Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.11 - Chapter 13

Never-Ending Mana

An overwhelming wave of despair washed over me. Though I’d spent the previous day working as hard as I could, trying desperately to drain my mana, a single night’s sleep had put me right back where I’d started. It was like completing a magnificent sandcastle, only to have the tide come in and wash it all away. This was worse, of course; having more mana in my body meant torturous pain and a very real chance of death.

Guhhh... My head feels so fuzzy.

Two days spent working my fingers to the bone and yesterday’s excitement about the ocean had finally caught up with me. My body felt heavier than ever, but going back to sleep would only cause my mana to regenerate even more. I needed to stay awake and think of ways to use it.

I trudged to the dining hall for breakfast and saw that Ferdinand was eating already. As much as I’d tried to make my Pandahouse enormous, there was still only enough space for Ferdinand and me to have our own bedrooms and small areas to change clothes; we shared the same space at mealtimes.

I sat down and started working through my breakfast: vegetables served with fruit juice. Unable to use rejuvenation potions, meals were the best way for me to restore my stamina. That didn’t make the food any easier to eat, though.

Ferdinand ate the last of his breakfast, then rose from his seat and moved to stand next to me. “I can tell at a glance that you are feeling unwell. How bad is it?”

“The fish betrayed me...”

“Fool. Your celebrations in Kannawitz gave you a fever, and now you cannot stop shaking. Express that clearly next time.” He touched my forehead and nape, his icy hands soothing my temperature. “To think my idea failed this abruptly... How should we proceed, I wonder?”

“My apologies... I can make it through this morning, at least...”

“You would go outside in your current state? Or, what, do you intend to use a rejuvenation potion?”

I shook my head, enduring his stern glare. The very act of sleeping recovered enough of my mana to make me despair. Drinking a rejuvenation potion in my current state would make the task ahead of us so hopeless that I would probably crumple to the ground and sob in front of everyone.

“I meant to say that I could travel via Lessy.”

“And where would you go? You need to use up the rest of your mana—what good would your highbeast do?”

I desperately racked my brain. There had to be a way for me to expend my mana without wasting all my stamina. And then it hit me. How had we always dealt with problems we couldn’t solve on our own? We got someone else to do them!

“I poured my mana into the other divine instruments, right? Anyone can use them as long as they know the prayers. We could get the others to drain the instruments for me; then I could simply refill them.”

“The divine instruments?” Ferdinand asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded. “Though I would rather not burden them, they could restore the land with Flutrane’s staff, slay feybeasts with Leidenschaft’s spear, keep Lessy safe with Schutzaria’s shield, and perform Spring Prayer in Bindewald—where there is no giebe—with Geduldh’s chalice. I would need only to refill their instruments each time they ran dry. Can you think of anywhere devoid of mana but still teeming with feybeasts?”

I needed to recover my stamina but couldn’t risk my mana rising even further. My idea sounded perfect—if all went to plan, I could expel my divine power from the comfort of my bed.

“Additionally...” I continued, “Hartmut and you can draw the healing magic circle used in the Academy’s gathering spots, right? Could you stick them all over the place so I can pour my mana into them? Maybe I could rest this morning and then focus on the circles after lunch.”

“You place too much faith in your stamina...” Ferdinand muttered. “Still, I admit—your plan should work better than what we attempted yesterday. It does not bode well that you are coming up with so many solutions...”

“What do you mean?”

His eyebrows drawn together, Ferdinand took one of the potions from his belt. It was long and slender like a test tube. He poured a drop of the red substance inside into one of the spoons on the table. “I would prefer not to elaborate. It was a troublesome habit of yours—one I would rather you not relearn. More importantly...”

Ferdinand gave me the spoon, uttering not another word. I slowly brought it to my lips. It was only a single droplet, but an intense bitterness spread through my mouth, and my tongue sparked in protest. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for anyone who had the misfortune of drinking the whole vial.

“This is awful...” I groaned. “What does it do? Restore mana? At least warn me before you try burning a hole through my tongue. I wasn’t ready at all.”

Ferdinand gave an even deeper frown as though he’d tasted the potion with me. “You should hardly have noticed a drop that small. Hartmut, where are the other divine instruments? Did you return them to the temple?”

Hartmut stuck out his chest, brimming with pride. “They are so crucial to Lady Rozemyne’s ceremonies that I decided to bring them with me.”

Impressive! That’s a win for Hartmut!

Cornelius shook his head, seemingly exasperated. “I was told you did return them, then rushed to retrieve them before we departed the temple.”

“Is that so? Do you really think I would entrust divine instruments containing Lady Rozemyne’s divine power to others?”

Just like that, the two retainers were glowering at each other. I dared not think what might happen to anyone who strayed into the cross fire.

