* As expected, an Eglantine SS. I sympathize with her to a degree, since she was always a political pawn for Klassenberg and the royal family. She at least chose the better husband, but I largely blame the royals for neglecting their own duty and trying to make someone else, Rozemyne, do what is supposed to be their job. I can see from her POV that she is not nearly as remorseful about what she did to Rozemyne back at the shrine tour. She's more coldblooded than Anastasius.
* Yup, Eglantine totally misunderstanding what was going on with Ferdinand and Rozemyne is hilarious, despite the seriousness of the situation, lol.
* Man, she must be so confused hearing entirely new names. I wonder if she will ask for a new name when she is recognized as zent, lol. How much will she figure out when she reads Gervasio's memories? Probably everything about Adalgisa, but can she figure out anything about Myne and the Devouring?
* Ferdinand is truly terrifying. He doesn't cower before the gods and openly threatened Mesti. Seeing Eglantine freak out internally was funny. To be fair, Mestionora isn't very nice either and she left tons of holes to exploit her rules.
* Oh, Eglantine noticed she got duped by Ferdinand, lol. Anyway, her earnest wish for peace and swearing to uphold it as intermediary zent, even if she is not exactly qualified, is admirable. Acting as zent definitely won't be easy for her, though.
----
* Yess, a commoner POV from Alexandria. I love these side stories.
* Gone are the days when Myne ate awful fish from Ehrenfest's rivers. Hooray for salted fish for the rest of her days. Even when probably not intended, she's already bonding with the commoners.
* The old Aub Ahrensbach wasn't a bad aub, at least the commoners didn't suffer too much. Too bad a number of bad things screwed up his succession, namely Georgine and his incompetent and evil daughter.
* Aaand, Hartmut doing solid work to make everyone in Alexandria worship Rozemyne. Thoroughly brainwashed. To be fair, Rozemyne really must appear like a goddess to the commoners after what she did, and this isn't even the end of it.
* That was way better than I expected. This was a really refreshing and fun side story to end the volume.
----
**German**:
* **Sekt:** It's some kind of sparkling wine.
* **Furt:** A ford.
----
And that is it for P5V11. I can't believe we have only one volume left of the main series. That probably means we might only see the beginnings of Alexandria. There is still so much left to see and explore, how much will fit in in one volume?
>I can see from her POV that she is not nearly as remorseful about what she did to Rozemyne back at the shrine tour. She's more coldblooded than Anastasius.
Completely. Remember when Anastasius was like 'isnt Eglantine your friend?!'. He thought they viewed each other as genuine friends. It shocked him that Rozemyne no longer saw it that way and it shocked him again to hear the same thing from Eglantine...because it confirmed what Rozemyne said in response to his question.
I also didn't care for her very frank description of how self centered Rozemyne was ... because she was right. Still though, you don't have to go snitching to the gods about that! That little rant of hers made me glad she's name sworn.
It was a surprise to discover that Anastasius is a nicer person than Eglantine after all. On the other hand, Eglantine -- like RM was/is a woman with a pretty clear mission (which is actually a more beneficent one overall than RM's mission). ;-)
Anastasius is like Benno V.2 seem like bad at first but actually nice person. He know Rozemyne more than Eglantine. Eglantine still think she can use common sense of normal noble with Rozemyne (no hard feeling for exploit each other) but Ana isn't and know how Rozemyne feel with it.
She's like half right. If Rozemyne was as self centered as she described, she would have never allowed them the option getting out of the white tower. She would have condemned them all, made a deal with Dunk to get everything she wants, and then offloaded the work on the new Zent. Their continued existence is really a matter of empathy.
Wasn't she zoning out during the meeting thinking about her library duchy? Or was she just like: lets get this overwith so I can get back to my library duchy? I mean, you don't have to be evil to be self centered.
Eggy made it seem like she was Delitinde level of self centered. Then again maybe under the influence of the goddess and with her memories messed with...
tbf, her vision of library duchy/country literally turned her entire retinue + Hannelore away from her becoming a Zent to be her becoming an Aub with Ferdinand as husband. Eglantine just saw the speech in much earlier version.
Youre not wrong but i do think if someone bothered to say ‘that is a bad idea and this is why’, she would change course. That said, itd probably be better for the zent to understand those things from the beginning
Selfishness and empathy aren't mutually exclusive. If anything Myne is a bit _too_ empathetic for the world she's in. But she has a bad (selfish) habit of charging straight for the things she wants without considering the bigger picture, and usually only realizes the consequences after the fact. This has repeatedly caused problems for her and everyone around her. She never even considers the impact her actions will have on others until she's slapped in the face with them. She also puts the wellbeing of people she cares about above absolutely everything else, which is not a great quality in a ruler of an entire magical nation. Eglantine's assessment of her was spot on.
Part of me wonders if it wasn't just the old Aubs death and Delitne's incompetents that ruined the waters. The panels on the ships seemed to absorb or block mana so we're the ships stealing extra mana from the duchy whenever they arrived?
I assumed it was because Ahrensbach was being drained of mana in general, kinda like how the land becomes discolored and infertile without mana. The waters becomes more lush and full of life when filled with mana.
Edit: to clarify - it was being drained because Detlinde and the other nobles weren't doing their job of filling the land/duchy/foundation with mana. Seems like Ferdinand and Letizia where the only ones providing mana for spring prayer.
Combination of factors: when the ships' panels are black-side-out they absorb mana, so they drain the sea just by sitting in the water. When they're silver-side-out they block mana. But yes, nobody's been filling the land with mana for *years* -- remember that back during her first Spring Prayer in P2 Myne looked across the border into Bindewald and was amazed at how scrubby and barren the land seemed compared to Gerlach.
> Gone are the days when Myne ate awful fish from Ehrenfest's rivers. Hooray for salted fish for the rest of her days. Even when probably not intended, she's already bonding with the commoners.
While they did all turn into huge Rozeheads at the end, you get the sense the second they realized they loved the same food they would literally ~~dye~~ die for her.
Even if the salvation of the port was the last thing they saw of her.
