01x13 - The Choice to Be an Apprentice Priestess

[bunniefuu]

F: Main went to the cathedral for her baptism,

F: where she got lost and stumbled upon a library.

Flashback,M: So many books...

Flashback,M: Part of it's like a chained library, too.

F: With her heart set on reading all those books,

F: she met the high priest

F: and asked to join the church as an apprentice priestess.

Title Card: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Title Card: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Ep Ep Title: Chapter Thirteen The Choice to Be an Apprentice Priestess

L: What did you do, Main?

M: Uh... I got lost looking for water and collapsed.

L: There's more, isn't there?

M: I found a library and got too excited.

L: Huh? A library?

M: Yes, a library! A god-given paradise on earth!

M: A room with lots of books!

L: Okay, never mind. I get it now.

W: You left out the most important part.

W: She said she wanted to become an apprentice priestess to read the books.

W: She collapsed while talking to the high priest about it.

L: What's wrong with you, you moron?!

M: Sorry...

L: We're leaving before you get up to any more stupidity!

M: Okay...

M: Even I know I should've been more rational.

M: But now I know how to become a priestess,

M: and they said they'd let me read the scriptures,

M: so all's well that ends well, right?

T: You really stood out during the march today.

G: Of course she did! She's so cute!

M: Hey, Dad.

G: What is it?

M: I'm thinking of becoming an apprentice priestess at the cathedral.

G: What? I dare you to say that one more time!

M: I wanna be an apprentice priestess...

G: Screw that! I'm not letting my daughter go to the church!

M: Wh-Why are you getting so mad, Dad?

G: Priest and priestess apprenticeships

G: are the last resort for orphans who have nowhere else to turn!

G: They're not fit for you!

M: The last resort for orphans? Really?

G: Really! Now never bring it up again!

E: Gunther, Main didn't know. Go easy on her.

G: You're right. Sorry.

E: Why do you suddenly want to become an apprentice priestess?

M: The cathedral had a lot of books.

G: That's what gave you the idea, huh?

G: But you'll have to forget about those books.

G: Stick to what you've been doing and make your own.

G: Would you rather cut ties with us and live with orphans to read those books

G: or live with us like you always have?

M: Huh? Cut ties with you?

M: Why?

G: Apprentice priestesses live at the cathedral and are worked to the bone.

G: You're not cut out for it when you can't even stay on top of your health.

G: Besides, books are very valuable.

G: Do you really think becoming an apprentice will guarantee that you'll get to read them?

T: Do you wanna be a priestess that badly?

T: Didn't you promise to stay with us?

M: Nah.

M: I just wanted to find a way to read those books.

M: I don't wanna be a priestess, if it means parting with you.

T: Thank goodness!

T: So you'll stay with us, right?

M: Yeah! I'll go turn the high priest down when I feel better.

G: I'm so glad you understand.

G: You're my little girl. I'm not letting the church have you.

G: She's starting to develop a fever!

E: She must've relaxed too much, since the discussion's over and all.

E: Go to bed, Main.

M: Okay...

M: In my Urano days, books took priority over everything.

M: I guess I love my family too much for that now.

M: But...

M: I finally found some books.

M: I wanna read them!

M: It wasn't until two days later that the fever got back under control.

L: The master said he wants to talk to you.

L: But you still look pale.

M: I'll visit the cathedral tomorrow and then go see Benno.

M: Will you come with me?

L: Sure, but why the cathedral?

M: To read the scriptures.

M: And while I'm there, I'll worm my way out of the whole apprentice priestess thing.

L: I see.

L: I mean, you're clearly not cut out for life there.

M: Yeah.

M: The next day...

L: Later. I'll come pick you up at the fifth bell.

M: Thanks, Lutz.

L: Don't you dare wander off.

M: Gotcha!

M: Pardon me.

F: Would you be Main?

M: Yes.

F: I'm the head priest here.

F: The high priest has told me about you.

F: Take a seat.

M: Thank you very much.

F: I've been asked to read the scriptures to you until he returns.

F: Sit there and listen.

M: U-Uh, Head Priest...

M: I...

F: If you have something to say, spit it out.

M: I don't want to listen! I want to read it myself!

F: And why is that?

F: Do you not want to learn more about the gods?

M: I do, but I also want to learn all these new words.

F: I see.

F: But these are the holy scriptures.

