Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll do anything to become a librarian! Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, Vol. 2 by Miya Kazuki, You Shiina
Series Name: Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll do anything to become a librarian! (Light Novel)
Genres: Fantasy, Isekai, Magic
Intended Age Group: Teen
Publisher: J-Novel Club
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 9781718356085
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book
Rozemyne, now both the High Bishop and the archduke’s adopted daughter, finds herself lost in a position of power she just isn’t used to. Preparing for the Harvest Festival, taking care of new orphans, dealing with the dissatisfaction of a neighboring town—her list of problems just keeps on growing. On top of all that, Ferdinand the High Priest is being as harsh as he can be. Still, Rozemyne doesn’t give up! Encouraged by meetings with her lower city family and friends, she recharges by reading books in the temple! She’ll need as much energy as she can get as the yearly Night of Schutzaria is fast approaching, where Rozemyne will need to travel to the forest bordering Dorvan to gather materials… Being the High Bishop is hard, okay?
Personal & Info
There are some bonus comics at the end of the book. I think the comics at the end of the other volume(s), so far, are better than these ones. They’re still cute, though.
Characters
The Archduke’s Family
Myne, previously Urano Motosu, and now Rozemyne, is the main character. Now that her Devouring is under control, she mostly just suffers from poor health and low stamina.
High Priest Ferdinand is Rozemyne’s guardian at the temple, and the illegitimate younger brother of the archduke. He handles the majority of the work that keeps the temple running, and must also occasionally assist the Knight’s Order.
Sylvester is the eccentric archduke of Ehrenfest and Rozemyne’s adoptive father.
Florencia is Sylvester’s wife, Rozemyne’s adoptive mother, and mother to Sylvester’s three children.
Wilfried is Sylvester’s oldest son and Rozemyne’s older brother.
Charlotte is Sylvester’s daughter and Rozemyne’s sister.
Melchior is Sylvester’s two-year-old son and Rozemyne’s younger brother.
The Knight Commander’s Family
Karstedt is the captain of Ehrenfest Knight’s Order. He’s also Ferdinand and Sylvester’s cousin, as well as Rozemyne’s noble father.
Elvira is Karstedt’s first wife and Rozemyne’s noble mother.
Eckart is Karstedt’s oldest son. He is around eighteen-years-old and works in the Knight’s Order. Eckart is a big fan of Ferdinand.
Lamprecht is Karstedt’s second son. He is around sixteen-years-old and works as a knight serving as Wilfried’s guard.
Cornelius is Karstedt’s third son. He is around eleven-years-old and works as an apprentice knight serving as Rozemyne’s guard while she is in the Noble’s Quarter.
Rozemyne’s Retainers
Damuel is a knight and laynoble from Part 2, Volume 2, currently assigned as Rozemyne’s guard.
Rihyarda is Rozemyne’s head attendant in the castle. She is an archnoble who previously took care of Ferdinand, Karstedt, and Sylvester when they were children.
Brigitte is a knight and mednoble serving as Rozemyne’s guard alongside Damuel. She is the younger sister of Giebe Illgner.
Angelica is an apprentice knight and mednoble serving as Rozemyne’s guard alongside Cornelius.
Ottilie is an attendant at the castle. She is an archnoble and friends with Elvira.
Lower City Family
Gunther is Myne’s father. He works as a soldier who currently guards the city’s East gate.
Effa is Myne’s mother. She dyes clothes and makes hairpins for a career.
Tuuli is Myne’s sister. Her current occupation is apprentice seamstress and she strives to move up in the industry.
Kamil is Myne and Tuuli’s baby brother.
Temple Attendants
Fran is Rozemyne’s head attendant in the temple. He is in charge of managing the High Bishop’s chambers and making sure Rozemyne learns everything she needs to know for her job by the time she needs to know it.
Gil is one of Rozemyne’s attendants in the temple. He is in charge of running the workshop inside the orphanage.
Wilma is one of Rozemyne’s attendants in the temple. She is in charge of running the orphanage and therefore does not reside in Rozemyne’s own chambers. Wilma also provides the art for anything the workshop makes.
Monika is a cook who also helps in the High Bishop’s chambers. She helps fill the roles of Rosina and Delia’s previous jobs. Monika admires Wilma and does her best to emulate her to learn from her example.
Nicola is a cook who also helps in the High Bishop’s chambers. She helps fill the roles of Rosina and Delia’s previous jobs.
Zahm is the High Priest’s attendant who handles all matters between him and Rozemyne.
Personnel
Ella is Rozemyne’s personal chef.
Rosina is Rozemyne’s personal musician.
The Gilberta Company
Benno is the merchant in charge of the Gilberta Company and the Italian restaurant. He assists and advises Rozemyne in her merchant endeavors.
Mark is Benno’s right hand man. He helps manage the store and train the apprentices, as well as cover anything Benno himself might miss.
Lutz is a leherl apprentice. He helps make sure the Rozemyne workshop is in order and acts as a go-between for scheduling merchant relevant visitors. Lutz also helps the workers at the orphanage understand how to use and make the things Rozemyne thinks up.
