Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 7 Chapter 10: Doom Befalls (Part 1)

“Sister Myne, shall we look for a new attendant now that Delia has been dismissed?”

“How soon will we need one?”

Winter was over so I was no longer staying in the temple, so I had thought that we weren’t busy enough to need another attendant to resume Delia’s duties.

“As soon as possible.”

Fran had more time to sleep and help Gil with the physical chores now that he didn’t need to look after Dirk. Rosina didn’t help out with the chores because she didn’t want to hurt her fingers, so Fran urged to find someone to replace Delia as soon as possible.

“Pardon my rudeness, we all know that you are quite softhearted and will not stop worrying about Delia. It would put my heart at ease if you find someone else to accompany you which will help you take your mind off Delia.”

I didn’t speak back because he had hit it right on the mark. Fran must have noticed how I kept looking across the room to search for Delia. Anyways, Fran was right. I couldn’t let Fran and Rosina keep worrying about me because of Delia. I should care more for those who stayed with me than the one who left.

I sighed and dipped my gaze, “…If I had to choose one of the gray shrine maidens, how about Monica and Nikola?”

The two helped Ella with the meals last winter. Wilma had praised them for their work so I knew that they were hardworkers that could help with the chores and meal preparations for the kitchen.

Furthermore, the italian restaurant was about to be opened so all the chefs except Ella would be leaving. Ella wanted to stay behind to learn more recipes and I already arranged for it to happen with Benno’s permission. I was more than happy to let Ella stay behind since we needed someone to teach the new chefs that Benno was going to send over. Monica and Nikola would also work well with Ella since they already did so last winter.

“Monica and Nikola? Sister Myne, would that not be a strain on you?” Fran whispered to me, expressing his worries about my finances.

Taking on two new attendants might be quite a financial burden for this season, but it would be already since we had lots of orders for the games we made over the winter, and we would be earning much more if the picture books continued to sell.

“They were helped out lots over the winter, right? It wouldn’t be fair if I only chose one of the to be my attendant. Anyways, it would be much better to hire them both.”

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“Sister Myne, you need not be considerate of the feelings of the gray shrine maidens.”

Rosina smiled looking a little confused. However, life in the orphanage and as an attendant was very different. I couldn’t pick one of them with that in mind.

“Well working with them would be much better now that Delia is gone,” Fran chimed in.

“Shall I bring them over now?”

“Yes, please. They are new to the job so it would do us well if they start their training as soon as possible. Fran, could I get you to train them?”

I intended to let them adjust to their work before the rest of the staff in the kitchen left for the Italian restaurant. Since Rosina couldn’t bear to hurt her fingers to show them how to clean the place, either Fran or Gil had to teach them. It would be a little difficult if Fran wasn’t free to help.

“Rosina has been a great help with the paperwork so I have some time to do so.”

“Alright, please let Wilma now and we’ll go to the orphanage tomorrow.”

After settling the time for tomorrow’s meeting, there was a sudden knock on the door. My attendants would usually enter the room without knocking and everyone else in the temple, including the High Priest and his attendants, would use a bell. Only Lutz and Tuuli, and others from the lower city, would knock on the door.

“Lutz is already here? He’s early today.”

The fifth bell had just rung. I walked to the stairs and looked down it towards the door on the first floor, Fran, on the other hand, went downstairs to greet them. Damuel opened the door with a wary look. Lutz was standing outside the door, along with Tuuli.

“Welcome, please come it.” Fran greeted them and was about to close the door when I heard Gil’s tell from a distance, “Wait a moment!”

Fran held the door for a while and I was greeted my the sight of Gil running into the room, panting hard.

“Tuuli, why are you here?”

“We’re here to take you back home, Myne.” Tuuli grinned at me who was running down the stairs.

“Remember that things are dangerous right now? Well, I’m going to protect you, Myne!” she boasted while puffing her chest.

Gil stood upright and puffed his chest too, and shouted out as though he was competing with her, “I’ll protet you, Sister Myne! It’s my job as your attendant!”

“Thank you for the concern, both of you, but that would make it harder for my bodyguard to work.”

I glanced at Damuel who looked a little annoyed at having to look after so many children.

“…Yes, it would be much more dangerous if I had to protect more people.”

“Huh? I apologise on their behalf, Sir Damuel. Tuuli wasn’t aware about it.”

