Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 6 Chapter 15: An Invitation to the After-dinner gathering

“H-High Priest…”

“Do note that you cannot decline it with your status.”

I looked towards the High Priest to save me since I was not feeling good about the invitation, but my plea for help ended with his cutt-throat rejection.

They are all nobles, so I know a commoner like me has no place to turn down the invitation. But at least I tried.

“Come here, Myne.”

The High Priest had made the effort to split us apart, but now Sylvester tapped the table between him and Karstedt beckoning me to sit beside him. I stayed still because there was no space for me to take a seat. In the next second, Karstedt and Damuel stood up and swapped their seats, they basically said there was no escaping this.

“Myne, just do what Damuel did, walk around the table and sit next to Sylvester.”

The High Priest nudged me towards Sylvester with a conflicted look because he knew that Sylvester’s order was absolute.

“E-Excuse me then.”

I stood up and made my way to the other side of the large table and sat next to Sylvester. Next to me was Karstedt, I tried sitting closer to him, trying to make it as subtle as possible. Damuel sat across me and High Priest was across Sylvester.

“Hear me, Myne,” Sylvester said, “What do you say with trading chefs? You’re good with that, right? Hear me, I’m not stealing, we’re just making a trade.”

But Ella and Hugo technically worked under Benno. He would be furious if I traded them away without telling him first, and it would be a huge disaster if we had our recipes leaked.

“The chefs are working for me but are legally employed by someone else. I am not in the position to trade them away.”

“Then I’ll talk to that person. Who is it?”

Not only was Benno powerless to turn down an offer from a noble, he would be upset that the Italian restaurant he had worked so hard on would be over because he did not have the necessary staff. I was already seeing Benno and Mark suffering as all their hardwork vanished into nothing.

“Brother Sylvester, a merchant will be unable to turn down an offer from someone as noble as you. You will not present him with an offer, but a demand that he cannot object to.”

“Yes, that might happen with a merchant,” Sylvester muttered to himself with an interested look.

So what the High Priest was true, Sylvester was good deep inside, but it was buried way too deep inside. He was not angered by what I said, he just nudged his head forward, telling me to continue.

I turned to sneak a peek at the High Priest and he gave a small nod. Damuel was all pale and trembling like a terrified mouse. There was no way I was going to give up on my chefs.

“My chefs will soon work in an upcoming restaurant. They have undergone some intense training for that job, which took up quite a sum of money, along with building the restaurant. The amount of money spent on it might seem small to a noble, but the money can decide the life or death of a commoner. Brother Sylvester, are you still going to take the chefs even after knowing that it will cause a restaurant’s business to fail? I would like to offer an alternative instead, if you enjoyed their food and would like more, you can come in as a customer when the restaurant opens.

“Oh, a restaurant? So the commoners will get to eat that food?”

Sylvester looked dumbfounded by what I said. I tried my best to put on the smile that Benno would have when he talked to customers, seizing this chance to promote the restaurant.

“The food will be quite expensive, so only the wealthy in the lower city can afford it , furthermore the restaurant will only serve those who have been introduced by existing customers. The interior has been designed to look like that you see in a noble’s mansion, and the food served are suited to the noble’s taste, in fact, the food served will be that not even nobles have come across.”

“Is that so, then who will introduce me?”

“Uhm… since you have expressed interest, I will be pleased to introduce you myself.”

To be frank, I did not want to shoulder the sure-to-come heavy responsibility of introducing a troublesome noble like Sylvester (childish as he is) to the restaurant. But I would have to settle for that than to give up my chefs and destroy the restaurant.

“That’s fine. Introduce me. I want to have a look around the place.”

“I am evermore grateful. Lord Karstedt, High Priest, are you interested to visit too?”

I begged with all my might using just my eyes. I really wanted someone to control Sylvester, with great reluctance, the two of them nodded back.

…I guess since Brother Sylvester is sort of a noble, Benno might be happy about this? Or maybe he’ll get angry at me. Whatever his reaction will be, I just want him to be thankful that I was the one who prevented him from losing his chefs.

I gave myself a pat on the back in my head for my great feats.

The High Priest who had been enjoying his wine and snacks such as cheese and ham, shot up his arm at the sudden realisation of something.

“Myne, will you get Rosina to play the harspiel?” he asked. I then recalled that he had gave her the permission to take the harspiel so that she could make the long nights more comfortable.

I looked over to Fran, instructing him to pass the message to Rosina that her presence had been requested. Karstedt looked surprised by what was going on.

“A commoner has a harspiel?”

“I learnt how to with the High Priest’s orders.”

I revealed everything about my education and how the High Priest was the one in charge of it.

“So he was thinking this far ahead, this was expected given that we are talking about Lord Ferdinand.”

Thinking back, the High Priest did not say anything about me getting adopted then, it was amazing that he could predict the future so well.

“Myne is talented at music. Your practices have been going smoothly, no?”

“It’s nothing much, Rosina is just that gifted at teaching.”

I had been praised by the High Priest, but truthfully, Rosina was the one teaching me sternly. Under her guidance, I was not allowed to skip any lessons no matter what. If one practiced diligently everyday their playing would improve by leaps and bounds. Urano’s piano skills has stagnated because I didn’t commit to practicing daily.

“I have arrived as you wished, master.”