“Enough. The details are irrelevant,” Ferdinand interjected, waving the pair away. “Rozemyne, do you truly expect this to work?”

“The instruments took a good chunk of my mana before, and we shouldn’t need to worry about them breaking. I can’t think of any other way I could rest while still getting rid of my divine power.”

“I see...” Ferdinand nodded, then gave his temple a few contemplative taps, as he always did when organizing his thoughts. “Very well. We shall attempt your plan after breakfast. Once your retainers have eaten, they shall restore the land, hunt feybeasts, and perform Spring Prayer. I, meanwhile, will teleport to the castle; there are several matters I must take care of. Activate the teleportation circle for me, then rest until this afternoon, when we shall travel to Seitzen’s west side or Vulkatag. There, we shall replenish the earth and slay feybeasts.”

Having said his piece, Ferdinand turned on his heel and exited the dining hall. Justus dumped the plates he had started gathering into Sergius’s arms and followed. I tried to get up as well, but Lieseleta put her hands on my shoulders and urged me back into my seat.

“Lady Rozemyne, you have not finished your breakfast.”

I ate the rest of my vegetables under my attendant’s watchful gaze, then copied and pasted a teleportation circle from my Book of Mestionora. Ferdinand approached it with Justus, Eckhart, and several other knights. He was leaving Sergius behind to prepare lunch and carry out other duties and a few of the other guards to protect Lessy and my retinue.

“Lady Rozemyne, what should we do?” my retainers asked.

“Angelica, I want you to guard my room,” I said. “You have keen eyes, so I trust no one will get past you. Leonore, stand outside with Schutzaria’s shield and protect Lessy. Everyone else may choose between hunting feybeasts or guarding Hartmut while he carries out Spring Prayer.”

“I would advise Matthias and Cornelius to hunt feybeasts while Laurenz and Clarissa accompany me,” Hartmut replied.

“Would it not be better for Clarissa to hunt feybeasts?” I asked, my eyes wandering to the woman in question. It didn’t seem right to drag someone from Dunkelfelger into one of my new duchy’s religious ceremonies.

She shook her head. “If you would allow me, I would much rather stay with Hartmut. Now that Yurgenschmidt has a Zent with the Grutrissheit, the country’s perspective on religious ceremonies has changed, whether the nobles like it or not. We must continue to promote the ceremonies’ importance—and what better way than for me, your loyal vassal, to participate? I even memorized the prayers!”

Partway through her speech, Clarissa had spared a brief glance at Ahrensbach’s knights. Though she hadn’t uttered a single falsehood, I could tell she was laying it on thick for those still resisting the temple and its ceremonies.

She continued, “Even those in Dunkelfelger are performing religious ceremonies outside the Royal Academy. Spring Prayer won’t require us to enter any temples, so my involvement shouldn’t pose an issue.” Temples were still a sore spot for many duchies, but only because we hadn’t yet revealed the true nature of the bibles’ keys and the foundations. Once we did, the country’s aubs and their families would rush to start visiting them.

There’s no harm in letting her participate. She’s so excited that she already memorized all the prayers...

Beneath her outlandish and somewhat confusing veneer, Clarissa was a very competent scholar. I didn’t want to admit it, but she was an excellent partner for Hartmut.

“Matthias and Cornelius are on feybeast duty...?” Angelica muttered, eyeing the pair enviously. She was so physically active that I suspected she would rather have gone hunting than stay home as a guard.

“It won’t be feybeast hunting as you know it,” I said. “Their main objective is using the divine instruments to drain them of mana. I do not believe it would suit you.”

To use the divine instruments, my knights would need to pray. That wasn’t true in all cases—if you took an instrument when it was empty and managed to fill it, then praying became unnecessary—but the instruments here already contained my mana. Using a simpler version of the prayer was an option if you formed the instrument from your schtappe or used a feystone completely dyed with your mana, but again, that wasn’t an option. Those tasked with slaying feybeasts would need to recite the entire prayer without errors. It had to be precisely memorized, as it was normally used when multiple blue priests and shrine maidens dedicated their mana.

“That said, if you are that eager to join them...” I gave Angelica a serious look. “Memorize the ceremony’s prayers. Only then will you have permission to go hunting.”

“Prayers... Never mind. You were right, Lady Rozemyne. I shall protect your room with my life.”

As expected. If she’d actually agreed, I wouldn’t have known what to think.

While my knights checked and practiced the prayers necessary for the divine instruments, I asked Strahl to divide the Ahrensbach knights into squads. They were tasked with protecting the feybeast hunters, those performing Spring Prayer, and my Pandahouse.

“Farewell, Lady Rozemyne. Do get some rest.”

My retainers took their leave, carrying the divine instruments Hartmut had given them.

