Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.4 - Chapter 18

Dirk’s Mana and Submission Contract 

Once Georgine’s welcoming ceremony was complete, Ferdinand and I promptly returned to the temple. Wilfried was going to be staying inside the northern building for the most part so as to minimize contact with other nobles, and while I could have done the same, it was decided that I would have an easier time staying at the temple and resuming my usual work. Besides, being stuck in the northern building would have meant being unable to even go to the book room. 

And, I mean... the temple has a book room, too. 

Georgine’s presence meant more traffic going in and out of the Noble’s Quarter, and as we didn’t want to give weight to the various rumors and messages being passed around, I wasn’t allowed to visit Hasse, nor was I allowed to summon the Plantin Company or the Gilberta Company to the temple. But even with these restrictions, I was having a better time than I would have been having in the castle—in fact, the days following Georgine’s arrival were so normal that I barely even thought about the fact she was here in Ehrenfest. I practiced harspiel till third bell, then helped Ferdinand up until fourth bell. 

One day, when I returned to the High Bishop’s chambers for lunch after fourth bell, I found Fritz waiting for me with a somewhat serious look on his face—a contrast to his usual calm demeanor. It was rare for him to be in my chambers at noon when he would normally be in the workshop, so whatever he needed to talk about, it was serious. 

“Has something happened, Fritz?” 

“Yes, Lady Rozemyne. There is something I must tell you about Dirk at once,” he said anxiously. 

All of a sudden, the realization hit me—I had basically forgotten about Dirk’s mana for an entire year. We had stealthily sucked it all up using taues last year, but that wasn’t a permanent solution; his mana would simply overflow again, and it would continue doing so until we did something about it. 

I needed to speak with Ferdinand about what to do with Dirk going forward. It wasn’t something I could discuss too openly due to the submission contract he had been forced to sign with Count Bindewald, and trying to help him on my own would no doubt result in me getting yelled at again. 

“Fran, please request a meeting with Ferdinand.” 

“As you wish.” 

Fran conveyed in his message that we were in a rush, and surprisingly, Ferdinand scheduled the meeting for fifth bell the next day. 

It would normally be three days after he received the message. Why tomorrow? Mm... Could it be that Ferdinand has tons of spare time right now, since he’s stuck here in the temple watching over me? 

At fifth bell on the day of, I exited the High Bishop’s chambers with Fran, Fritz, and Damuel, walking down the hallway just in time to see Eckhart hurry out of the High Priest’s chambers and toward the front entrance. It looked like Ferdinand had sent him off on some urgent business. 

Now that I think about it, I’ve barely seen Eckhart in Ferdinand’s room lately. Has he been busy with some other work? It must be rough serving such a demanding master. 

When we entered, Ferdinand welcomed us with a curt, “Well, what is it? You seem to be in a rush.” He didn’t even look up from his paperwork. 

“Ferdinand, could you please clear the room? I wish to have only Damuel, Fran, and Fritz with us for this discussion.” 

Ferdinand looked over those I named, then sighed and muttered, “Not anything positive, then...” as he waved his hand. 

His attendants all stopped at once, putting away their work and pushing the tea cart over to Fran before quietly leaving the room. Fritz closed the door once they were gone. 

“Now then, Rozemyne—what happened?” Ferdinand asked, taking a sip of the tea Fran had poured for him. I glanced over at Fritz, who gave a nod before answering in my place. 

“I was told this by Wilma, but it seems that Dirk’s mana has been growing rapidly as of late. She wishes for your help.” 

“Dirk?” Ferdinand asked, his brow furrowed. 

I quickly interjected to explain. “Dirk is the Devouring baby Count Bindewald signed a submission contract with.” 

“Ah. I suppose his mana is close to overflowing by now,” he replied, now understanding why we were here. 

“That’s right,” I said with a nod. “What should we do? Make him offer up his mana? Allowing it to build up too much could kill him, so I want this settled as soon as possible.” 