Rosina came into the hall carrying a harspiel. One of the attendants pulled out a chair from the table and Rosina took a seat while smiling. She played the songs Sylvester asked for.

“Amazing. Where did a gray shrine maiden like you get to learn how to play the harspiel this well?”

“Someone like myself only received the chance to learn the arts when serving my previous master, Sister Christine.”

“I see… Ok then, Myne, it’s your turn.”

Really? I have to say it was pretty cruel of him to make me play right after Rosina. She was from a different cut of cloth. My mind was running through all the possible excuses I could use to run away from his demands.

“Uhm… I-I unfortunately will have to turn you down as I cannot play such a large harspiel with my tiny stature.”

“Oh? Do not worry, Sister Myne. I packed your harspiel, too, in preparation for events like this. Pardon me while I head back to your room to retrieve it.”

…NOOOoooo- why, Rosina, why—

My upper body drooped over in despair. Kartedt gave me a gentle pat on the back to cheer me up while stifling his laughter. Sylvester had a large grin and turned to the High Priest.

“Ok, Ferdinand, you’ll play first in the meantime.”

I was so adamant that the High Priest would say no, contrary to what I expected, he stood up and picked up the harspiel, playing a tune after giving an annoyed sigh. It was a spectacular sight to see how he could play along with Rosina, but why did he have to choose the anime song I gave him?

Though the composition was slightly different and the lyrics had been altered to a religious one, he was still playing an anime song!

I did my best to hold back my laughter, so much so that my sides started to hurt. I never would have imagined that small prank I did would come back to me as bad karma.

“I’ve never heard of that song,” Sylvester remarked.

“Not surprised you haven’t,” the High Priest replied with indifference, and that made Sylvester frown.

“What’s with that song? Who made it?”

“…It’s a secret.”

The High Priest looked at me and had a haughty smile. I gulped in shock. These all made Sylvester, who was next to me, raise an eyebrow and his eyes gleam.

Ahhhh! Don’t announce it to the world and stop teasing him too! He’s getting interested in this now!

I was panicking so much on the inside when Rosina returned with my harspiel.

“Please go ahead, Sister Myne.”

“Thank you, Rosina.”

I began strumming the harspiel to a novice song I recently learnt. I was not going to play a song from my time as Urano as I didn’t want to attract more attention from Sylvester.

Gotta say, I’m much better now.

“…That’s ok, nothing great.”

“It’s your turn now, Brother Sylvester. I would like to hear you play.”

I knew so many people gifted in the arts, like Rosina, Wilma and the HIgh Priest, so I had a hard time imagining how a normal noble would fare. Letting Sylvester play might prove helpful in understanding the average noble.

“I see. You want to hear my music? Hmph, fine, I’ll do it. Consider yourself lucky.”

Sylvester took the harspiel with an arrogant expression, which made me doubt he could play music well. But it seems that I was wrong. He was way more talented than I expected. His playing sounded pleasant and he was singing with the perfect pitch.

…Hnnnh. All these nobles have cheat stats…

I always believed that the High Priest was setting the bar too high for me, but it looks like it was just because the nobles were all talented.

“Would you like to try playing too, Lord Karstedt?”

“I’m not a fan of the harspiel. I would prefer to play my flute, but I do not have it on hand right now.”

Another shocking discovery - so a buff knight like Karstedt knows how to play music too. It seems like he liked a wind-instrument because he had the lung capacity (which he built up from training) for it. Whereas the harspiel only needed him to strum strings.

Wow. That’s so cool.

“But it wouldn’t be polite for me to do nothing. Let me think… I can perform a sword dance instead.”

“A sword dance?! I’ve never seen it before. May I please watch yours, if possible?”

I had never seen a sword dance before, not even when I was Urano. I looked at Karstedt with sparkling eyes full of anticipation. He signaled to Damuel with a nod. They took out their wand and chanted “schwert”. The wands instantly transformed into a sword. They both stood opposite each other and tapped their blades before pointing them upwards, signaling the start of the dance. They cut through the air swiftly in sync and did not make any wasteful movements, their swords reflected the light with every movement.

The sword dance consisted of several simple moves, so everyone in the Knight’s Order could do it. But when two or more people performed it together without rehearsing, they had to carefully watch each other’s movements and where they were looking to move in sync. If any of them missed a beat or went out of sync, both parties could get fatally injured.

Damuel was starting to sweat and pant. Having noticed this, Karstedt withdrew his sword and calmly announced.”

“That will be all.”

“Wow! Lord Karstedt, Sir Damuel, that was amazing! I was worried that you both might get injured, but it went perfectly!”

I bomboarded them with a flurry of praises. But Sylvester started whining about how he could do better and then dragged Karstedt to do a sword dance with him.

Uhh… Can I leave now?

~~~

I admit Sylvester did look kind of cool when he was so focused on something. He was dancing a more advanced routine than the previous, but it just made me more annoyed.

“Heh. Cool, right? Feel free to shower me with praise,” Sylvester boasted, puffing his chest like a proud peacock.

Now that the sword dance had ended, I could sincerely say this again, that he was super annoying. Like extremely.

His childish personality was shining through again, all his coolness and my feelings of amazement for him disappeared.

“…You were amazing, Brother Sylvester.”

“Hey, that was so unfeeling. Do it again.”

I was made to sing praises for him thrice. I was so done with him that I just pretended to be unwell as an excuse to quickly retreat back to my room.