Fourth bell rang while I was lounging in bed. My fever had gone down a bit, but my rejuvenating mana had caused the divine power within me to swell, leaving me drowsy and a little queasy. It was bearable, but my fingers and toes were stinging.

Guh... I’m starting to hate being in bed.

I was feeling lethargic, but I got up nonetheless. Lieseleta peered down at me with concern, then informed me that everyone had come back for lunch.

“The divine instruments have been emptied,” she said. “Should we bring them to you first...?”

“If you would.”

Lieseleta and Clarissa brought in the instruments, allowing me to fill them one by one. My mana quantity had returned to the same level as before I’d slept, which relieved me so greatly that I openly sighed.

“You look much better now,” Lieseleta said. “Gretia has prepared some lunch if you are hungry. I would rather not bring it here, as you would need to eat in bed, but... we were asked to save as much time as we can.”

“Ferdinand must be back, then.”

There was only one person who would give an order like that. If we ate in the dining hall, our retainers wouldn’t be able to eat until we were done. But if we ate somewhere secluded—our rooms, for example—they could all eat at once. It was a clever trick but also painfully inelegant, so it had to be used in moderation.

Lieseleta took her leave, and Gretia entered with several dishes on a tray. They were arranged so that I could eat in bed.

“From what Justus told me, Lord Ferdinand was exceptionally busy this morning,” Gretia said, noting his labors in the castle and that he had returned with many of his work implements. “He contacted the giebes of Seitzen and Vulkatag, sent an update to Ehrenfest, and spoke with Zent Eglantine. According to a report from Giebe Vulkatag, there is a horde of ravenous feybeasts approaching Alexandria from the direction of Old Werkestock. He believes they have come seeking mana now that the land is being filled with divine power.”

I was reminded of how restoring the Academy’s gathering spots had attracted strong feybeasts hunting for mana. “And these ravenous feybeasts are most likely to target me, I assume.” My body contained an abundance of divine mana; from the feybeasts’ perspective, I must have been a feast like no other.

“The plan is to head straight to the border between Seitzen and Vulkatag to prevent the land you replenished from being drained again. In the meantime, you will remain under heavy guard.”

Seitzen was south of Griebel and Garduhn, the latter of which connected to the Ehrenfest-Ahrensbach border gate. Vulkatag was west of Seitzen and shared its northern border with Illgner and Griebel, the same border where Bonifatius had done battle while my team fought in Gerlach. Moving to protect the area from feybeasts would, in turn, protect Ehrenfest.

“Illgner and Griebel are still recovering from the war,” Gretia continued. “For their sake and ours, we should draw the feybeasts into Alexandria before hunting them down.”

My thoughts turned to Illgner, a rural province with a small population. Brigitte had joined the early stages of the war as the giebe’s younger sister and sent important warnings to the capital. I wanted to ease their burden as much as I could.

Not to mention, Vulkatag must have plenty of the same feyplants.

Vulkatag was connected to the same mountain range that included Mount Lohenberg, where I’d acquired the riesefalke eggs for my jureve. It was rich with Fire mana and dense forests, making it the perfect place to establish Alexandria’s paper-making business.

Though I doubt the nobles living there think too highly of Ferdinand and me. They sided with Georgine and agreed to invade Ehrenfest.

“Let’s hope we can earn the giebes’ favor by restoring their land and slaying the feybeasts...” I said. “For the printing industry’s sake, we’ll need it.”

“Lord Ferdinand proposed using Leidenschaft’s spear several times in quick succession, though he said not to overdo it; the divinely charged instrument will ravage the land unless you use Flutrane’s staff promptly afterward. That warning aside, he described this as the perfect opportunity for you to drain your mana.”

I certainly hope so.

As it stood, replenishing the divine instruments was just enough to rid me of the mana that came back while I slept. I doubted that slaying a few feybeasts was going to do much for me, but I swallowed those feelings and did my best to smile. No way was I going to complain when Gretia was doing her best to cheer me up.

“It is time,” Ferdinand announced. “Let us move to the border between Seitzen and Vulkatag. Both giebes know of our intentions, of course; we could never hunt their feybeasts and pour mana into their land without telling them.”

Divine power was cataclysmic in strength. In mere moments, it had changed the appearance of an entire ocean. We couldn’t overstate its impact on barren earth, so it stood to reason that we’d contacted the giebes.

If only the task ahead were as simple as just replenishing the earth.

No sooner had Ferdinand given his explanation than he set out with his knights. I drove my Pandahouse behind them.

“The area has been secured,” came Leonore’s voice. I opened the passenger door for her, and she climbed into my highbeast. She grabbed the divine shield sitting on the back seat, then prepared to leave at Angelica’s signal.

“How does it look out there?” I asked.

