Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.10 - Chapter 10

The Battle atop the Altar

Lanzenave’s dangerous stuff can all get washed away!

Even if the silver tube didn’t contain poison, we had nothing to lose by removing it from the battle. Combining my waschen with an enhancement magic circle had without a doubt been the right move. A deluge of water poured down from the ceiling with all the force of a raging waterfall.

“What is this?!” shouted the Sovereign knights.

“The waschen is swirling!” my own knights cried. “This doesn’t make sense!”

We had designed our magic circle with the intention of washing the entire auditorium, so water gradually filled the room. I would simply need to hold my nose and wait for it all to vanish, I thought... but I was sorely mistaken. Perhaps because I’d envisioned a washing machine when summoning the water, it soon turned into a violent whirlpool that swept up my friends as well as my enemies.

“Rozemyne! What is going—?!”

Anastasius began to cry out, but his words devolved into a frantic gurgle as the water took him. I’d also been carried away by the waschen and was now being thrown every which way.

Gyaaaaaah! I messed up! Someone, save me!

I was lucky that I’d thought to hold my nose; I would already have drowned otherwise. My knights, Raublut, Anastasius, and the Sovereign Order were likewise spinning around and around like clothes in a washing machine. This was completely beyond my expectations.

My head is spinning! I... I can’t breathe! Gah!

I tried to scream, but no sound came out. The torrent of water threw me up into the air... and then seemed to vanish, allowing air to fill my lungs. My vision cleared up as well. I wasn’t wet at all, and my hair was dangling loosely in front of my eyes.

Huh? The ceiling...

Beyond my tresses—which were as dry as the rest of me—I could see the very top of the auditorium. It was so close that I thought I might be able to reach out and touch it. Only when I remembered that the water had thrown me skyward did gravity decide to drag me back down. My stomach dropped, and the ceiling became increasingly distant.

I’m falling!

“Eep! Eep, eep, eep!”

Though I was picking up speed, everything around me seemed to move in slow motion. I flailed my arms in a desperate search for something to hold on to, but nothing was within my reach.

Someone grunted in pain below me; then Ferdinand shouted my name in a panic. I couldn’t even get my bearings before two of the charms on my wrist burst, counterattacks shot from them, and countless bands of light enveloped me. I was pulled down at a new angle as more than just gravity had its way with me.

I screamed, then realized that someone had caught me. Ferdinand. I could tell it was him because instead of asking whether I was alright, he told me to shut up and demanded to know what I was doing.

“Well, I... I saw Gervasio point a silver tube at you, so I cast waschen. It turned into a whirlpool out of nowhere, then threw me up here.”

“Did you truly believe the same trick would work on me twice?” Ferdinand asked with a grimace. He nodded at Gervasio, who was holding his forehead and groaning.

I wished that Ferdinand wouldn’t look so displeased with me. I’d acted on instinct; it wasn’t like I thought he couldn’t manage on his own. My emotions were torn between delight that he was okay and nervousness about the scolding to come.

“A-Anyway... How come only I ended up on the altar?” I asked. “Everyone else is still spinning.”

Below us, the auditorium still resembled a giant washing machine. None of the water had reached the altar; the barrier that had rejected Raublut was keeping the raging waves at bay.

My ultimate waschen didn’t accomplish anything...

I’d tried to save Ferdinand, but he had already escaped danger on his own. And now I was up on the altar with him, having to endure a lecture. This was just awful.

Bwehhh.

“The answer seems obvious,” Ferdinand replied. “You were the only one qualified to ascend the shrine.” He put me down, remade his gun, and then glanced down at the reeling whirlpool. “I am more curious as to why the waschen has not disappeared. What filth were you hoping it would cleanse?”

“Everything dangerous from Lanzenave. I didn’t want to chance there being something other than instant-death poison in the silver tube...”

“I see. If trug is considered a dangerous substance, then the waschen would require a little more time.” Ferdinand shot at Gervasio to stop him from drinking a rejuvenation potion.

A moment later, the whirlpool vanished, and many of the knights dropped to the floor with a loud, metallic clatter.

“Oh no!” I cried.

“The knights are well trained and wearing armor; they will not die from a mere fall.”

“My scholars are among them too, you know!”

“Stop leaning forward. The last thing we need is you falling down with them.”

I took a cautious step back, then frantically searched the room for Hartmut and Clarissa. Those who knew about my enhanced waschen from our ditter match seemed relatively calm as they regrouped. Leonore and Cornelius had been thrown up into the air, but they made and mounted their highbeasts before they even came close to being in any danger. Angelica hopped between their wings on her way back to the floor.

“As the Divine Avatar of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne looks at home atop the altar.”

“How absolutely divine! Aaah, the supreme gods...!”

Oh, they seem fine.

Hartmut and Clarissa hadn’t been swept too high up into the air and were now pointing at me while clamoring about something or other. It seemed wise to mostly ignore them.

I’m glad they’re safe, but I’d rather they shut up a little.

As I scanned the crowd for ocher capes, Anastasius barked, “At least warn us before you act!” His voice hadn’t come from the direction I’d expected, and when I turned to look, I saw a princely figure stuck in the audience seating. He had survived the waschen, at least.

But where’s Raublut?