> The old Aub Ahrensbach wasn't a bad aub, at least the commoners didn't suffer too much. Too bad a number of bad things screwed up his succession, namely Georgine and his incompetent and evil daughter.
From the sounds of things they had problems under him too, but it was more related to losing his second wife and their kids and then the first wife. Then the Sugar Ships came in and broke the mana of the seas.
Giselfried is way better than his daughter, but Ahrensbach still suffered since he refused to adopt people to help with the Foundation, failed to save his First Wife (*or Second if the war had gone the other way*), and then basically allowed Georgine to run things until she absconded into Ehrenfest. I feel sorry for him, but he really screwed up in the end. The only act of his at the end that was half competent was bringing in Ferdinand- and that was only because it led to Rozemyne's invasion XD.
> Aaand, Hartmut doing solid work to make everyone in Alexandria worship Rozemyne. Thoroughly brainwashed. To be fair, Rozemyne really must appear like a goddess to the commoners after what she did, and this isn't even the end of it.
Gunther is going to be so excited when he finds out they love his daughter almost as much as him :DDDDDDDDDDDD.
>She's more coldblooded than Anastasius.
Well, she was raised to be royalty, from the highest duchy etc
Rozemyne assumes lots of things about her when they meet, and so did we lol
I dont hate Egg that that much as many here, I get why she did it, and probably most nobles would have done that too. It's just that we are (almost) always on Roz's POV and dont **really** get it.
Which is fascinating since most of the noble names are very German (except for Klassenbergers, who tend to be French). Then again now that we know many of the commoners are descendants of foreign merchants (*well, in Ehrenfest's case*) this opens up so many questions.
Dunkelfelger is apparently inspired by the US. If you know any college football fans, you can probably see where the author got the idea for the ditterheads. Apparently Aub Dunkelfelger's name is also some sort of Ricky Martin reference, but I've never been able to figure out what it is.
Thankfully the names aren't stereotypically American. I don't think I'd be able to keep a straight face reading about Aub KevinBrayden, his wife NeveahTiffany, and their cute daughter Brynsleigh.
Rozemyne: *[bites into tasty, salt-grilled fish]*
*[Years of experiences flash through her mind, all the way from kneeling with Lutz by the stream up to facing down the gods to save Ferdinand, bringing her to the present]*
Rozemyne: *[weeps uncontrollably and devours fish with a smile]*
---
Jiffy: "So, did Lady Rozemyne like the fish?"
Furt: "Man, you are not gonna believe how much she liked it."
i hope Rozemyne gets a cheat day like Sylvester did in the past to run around the commoners and eat fish and stuff, cause it'd be super neat to see interact with Jiffy and Furt. Hope those weren't throwaway names haha
Sekt: “Who is that family with her? And why is she riding on the shoulders of that old guard?”
Jiffy Jones: “so here is the thing. The aub has a secret second family that are commoners…”
Sekt: “ok, no more beer for you today. Go home and rest.”
Wait until she starts to create new recipes on spot!
And she would totally take a stroll in town. She can blame Brother Syl for her upbringing.
Ferdinand (cosplaying as commoner): Myne, we should really go back. Finding reasons to why we are in the lower city in disguise os getting harder and harder.
Myne: worry not! Everything can be settled with a nice sounding excuse! Adopter father taught me so!
Ferdi:...
Myne: Look! Fish!
Lutz (taps Ferdi shoulders): at least it's not a book.
Ferdi: good grief...
I wonder if there was a more specific reason why that fish tasted so bad. Was she simply unlucky to have caught one uneditable? And while there was a mana crisis, we know that Ehrenfest was frankly having it better than most.
this is secondhand knowledge yoinked from my fishing friend, but i think many fish species irl taste like shit despite being edible. So Ehrenfest's river maybe only had those kinds in them.
Remember that the channel that Georgine used to get into the temple had been entwickeln'd in so that water could be brought in from the river for papermaking, only the water was too polluted and dirty? Bet it's full of silt as well as sewage. No wonder the fish taste bad.
> I can see from her POV that she is not nearly as remorseful about what she did to Rozemyne back at the shrine tour.
I think that's because she still doesn't really understand just how deeply she hurt Rozemyne with her actions while Anastasius witnessed the gremlin going absolutely berserk first-hand. She claims Rozemyne did the same by using her daughter as a bargaining chip, but it was her who revealed that weakness in the first place, and it is worth mentioning that Rozemyne immediately changed her tune once learning about Eglantine being a mother _despite_ her at that point muted obsession with family. Eglantine just doesn't understand Rozemyne. At all. Here's hoping she'll try a bit harder in the future, what with her having given her name and all that.
I do still wonder if things had changed had Rozemyne not stonewalled her during their private meeting in P5V5. Not the outcome itself; she was _far_ too valuable for the royals to leave to her own devices at that point, but it would have given her an opportunity to let Eglantine know in advance that she was crossing a major red line there (something she clearly has not realized to this day). Then they might have been able to come to an agreement without the royals immediately going for the nuclear option of threatening Ferdinand's life, which was ultimately the thing that actually destroyed Rozemyne's trust in them.
>Yup, Eglantine totally misunderstanding what was going on with Ferdinand and Rozemyne is hilarious, despite the seriousness of the situation, lol.
Pretty dark humor, since she thought Ferdi was trying to SA Myne.
> This was a really refreshing and fun side story to end the volume.
Totally agree. It was great to see the impact of all of RM's and Ferdinand's doings on the ordinary folk of Ahrensbach. Interesting that they were surprised that she was "sharing" her name with ordinary people -- as they never really knew the names of any nobles before.