We couldn’t do much about it now that everyone was already here. It was a little early but I decided to head home with everyone. Rosina helped me out of my robes and into my casual clothes so that I could leave the temple.

“Fran, please pass the message to the orphanage. I will make my leave now.”

“As you wish. Please stay safe.”

~~~

We left the temple with Lutz and Gil walking in the front, Damuel at the back, with me and Tuuli in the middle.

“Thank you for this Tuuli, but I think it’s best for you to not walk me home,” I said.

“Why?”

“If something bad were to happen, Sir Damuel will have to jump in to protect me. Things might get more risky if he has to protect us both.”

Damuel might be a fully-trained knight but that didn’t make him omnipotent. In fact, he was stuck here because he needed to guard me. When things get dangerous, his priority would be my safety, and he might not be able to protect Tuuli if the situation worsens. He might even resort to abandoning her to flee with me, and I didn’t want to think of the possibility of Tuuli being taken as a hostage to threaten us.

“Frankly, you’re more likely to get injured than me.”

“…I understand.” Tuuli pouted and frowned.

I could tell she wanted to tell me that she was more than capable to protect me and herself, but her sulking wasn’t going to make me give in to her. Tuuli was more important than my well-being, I couldn’t bare to see her get injured.

We walked through the central plaza and walked south towards the Artisan’s Street and made a last turn, after which it would be a straight walk home. We took a side path that was less crowded compared to the main road, and then we ran into Otto. He was holding onto a spear and was watching the area, he seemed to be on a patrol.

“Good afternoon, Otto. We haven’t seen each other for some time.”

“Myne!”

Otto smiled when he saw me.

“It’s good to see that you’re safe. You have no idea how worried I was thinking about the captain beating me up if you weren’t fine.”

It felt quite worrying to see him this unnerved. It made me wonder if he had ever done something before that tempted Dad to beat him.

“…Otto, did you do something?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault. Blame the commander of the guards at the east gate and the other guards,” Otto responded with a shrug.

He explained that he had been occupied with all the paperwork in the office when the guards on duty along with the commander had done something that made Dad want to beat them up, so much so that he was now here because of their mistakes.

“In the afternoon, captain told the other commanders at the other gates to gather at the central plaza to pass an important message.:

“Huh?” I was surprised to hear that.

Dad probably wanted to tell them that the archduke was out of the duchy and that there were not to be any other entries for nobles. That felt like a bad premonition.

Otto continued to explain how Dad had arrived to work much earlier than his afternoon shift. He had gone to the commander to tell him about what was going on and that they needed to call a meeting with the other commanders at the plaza. He conveyed to them what Damuel had told him, to watch out for any forged passes because the archduke was absent, after which he returned back to the east gate.

“It was just that the east gate had already let a noble through before the captain returned. The commander had yet to instruct the guards so they were completely unaware of the fact that the pass might be a forged one. It was only when it was time for captain’s shift that did he discover this. He yelled at the commander about it before running out to the temple to check on you. Did you not run into him?”

I shot my head up to look at Damuel, I could only think about how a noble had gotten pass the gates and not that I didn’t see that. Damuel looked shocked too.

“They went through?! It can’t be but was it the noble who tried to enter a few days ago?”

“That’s right. I’m surprised that you know this much, yes, it was the same noble. All the guards at the east gate have been dispatched to search for them, but we haven’t found a trace yet. Could they be in the Noble’s District? If that’s so, I suppose they would have run into the knights at the north gate,” Otto said.

It seemed that despite the archduke having forbidden the entry of nobles from outside the city into the duchy, not all soldiers shared the same sense of danger and urgency. It seemed apparent that the soldiers remained ignorant of any possible dangers even through the archduke had warned that no noble from the outside where to enter the duhcy.

“Have you reported this to the Knight’s Order?!” Damuel was fuming and extremely agitated, but Otto remained unbothered and said. “…Probably, I guess? The commander might have done it, but then again the captain ran out before he could tell them.:

“You should have reported this right away, you idiot!” Damuel whipped out his wand just as he scolded Otto for his carelessness. He didn’t respond to Otto who was surprised by his wand and muttered out a “What? Wait a second, you’re a noble?”, instead he sent out a red beacon into the sky that was used to call for help.

The knights will be here soon, I sighed in relied at the sight of the red light in the sky just when Tuuli was pulled away from me.

“Huh? Tu—” I didn’t finish my words when something rough and opaque went over my head, after which I began floating in the air.

“Ah!!!”