He had been guarding the altar, but now he was gone. I enhanced my vision and tried to spot him among the confusing mass of silver capes, at which point the doors to the auditorium slammed open.

What now?!

An enormous group wearing blue capes surged into the room. The cavalry was here.

“Support Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne!” Aub Dunkelfelger roared from the vanguard.

“FIIIIIIGHT!”

Standing beside the aub was a female knight wearing two capes, a black one layered on top of a blue one. Though she was wearing a helmet, which made her sex harder to ascertain, the shape of her breastplate was a clear giveaway. She looked perfectly comfortable in her fighting stance.

“Raublut,” she began, “you dared to poison King Trauerqual despite serving as his knight commander. For that, you will not be spared my wrath. As his wife, I will strike you down in his stead.”

The female knight immediately managed to pick Raublut out from the crowd—something that had seemed impossible to me—and pointed at him with her weapon. Her cape was black on the outside, signifying her citizenship in the Sovereignty. The way she spoke and stood ready for combat reminded me of Hannelore.

“Is that Lady Magdalena, the king’s third wife...?” I asked.

Ferdinand shot me a look as though I’d asked the most obvious question in the world. “Would any of his other wives have charged into battle alongside Aub Dunkelfelger?”

Marrying the Zent didn’t change her at all. Dunkelfelger sure is, well... exactly as I’d expect by this point.

“Aub Dunkelfelger,” Ferdinand called, blocking several attacks with his shield while continuing to put pressure on Gervasio. “I shall entrust you with capturing Raublut and the Sovereign traitors!”

The size of our army had swelled thanks to our new reinforcements. It seemed perfectly safe to leave the fighting below to Ahrensbach’s and Dunkelfelger’s knights.

“So it shall be done!” the aub declared. “That said... it is still exceptionally hard to distinguish friend from foe. Everyone! Capture those wearing silver or the black capes of the Sovereign Knight’s Order! We can inspect their faces and give them a chance to plead their case later!”

My confidence gave way to concern; the aub was being as crude yet impactful as usual. In response to his instructions, the blue-capes descended on everyone the waschen had thrown to the ground.

“Ferdinand...” I said. “They might accidentally end up restraining Prince Anastasius’s group. Is that going to be an issue?”

“The imprisonment of Raublut and his faction takes priority. Plus, the knights have Lady Magdalena with them. I imagine we can leave the prince to his own devices.”

Can we really...?

Ferdinand gave a heavy sigh like he had read my mind. “Should you not be more concerned about capturing Gervasio so you can focus on your library city?”

“Wow! You’re absolutely right!”

Anastasius was only here as insurance. I was participating in this battle because it was my duty as the new Aub Ahrensbach to capture the Lanzenavians, but truth be told, I wanted to thrust the whole ordeal onto someone else so I could start working on my library city.

Back in ancient times, Alexandria put herb gardens in its Great Library. I want my city to be just as versatile—a massive library that encompasses the Gutenbergs’ book-making operations, Ferdinand’s laboratories, and my enormous book collection.

Ahrensbach was the perfect location, since it even had its own ocean. But before I could proceed with those plans, I would need to capture or otherwise defeat Gervasio, the Lanzenavians’ leader, and end this conflict.

“Gervasio has more mana than we do, so we can assume our bindings will not work on him,” Ferdinand said. “Focus on defense while I charge my mana.”

“Right!” I squeezed my eyes shut and started to pray: “O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, protector of all...”

“You...” Gervasio said. “Your name is Myne, correct?”

My eyes shot open in surprise. Ferdinand shouted at me to focus on the prayer and continued to assail Gervasio with bullets.

“O twelve goddesses who serve by her side...”

“Myne, why are you cooperating with Quinta instead of trying to eliminate him?” Gervasio asked quizzically while using his geteilt to block Ferdinand’s attacks. Erwaermen must have said something to him—that was the only explanation I could think of.

I thought I made it clear to Erwaermen that I wasn’t going to play along. Maybe he ignored me. Or maybe he just wasn’t able to hear me.

In my desperation to avoid the fact that Gervasio knew my real name, I allowed my mind to wander. I didn’t know how long Erwaermen had been in the Garden of Beginnings, but if he had been there since the country was established, it seemed reasonable to assume that he had grown hard of hearing. Former god or not, no one was immune to the march of time. There was also a chance that Yurgenschmidt’s current mana shortage was to blame.

“Grant me your shield of Wind, so that I might blow away those who mean to cause harm.”

Schutzaria’s shield appeared with a loud shing. Ferdinand immediately stopped providing covering fire with his gun and switched to a sword, which he began charging with mana. We were fighting as one like it was the most natural thing in the world, which instilled in me a profound sense of security.

“Quinta is not someone you should protect,” Gervasio continued. “In fact, as I understand it, you are duty bound to kill him and complete your Book. Was that not the order you received, Myne?”

“Cease your useless prattle and die,” Ferdinand said calmly and swung his sword. A ball of rainbow mana shot out and slammed into Gervasio’s shield, blowing him and the statue behind him off the altar.

“Eep?!”

The airborne statue started to shine—or, to be more precise, its divine instrument did. Pillars of light formed and crossed together. It was so dazzling that I squeezed my eyes shut on instinct.