Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 2 Volume 2 (eBook)

Miya Kazuki (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2020
413 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-4608-6 (ISBN)

Infos

As Myne continues her busy life as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, some good news changes everything: Her mother is pregnant! Naturally, Myne immediately sets out to make a picture book for her future little sibling.
But there's still so much she doesn't know about the temple that doing anything is a struggle. She's forced into the education of a shrine maiden and has her hands full with her new attendants. She has a mountain of work as the orphanage director, too.
As always Myne has bitten off more than she can chew, but she charges forward with her love of books giving her strength. And as it becomes clear that someone with her level of mana will not continue to go unnoticed, the door to the world of nobles opens and the plot escalates dramatically!
Winter approaches, and a blizzard is about to fall upon this biblio-fantasy!

Textauszug

Rosina and Harspiels

Fran handed me the smaller harspiel meant for children to practice with. Even so, it was surprisingly large given my small frame. The child’s harspiel had a lot fewer strings than the adult’s—probably around half as many—which gave it the range of a practice keyboard I had played in elementary school.

I put it between my thighs as the High Priest had done and rested it on my left upper arm. It was mostly made of wood instead of anything too heavy, so I could hold it up just fine despite my weakness.

“It will get increasingly heavy if you hold it diagonally. Try to keep it perfectly upright.” Maybe due to it being a practice instrument, one of the strings was colored. “This is the fundamental sound of the instrument,” said the High Priest while plucking that one string.

On the “do-re-mi” scale, it was a do. Skip a string and the next was re, then skip another string and that was mi. The thin strings were lined up right next to each other, each a half-tone apart, but the way each one played a unique tone made it feel like plucking a piano’s strings directly. But unlike a piano, there were no black keys, which made searching for specific sounds incredibly difficult.

“Consider this a musical scale. The sounds get increasingly high or increasingly low on each side.”

I understood the musical scale by converting it to the do-re-mi scale I was more familiar with. I had been forced into it, but in my Urano days I had practiced piano for about three years. It would be difficult to get used to playing smoothly, but I would probably be able to play the more simple songs I remembered from back then.

“Sah ee tah... Sah ee tah...” While matching this world’s language, I clumsily played the classic song “Tulip” and nodded in satisfaction.

“What in the world was that song?” murmured the High Priest.

“As you heard, a song about flowers.” No tulips existed here as far as I knew, but it would be fine. It wasn’t like the High Priest knew every flower to have ever existed. And sure enough the High Priest fell into thought, a finger on his chin.

“...Perhaps, of all things, you have a talent for music?”

“No, I don’t! Not even a little bit!”

Oh no, oh no oh no oh no. I just raised his expectations super high! Making up a new song and playing it the first time you ever touch an instrument? From an outside perspective, that’s the kind of thing Mozart would do! Don’t look at me like I’m a genius. Please no. The only songs I have memorized are the school anthems and some basic piano songs. I don’t have any talent for music at all.

“That is not something you can decide for yourself. To be honest, I was concerned that a commoner would struggle to play at all, but it seems it won’t be long before your music is presentable.” Despite my desperate denials, the High Priest began forming plans with the hint of a devious smile on his face. Plans that no doubt involved taking huge cuts out of my reading time.

“Um, High Priest. I have no intention of letting my reading time get cut down any further.”

“But daily practice is essential for learning to play an instrument.”

“Yes, I know. I still won’t give up any of my reading time.” Between checking on the orphanage, keeping tabs on the Myne Workshop, helping the High Priest, and Fran being busy, I barely got any time in the book room no matter how often I came to the temple. My meal time was strictly managed and the books couldn’t be borrowed due to their chains, so I was reading a lot less in the temple than I had initially anticipated.

“When I joined the temple, you said my work would be offering mana and organizing the book room. I’m only helping you with your paperwork out of the goodness of my heart. You can give up some of that time to make room for my harspiel practice, but I will never give up my reading time for it.”

We glared at each other for a bit, and after weighing paperwork and music on an internal scale, the High Priest seemed to decide that music was more important. He told me to dedicate all the time up until third bell to practicing the harspiel after arriving at the temple.

“Inform Wilma and Rosina of what has been decided today. As a note, I will occasionally come to check on your progress, so keep that in mind as you dedicate yourself to practice. I will find out immediately if you try to slack,” he said, driving his point home. The High Priest was right to expect no better from me; there was no way I would take music seriously without constant observance.