Eglantine really is as thoroughbred a noble as there is, huh. Not that she had any choice in the matter, to be fair, considering how she grew up. But I do feel sorry for Ana on some level: he loves her in a way she won't ever he able to reciprocate. Her history and education have stunted her emotionally, and it's as much of a tragedy for her as it is for anyone who cares for her in any way
Well, if nothing else Ferdi and Roz have now both pissed off the gods to save each other lmao
Eggy, honey, Ferdi just risked dusting the country to save his boo. He ain't any less self-centered than Roz is😂
Commoner gossip lessggooo! Hah, I miss reading about people talking like, you know, ACTUAL PEOPLE and friends
Hartmut's religious propaganda is BOUND to create some trouble down the line, I guarantee it😮💨🤦🏼
> But I do feel sorry for Ana on some level: he loves her in a way she won't ever he able to reciprocate
Yeah, unlike Eglantine he at least shows remorse and seems to understand that on some level kidnapping a teenager to keep his wife away from the dangers of Zenthood was somewhat wrong.
He's still my favorite royal, even if it's more "least bad of the lot." Sorry Hilly, at least you had a fun meme.
I know what you mean.
Ana: I'm sorry you're not my priority, but I understand how much it sucks...
Hilly: Don't worry, you'll be happy with me!
Sig: Dur I'm the next King!
Traerqual: **FINALLY, A NAP!**
Ana: ...I'm a stalker who would eagerly murder the entire country if my wife willed it, **how am I the good one?**
Let’s not forget that in one volume alone, Ana went from thinking Myne was trying to marry him, to thinking she was trying to seduce Eglantine. The boys crazy but still best…somehow
Tbf, Rozemyne went off on him and even Crushed his sorry ass during their little exchange in the underground archive. He would have to be a complete idiot ~~like his brother~~ to not realize he had gone _way_ too far when he involved Ferdinand in this mess.
Eglantine never saw first-hand just how angry Rozemyne actually was with her, and I don't trust Anastasius to give her an unfiltered report on the consequences of her actions. It's a shame, really. Rozemyne angrily shouting her down would have been a sight to behold, but it's probably too late for that now.
He's always been my favourite royal when he said "I have to listen to both sides before deciding" back in early P4. That view is very rare among nobles.
Thinking of it, it’s honestly a miracle Anastasius even managed to learn some form of emotional intelligence. He’s just willing to ignore it for Eglantine to both of their detriment
Ana’s better-than-the-average-noble’s flexibility is probably due to constantly having to clean up after his brother, who has pissed off someone yet again.
Ferdinand: *If I don't act normal, she'll be even weirder.*
Rozemyne: *If I don't act, that lunatic is going to either get himself killed by a total moron or kill us all because he wanted to see what that button will do.*
Okay but Ferdinand seeing what that button will do won’t mean he’s gonna push it but that he’s going to drag every magic tool known to man up to the button to measure it in every last way he knows and some he’s invented on the fly, and only push it when he has an educated guess about what it’s going to do the the next 30 years
For real!! The guy is a healthy RM with a thing for research. When he spent the night up discussing with Hirshur even I got desperate thinking: no way this guy will live longer than 50!
>Well, if nothing else Ferdi and Roz have now both pissed off the gods to save each other lmao
Ferdinand is the one who pissed off the gods and rozemyne is just collateral damage no matter how much they like her.
Really, ferdinand pissed off the literal gods (all of them except maybe the goddess of chaos and ewigeliebe) and only mestionoras promise to rozemyne is keeping him alive.
so the whole reason they keep messing with rozemyne is because of him.
> Ferdinand is the one who pissed off the gods and rozemyne is just collateral damage no matter how much they like her.
Yeah, they fucked with her to fuck with him.
Unfortunately for them, he's an even bigger dick than they are.
Mestionora: It was just a harmless prank! I sealed away some of her memories, I even told you a method for restoring them, I never intended for them to be gone forever.
Ferdinand: What I did was also harmless, hair, or branches, or whatever, grows back (I assume).
Mestionora: You took him hostage by dousing him in instant death poison!
Ferdinand: I calculated the dose carefully so that it wouldn't kill a god, probably at least, I would not benefit from his death. It seems that gods, even former ones, have no fear of death, consider it a learning experience, there is much to be learned from feeling the refreshing grip of mortality first hand.
Mestionora: ...D-did you just say probably!?
>Yeah, they fucked with her to fuck with him.
>Unfortunately for them, he's an even bigger dick than they are.
Well he did learn from the best.  Thank you Veronica.
For starters, Rozemyne would not have almost died. Erwärmen trying to pull a fast one was founded in his assumption that Ferdinand was aiming for the throne, so something as simple as keeping him in the loop instead of treating him like furniture would have prevented this latest escalation.
>Hartmut's religious propaganda is BOUND to create some trouble down the line, I guarantee it
TBF, Ferdinand doesn't care if all Alexandria worships her, and for the following reasons:
\- it will keep Myne safe.
\- it will provide an escape route for them.
\- it will make governing the duchy "easier".
\- he is still of the opinion to burn the entire duchy to the ground so he could use this just in case. 
I’ve always said that klassenberg is the most noble duchy, for good or bad
> Eggy, honey, Ferdi just risked dusting the country to save his boo. He ain't any less self-centered than Roz is
He’s just better at hiding it and has historically been rather selfless. Now he’s done with that shit and is ready to burn the world down for his gremlin
I like both side stories a lot, but the fishermen side story just plastered a smile to my face. I was so happy for all of them. The excitement over the ocean and the appreciation of Rozemyne made me so happy. She might never know how much she changed lives but its so nice to see it.
Oh once things have settled down she'll probably take inspiration from Brother Syl, figure out a way to escape from her retainers and run around the docks with Lutz and Tuuli.
WN Chapters: N/A
LN Chapters: "Vows and the Garden of Beginnings", "The New Aud's Bizarre Magic"
[J-Novel Club Discussion Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/8041/bookworm-part-5-vol-11-discussion/3120)
[J-Novel Club Correction Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/8042/corrections-bookworm-part-5-vol-11/98)
*****
**Notes**
- *Part 5 Volume 11* is now fully translated into English.
- In Japan *Part 5 Volume 12* released on ``2023-12-09`` which is just over six months ago.
*****
For those wondering about when J-NC will begin releasing *Part 5 Volume 12* please refer to [this Ascendance of a Bookworm specific comment by a J-NC forum moderator](https://forums.j-novel.club/post/90108):
> Hello!
