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 b*at 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 att*ck!
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?
01x02 - Life Improvements and Slates
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Anime series based on a light novel and manga series written by Miya Kazuki and illustrated by Yō Shiina.
Anime series based on a light novel and manga series written by Miya Kazuki and illustrated by Yō Shiina.