient way to move around. Your duties will be to memorize prayers in the head priest’s office and offer mana. Since Merhior hasn’t practiced handling mana yet, you won’t be able to participate in the prayer ceremonies, but we will train you so you can take part starting from the autumn harvest festival.”

“Yes!”

Merhior was originally planned to practice mana supply with Grandfather during the spring lords’ council and to participate in the harvest festival in autumn, so only the place to learn prayers was changing from the temple to the castle.

“Other than the mana offering, the tasks remain mostly the same as before, but it is important that Merhior comes to the temple.”

To make sure the senior attendants willingly send Merhior to the temple, I explained the difference the number of prayers and amount of mana offered makes in the divine blessing granted by the gods at the noble academy. Although this was common knowledge at the academy, I wasn’t sure how much the elder nobles of the territory knew.

“Research done in joint study with Dunkelfelger clarified that the amount of divine blessing varies with the prayers and offerings. Drevannel has started research on efficiently obtaining blessings, and in the next noble academy, the study of rituals and harvest yield will be conducted jointly with Froebelthark. The royal family also participated in the dedication ceremony at the academy and showed interest in the rituals. The temple and rituals have become very notable matters. I want Ehrenfest to be proud as the pioneer in research about the temple and rituals.”

“...Ho.”

Merhior’s senior attendant’s expression changed slightly. It seemed that Merhior’s attendants, who had stayed mostly in the North Wing due to the purge, had not received much information. Also, since the attendants at the noble academy were mostly in the lower grades, it made sense.

I worked hard to appeal the benefits of the temple so that Merhior’s attendants would understand that going to the temple was not a disadvantage. If they understood that, they would cooperate with temple duties and treat the gray priests there better. At least it would make it easier to supervise them.