“Indeed,” Ferdinand concurred. “We do need as much mana as we can get right now.” He smoothly stood up, slid his mana-blocking leather gloves on, then took a black feystone out of a cabinet, dropping it into a leather bag which he then handed to me. “As we cannot allow a pre-baptism child to leave the orphanage, he cannot directly offer his mana to the divine instruments. Instead, you will need to drain it using this feystone. It will suck your mana out as well if you touch it, so take care to avoid doing so. Have your attendants handle it. They need only touch it against the baby’s skin for his mana to be sucked out.” 

“Thank you ever so much, Ferdinand. Here you are, Fran,” I said, immediately passing the bag to him. It would be much safer in his care than mine. “Also... you could say I’m really here to discuss something else, which is, well... Was Dirk’s submission contract ever nullified like we talked about?” 

It had already been a year and a half since Count Bindewald was imprisoned, so things had naturally settled down enough for us to discuss this matter. 

“Ah...” Ferdinand drew his brow into a frown and drummed his fingers against his temple as he fell into thought, completely losing sight of everyone else. “Up to this point, we have paid it no mind, but I suppose now is the time to do so. We cannot leave things be any longer, considering what is about to happen. Perhaps we could change his master to you, but that would only create another weakness to be exploited...” 

“Um, Ferdinand? That’s not what I was talking about. I asked whether the contract was nullified,” I said, interrupting his murmuring. He looked down at me, his brow still furrowed. 

“It was best to leave the contract be.” 

“Why?” 

“We do not need to worry about another noble signing with him when he is already under a contract, so there was no need to nullify it and create more problems to worry about. No noble would take a baby signed with a criminal from another duchy, and it was easiest to simply leave him in the orphanage where he would be taken care of without issue.” 

“I see... Then why do we need to reconsider the situation now?” 

Ferdinand silently took out a sound-blocking magic tool, and only once he had confirmed that I was grasping the other end did he answer. “Georgine.” 

I knew she was in Ehrenfest, but what did that have to do with anything? She didn’t have any connection to Dirk. 

“We did not expect her to become the first wife of Ahrensbach, and it is certainly not good for us that she has,” Ferdinand continued. “For now, she is likely to be overwhelmed with the work expected of an archduke’s first wife, but once she has more time on her hands, she will no doubt investigate Ehrenfest and discover the incident with Count Bindewald.” 

“Count Bindewald was from Ahrensbach?” I asked. On reflection, I did seem to remember someone mentioning that he was very influential somewhere in the south of Ehrenfest. 

“Indeed, he was. Georgine was the third wife at the time of the incident, and judging by how she was not even informed about Bezewanst’s death, we can imagine she was told nothing of what happened. Ahrensbach’s archduke would not want it widely known that a noble from his duchy invaded and caused problems within Ehrenfest, as that would give us a political advantage. That said, first wives are heavily involved in politics, and she is now in a position to find out about these things. There is much she will surely learn through investigation.” 

I nodded as though I understood what Ferdinand was getting at, but in all honesty, I was completely clueless. How would Georgine learning about Dirk and Count Bindewald change anything? 

“This should not be so hard for you to understand. It is known to all that you are the High Bishop and the orphanage director. Georgine may use the contract with Count Bindewald to force us to hand over Dirk, or otherwise use it as an excuse to investigate the orphanage.” 

“Would the first wife of a greater duchy’s archduke really do all that for a Devouring orphan?” 

“You truly have no talent for gathering information, do you?” Ferdinand said, shooting me a glare. But, well, I was being kept away from the other nobles; it wasn’t fair for him to criticize my information gathering skills, or lack thereof. “The person Georgine hates and resents above all else is Sylvester—the one who stole the position of aub from her. You should know this, given that you read those letters Bezewanst was concealing.” 

Sorry... I apologized silently, maintaining a serious expression on the outside. I understood that she’d felt that way at the time, but I didn’t think her grudge would endure twenty whole years. 

“And now there’s you, a girl whom Sylvester favored enough to willingly adopt. That alone is enough to make you a target, not to mention the fact you are partially responsible for the death of Bezewanst—a family member so near and dear to her heart that she maintained contact with him for years upon years after her marriage. She learned of your involvement just earlier, on this very visit.” 

