Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-2 - Chapter 2

Rico — Change Begins

Description: A previously unpublished short story from the online collection that takes place early in Part 2. Rico, a child stuck in the orphanage’s basement, experiences the start of a great change. Though he always had a name, it never came up in the main story because he barely remembered it and nobody really spoke to him.

Author’s Note: This started out as a short story for the manga but was too dark for a volume aimed at younger readers, so I posted it online instead. Please enjoy a happier story featuring Rico in Part 2 Volume 3 of the manga release.

Light shone into the basement from a window too high for anyone but an adult to reach, leaving a bright rectangle on the wall. My thoughts felt hazy as I watched it move ever so slowly toward the floor.

It’s almost time, I think.

Just a little while longer—then our divine gifts would arrive. I could tell as much from the light on the wall and the ringing of the bell.

I’m hungry...

We didn’t really move or speak; there was nothing for us to do but wait. Moving around made the hunger pangs worse, and it would get hotter as morning turned to noon. The only sound was the rustling of hay whenever someone readjusted themselves.

The light from the window was hurting my eyes, so I closed them and lay down. I was so sweaty from the heat that hay clung to my face and body. It felt gross enough that I wanted to wipe it away, but I didn’t have the strength to move my arms.

Beneath me was the cloth we used as blankets during the winter. I squirmed against it until the hay no longer stuck to me, not even caring how dirty it was.

Where did everyone go?

They were distant memories to me now, but there had once been a time when gray shrine maidens would come to the basement to wash us, clean, and give us food. Back then, our days weren’t spent lying around, too weary to move; we would actually run around and play. I vaguely remembered climbing onto the table and jumping between bales of hay. Rather than silence, the room had been full of laughter and upset voices.

As thoughts of the past ran through my mind, I stared at the door separating us from the rest of the world. There were stairs on the other side, but only those with permission could use them—the shrine maidens who brought us food or those of us who managed to survive long enough to reach baptism age and escape.

It’s so far away...

The largest of us lay closest to the door, so they received more food than the rest. I was small in comparison, and the others had driven me to the opposite end of the room. It took a while for whatever food remained to reach me, and the scraps that did were usually stolen by those around me.

Is it time yet?

The gray shrine maidens who brought us our meals had once been stuck in this same basement. Each morning, they opened the window too high for us to reach, changed our chamber pot, fetched the bowls from the night before, and put down breakfast and water. Around noon, they simply swapped the bowls, and at night, they switched the bowls again and gave us more water before closing the window.

Every day was more of the same.

“My turn or not, I really loathe coming here,” came a voice through the door.

“Nonetheless, this is part of our job as apprentice gray shrine maidens. You open the window, Rosina.”

“I think not. I shall place the food while you open the window.”

“Goodness, Rosina. Could you be more considerate? I carried the bowls here, not you.”

“Let us get this over with. I wish to leave as soon as I can.”

As the voices grew louder, we all crawled toward the table. It was time. We would need to act fast if we wanted to eat.

The three apprentice shrine maidens who came into the basement split up. One put food on the table, another opened the window, and the last gathered together yesterday’s bowls that were still scattered about.

In the basement, even something as simple as eating was a struggle. The shrine maidens always lined the bowls up on the table. Moving was hard for me, as was clambering up onto a chair to reach the food, but I needed to act quickly or the other kids would eat it all. A hand shot out toward the bowl I’d managed to grab. I moved to protect it, only to have it knocked from my grasp.

“Ngh...!”

It struck the ground with a clatter, and a piece of soup-soaked bread rolled across the hay. I dove down from my chair, then lunged at the morsel and pushed it into the safety of my mouth. It was gritty with dirt, but its pleasant taste still spread across my tongue.

Oh... It’s gone...

I’d waited so long for the divine gifts to arrive, only to receive a single piece of bread. We were given so little food that my hunger never went away. I crawled over to where the bowl had landed and licked it until the taste of soup faded away completely. Maybe I could get some joy from the spoon.

No... He took it.

The boy next to me—the healthiest of us all—was sitting next to the table, lapping at my spoon as well as his own. I’d eaten so little, but my only choice was to sprawl out and wait for the next divine gifts to arrive.