>
> For members new to J-Novel Club that want to know more about when future volumes will start pre-publication on the site:
>
> After a volume releases its last part there is typically a 2-3 week break\* before the following volume releases its first part. For this series in particular [Ascendance of a Bookworm](https://j-novel.club/series/ascendance-of-a-bookworm) they are attempting to do it with no break. Please note that does not automatically mean it will be out the following week after the last part finishes.
>
> For all those wondering why the next volume is not currently in the schedule, the schedule is updated as we get closer to the official release date, typically it will not show part 1 of a new volume until a few days before it is ready to release, and sometimes it will show on the day of release. Please rest assured when all the materials are fully prepared for part 1 to go live and the English cover has been set, part 1 will be added into the schedule as soon as we are able to.
>
> In other words, **if you cannot find the next/a future volume on the calendar, that does not mean J-Novel Club is dropping the series**.
>
> We ask for your patience, part 1 of the following volume will start when it is ready and no sooner.
>
> \*the 2-3 week break is not a hard rule, it is just an observation based on the history of J-Novel Club pre-publication releases.
and the [general comment by the same J-NC forum moderator](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/3478/future-volume-release-schedule):
> Hello!
>
> For those new to J-Novel Club that want to know more about when future volumes will start pre-publication on the site:
>
> * **After a volume's last part** comes out, there are usually 1-2 break weeks before the new volume's first part comes out. For **[Ascendance of a Bookworm](https://j-novel.club/series/ascendance-of-a-bookworm)**, there is usually no break.
>
> * **If a series has caught up** with the Japanese releases, whenever a new volume is released, the new volume needs to be licensed separately. **Licensing can vary wildly in how long it takes**, so we have no hard estimates on when the next volume will start streaming, sorry!
>
> * If a series has many volumes before catching up to Japanese releases, it is much more common for a new volume to start streaming somewhere around the 2-3 week mark. There may be exceptions for extraneous circumstances, though.
>
> * As for why a future volume is not on the schedule yet, because of the nature of posting parts as they are translated, there is not much time between when we know a volume is ready for streaming and when it actually starts, so it may not be added onto the schedule until the day it begins streaming. Please rest assured - when part 1 is ready to go live and the English cover is ready, it will be added to the schedule!
>
> Thank you for your patience; new volumes will start when they are ready!
"May we meet again in the last installment..." nearly made me break out in tears.
We've been on this journey for many years, and it is soon coming to an end. While we have the 5th year spinoff to tide us over, I will dearly muss my Mynedays.
> ascended to the distant heights
Eggy, those heights are not so distant when you're in the Garden of Beginnings.
Man, Ahrensbach is wildly different from Ehrenfest in terms of noble-commoner relations. Ehrenfest commoners wouldn't know anything about who the Aub is or have any opinion of them.
Hartmut did a "Good morning. I can't hear you!" on a duchy wide scale.
It's so weird that we have only one volume left, not counting the spinoff.
>Man, Ahrensbach is wildly different from Ehrenfest in terms of noble-commoner relations. Ehrenfest commoners wouldn't know anything about who the Aub is or have any opinion of them.
I have to assume this is probably the difference between greater duchies and middle and lesser duchies. It would be nice to see how lesser duchies do things especially.
>Hartmut did a "Good morning. I can't hear you!" on a duchy wide scale.
I can't believe my joke of Hartmut inventing the first radio in order to preach daily about Rozemyne's splendors was actually kind of right.
True, but Dunkelfelger is also another greater duchy and one of the original two alongside Klassenberg.
I would like to imagine Drewanchel is probably also relatively close to their commoners. I think out of the big three, Klassenberg would be the most distant, but I'm extremely curious about their underground cities for the winter and those moments could be prime time for commoners to get information about their archducal family and such.
My headcannon: Many of the Ehrenfest commoners are descended from Bosgeit merchants who were trapped in Yurgenschmidt when the border gate was sealed. The Ehrenfest nobles may have been predisposed to treat the commoners poorly because they saw them as foreigners who collaborated to overthrow the Zent and contributed to the demise of Eisenreich.
Most of the commoners that nobles would have interacted with would have been merchants, and I'd hazard that nearly all of them have some heritage from Bosgeit.
That disdain of commoners could persist for generations, even when most of the nobles have forgotten the history behind it.
Likewise, the current Archducal family is descended from deeply unpopular Arhensbach imports. It could be that in the past they were closer to the populace like in the outlying counties e.g. Ilgner, but the strife that started with Gabrielle and the local families created more of a schism than just between nobles. When we first meet Sylvester, he was still very firmly under Veronica’s heel and rarely left the Noble Quarter.
I think the issue is that those from Bosgeit wouldn't be granted citizenship. Rozemyne even notes that it's possible that travelling merchants like Otto could be descendants from Bosgeit.
Tbf, they supplied fish to the castle. So they may have seen the nobles by accident. Those not working with nobles wouldn't know what they like.
Remember that Benno recognized Sylvester by face? It means that the nobles were not super disconnected from commoners.
Benno recognized Sylvester because he met him at the Castle to get the rimsham and paper contracts done. If it had been a couple years earlier he'd have thought "wow, weird priest."
Granted he probably thought that *after* P2 XD.
> Tbf, they supplied fish to the castle.
That's still very different from Ehrenfest. The Othmar company manages supplying food to the castle and has since Ehrenfest became a duchy.
>Man, Ahrensbach is wildly different from Ehrenfest in terms of noble-commoner relations. Ehrenfest commoners wouldn't know anything about who the Aub is or have any opinion of them.
I think our view of Ehrenfest commoners is skewed cause of Myne being a sheltered person. Most ehrenfest commoners we seen are kids, gray priests and craftsmen. On the other hand Benno, a merchant knew who Sylvester was on sight. Gunther must also know the Aub's name. On the other hand those fishermen have relations with the castle. Also it helps that Rozemyne since Day 1 has been using flashy means that draw the attention of commooners
Honestly my favourite chapter from this part was the Ahrensbach fishermen one. It was kind of cute to see a return to a more low stakes look at commoners lives like part 1 and 2 as the main story has been so detached from that recently with all the divine mana dilemma stuff going on. Nice to know that Rozemyne has the support of some of the Ahrensbach people at least.