“Wait, what?! How do you know that?!” 

How could Ferdinand know what Georgine was doing during her stay here when he was stuck in the temple, making sure I didn’t do anything unsupervised? 

He scoffed at my surprise. “Eckhart and Justus are providing me with a steady stream of information. I am in the temple partially to keep an eye on you, but also so that those two will not need to be chained to my whereabouts.” 

Eckhart was being told about tea parties that Mother was holding at her estate, while Justus was going all over the place to gather information directly. As it turned out, Sylvester was even summoning Ferdinand in the middle of the night so that he could complain about the struggles he was having to endure. 

“The faction containing those most connected to Ahrensbach lost a considerable amount of power when Sylvester’s mother was arrested, so they are currently attempting to regain as much influence as they can through Georgine now that she has the weight of a greater duchy behind her. As we speak, they are actively strengthening their connections with her, and it was at a tea party held with that intention where Viscountess Dahldolf told Georgine many, many things.” 

I listened to Ferdinand’s explanation about noble politics, and while I didn’t really understand what he was talking about, I needed to at least ask about that name I didn’t recognize. 

“Ferdinand, who is Viscountess Dahldolf?” 

“The mother of that foolish knight who forsook his duty as a guard and harmed you, allowing the trombe we fought to grow a new patch.” 

Wait... Does he mean Shikza’s mother?! Gaaah! That’s terrifying! I didn’t want to know about this, no matter how important it is for my safety! 

I shuddered as I remembered Shikza’s cold eyes as he thrust a knife toward me, talking about gouging out my eyes because I was just a commoner. 

“She has not openly contacted you as part of an oath she made to the archduke following her son’s execution. In return, however, she curses you endlessly at tea parties and volunteers all she knows to those present. It is quite the annoyance as she does this only at tea parties attended exclusively by her allies, making it difficult for members of the Leisegang faction to confirm exactly what is being said.” 

She had gone so far as to beg Bezewanst and Veronica for Shikza’s punishment to be lessened, so it only made sense that she would be in a faction opposed to Elvira and Florencia’s. It also followed that she would rejoice at Georgine’s visit, hold a tea party, and then use that opportunity to tell her all about how Bezewanst had died because of me. 

“...That’s scary.” 

“I am glad that even one as hopelessly carefree as yourself can identify the danger you are in here. If Georgine proceeds to take Veronica’s place, supporting that faction as the first wife of a greater duchy’s archduke, then she will possess a significant amount of influence in Ehrenfest. And in the midst of all this, it will be hard for us to resist if she claims that a Devouring child signed to Count Bindewald belongs to Ahrensbach. Remember that Ehrenfest is but a medial duchy.” 

It seemed that Dirk could be stolen away by a number of people through many different means: there was the pressure from Ahrensbach; the family of Count Bindewald, who could claim ownership over him; and the nobles in cahoots with Georgine. 

“It is possible that the saint myth we have constructed around you may be tarnished merely by her taking the orphan and framing you and your orphanage in a negative light—at least, that is something I could accomplish quite easily in her position. We cannot predict what she will do at the moment, but she has destructive options.” 

“In that case, we really should nullify his submission contract with Count Bindewald and establish a new one with me as his master. No other noble could take him away once he’s signed to the archduke’s adopted daughter, right? You did mutter something about doing that earlier.” 

This approach would make it a lot harder for anyone to publicly go after Dirk, and it would certainly be much easier to keep him safe when he wasn’t fair game to so many people. I didn’t want to keep him in such a dangerous position. 

“We could sign him with you, which would no doubt be the best move in terms of protecting him. But doing so would also turn him into a weakness of yours, exploitable by any who wish to earn your favor or harm you.” 

“Dirk is like family to me by this point, so he’s already a weak point. Focus on protecting him,” I said. The light of my blessing had flown to Dirk when I prayed for him to be helped, so the connection between us was more than clear. 

Ferdinand closed his eyes tightly. “Just how many people does this fool intend to consider family...?” he cursed under his breath. “Signing the contract to protect him would be simple, but your circumstances have changed considerably since then. Doing this will make you his guardian, and a child with a guardian cannot stay in the orphanage. You will thus have to raise him yourself, and where exactly do you intend to do that?” 

