01x02 - Life Improvements and Slates

[bunniefuu]

M: {ED}

F: The girl who wished to read lots of books, even after death,

F: began a new life in this world as Main, the daughter of a struggling family.

M: If only I had a book to read...

M: Yeah, as long as I have books,

M: I can deal with things no matter where I am.

F: However, books are extremely expensive in this world.

M: Hey, do you know a shop that sells books? Where is it?

G: A shop? There isn't one.

G: Books have to be copied by hand, you see.

G: They cost so much money that very few people can buy any.

F: And so, she came to a resolution...

F: If she couldn't get any books to read, she'd just have to make them herself.

M: I'm gonna make a book.

M: My very own book.

Title Card: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Title ,Title Card: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Ep Ep Title: Chapter Two Life Improvements and Slates

M: Forget it. I don't care what it takes.

M: I'm gonna get my books, if it's the last thing I do!

M: I won't let this world beat me!

M: But where do I buy paper?

M: Oh, maybe I can find out by searching Main's memories.

M: Paper, paper, paper...

M: Nope! I don't have any memories pertaining to paper!

M: And my hair feels like sandpaper! It's so itchy!

T: I'm home.

E: Welcome back, Tuuli. Thank you.

M: This world doesn't have any books or schools.

M: Kids here either help out with housework or go to work.

T: Mom.

T: I got to pick a bunch of meryl fruit today.

M: Looks like an avocado.

E: Let's extract the oil from them while they're fresh.

E: Get things ready, Tuuli.

T: Okay.

M: Oil? You can extract oil from meryl fruit?

T: Yeah, why?

M: I can make shampoo!

M: Life improvement.

M: Yahoo!

M: I can wash my hair for the first time in a week!

M: When I was Urano, I made lots of homemade soaps and shampoos with my mother,

M: so I know how to do it.

M: If I extract the oil from a fruit,

M: use some herbs for fragrance, and add a pinch of salt...

M: I should have my very own shampoo!

M: Tuuli.

M: May I have some meryl fruit?

M: I'd like to extract oil for myself.

T: You want to try it, too?

T: Sure.

T: Listen up.

T: You have to wrap it in cloth so it doesn't splatter...

T: M-Main? What do you think you're doing?

M: I see. I should've wrapped it in cloth so it didn't splatter.

E: Main?

E: No playing with food!

M: All done!

T: Main, the water's all boiled now.

T: That smells amazing.

T: What are you doing?!

M: Washing my hair.

T: Wh-What?

T: Why does your hair look like the night sky now?

T: What did you just make?

M: Well, uh...

M: Simple All-In-One Shampoo, I guess?

M: When Mom steps out for work,

M: Tuuli and I have to watch the house.

T: Hey, Dad forgot to take this!

M: Isn't that what he was rushing Mom to make earlier?

T: Yeah. She'll get real mad if she finds out.

T: And he'll need it, too.

T: We should go deliver it to him.

T: Main, do you think you can walk to the gate?

T: Are you okay?

M: No wonder Mom insisted on the piggyback ride.

T: Maybe we shouldn't do this.

T: You can't handle it yet.

M: I'll be fine...

M: if we walk... nice and slowly...

R: Huh? Tuuli?

T: Ralph? Lutz and Fey, too.

M: Wow, check out this rainbow hair squad.

T: Are you going to the forest?

R: Yeah. What are you doing?

T: We were thinking of heading to the gate to deliver something Dad forgot to take.

M: Are they neighbors?

M: I knew it.

M: Ralph, the redhead, is the same age as Tuuli.

M: He's the third of four brothers.

M: Fey's the same age, too. He's Ralph's cousin.

M: Lutz, the blond, is Ralph's little brother.

M: He's five like I am now, huh?

T: Main! Are you okay?

M: Yeah. I just got a little dizzy.

M: I can't even get up after a fall.

M: This body really is frail.

L: Main, you okay?

L: You're going to the gate, right? I'll give you a ride.

M: Lutz.

R: You can't handle it yet.

L: I can, too.

R: I'll carry her.

R: Come on.

T: Thanks for offering, Lutz.

T: But Ralph's used to it, so let him carry her.

L: Fine.

M: Lutz, it made me happy to see you were so worried about me.

M: You're so nice. Thank you.

T: Ralph, how are you holding up?

R: All good. Main's tiny and light.

T: Thank you, really.

R: Sure.

M: Oh? Ralphy, my dear boy, dost thou have the hots for sister mine?

R: Tuuli.

T: What is it?

R: You smell really nice.

T: Do I?

M: Squee!

M: Did you hear that, Mrs. Rubbernecker? "You smell really nice," he says!

M: What is he, the hero in a shoujo manga?!

M: Well, I did wash Tuuli's hair for her.

M: She looks prettier now, right?

Flashback,T: Even my hair's all silky now!

Flashback,M: Yeah, it smells great.

Flashback,M: Okay, time to dump this.

Flashback,T: Yeah.

Flashback,E: Hold it!

Flashback,T: Mom?

M: I didn't expect Mom to be so conscious of her appearance, though.

L: Your hair smells nice, too.

L: And you look prettier now that your hair's tied up and doesn't cover your face.

M: What in the blue hell was that?!

M: I've never had anyone do that to me in all my years, so I don't know how to respond!

M: I'm a modest and shy wallflower!

M: This world is gonna give me a heart attack!

L: Main.

L: Look, we've made it to the south gate.

T: Dad.

Gu: Tuuli? What's the matter?

T: You forgot this.

Gu: Oh, thank you!

M: Lutz and the others split off and continued to the forest,

M: while we went inside the gate.

G: They brought you something you forgot? Your daughters are very nice.

Gu: Aren't they?