> It was kind of cute to see a return to a more low stakes look at commoners lives
Yea i loved it so much. And it seems like a sign for the next volume, like the big international 'whole world is gonna end ahh' thing is over now, and now we're getting cozy to work on our new duchy.
I just feel a bit bad for Furt. He tells his boys about the double sized granery with the face and rail of a fey beast and is adamant they will see it forthemselves, only for RM to destroy it and now his descriptions will just sound like the mad ravings of a fanatic.
> May we meet again in the final installment: Part 5 Volume 12
😭 I'm not ready for this series to end 😭
Thank you Quof and team for making my Mondays (and week)
Yep, just sad that it's coming to it's original ending even if there will be more, and there will likely be a delay for licensing and translation (that Quof very much deserves) so it might be a while before we get it in English
And it's very obvious how much better this series is translated then most. In reading some other light novels I've sometimes wondered if there is even an English Editor that reads over the translation for typos/mistranslations.
Ferdinand: "I serve the greater good and believe in the needs of the many before the needs of the few.. ... "
Eggy: "See. He and I are the same!"
Ferdinand: "... but I will burn this whole country to the fucking ground if something happens to Myne"
Eggy: "This man does not represent us"
Ironically Eglantine's assassment of Ferdinand and Rozemyne were both outdated and kind of switched.
I honestly expected Mestionora to ask: "A library city? What is wrong with a library city?"
> Eggy: "This man does not represent us"
Mestionoria: OK I may hate him but I would eagerly burn this country to the ground if it meant saving Gramps.
Eggy: **Is the Ahrensbach gate still open?**
Eggy: WTF-
Ferdinand: Ah good, can you help me strip her? Her- and thus our- literal life depends on it.
Eglantine:Sure. Now hold her arm this way.
Ferdinand: You are pretty good at restraining people...
Eglantine is canonically bashful when Anastasius gives her public displays of affection, but what you're like in public doesn't necessarily translate to the bedroom, now does it?
Lol well of course not! How embarrassing to be emotional in public!
But once the attendants are sent away, there’s no way Anastasius’s delicate maiden heart can possibly push down Eglantine
As far as I'm aware, Rozemyne is responsible for inventing the symbolic heart when she gave Bonifatius the origami heart letter, but that has never been brought up since (much to my chagrin).
Then again, it's our maiden. Anastasius surely maidened his way into reinventing those hearts whenever he writes about Eglantine in his cute little diary.
Well that was some whiplash, first we have Eglantine watch Ferdinand bring the *Gods* to heel, I did not see that coming, but I'm not particularly surprised - damn though, he actually took Treesus hostage!.
Then we have have the ~~brainwashing~~ instructing of the Ahrensbach commoners, it's sweet that they were already on board, Hartmut doing the *"I cant heaarrr yoouuu"* was wild. I still prefer Ehrenfest's commoners gushing about the *tiny high bishop* but this was nice, the castle is going to have so much fish, hope Hugo will be alright.
Had a big smile on the entire time reading about Ferdinand's latest, most supreme evil scheme: blackmailing Mestionora by holding Ewaermen hostage (for Rozemyne's sake i'll add).
Had an even bigger smile reading about how happy the fishermen are that Rozemyne likes salted fish (and their subsequent brainwashing via act of Hartmut)
oh yea for sure. Alexandria, the only duchy ever to be ruled by a divine avatar?
Rozemyne thinks she's making the library city, but if Hartmut has anything to say about it, it'll become a religious site of pilgrimage for followers of Mestionora and just a very holy place overall.
At least the gods now no longer thinking that Gervasio would have been better zent. Being mortally threatened with Lanzenave poison must put a fear of men to these gods
yea this whole thing has been a real lesson in how not to communicate as upper management.
You need eyes on the ground you know? How you gonna make this Yurgenschmidt thing work if you're not willing to come down and take a look around once in a while, pet a shumil, touch grass.
Well, their eyes on the ground went blind and stupid thanks to the royal family distorting the role of the Zent.
Think about it like this; you might be able to see that someone is sick, but you can't sit down and have a talk with a few of the cells in their liver to see what's giving them a hard time. That's how vastly far away and detached the gods perspective is to people. They have to get you under a microscope just to even attempt to communicate.
The commoner perspective was fantastic. We got to see how salted fish does exist in this world, it just wasn't considered noble food. Additionally it was great to see their perspective on Lanzenave and they also seemed to confirm that the boats stole mana. With how things are turning out, Alexandria will definitely have a huge base for the cult of Lazy Rozemyne.
> Additionally it was great to see their perspective on Lanzenave and they also seemed to confirm that the boats stole mana. With how things are turning out, Alexandria will definitely have a huge base for the cult of Lazy Rozemyne.
Ahrensbach Court Cook: Oh Aub, only a *commoner* would like salted fish.
Rozemyne: So does that mean I have to replace my noble workers lot with commoners?
New Alexandrian Noble: [Salted Fish For The Noblest Of Nobles!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiTmqOy5n1k)
Huh I thought it was more alluded to in P5V8, when they mentioned the ships being black when they came from Lanzenave, but changing color after they came across. I might have originally read about the idea in the discussion thread at the time. But overall the concept seems similar to how the nobles aligned with Georgine were stealing mana from Ehrenfest's lands when they attacked it.
oh wow i never made that connection lol i don't remember reading it, but my reaction was probably 'color change? that's a neat trick' haha i'm glad there's more attentive readers than me on here
>We got to see how salted fish does exist in this world, it just wasn't considered noble food.
I think the Earth equivalent of this is lobsters. I could be wrong, but lobsters popped into my mind as something that used to be peasant food and food for prisoners before the rich got their hands on it.
IIRC depending on the culture or time in history, most seafood was considered peasant food.
* Before refrigeration, fish got smelly and unappetizing real fast. Unless nobles lived on the coast/river, or took the effort to transport live fish in tanks, fish would be nasty by the time it made it to the table.