“The feybeasts just keep coming—not that I am surprised. It will not be long before we need to use this shield. That said...” Leonore paused, then burst into laughter. “The farmers below were most amusing. They clamored and pointed up at your highbeast. Some rushed out of their homes and even started chasing after us.”

Rainbow Lessy didn’t look the slightest bit like a regular highbeast. He was enormous—the equivalent of a two-story house soaring through the sky. It must have been one of the strangest things the commoners had ever witnessed.

“The whole rainbow thing really stands out, huh?” I mused.

“I don’t think the color is the problem...”

It was then that Angelica shouted, “Feybeasts!” from outside. I opened the door of my Pandahouse without a second thought. Leonore climbed out, chanting the prayer for Schutzaria’s shield, and Angelica took her place.

“There are many strong feybeasts here,” she sharply informed me. “Someone said the lack of mana must have driven them to start eating each other.”

I nodded and brought Lessy to a stop in midair. My instructions were to stay still until the fighting was over. My divine mana really must have made me the perfect feast because several strong feybeasts started their attack. The sight would normally have made me cry out in fear, but on this occasion, I actually wanted them to come close to me.

“We’re going to get so much use out of our divine instruments,” I said.

Leonore was using Schutzaria’s shield to prevent the feybeasts from getting too close while Matthias and Cornelius took turns blasting them with Leidenschaft’s spear. As each one fell, Flutrane’s staff was used to heal the massive craters in the earth. My mana-packed instruments were doing a ton of work.

For once, I’m glad the spear ends up drained of mana after a single use. Thank you, Leidenschaft!

“Lady Rozemyne, we humbly request that you refill these for us,” my knights said, returning to Lessy once the instruments were all empty.

We weren’t moving very fast—every time we slew some of the feybeasts, we had to stop and wait until the land was healed—but that didn’t bother me. I welcomed anything that would ease the pain of the divine mana swirling within me. We’d actually managed to drain even more than I’d expected.

At least now I’ll get to rest comfortably tonight.

We continued to hunt feybeasts while we traveled, then stopped at the border between Seitzen and Vulkatag. Ferdinand immediately instructed Leonore to form Schutzaria’s shield.

“O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, protector of all. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side...”

The shield soon appeared around us, announcing the start of our break. I moved out of the driver’s seat and entered the massive house behind me. From the outside, Lessy looked more like a huge tortoise with a red panda’s head attached.

This really isn’t cute. It’s comfortable, though.

I went to the first-floor living room, which was next to the dining hall, and saw Ferdinand giving instructions for what to do next. “Rozemyne, how are you faring?” he asked when he noticed me.

“My nap this morning left me very refreshed, and pouring so much mana into the divine instruments has done me a world of good. I’ve even regained my appetite.”

“I see you are feeling a little better,” Lieseleta said with a chuckle. “I was worried when you barely touched breakfast or lunch, but I shall see to it that you receive an especially large dinner.” She spun on her heel and went to speak with the chefs.

“Lady Rozemyne, if you would,” Gretia said, indicating the nearby sofa.

Once I was seated, Ferdinand approached and started another inspection. “You seem better than you were this morning,” he said, “though I can hardly describe you as being in good health.”

I was feeling a lot less poorly now that my mana wasn’t leaving me in agony. The pleasant chill of my head doctor’s hands reminded me that my fever hadn’t completely vanished, but still.

“I am not unwell enough to warrant that frown, Ferdinand. My appetite has returned; what more could we ask for?”

“Do not overeat now that your hunger has returned,” he dryly warned, wearing the plain expression of a doctor and tapping his temple. He probably thought I was being unladylike again or that I shouldn’t judge my health based on my hunger. I wasn’t able to find out which because he then got up and took his leave.

“Your rudeness aside... I won’t.”

As it turned out, my risk of overeating was even more nonexistent than I’d expected. Though I wanted to eat, my body outright rejected whatever I tried to feed it. I ended up eating only the bare minimum.

So I still can’t eat even now that my appetite’s back? This sucks!

My retainers still needed to eat, so I went to the living room for some after-dinner tea. Ferdinand stopped me before I could even sit down.

“As I said, your health is anything but good. You should rest, not waste your time drinking tea. I would advise you to spend tomorrow using the chalice to drain your mana.”

“Do I really have to rest?” I asked. “I’d rather spend some more time discussing my library city. I was told you brought schematics and was looking forward to going through them...”

Despite my best attempts to change his mind, Ferdinand shut me down. “Return to your room for now. You are in a worse state than you realize. As you cannot drink potions, rest is your only way to get better.”

I don’t wanna sleep. By the time I wake up, my mana’s going to be back where it started.

Irritated at my never-ending mana reserves, I conceded and returned to my room. I clutched my empty stomach as I climbed into bed.