F: Do you promise not to lay a hand on them?

M: I promise!

M: Thank you so much!

F: I'll start reading now.

F: The God of Darkness spent an unbelievably long spell of time all by himself,

M: I finally get to read a book myself!

F: but one day, he...

M: Head Priest, does this say "Goddess of Light"?

F: That's right.

M: Is this "God of Darkness," then?

F: Correct.

F: That was quick.

F: If you're such a fast learner, teaching you will be worth my time.

HP: Oh, did I make you wait long?

M: The head priest read the scriptures with me, so I had a lot of fun.

M: I truly appreciate it.

HP: That's good to hear.

M: Thank you, Head Priest.

HP: So, what did your parents say?

M: They yelled at me, saying becoming a priestess is for orphans.

F: It's not only orphans. There are nobles, too.

F: Of course, orphans are the majority,

F: but that's because they have nobody to take care of them or refer them to other jobs.

F: I want you to understand that it doesn't take an orphan to be a priestess.

M: But I'm frail and sickly, too.

M: A live-in apprenticeship is impossible for me.

HP: So you didn't collapse the other day because you were unwell,

HP: but because you're sickly by nature?

M: That's right. I have the Devouring...

F: The Devouring?

M: Yes, what about it?

HP: Bring it here!

F: I know.

M: Huh? Wh-What's going on?

HP: I offer the gods my prayers!

M: Wh-What's happening?!

F: Try touching this grail.

M: Huh? May I really?

HP: Yes. Hurry up.

M: Whoa! What's going on?!

F: Main, we would like to speak to your parents.

M: I'm sorry, Dad, Mom.

M: Looks like this has become some kind of big deal!

Eyecatch: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Eyecatch: Ascendance of a Bookworm

M: Lutz!

L: What's the matter?

L: Did you mess up again?

M: I'm not sure what I did,

M: but I feel like I did mess up, yeah.

L: Urk. Not again.

L: Anyway, Master's waiting.

L: He told me to drag you there by the collar if I had to.

M: N-No!

B: It's been a while, Main!

M: Y-Yes.

B: Now, you will come clean.

B: Tell me everything that happened after you collapsed during the baptism.

B: Depending on that, I may have to rethink our business relationship.

M: So I met the high priest and asked to become an apprentice to gain library access.

B: Use your brain a little, you thoughtless nitwit!

M: O-Ow!

B: And? Did you get permission?

M: When I went home and spoke to my parents,

M: they yelled at me, saying becoming a priestess was for orphans.

M: The head priest was saying there were nobles, though.

B: Didn't you notice the two different church uniforms, blue and gray robes?

B: The blue is for nobility, and the gray for orphans.

B: The orphans get ordered around by the nobles and work for no pay.

B: Since you're not a noble, you'll be a gray-robed apprentice priestess.

B: Of course your parents wouldn't allow it.

M: Oh, so that's why Dad got so angry.

B: So? Were you able to worm out of it?

M: Well, when I told them about my Devouring,

M: they gave me a formal invite for my parents.

B: They're totally out to reel you in.

B: The silver lining is that you can still negotiate with the high priest.

B: You're in luck.

M: What do you mean?

M: And then Benno filled me in on the current situation with the church.

B: A few years ago, there was a coup and political purge in the capital.

B: The number of nobles went down drastically.

B: That reduction in the political class meant a downturn in the nation's power.

B: That's where the blue-robed priests in the church came in.

noble,Sign: Noble Society

B: They had fallen out of favor with their parents and been dumped in the church,

B: but now they returned to noble society.

B: That meant the church lost the blue robes' obligatory donations.

B: They were also the ones employing the orphans,

B: who were now out of work and having a hard time surviving.

M: That sounds like a disaster!

B: There's an even bigger disaster.

B: The grail you touched is actually a magical item.

M: A magical item?!

B: That's right.

B: Normally, the blue robes stored their mana within it,

B: but a lack of supply could mean smaller harvests.

M: What? Mana even affects the size of harvests?!

B: Yeah. That's why, with fewer nobles around now,

B: the church is in dire need of people with the Devouring.

M: Uh, what does mana have to do with the Devouring?

B: Wha... You didn't know?!

M: Most commoners have next to no mana,

M: but the few who are born with a lot of it suffer from the Devouring.

M: Ah! That raging fever is actually mana?!