Gu: That's my daughters, the cutest and smartest girls in the world!

G: There goes the captain, bragging about his girls again.

Gu: I love you two so much!

M: Stop that!

T: Dad, did something happen?

Gu: A VIP must've showed up.

M: Like who?

Gu: Like a noble whose arrival we'd have to inform the lord about,

Gu: or something like that.

O: Captain.

Gu: Otto.

M: Is that the salute here?

Gu: Give me your report, Otto.

O: Count Lowenhardt asks that the gates be opened.

Gu: His seal?

O: It checked out.

Gu: All right. Let him through.

T: Dad's so cool when he's in work mode.

M: R-Right...

M: That's paper!

M: Actual writing!

: Main, don't get in the way of work.

M: Dad, what's this?

Gu: Oh, it's parchment.

Gu: Paper made from goat and sheep skin.

M: Parchment...

M: I beg you, Dad.

M: Please buy some for me.

Gu: No.

M: I really need it!

Gu: It's not something for kids to play with.

Gu: Besides, you don't know how to read or write.

M: Well, yeah...

O: But, Captain, you aren't great at writing yourself.

M: What? You can't write?

Gu: A soldier's job is to maintain law and order in town!

Gu: As long as we know how to write people's names, that's enough.

M: I'll learn.

M: Will you buy it for me then?

Tu: Each one costs a whole month's salary. I can't spend that much on a kid.

M: A whole month?!

O: Also, they don't sell paper in shops commoners frequent.

M: Down with poverty!

O: If you want to learn how to read and write, why not use a slate?

O: If you don't mind using my old one, you can have it.

sign_Slate,Sign: Slate

M: Are you sure?

O: Yeah. I'll bring it with me sometime.

M: Thank you, Mister Otto!

M: Please teach me how to read and write!

O: Sure thing, Main.

M: I'm counting on you!

O: You got it.

M: I love you, Mister Otto!

M: Hooray!

Gu: Otto!

Gu: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Gu: Ascendance of a Bookworm

M: As fall nears its end,

M: people here start preparing for the long winter ahead.

M: Inundated with winter prep work, I had no time to spare for bookmaking.

M: And today is "Dona, Dona"—

M: I mean, pork stocking day.

T: It's like a festival. You'll have fun.

T: We all butcher pigs together,

T: then brine and smoke the meat, or make pot roast and sausages.

T: We won't last the winter otherwise.

M: Butchering pigs...

E: I hope Main doesn't develop a fever midway like last year.

M: I wish I had developed a fever again.

M: It's so different than being in town!

M: And the air is so fresh! I feel alive again!

Gu: Main, keep your mouth shut, or you'll bite your tongue.

M: You need asphalt roads!

W: We've only got sons, so...

M: I was told to watch from afar since they didn't want me bothering them.

M: Not that I mind. This gives me time to brainstorm.

M: Both books and paper are too expensive to buy.

M: Then I'll have to start by making my own paper!

M: But how am I supposed to?

M: There's no way I can chop down trees with my own hands.

G: Hold it!

M: Ugh, how primitive.

M: Oh, yeah. What did they do before all the machinery was invented?

M: Ancient civilizations... Ancient Egypt...

M: Papyrus!

M: Even if I can't make papyrus, I should be able to weave something out of grass fiber!

M: Yeah, I'll make pseudo-papyrus and make a book out of that!

Gu: Here I go.

M: Where am I?

O: I'm so glad you came to.

M: Mister Otto?

O: You remember me?

M: How could I forget?

O: How do you feel? Better now?

M: Uh...

M: Why am I here?

O: You fainted during pork stocking.

O: The captain brought you here in a panic.

O: He said they'll pick you up once they're done.

M: Is that so?

O: Are you lonely?

M: No. I was just wondering how I should k*ll time.

O: Right, he did say you were older than you looked.

O: Give me a minute.

O: Will this help you pass the time?

M: A slate!

O: I said I'd give you mine, didn't I?

O: Here.

O: That's your name.

M: So this is how my name's written.

O: I'll have to get back to work, so why don't you practice with that?

M: M... a... i... n...

M: I'm so excited!

M: Actual letters!

M: Fun!

Sign: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

M: This is so much fun!

Sign: Motosu Urano

M: Motosu Urano, huh?

M: But that's not my name anymore.

Sign: Effa, Mom

M: Effa, Mom.

Sign: Gunther, Dad

M: Gunther, Dad.

Sign: Tuuli

M: Tuuli.

M: Ralph.

Sign: Ralph

M: Fey.

Sign: Fey

Sign: Mister Otto

M: Mister Otto.

Sign: Lutz

M: Lutz.

Sign: Main

M: Main.

SignL: Effa, Mom Ralph Gunther Fey Dad Main Lutz Tuuli Mister Otto

O: Main, the captain's back for you.

Sign: So hot

O: B-Big trouble, Captain! It's Main!

T: You have a fever again, huh?

M: Sorry. I know we haven't finished preparing for winter yet.

T: That's some of the sausage we all made together.

M: This is good.

M: Tuuli, this sausage is really delicious!

T: Yeah? Well, you better sleep once you're done eating.

M: 'Kay.

M: The soup does need improvement, though.

M: That was great.

M: Look at how happy I'm feeling just by being able to write.

M: I'd probably be on cloud nine if I could read an actual book.

M: Huh? Wait, didn't I hit upon a great idea before I fainted?

M: What was it?

Next_Chapter,: Next Chapter The Events of Winter

M: Papyrus, damn it! Papyrus!

M: I'm such a klutz!

F: That's nothing new.

F: That aside, I didn't expect the AIO Shampoo to make an appearance this early.

M: Really?

M: But that's what leads to meeting the mercha—

F: Spoilers again?

F: Will you ever learn?