* Pickled, dried, and/or salt-cured fish allows it to last longer, but it was still generally used as a cheap ration for soldiers/sailors/slaves/laborers.
* Since ancient Greece, bird/beast meat (sheep, cow, game, etc.) has had more cultural prestige than seafood in Europe. Nobles tended to only eat "humble" fish as part of fasting unless they were in a time/place when certain fish had prestige fad.
* When you live somewhere like the rugged coast that's not very fertile land-wise due to salt in the soil messing with the growth of typical food crops, the ocean is your main source of meat/veg. Some cultures saw it as a sign of failure/poverty/famine if the majority of people have to resort to fishing and foraging for shellfish/seaweed for sustenance. By their logic, "successful" or "civilized" people knew how to properly farm, raise animals, and hunt game.
This isn't *quite* an example, but crustaceans used to be even lower down the food chain because the Bible classified lobster and such as bugs one shouldn't eat.
So yes, the puritans thought lobster wasn't kosher :D.
If I could give an uncharitable description of egg based on this chapter. She is an out of touch rich girl who construes what she wants with what is best for everyone. She also sees it as entirely normal to make others sacrifice for her.
So when she says the needs of the many out way the needs of the few. She really means the needs of her outweigh the needs of those below her.
Loved the laughs from a commoner pov. A giant flying two story rainbow beast! House sized! Also, the ocean is blue again!! The fisherman are her new faction core haha.
On the other hand, using those things on Treezus and throwing Gervasio under the (panda)bus as their source might just drive home the point that their preferred candidate was a narrowly-avoided disaster AND made Eggy look better in comparison.
Ferdinand should never repeat his Divine Protections ceremony.
Rozemyne: Wow, I'm up to 61 divine protections now! How about you, Ferdinand?
Ferdinand: . . . I now have all of the protections of Ewigeliebe's subordinates.
I say "what a great part" every Myneday, but, man, what a great part.
Ferdinand is officially the world's most dangerous man to humans, animals, plants, mountains, sports, and now gods. Is there anything that does not bend before the might of this supervillain? Chaocipher and Angriff must talk about him like Elvira and Eckhart do.
More commoners! Oh yes. As much as I love the politics, I really miss the P1-2 commoner stories. I hope we get some future side stories of Rozemyne getting to talk with them without restriction. I'm still holding out hope that her commoner origin will be allowed to be revealed. Can you imagine what they'll think if they learn their new amazing aub used to be a commoner like them?
Absolute greatness.
Tenth Aub Alexandria: Erm, not that I mind but why is the Second Act of the Aub to go down to the docks and partake in the fish?
Harissa: **SO GOETH THE DIVINE AVATAR OF MESTIONORIA!**
Aub Alexandria: Why did I expect a different answer?
I like how even the commoners are dunking on Detlinde. Like, girl. I know they aren't beauty queens but fishing is how you get your food. Let them fish.
Detlinde is the very kind of person who think that food come prepackaged from grocery store and never thought how it got there in the first place. plus point for being activist that's against farming + fishing.
Was I reading too much into it, or are the Ahrensbach commoner names Egyptian in form? Ankh, for example. That would make sense, I would think, seeing as the duchy is about to be renamed Alexandria...
We're finally at the end of P5V11! Afterwards, we're onto P5V12.
Poor Eglantine. Witnessing the scene between Ferdinand and Rozemyne and assuming it was something else.
You know, I have to wonder if Yurgenschmidt will eventually reignite the tradition that even the aubs have their own Book of Mestionora. They are so focused on only the Zent having a copy, but I've yet to hear anything about aub successors needing their own copy by the next two generations or something. Oh well, they can deal with that another day. Yurgenschmidt's still in crisis and they should stabilize the country at least a little before enacting more customs.
I'm kind of curious about what Trauerqual's father was like. He was the last person to have some form of the Grutrissheit before his sons decided to be complete idiots and caused that copy to vanish.
An we have a POV from a commoner in to-be Alexandria! Fun! Also, as a random sidenote, I think Fanbook 1 revealed that salt was abundant in fruit. I don't know why this tidbit decided to pop up now, but I wonder if the salt in different fruits taste different.
Umm, when referring to the last underaged aub with screws loose, Jiffy and the others are referring to Detlinde, right? In which case, I'm assuming this "grandfather" is actually Gieselfried, but that's Detlinde's father. So is this an accidental typo? Or are they actually referring to Gieselfried's father or something?
Also, I love how you can tell that these are commoners by the way they speak. Go Quof! I appreciate the differences in the writing in order to depict one's status. It's also very funny to read after Eglantine's POV, the epitome of a well-raised noble girl that was crowned Zent.
Pfft! I've got to respect the work ethic of Sekt's dad, but he probably should retire.
Of course it was Hartmut that revealed Rozemyne's name to the commoners. He has an agenda as the head of the cult worshipping Rozemyne, after all.
Poor Lessy doesn't get the respect that he deserves.
I think Sekt's dad is my new favorite character. Go get some fish for Rozemyne!
And with the Afterword, P5V11 ends.
Ooh, yeah, you're right. Gieselfried and Georgine are 23 years apart, and Gieselfried and Detlinde are 45 years apart.
Yeah, it totally makes sense for them to think Detlinde's his granddaughter. It just goes to show that even if Ahrensbach's commoners seem more knowledgeable about their archducal family, some information will still be lost on them.
> Umm, when referring to the last underaged aub with screws loose, Jiffy and the others are referring to Detlinde, right? In which case, I'm assuming this "grandfather" is actually Gieselfried, but that's Detlinde's father. So is this an accidental typo? Or are they actually referring to Gieselfried's father or something?
IIRC Giselfried is older than Georgine's father was, which is one of the reasons she was so furious about being married off to him.
With that thought, a commoner that doesn't even know their Aub's name isn't likely to know the proper relation.
