Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll do anything to become a librarian! Part 2: Apprentice Shrine Maiden, Vol. 4 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: 9781718356061
Rating: 5/5
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Description from the Book
The long winter comes to an end and vibrant spring returns to Ehrenfest. The temple swirls busily as attempts to control Myne’s future escalate and the High Bishop, fueled by hate, shrouds the city in the darkness of his nefarious plots. But Myne just wants everything to stay the same. Her little brother has been born, she’s making new books thanks to her progress making ink, and she wants nothing more than to just keep spending more heart-warming time with her family and friends. The world, however, forces her to make a cruel and unbearable decision. To protect those she loves, she must begin walking a new road.
Personal & Info
This is the final volume of Part 2 and it has eight bonus chapters after the epilogue. Part 3 is next and it has a total of 5 volumes before part 4.
I got my copy from a Barnes & Noble online order with a couple other volumes. While reading, I turned a page and found a security sticker stuck right onto the page. I was not happy about that, but thankfully it came off without damaging the paper.
Characters
Myne’s Family
Myne, previously Urano Motosu, is the main character. Now that her Devouring is under control, she mainly just suffers from normal poor health. Myne constantly comes up with product ideas from modern Earth that can break or revolutionize the Ehrenfest market.
Tuuli is Myne’s sister. She is one year older than Myne. Her current occupation is apprentice seamstress and she strives to move up in the industry.
Effa is Myne and Tuuli’s mother. She dyes clothes for a career.
Gunther is Myne and Tuuli’s father. He works as a soldier who guards one of the city gates.
Kamil is Myne and Tuuli’s new baby brother.
The Gilberta Company
Benno is a wealthy merchant. He is Corinna’s older brother, and Otto’s brother-in-law. Benno currently runs the family fabric store, and takes care of Myne and Lutz in relation to their merchant endeavors.
Mark is Benno’s store manager. He teaches all of the apprentices they take on, and tends to important store matters on Benno’s behalf.
Corinna is Otto’s wife and Benno’s younger sister. She is a professional seamstress.
Otto is Gunther’s coworker. He handles all the important paperwork for guarding the town gate. Benno is his brother-in-law, because Otto married Benno’s sister, Corinna.
Lutz is Myne’s friend. He is the same age as she is, and he looks after her to monitor her health. Thanks to Myne, he is now following his dream to become a merchant. Lutz also helps Myne and her workshop make products.
Leon is a leherl apprentice at the Gilberta Company. Fran is teaching him proper etiquette and how to serve nobles.
The Temple
Bezewanst, the High Bishop, is supposed to be in charge of the temple, but he pushes all responsibilities onto the High Priest. Due to events from Part 1, Volume 3, he hates Myne, and will do whatever he can to spy on her and make her miserable.
High Priest Ferdinand is Myne’s guardian at the temple. He does the majority of the High Bishop’s job and must also occasionally assist the Knight’s Order.
Sylvester is a blue priest who accompanied the High Priest and Myne during Spring Prayer. He is an eccentric and rather childish person. Few people actually know what his noble rank is.
Dirk is a baby boy given to the orphanage. He is the first infant to arrive during Myne’s time as Director.
Attendants
Fran is Myne’s head attendant. He served the High Priest before her and was reassigned to Myne upon her joining the temple. Fran helps Myne learn how to act like nobility and adapt to life in the temple. He is also responsible for watching Myne’s health.
Gil is assigned to Myne as an attendant, by order of the High Bishop, specifically to cause her trouble. That plan has failed, and he now works hard to be useful and help Myne.
Delia is Tuuli’s age. She is assigned as an attendant to Myne, by order of the High Bishop, to spy on her.
Wilma is one of Myne’s attendants. She is good at art, and permitted to stay in the orphanage to take care of the children.
Rosina is one of Myne’s attendants. She has a talent for music, and previously worked for an eccentric blue shrine maiden along with Wilma. Her primary responsibilities are to teach Myne how to play the harspiel and help Fran with paperwork.
Arno is one of the High Priest’s attendants. He is the new head attendant for the High Priest now that Fran serves Myne.
Zahm is one of the High Priest’s attends. I get the impression we will be seeing him around more.
Ehrenfest’s Knight’s Order
Karstedt is the captain of Ehrenfest Knight’s Order. He’s also a close friend of High Priest Ferdinand.
Damuel is a kind knight from Part 2, Volume 2, currently assigned as Myne’s guard.
Other
Count Bindewald is the High Bishop’s Archnoble acquaintance from Ahrensbach.
Heidi is Bierce’s daughter and the successor to the ink workshop. She is to ink as Myne is to books.
Josef is a leherl of the ink workshop and Heidi’s husband. He is likely to become the next foreman.
Bierce is the new Guildmaster of the ink guild.
Freida is the granddaughter of the merchant guild’s Guildmaster. She considers herself Myne’s friend. Freida has a passion for money, and has a contract with a noble to manage her Devouring.