After seeing him off, Fran and I had to go to the orphanage. “Gil, Delia. We’re going to the orphanage now, so please prepare a room for Rosina.”

“You got it. That room’s gonna be spotless by the time you get back.”

After arriving at the dining hall, we called for Wilma and Rosina. Everyone likely knew why they were being called. The orphans were looking at me anxiously.

“Sister Myne, are you making Wilma your attendant? Is Wilma going to leave us?”

“I am making Wilma my attendant, but as orphanage director, I will have Wilma keep working in the orphanage. Her job will be taking care of you all.”

“Yaaay! Really? She’s not leaving us?” The cheering kids went racing towards Wilma, who had just come down to the dining hall.

“She said you can work in the orphanage, Wilma!” The kids pulled Wilma’s clothes and arms as they flocked around her. She walked towards us with a happy smile, children hanging off of her. It seemed she meant a lot to the kids. I was really glad I managed to let her stay in the orphanage.

I asked the kids to leave and remain quiet until our conversation was over. The kids lined up against the wall like a wave crashing against a cliff, but nonetheless stared in our direction with happy smiles.

“I received the High Priest’s permission for your request, so I will make you my attendant. Your job will be to maintain the orphanage and draw art. Since that includes taking care of the young children, you will remain in the orphanage.”

With that done, Wilma could continue living in the girls’ building of the orphanage. She wouldn’t be taken by any blue priests, nor would she be forced to offer flowers. Wilma’s peaceful brown eyes shined with happy tears.

“I thank you ever so much. I will serve you with all I have, Sister Myne.”

Just as things with Wilma settled down, Rosina arrived in the dining hall. She had chestnut hair that was wavy like Tuuli’s, braided in a half-up style. Her lively blue eyes were gleaming with hope and anticipation.

“Sister Myne, I was told you wished to discuss something.” Rosina had the mature, pretty face of an adult. Her luxurious hair matched her graceful behavior, making her seem exactly like a dignified young lady from a wealthy family. From the way Wilma and Rosina carried themselves, I could imagine how their former mistress, a lover of the arts, probably behaved.

...The High Priest probably wants me to conduct myself like Rosina does. I knew that, but different people were suited for different things. Would I have to be trained until every move I made was beautiful, all the while being compared to my well-raised attendants? The thought made me give a heavy sigh.

“Rosina, I would like to make you my attendant.” Rosina covered her mouth in disbelief, her cheeks blushing a rosy red. I lowered my eyes. If I did what she just did, people would laugh at me. “The High Priest is trying to educate me and suggested I make you my attendant. Your job will be to teach me to play the harspiel until third bell, then do whatever it is my other attendants are doing. What do you think?”

“Certainly, I have no objection whatsoever. The harspiel is my most practiced instrument.” With the conversation over, I left the orphanage with a happy Rosina in tow as Wilma and the kids saw us off. She had no possessions in the orphanage. Orphans owned only their bodies and would simply move to their new room, where their master would prepare what they needed.

After returning to my chambers and gathering my attendants on the first floor, Fran led introductions between everyone. It seemed that a master was not meant to see communions between their attendants and thus I waited on the second floor. Fran told me not to peep, even if I got curious.

With nothing else to do, I started skimming a piece of sheet music that the High Priest had left behind. Learning to play this song was my first task. It wasn’t that long, but learning to play a song you weren’t familiar with wasn’t easy.

Eventually, I heard Gil say “I’m gonna go check to see if the workshop’s cleaned and locked up,” followed by the sound of someone leaving. The introductions on the first floor were apparently over, and I could hear the others climbing the stairs to take Rosina to her room.

“Oh my! A harspiel... Sister Myne, do you mind if I play at once?” Rosina’s voice dripped with emotion after she saw the two harspiels resting next to each other.

“Geez, Rosina! The instruments won’t run away. You should get settled in your room first.”

“I understand how emotional it can be to finally find what you’ve been looking for, but Delia’s right,” I said. “Please get settled in your room first. It shouldn’t take too long, as there isn’t...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.1.2020
• Reihe/Serie: Ascendance of a Bookworm
• Reihe/Serie: Ascendance of a Bookworm
• Illustrationen: You Shiina
• Übersetzer: Quof
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: book loving • Fantasy • Isekai • Light Novel • Medieval • Reading • Reincarnation
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-4608-5 / 1718346085
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-4608-6 / 9781718346086