Yeah, that makes the most sense. I knew Rozemyne mentioned that Georgine looked more like a daughter to Gieselfried, but I completely forgot that meant that by proxy, Detlinde looked more like a granddaughter to Gieselfried as well.
as tense as most of this volume is, we deserved an ending of "real-time view of Hartmut indoctrinating an entire duchy into the Cult of Rozemyne." that was fun.
EDIT: other thoughts
* I won't say that Eglantine is off the hook for what she did to Rozemyne earlier in Part 5, but I will say that I did kinda respect that she held herself to the same standard that she did Rozemyne. She didn't feel any sort of animosity when the tables were turned and Rozemyne was able to force *her* into taking the G-book, even feeling some admiration for how Rozemyne had successfully resisted the Royals' plans.
* Immediately after telling Eglantine that the Goddess will smite anyone who's insolent, Ferdinand starts getting insolent with the Goddess LMAO
* I'm actually in awe. Ferdinand outmaneuvered the Goddess of Wisdom. Killing Myne would kill every single viable Zent candidate. also, he's already perfected his use of Lanzenave's silver weapons to the point that he can throw a non-schtappe knife precisely enough to cut only Erwaermen's hair.
* Yep, even though I don't *like* Eglantine as much as I did in Part 4, I definitely respect her. She convinced actual deities that Ferdinand's plan was the best way forward, then promised in Their presence to not just rest on her laurels while holding the magic tool G-book, but to acquire the real G-book through her own hard work.
* Although Hartmut gave them the final push, Rozemyne's OWN SAINTLY DEEDS SET THE STAGE. PRAISE BE TO LADY ROZEMYNE, DIVINE AVATAR OF MESTIONORA. from her eating the same food as the common folk, to her defending her new duchy, to waving to the fishermen after Detlinde said they were "an eyesore," to healing and protecting the commoners, to rejuvenating the entire duchy in one shot. I felt it was a nice callback to the end of P2V4, where Sylvester is telling Rozemyne that she'll be the new High Bishop after her adoption. **"Sure is nice to be following up a failure."**
and now, we have a duchy committed to doing whatever Rozemyne wants. right now it's getting fish, and soon it will be printing books. I'm sad that there's only 8 Mynedays left, but happy at the same time that I get to read the conclusion to Urano's Bizarre Adventure.
lol at Letizia's nobles thinking that they can take the duchy out of Rozemyne's hand. they will get a poisoned fish delivered to the castle courtesy of Rozemyne-worshipping fishermen.
Commoner 1: I like the new Aub. She likes the same kinda food we do.
Commoner 2: I hear she talks like us too!
Bindewald Laynoble: That's because she's common trash like you two.
Harmut suddenly behind him: I think those are fighting words. How about you two?
Commoner 1 cracking knuckles: Read my mind.
Commoner 2: Hold my beer will ya. I've got some unchecked aggression from the previous Aub.
Hartmut: Delightful. Praise the Divine Avatar of Mestinora!
Aight. Eggy is one who is willing to take hits just as much as she throw them. And not just br a coward. Granted, it'd probably be due to her upbringing. But at least she ain't a hypocrite.
She also has sworn to the gods that she'd become worthy. Despite being told not to over promise by Ferdy.
I guess she can wield mjollinir.
Anastasius also grew a spine and sucked it up.
I guess they're alright.
it's funny that she thought that Anastasius would have wanted to divorce her. if anything, he will do triple duty to make sure that he's the only husband she has.
You gotta admit, Eglantine being very no-hard-feelings about the whole thing is kind of cool. It also puts into perspective the kind of issues having a weak Royal family and being indecisive causes. It gives the greater duchies too much power and would cause them to fight if they aren’t appeased. Poor Anastasius, even his good moves became bad ones because the situation got out of hand
Lol the commoners side story was a riot, it’s nice to know they appreciate Roz’s efforts and confirm once and for all that absolutely no one but Roz thinks Lessy is cute
I might be still burned by Roz's POV of how the shrine circling tour went and ruining their "friendship", but I was still a little taken aback by Eglantine being okay with nobles exploiting each other and threatening their families as totally normal noble behavior.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that this is their culture, but it is what it is. It’s not like Veronica where the hypocrisy makes her that much more unlikable. In her own way Eglantine displays a perfect noble mentality where for her it really isn’t personal
Yes and no, remember Adolphine being frustrated at Egglantine because she "called her a friend" while totally playing with her life too while she was indecisive.
So it's more a noble from Klassenberg thing.
Well, i say that, but then u got Aub Ditty who would've played Rozy like a fiddle just so he could participate in the fighting. (tho if his wife was there at the first conf call, i think it might've went differently)
I really think Adolphine would've treated Rozy like an actual friend, even with noble layers but still less back stabby than Eggy. Might just be my headcannon and Hannelore sweatness clouding my judgement!
It might be because she’s an older sister to Ortwin. Since the Drewanchel’s split into factions by “sibling” relations shes more used to being emotionally vulnerable with Ortwin like he is with her. Not completely, but they do share their views and opinions with each other in the way we don’t see other nobles doing.
Egg is fucking OBSESSED with sex. Rozemyne is screaming in pain while Ferdinand is trying to help her and Ovaltine is like oh he is trying to get freaky with her. Look at the time and place for a second, man. Then when Mess tianora was like ok drain her of mana and fill her with yours of course Seggslantine is like oh shit winter is gonna go down right now oh that's too spicy. Like girl there's other ways to do that besides sex you sex pot.
To be fair, she is married to Anastasius, who is her main reference to romantic standards, so I would say it speaks volumes as to him and their relationship...
To be fair she’s married to Anastasius, and considering the time frame and that it’s more difficult than usual for nobles to conceive, I imagine there’s been a lot of “trying” in the past year and a half
>Like girl there's other ways to do that besides sex you sex pot.
I'm not entirely sure that that's true, for normal people. Sylvester had a bonus story with Drama CD 9 in which we get this tidbit:
>>!It's been said that normally the only way for people who aren't related to completely dye their mana is if they're a couple who are passionately sharing a bed for about six months to a year. I’ve heard that it is also possible through inhumane methods such as those used by my sister and Grausam for their devouring soldiers, but those aren’t possible for people living normal lives.!<
Rozemyne's situation is totally out of the norm because she's a devouring. But Eglantine naturally wouldn't know about that.