B: Before the coup,

B: nobles despised those with the Devouring for possessing mana as commoners.

B: But things have changed.

M: The church needs my mana?

B: Correct. If you join the church, you'll be able to live on.

B: But at the same time, it's risky.

B: As you possess both mana and money, nobles will see you as fine prey.

B: So, Main, how about you sign a new contract with magic?

M: A contract for what?

B: One that states Lutz will sell everything you make.

B: Even if a noble tries to steal you away,

B: this contract will guarantee that you can contact us.

B: Forge an unbreakable pact with Lutz while you still can.

M: An unbreakable pact with Lutz...

M: But what if that puts Lutz in danger or hurts him?

L: Your survival is more important.

L: Besides, if I sent you off alone, I'd have a constant headache

L: worrying about what you might do.

: Jeez.

B: Listen up. If you already have your invitation,

B: that leaves you very little time.

B: First, officially register the Main Studio with the Guild,

B: and secure an outlet for your goods.

M: Got it.

B: If money can buy you better treatment,

B: have a revenue stream ready before you negotiate with the church.

B: Prepare all the means you can think of to survive in that world.

B: Rather than getting exploited after you join,

B: find someone there to have a give-and-take relationship with.

B: Consider each and every aspect of your situation.

B: Fight with all you have to live on!

M: Uh...

M: Why are you getting so worked up for me?

B: The longer you live, the more products you'll create,

B: and the more profits for us.

Ma: Master's worried about you, since you're always walking a tightrope.

B: Shut up, Mark!

Ma: I won't go as far as saying he sees you like his own daughter,

Ma: but he is genuinely concerned for you.

Ma: Of course, so am I.

M: Thank you, Mister Mark.

B: Just him?

M: Of course I'm grateful to you too, Mister Benno.

M: Please help me with the contract magic and registering with the Guild.

F: Oh! You want to register Main Studio?

F: And here I thought you would be an apprentice merchant at the Gilberta Company.

M: I gave up because merchant work would be too physically demanding.

F: In that case, would you divert Main Studio's products to our company?

M: Hey, I gave you the pound cake, remember?

F: You did. And Liese's obsessively trying out different flavors for it.

F: You should come taste them.

F: Not with Lutz, but your older sister.

M: If you want to estimate the demand for a product,

M: you should canvas opinions from a wide range of people.

F: A wide range of people, you say?

M: I know! How about throwing a sampling party?

M: You prepare bite-sized portions of various pound cake flavors

M: and ask the guests which ones they liked best.

F: That sounds like the perfect idea!

F: Things are about to get busy!

F: I'll send word as soon as we set a date!

F: Toodles!

L: See? Isn't she just like you?

B: She sure is.

M: What's up, Lutz?

L: Are you really gonna join the church?

M: Yeah, probably.

L: Oh...

M: Look, Lutz. If you wanna say something, out with it.

L: I don't wanna. It'll make me sound lame.

M: I see.

L: You liar.

L: You said we'd make and sell books together.

M: I'm sorry, Lutz.

L: You don't have to apologize.

L: I know I can't do anything for you.

L: But...

L: It still hurts.

L: You said you'd run a bookstore with me...

L: I really wanted to make books with you.

M: I know...

M: But I won't give up on making books even if I join the church.

M: I'm not giving up on my ambition so easily!

L: What, to live a life surrounded by books?

M: Exactly. Let's both do our best to make our dreams come true.

L: I... I was only able to give my all because you were with me.

L: And I wanted to keep it up at Master's store with you.

L: I wanted to do so much more with you!

M: Don't worry.

M: Nothing will change if I join the church.

M: Whenever I wanna make something, you'll be the first person I ask for help.

L: But people already know your creations are valuable.

L: They'll be lining up to help you.

M: Even if I do work with someone else, I get the feeling it won't go so smoothly,

M: and that I'll end up calling on you anyway.

M: Will you help me?

M: You're gonna bring all my ideas to reality, right?

L: Yeah! I'll make anything and everything you think up!

L: {ED}

Title: Next Chapter Conclusions

M: Take that! And that!

M: Next up, we answer the summons from the church!

M: Take that! And that!

F: What are you doing?

M: I need to fight to secure the best treatment for myself!

F: Leave that to your parents. You can't handle it.

M: No, but I need to fight for myself...

F: I warned you.