How long until we’re fed again...?

I turned to the light still moving down the wall. It wouldn’t be anytime soon.

The bell rang again, and young voices reached us through the open window. Were there commoners visiting the temple today? It was a strange time for them to be here, if so.

Out of nowhere, a dull thump shook the basement and made me twitch. What was going on? I was more curious than afraid, so I turned to the source of the noise just in time to see a hole appear in the wall beside me. A door I’d never even noticed—one that had always been firmly shut—opened with a loud creak, flooding the basement with summer light. A cool wind came with it, easing the heavy air.

Through the open door, I saw two people. I couldn’t raise my head enough to see more than their legs, but I grunted and groaned as I tried to stumble to my feet.

No sooner had the basement lit up than something sweet fell onto the ground. I recognized the smell. Our divine gifts had come earlier than usual and through a door at the opposite end of the basement—a door I just so happened to be closest to. I desperately crawled through it before anyone else could react, seized the tasty-smelling thing that was right before my eyes, and eagerly bit into it.

Whatever I was eating reminded me of bread, only it was soft and surprisingly easy to chew. I didn’t even need soup to soak it in.

Wow!

My mouth was getting dry, but it didn’t matter; I couldn’t drink water or someone would steal the rest of my food. Instead, I continued to shove what must have been bread in my mouth, almost in a daze. Not even a loud thumping sound and a cry of “Sister Myne!” was enough to pull me from my trance.

It’s so good.

“Sister Myne! Sister Myne!” someone cried tearfully.

We were all dragged back into the basement, and the door was shut behind us. Not one of us resisted; we were too focused on eating.

Oh. It’s all gone.

As that realization set in, my stomach started to ache. I wasn’t sure whether the strange bread was to blame or I’d simply eaten too much, but it didn’t matter—my heart was full to bursting. Who knew when I would get to eat that much again?

I took a sip of water, then rolled on the ground in delight, savoring the taste of that pleasant-smelling food. It was nicer and less dense than the bread we usually received, and it didn’t even need soup to help it go down. Satisfied, I went back to watching the light on the wall.

It was late at night—well past our last meal of the day—when the same thunk from before shook the basement walls. The back door opened with a creak, and a child carrying something that smelled nice snuck in.

“Shh,” he said. “I’m Gil, Sister Myne’s apprentice attendant. Boys aren’t allowed down here, so keep this a secret, okay?”

If staying quiet meant getting more food, then I wouldn’t make a sound. The others must have had the same thought; they simply nodded in response.

“This is from Sister Myne,” Gil said. “We won’t be able to wash you all until you’ve eaten and regained some of your energy.”

The boy handed out more bread, this time with soup. We each received the same amount, and there were far more bowls than usual.

“Your hands are dirty—don’t stick them in your food. Eat with your spoons instead.”

“Hey! No stealing! Everyone gets an equal share!”

Gil gave us all sorts of orders while we ate. I didn’t know why he was being so bossy, but a kid much bigger and older than me smiled and muttered, “That’s what Maddie used to say.” It was barely a whisper—his voice was hoarse from how little we all spoke—but Gil overheard him nonetheless.

“Maddie used to look after me too,” he said, eyes wide with surprise. Then a grin spread across his face. “She was real strict about how we ate, huh?”

Who’s Maddie?

I didn’t understand them, but that wasn’t important; for the first time in forever, I was actually enjoying a meal. I couldn’t remember when I’d last managed to fill my belly without someone trying to steal from me.

“I’ll come back this time tomorrow,” Gil said. “Sister Myne asked me to. Night.”

And with that, he left as quickly and as quietly as he’d come. If what he’d said was true, then we’d receive more food every night from now on. My cheeks twitched as a rare expression of delight made it onto my face.

“He’s coming back tomorrow...?”

“He said good night...”

Low murmurs carried through the basement. Maybe because we weren’t hungry for once—or maybe because of Gil—people were actually speaking to each other.

I rolled on the hay, my stomach full. Even in the dead of night, the room felt so much brighter than usual. I turned to the window and saw the moon, whiter and more radiant than I could ever remember. For some strange reason, seeing it cut through the darkness made me cry.