Ascendance of a Bookworm

Benno walked briskly with long strides, and my head, which was leaning back in his princess carry, bobbed up and down. It felt like my brain was being shaken around, so I wished he would walk a little more steadily to avoid all this jostling.

As I was thinking that, hurried footsteps came rushing up behind us.

"Master Benno, please wait!"

It was Fran’s voice. In my tilted-back view, I caught sight of Fran’s chin and chest. She walked half a step behind Benno and called out once again.

"Master Benno."

"What is it? As you can see, I’m in a hurry."

Without even slowing down, Benno replied with an unceremonious bluntness. Fran hesitated for a moment at his brusque attitude but then took a deep breath and pressed on.

"Please let me carry Myne-sama."

"I’m in a hurry. Denied."

"I cannot allow the guest to carry her. I am Myne-sama’s attendant."

I was quietly nervous at Fran’s refusal to back down against Benno, but then he suddenly stopped walking.

"If you’re not putting any strength into it, even someone small feels heavy. Don’t drop her."

"I understand."

Benno slowly knelt down and handed me over to Fran.

Fran adjusted my head and arm positions slightly before standing up. Now that my head was resting on Fran’s shoulder, it no longer jerked about.

"Fran is good at carrying people, isn’t she?"

I said with admiration, and Fran’s voice sharpened slightly in a mildly annoyed tone.

"Myne-sama, there is no need to force yourself to speak."

"I don’t have the strength in my body, but my head feels clear, so I’m not forcing it."

"…It appears you are not paying attention to your manners."

Concern was evident in Fran’s voice, and I smiled softly. Knowing Fran cared made me a bit embarrassed but also a little happy.

"Hey, Fran. With Delia and Gil around, I’m not sure when we’ll get another chance to talk alone, so I want to say this now. Okay?"

Since there might be other priests in the hallway, I whispered close to Fran’s ear like a secret, and she nodded slightly without shifting her gaze from straight ahead.

"I’m listening."

"I still don’t understand much about nobles and probably inconvenience you a lot, but I’ll do my best to learn quickly. I want to be useful to the high priest, so maybe we can work together since our goal is the same?"

Fran’s arm tightened firmly around mine, and I saw her Adam’s apple move as she swallowed hard.

"That is my duty. …I also ask your forgiveness for causing you frustration by expressing dissatisfaction when I failed to understand the high priest’s feelings properly…"

"Huh? ‘Fail to understand’? Didn’t the high priest explain properly?"

I was dumbfounded. It would be natural to be frustrated if you were dismissed without explanation. Being changed from a high priest’s attendant to just a simple blue shrine maiden apprentice — and a commoner girl at that — couldn’t help but feel like a demotion.

"I don’t know how many enemies there might be among those around us, so the high priest rarely speaks openly to avoid giving away information. Though he had others leave, I was surprised by how much he said today."

"No, no, it’s a problem if your subordinates don’t understand your intentions. You must have felt miserable being assigned to me without knowing why, right?"

I had no idea what the high priest’s position truly entailed, but if such a loyal person felt sad, it would only reduce our allies.

"Yes. I felt as if I were considered unnecessary, about the same as Delia or Gil."

"That’s not true. The high priest is not the kind of person who gives you to me and then intends to let you go."

I whispered this secretly, hoping it would strengthen Fran’s loyalty to the high priest and maybe make her treat me more kindly as well.

"Is that so?"

Though phrased as a question, there was a strong denial in Fran’s voice.

"He feels like he’s just lending you to me, which is why he can give Fran orders in front of a guest like Benno without consulting me first, even though I’m supposed to be your new master. He told me to get my health in shape by autumn, but if you replaced that with a normal noble, wouldn’t that be quite rude?"