When Dirk first signed with Count Bindewald, he was taken out of the orphanage and moved to the High Bishop’s chambers. He was only being raised in the orphanage now because Bezewanst had died and his master was imprisoned, leaving nobody to raise him. 

Having Dirk sign with me naturally meant that I would need to take him into my care, but an unbaptized baby couldn’t work in the castle as a servant. And while he would officially be considered family, I couldn’t ask Elvira to raise him when she had nothing to do with him. The most realistic option was for me to look after him in the High Bishop’s chambers, but that would just increase the burden on my attendants. 

“Do not tell me you intend to hire attendants exclusively for raising a baby.” 

“Ngh... Now that you mention it, I would want to keep him in the orphanage for as long as possible.” 

The most important thing to consider was that me taking custody of Dirk would mean ripping him away from Delia, who wasn’t allowed to leave the orphanage. She cared for him like a little brother, so I didn’t want to tear them apart until I absolutely had to. At the very least, I wanted them to be together until he was baptized and moved to the boys’ building. 

“Mm... Could we move his contract over to me in a way that won’t force him to leave the orphanage?” 

“No such convenient method exists. Or... No, wait. Perhaps one does.” 

“Seriously?! You really can do everything, Ferdinand!” I exclaimed, clapping my hands together in joy. 

Ferdinand gave an exceedingly displeased grimace. “I cannot say that I enjoy copying Sylvester’s methods here, but you could entrust him with a pre-signed contract and then have those in the orphanage stamp his blood on it only when danger befalls him, thereby delaying it for as long as possible. That would allow him to stay there, would it not?” 

“Hm... I guess it would.” 

While I hadn’t given it much thought before now, Sylvester’s magic tool contract thing had really come through when it counted. That whole ordeal felt like ancient history now, though. 

“I shall nullify his contract with the count and prepare a submission contract for you to sign. Have someone you can trust in the orphanage keep it ready for Dirk.” 

“Thank you ever so much.” 

I signed the contract that Ferdinand made and folded it up. It was just a piece of parchment, so I could guess he hadn’t thought it necessary to make an entire magic tool for Dirk to wear when we were only dealing with a plain old submission contract. I had signed Dirk’s name for him, and it would take effect only once his blood was stamped onto that signature. 

“Thank you for the help,” I repeated once everything was sorted. “I’ll keep you updated on his mana and regularly drain it with the feystone.” 

With our conversation over, I exited Ferdinand’s room and immediately started heading to the orphanage. Judging by Fritz’s expression when he had come to see me, Dirk was probably in a really bad state. 

No sooner had I arrived than Wilma came rushing over. “Lady Rozemyne, I thank you ever so much for visiting us today. Dirk’s face has recently started to bubble a little whenever he cries, and—” 

“Wilma, I just discussed this matter with the High Priest. Everything is going to be fine. Just bring Dirk to me,” I said, stopping her anxious explanation and glancing toward Fran. He stepped forward with the bag containing the black feystone. 

“As you wish,” Wilma replied. “Delia? Delia! Please bring Dirk here at once!” 

I could hear a voice say “Okay” from farther inside the dining hall, and soon enough, I noticed Delia walking over while holding hands with Dirk. He had grown fairly large since the last time I saw him, now big enough to run along with his diaper swaying behind him. His steps were rather wobbly, though—enough that I was expecting him to fall over at any moment. 

Is Kamil about this big now, too...? I wondered. I had spotted him from afar during the spring coming of age ceremony, but Tuuli was hugging him from behind to stop him wandering off, so I hadn’t actually seen him run about or anything. 

“...Dirk certainly has grown.” 

“Oh yes, his growth amazes me more by the day. He truly is a bundle of surprises,” Wilma said with a giggle before her eyes clouded over with worry again. 

“Wilma, there is nothing to fear; I have borrowed a feystone that absorbs mana from Ferdinand. Dirk’s symptoms will vanish once I use it on him.” 