The Othmar Company
Gustav is the Guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild.
Freida is Gustav’s granddaughter with a nose for money. She has a contract with a laynoble to manage her Devouring.
Leise is Freida’s personal chef. She also assists with any projects the company has involving cooking.
Other
Hugo is the head chef of the Italian restaurant.
Hasse’s Mayor is in charge of the town of Hasse where Rozemyne’s new temple workshop is progressing. He has connections relevant to the previous High Bishop, and owns all of the orphans of Hasse, so Rozemyne will have to go through him to recruit them.
Richt is both a relative and assistant to the Hasse Mayor.
Kantna is the scholar who inspected Hasse along with the Gilberta Company to see if it would be worth setting up a workshop there.
Oswald is an archnoble serving as Wilfried’s head attendant.
Moritz is Wilfried and Rozemyne’s instructor.
Justus is Rihyarda’s son, and will be accompanying Rozemyne as a tax official during the Harvest Festival.
Nadine is Brigitte’s apprentice attendant residing in her knight’s dorm. She is a noble, and thinks less of temple attendants.
Thore(11), his older sister Nora(14), Rick(12), and his younger sister Marthe(8) are four orphans from Hasse who want to try life in Rozemyne’s new temple.
Story & Thoughts
This volume has some pretty good highs. There are a few things I love about it, but they are few and far between. Don’t get me wrong, I love this whole series. It’s just that this volume is a smidge lackluster compared to the usual. It has that feeling of not much happening when really there’s a lot going on.
Every book makes me love the characters more. They keep doing or saying things that are touching or make me go, “aww.” The cast is so wonderful. I’m a bit sad that Damuel has less dialogue, but the plus side is we get to know Brigitte better.
The real gold of the volume is probably the swap day. Rozemyne had a wonderful time, but the same can’t be said for Wilfried. Thankfully, his side of that day is a bonus story, and it’s so glorious. It’s kind of ironic, though, because Rozemyne had been asked before to help with Wilfried’s education, and she declined. I guess he bothered her enough that she felt the need to step in.
It’s finally time for Rozemyne to gather her first ingredient to help solve her mana problem. I have to say, I was not expecting the outcome. I’m not happy about Brigitte’s thoughts regarding Damuel, either. Last we heard, he’s still in his growing period for his mana. I want him to become stronger than a regular Laynoble because of the blessing he received, but that might be wishful thinking.
The problem regarding the Mayor of Hasse will take more time to resolve, since it’s a time consuming plan. There will probably be more on that in the next volume or two. Rozemyne said she won’t be thinking about it again until spring, so we’ll see how it plays out then.
Overall, this volume is a wonderful comfort read. It’s not one of the best the series has to offer, but I find it relaxing, and it makes me smile and giggle. I genuinely cannot get enough when it comes to this series. Every volume is like a treasure.
Wilfried’s Day as the High Bishop
I can’t tell you how happy I am that this is a bonus chapter. When Rozemyne and Wilfried switched, I was hoping this would be included. This is Wilfried’s perspective for his day as the High Bishop.
Honestly, it’s a little tame compared to what I was expecting. Ferdinand made me think it was much worse. Regardless, this chapter is gold. Wilfried is spoiled and none of his attendants or retainers will be firm with him. Rozemyne’s on the other hand, they don’t take any crap. It’s amusing to see his reaction when nobody cares about his rank.
Hasse’s Orphans
After the four orphans from Hasse relocate to the city temple for the winter, they start going to the forest with the others. The Hasse kids don’t like being stuck inside, so they love the forest days more than anything. This chapter is Thore’s perspective during one of those days.
It’s clear the four of them are struggling to adapt to life in the temple, but they are grateful to have a stable living situation. There are obvious growing pains, but they never go hungry, will never be sold, and nobody beats them. They are making a real effort to adjust to the equality rules of the temple, and sometimes have to remind each other how things work when they get overly frustrated. It seems like they will manage just fine with more time.
The real question on their minds is: what will their lives be like when they come of age? The idea of being stuck in the orphanage forever doesn’t sound entirely appealing to the boys in particular. By staying in the temple, they are missing out on the opportunity to own land in Hasse. I doubt the girls are as concerned about that, since their circumstances would be much worse.
Justus’s Grand Lower City Infiltration
This bonus chapter takes place during the summer right before Myne joins the temple. In this volume, Justus makes a claim about being a great spy when it comes to gathering information, like a chameleon of culture and speech. To me, that claim makes this chapter hilarious.
Ferdinand pays Justus to go to the lower city to gather information about Myne. He blunders so badly that he sticks out like a sore thumb and makes everybody he talks to suspicious. There’s no way he’s as good at his job as he likes people to think. Granted, he did learn a tiny bit about Myne.
What I like most about this particular chapter is it circles back around to that first book at the market. We learn a little more about that book, and where it ends up. It’s feasibly possible that Rozemyne might one day get a chance to read it.