Story & Thoughts
This volume is intense. There were several chapters that had me glued, with my heart pounding, on the edge of my seat. The first chunk of the book with Myne experimenting with ink was nice and chill, but once other things started happening, I couldn’t put it down. I binge read the majority of the book and stayed up late to finish. The whole volume is chill, to intense, to big sad.
One of the things I find significant is the family tree for the High Priest is finally clear. We know he and the High Bishop are relatives. I don’t think their rank was ever stated, but it was clear they were high up on the food chain somewhere. This volume clarifies things. Their nobility rank is explained, as is more of their direct family.
The High Bishop isn’t much of a villain for the majority of Part 2. He’s too pathetic to be dangerous without recruiting someone stronger to do his dirty work. It’s unfortunate his familial connections give him powerful acquaintances, as you will find out in the prologue chapter. The prologue also teaches us his name. He’s been the nameless High Bishop until now.
I think the author forgot about Damuel. At some point he is unconscious, and everyone gets behind a magic barrier. I don’t recall anyone dragging him behind it, nor any mention of him at all after he loses consciousness. The cast of characters is rather large, so I know it’s easy to forget some once in a while. It seems like a simple oversight. He is in one of the bonus chapters, though, so we do see where he ends up for recovery.
I’m trying so hard not to binge read this series. It’s so addictive. Every time I finish a volume, I want to go straight to the next one, but I’m trying to read other books, too, so that I don’t burn through all of them right away.
Freida—A Visit to the Noble’s Quarter
This bonus chapter is basically the roundabout way Freida discovers the big change regarding Myne’s life. It’s time for her magic tool to be emptied, so she must visit the noble whom she has a contract with. We learn who that is, their rank, and to whom else we may know that they have a relation. This chapter has a connection to Benno—Maybe Lessen the Workload.
Sylvester—Cleaning up the Mess
The bonus chapter in Sylvester’s perspective takes place right after Myne’s family leaves the room. Sylvester, Karstedt, and Ferdinand discuss Myne’s business and future. I’m more interested in the parts pertaining to Sylvester. There are some insights to his actions regarding his behavior when he first met Myne. I feel like I know and understand him a little better after reading this.
Arno—Fran and I
Arno is the High Priest’s current head attendant, so he only appears when Myne or her attendants need to contact Ferdinand. Because of this, his stoic demeanor makes it hard to get to know him. This bonus chapter breaks that barrier, and I can’t say I like him. Arno does his job well, but he is bitter and envious on the inside to the point of maliciousness. His history is tangled with Fran and Sister Margaret.
The information revealed in Fran and I and To Serve as the High Bishop’s Attendant is both disgusting and enlightening. These two bonus chapters are where the information Myne wasn’t interested in learning about the previous director are revealed. Margaret was the orphanage director before Myne, and it’s safe to say she didn’t do a good job. So, if you’ve been curious about the mystery of the previous director, be sure to read both of those bonus chapters.
Benno—Maybe Lessen the Workload
After the events of this volume and Sylvester’s bonus chapter, Benno speaks with the High Priest. Any time he thought he had is now gone, so he must scramble to meet the ridiculous demands of the nobility. His only hope is to lighten his ever-growing workload, which leads to an unlikely partnership. Myne really has made his life difficult, but he’s just as responsible for his own stress by trying to monopolize every idea she has. He may be overwhelmed, but I don’t think he regrets any of it.
Fran—To Serve as the High Bishop’s Attendant
Without spoiling anything, both the High Priest’s and Myne’s attendants are cleaning up and preparing for a transition. I think this is the first time we get to see anything in Fran’s perspective. He has a lot going on behind his composed exterior. His time before serving the High Priest is not a fond memory. As with Fran and I, we get more insight into that. His time with Sister Margaret is unfortunate, and my heart aches for him, but I am glad he is now so fond of Myne. He was not enthused when he initially got his reassignment.
Effa—Facing the Future
In this bonus chapter, Myne’s family tries not to dwell on their feelings. That’s not something Gunther excels at, so he needs a little help to push him in the right direction. Effa and Tuuli seem to have it all figured out, and both strive to do their best as they face the future head on. It’s a cute chapter, because Myne’s whole family is adorable.
Josef—Beruf Certification
This bonus chapter is Josef’s perspective regarding the series of events related to Myne’s requests and visits to the ink workshop. It portrays his difficulties with Heidi and her ink obsession. He laments his eccentric wife’s obsession with figuring out the ink color problem, while also thinking about getting his beruf certification, which is a requirement to become a workshop foreman. Heidi and Josef are similar to what Myne and Lutz might be like if their choices had gone a little differently. It doesn’t seem like an easy relationship, but they’re happy.
Leon—Sylvester Undercover
This is the day from the previous volume, when Sylvester insists on visiting the forest. It covers Leon’s perspective of that day. This couldn’t be included in that volume, because Sylvester’s nobility rank is not revealed until this one. Leon had apparently deduced which rank applies to Sylvester and it affected his actions.
Normally the story doesn’t include much pertaining to Leon. He’s obviously around, learning things at the orphanage, but this bonus chapter gives us more insight into what he’s like. He is very judgmental about Lutz and Myne regarding their relationship and how they do business.
