Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.5 - Chapter 14

And So, the Future 

I was in a soft, fluffy world made of pink. But despite the floor being so soft, when I tried to go anywhere, I was met with heaps of sizable rocks. All the paths were blocked off no matter how much I wanted to go down them. 

What should I do about this...? 

As I fell into thought, an ivory watering can suddenly popped into my hand. When I tipped it, some liquid began pouring out. 

A closer look revealed that the watering can’s liquid was making the giant rocks break down a little. I started swinging the watering can around and dissolving the hard rocks like they were made of sugar. The really hard places didn’t want to give at all, but when I focused the water on them, they started to dissolve anyway. I kicked some of them experimentally, and they shattered into pieces. 

Okay. I can pass through now. 

There were some parts that didn’t entirely dissolve, but, well... my only concern was getting down the path. I moved on to the next pile of rocks, and then the next one, breaking them all apart one after another. 

The watering can would occasionally run dry, but then it would replenish itself after a short while. I focused on dissolving the rocks and just kept pouring the liquid everywhere. 

I’ve done so much with just a single watering can. Somebody praise me. I think I deserve it. 

With an immense sense of satisfaction filling my chest, I slowly opened my eyes. I saw someone’s silhouette within my wavering vision, and an instant later, two large hands thrust themselves toward me. My head was lifted up, and I was halfway forced into a sitting position. 

“Eugh! Gahh!” 

Air rushed into my mouth and nose the instant I was pulled up, and I started blinking in confusion as the unexpected development sent me into a coughing fit. 

I’m going to drown in air! 

As I desperately flapped my mouth, I was struck hard on the back. Some liquid that had been deep in my lungs flew out of my mouth, instantly making it easier to breathe, but my back still tingled. I glared up at the person who had hit me with tearful eyes. 

“That hurt, Ferdinand...” 

As it turned out, the silhouette belonged to Ferdinand. We were in my hidden room, and I was sitting inside the ivory bathtub filled with the jureve. Ferdinand had tightly furrowed his brow, and everything looked the same as it had before I went to sleep. 

“Finally awake, I see. I cannot believe you slept that long...” Ferdinand said as he touched my cheek, measured my pulse, and did some other checks. Once he was done, he let out a slow sigh. “You seem to be fine.” 

I blinked several times, then tried wiggling my fingers. I couldn’t quite get them moving right. 

“Am I really healthy now?” I asked. 

I could move my mana properly again, which hadn’t been the case before I slept, but it hardly felt as though I was any healthier. Maybe my muscles had atrophied while I was asleep. 

As I continued to wiggle my hands in the jureve, Ferdinand grimaced uncomfortably. “Erm, Rozemyne... I have an exceedingly unfortunate announcement to make.” 

“What is it?” 

“Your mana has not... entirely dissolved.” 

It felt as though time had suddenly frozen. I thought of the year I had spent struggling to gather ingredients, and all the difficulties involved with the jureve, then looked up at Ferdinand with utter disbelief. 

“WHAAAAAAAAAT?! Hold on. Why? Why has it not dissolved?! Is it because of those few times with the watering can?! Was slacking off that bad of an idea?!” 

“I did not slack whatsoever,” Ferdinand said with a frown. I hurriedly tried to shake my head, but the feeling hadn’t yet returned, so it just slumped forward. Had he not reached out and held my forehead up, I would have sunk right back into the jureve. 

“I’m not talking about you, Ferdinand. I mean what I did in my dream,” I explained. “Ngh... My head feels all fuzzy.” 

Ferdinand pressed a finger against his temple and let out a heavy, heavy sigh. “You give me headaches whether you are asleep or awake,” he muttered with a glare, causing me to falter. 

“Okay, the dream talk can wait for now... Why hasn’t my mana dissolved yet?” 

Ferdinand continued to tap his temple as he explained what had happened. “To put it simply, your mana had already hardened too much. The jureve was necessary to dissolve the mana hardened by the poison you consumed as well, and it was not enough to dissolve all of your already hardened mana on top of that. Let us say that your initially hardened mana was ten units. I made a jureve that was of a high enough quality to dissolve fifteen, just to be safe. But right before the time came to use it, your mana hardened to a state of twenty units. Since the jureve was only capable of dissolving fifteen, we have our current situation.” 

“So I’m at least healthier than I was before...?” I asked, looking down at the mana lines covering my arms. It was beyond me to tell whether they had changed at all. 

Ferdinand also looked down at me and nodded. “Indeed. Your mana has not completely dissolved, but you should be much healthier than you were before.” 

“Well, I guess that’s good enough for me. It’s certainly better than dying...” 

Deciding to consider this a meaningful step forward nonetheless, I stretched my neck and looked around me. There was a wooden box right next to the ivory one I was in, and I could see five books stacked atop it. They were bound in the same way Rozemyne Workshop books were bound, but I didn’t recognize any of them. 

“Ferdinand, what are these?” 

“They are books that one of your attendants brought. Gil, I believe his name is. He said that you might wake up sooner with books stacked next to you, and thus with every new one they published, they brought a copy here.” 

In a shocking twist, it seemed that Gil had stacked up all the newly printed books for me. 

“Yay! New books!” 

I excitedly reached out to take one, but then I noticed that my hand was still soaked with the jureve. Ferdinand glared at me like I was an idiot. 

“You will ruin them if you touch them with those hands.” 

“I figured...” 

“I asked for a bath to be prepared, as I noticed that you were about to awaken. It should be ready soon.” 

“Okaaay. Wait. Hold on a moment...” I had been asleep long enough for five new books to have been printed—that thought alone took me a moment to fully process. “Ferdinand... Just how long was I asleep?” 

“Roughly two years.” 

My eyes widened in disbelief. “Excuse me...?” 

“A new record, I believe. But either way, I am just glad you have awakened in time to attend the Royal Academy.” 

“W-Wait. How old am I right now?” 

“This is the autumn of your tenth year—the Harvest Festival has just ended. In the winter, you shall be enrolling in the Royal Academy,” Ferdinand explained. 

I immediately started to panic. I had gone into the jureve during the winter of my eighth year, but now it was the autumn of my tenth. It seemed that I had skipped over my ninth year entirely. 

“N-No way! Where did my ninth year go?!” 

Noooooo! I screamed silently, cradling my head. But Ferdinand merely shrugged. 

“You experienced your seventh year twice, so this merely equalizes things, does it not?” 

Repeating my seventh year had certainly been unexpected, but skipping over an entire year was something I had expected even less. 

“This certainly doesn’t equalize things!” I complained. “Also, you say that I’m ten years old now, but I don’t feel like I’ve changed at all.” My hands, for one, didn’t look any bigger. It was hard to believe that two years had passed when I was still this small. 

“Your bodily functions barely operate while in the jureve, as all of your energy is directed toward dissolving the mana. It is similar to being half dead, so unfortunately... you do not grow while under its effects,” Ferdinand explained, avoiding eye contact with me. 

“WHAAAT?! But you said I’d be healthy! Ferdinand, you liar!” 

I was a bit healthier than before, sure, but this was at the cost of losing my entire ninth year and having to attend the Royal Academy without having grown at all.