As she sighed in relief, Dirk finally reached us and grabbed onto her leg. He looked up at her with big, round eyes as if demanding she praise him. 

“Goo, goooo...” 

It was like I was seeing Kamil, which immediately warmed my heart. I squatted down a little to look at Dirk, but the moment we made eye contact, he stopped holding onto Wilma and ran away from me, instead clinging to Delia while fearfully shaking his head. It reminded me of the way Kamil used to cry every time I held him. 

Why? Why...? 

“It is good to see you, Lady Rozemyne. Please take care of Dirk for me,” Delia said, kneeling before me and hugging him as he clung to her. 

I nodded and looked at Fran. He took out the feystone and knelt in front of Dirk, who hurriedly hid behind Delia and began to wail. 

“Goodness, Dirk. Don’t cry. Your face will get all bubbly and...” Delia began, but when she saw the black feystone in Fran’s hand, her expression changed. She held Dirk protectively, probably remembering the time Bezewanst had forcibly sucked out his mana. Her reaction made her look more like a tiny mom than an older sister. 

“It’s okay, Delia. This stone won’t put him in any danger, so long as you aren’t trying to suck out all his mana like the previous High Bishop did. What’s important right now is that his mana is overflowing—something that’s very dangerous. Would you like to be the one to hold the feystone, seeing as Dirk seems to be afraid of Fran? That way, you’ll be able to keep an eye on how he’s feeling as his mana drains.” 

Delia glared at the black feystone being held out to her, then hesitantly took it and pressed it against Dirk’s hand with a worried look on her face. He let out a confused noise, looking up at her while blinking curiously. His mana must have started flowing out, and I knew how that felt all too well—it was a surprisingly good sensation, almost like your entire body was getting lighter. Dirk must have been enjoying it, given how he was happily reaching his hands toward his big sister. 

“I... think that should be enough,” Delia muttered, noticing Dirk turn his head away with an uncomfortable look on his face. She removed the feystone from his skin and returned it to Fran with a bright smile. “I thank you ever so much, Lady Rozemyne. Now we don’t have to worry anymore.” 

I nodded in response, though my expression was stern. “Delia, I just discussed Dirk’s submission contract with the High Priest. Would you and Wilma mind discussing it with me?” 

Delia’s eyes widened in surprise and she quickly straightened her back. Wilma, meanwhile, nodded with a serious expression. 

“Dirk’s submission contract with Count Bindewald has been nullified,” I continued. “From this point onward, he will stay in the orphanage as a normal Devouring child.” 

“Did you hear that, Dirk? Isn’t that nice?” 

“However, it is possible that an Ehrenfest noble seeking mana or someone associated with Count Bindewald will attempt to take him for themselves.” 

At this news, both Delia and Wilma stiffened up, with Delia protectively pulling Dirk toward her just as my family had once done with me. My heart aching with love and bittersweet nostalgia, I held out Dirk’s new submission contract for them to see. 

“This is a submission contract between Dirk and me. Once it is signed, he will no longer be able to remain in the orphanage. It will, however, prove essential in protecting him. I entrust this to you, Delia.” 

“What do you mean, you entrust it to her...?” Wilma asked, blinking in surprise. She didn’t understand why we weren’t just signing it outright. 

“I consider Delia to be Dirk’s older sister. So, Delia, should the time ever come when he must be protected even at the cost of leaving the orphanage, you may at your discretion stamp his blood against this signature. Doing so will complete the contract, and if such a time comes, I promise to protect him in your stead as his master.” 

Delia looked at me closely, clearly surprised. Her eyes wandered from the contract, to Dirk, and then back to me. Then, following a pause, she slowly nodded, a sentimental smile on her lips. 

“...I know that you keep your promises, Lady Rozemyne. I won’t doubt you or allow myself to be manipulated by someone again,” she said, looking at me head-on. Her light-blue eyes were filled with a sense of trust that hadn’t been there a year and a half ago, and the thought that she wouldn’t be chained to the orphanage right now had I managed to earn this faith back when she was my attendant made my heart twinge with regret. But at the same time, I knew that I would be able to build a new, stronger relationship with her going forward.