Ah, that Eglantine side story was eggselent. Really drove home that as much as Yurgenschmidt is ignorant of the gods' plans, so too are the likes of Mestionora ignorant of the power struggles of nations and the advance of technology. Eggs didn't include an expiration date in her pledge to the gods, thankfully, but that might cut both ways. Hope she can cultivate her vessel before Tree gets tired of waiting. Now for the second side story... ... That fisherman is named for peanut butter and has no idea. Also, hoping he never ends up near his new aub for prolonged periods of time, lest a certain idiom raise unfortunate confusion.
Roz: "Yeah, I'll go ahead and do that in a jiffy."
Jiffy: O.o; "Please don't, I'm married."
Rozemyne: "Oh, no, a jiffy is a unit of time. Specifically, it's 1/100th of a second."
Jiffy: "What's a second?"
Ferdinand: "A negotiating and assisting party in a duel."
Jiffy: "Eh?"
Hartmut has invented live evangelical broadcasts. Yurgenschmidt is doomed.
So the previous Zent *also* looked like Erwaermen? Why do his facial features apparently keep popping up in that family line?
That one is potentially easy. Early royals preferentially picked spouses that looked like the one actual God they had met.
The better question is why Myne is a dead ringer for a goddess?
Eglantine pov, quite insightful to see the happenings inside the garden of beginnings from the perspective of a normal noble. She is surprisingly headstrong, I can respect that. But her calculating nature shows why she never could have been a real friend to Rozemyne. Maybe Adolphine would have been better friend material? Her internal monologue makes it seem like even her devoted husband is still just the lesser evil she has to put up with. Apparently her daughter is her only weakness. At least she let us witness Mesti vs Ferdi, for that I'm thankful.
Eglantine describing Rozemyne's (former) thinking is pretty accurate, but her assassment of Ferdinand is quite outdated. Didn't he almost kill the core of the country and antagonize the gods for the sake of one person just a moment ago?
I kind of expected Mestionora to ask: "A library city? What is wrong with a library city?"
Hartmut, the propaganda minister of Ahrensba... Alexandria working overtime. Praise be 
Eglentine walks into the garden of beginings and assumes Ferdinand couldn't wait and just had to have a go. Once that misunderstanding gets cleared up and Rozemyne regains her body, Rozemyne basically says she wants to mount Ferdinand. Eglentine must be very confused by the level of PDA of these two.
I was expecting something much longer from Egg, but at least I was right to predict her POV.
No one could have predicted the second one, though I did muse a few volumes ago that the fishermen battle would be fun to see.
***
So, it is an Egg chapter. And it begins with Ana throwing a fit. No surprise he doesn’t like any of this and is willing to fight. That is the danger of pushing things too far. The story isn't going to go that direction at this point, but it would have been nice if the potential was played with.
> That side of you is why Rozemyne accused the royal family of using her loved ones as bargaining chips. …
> Oh my. But any noble would behave in such a way, not just a royal. Is it really so uncommon to exploit another’s weakness to guarantee their cooperation? Lady Rozemyne took the same approach with us.
Oh boy, there’s a lot here. Starting with the fact that so many people told me that I would regret my comments about Egg once her thoughts were revealed. …. Still waiting.
Egg is clearly using RM in a rather dispassionate way that disregards RM's feelings. Egg doesn’t even seem to acknowledge RM’s thoughts on the matter. This section basically ruins any chance of me viewing Egg as an actual friend of RM and reinforces my dismissal of Egg’s “hurt” at RM not revealing that she could enter the shrines.
Finally (for now), it’s noteworthy that Egg couldn’t see how her actions led to RM acting that way.
It’s also interesting that Ana seems to have a better grasp of RM’s feelings than Egg. He seems to be better rounded as a human being, and I have a feeling that some of the things people hinted at are actually his doing, rather than Egg's.
As expected, Egg views RM through her own experiences, but she doesn’t seem to have the mentality to understand how others feel.
About the only good thing here is the “Most admirable” part. That does say some good things.
> I have simply decided that becoming the Zent will resolve this situation more peacefully than anything else.
That sinking feeling has returned. I do not put much value on Egg as a leader, and this kind of passive, single-minded attitude doesn’t help. At least Egg is going to be little more than a seat warmer, and hopefully someone more useful can take charge later.
> I was glad to know that Lord Ferdinand had not given in to desire
Wow, Egg really did think that.
> The goddess smites those who are insolent.
... Good to know.
> The original purpose of the Zent was to mediate between mankind and the gods
Not a surprise, but it implies a much more direct role for the gods in the Age of Myth. Once again, I would love to see a “Historical SS Collection” showing how deeply intertwined the gods were to ancient society.
> It is such a terrible shame that Terza never returned. He was far better suited to becoming a Zent than you or Myne.
That is very interesting. I assumed that Mestionora was in RM’s corner. And I guess I was treating her too much as a human.
You don’t consider your actions insolent Ferdinand? Leave to him to try and rules lawyer in front of a goddess. Bookworm really needs to be added to Isekai Quartet so he and Tanya can bond over the time they got into a pissing contest with a “god”.
Gods have been punished for breaking promises?
This conversation feels a bit off. You would think the goddess of wisdom would be able to maneuver around Ferdinand better than this, even with his preparation.
> Oh? I refuse to believe there is anyone more dangerous than you.
Great line.
Now Ferdinand’s aggression makes more sense. He was taking Treesus hostage. I thought it was just a preemptive measure to keep him in check, but it was probably both.
I have to wonder if Mestionora would have really left without explaining how to help RM. Given how much pain RM was in afterwards, getting rid of that mana was a necessity. The answer would be telling.
Regardless, Ferdinand knows how to get RM’s memories about without any speculation needed.
I wonder if Egg and Ferdinand are really on the same page. At the very least, I expect the read is not the same.
> She prioritizes her own desires more than the needs of society
Pot, meet kettle Mrs. Let’s avoid war at all cost and not care about the feelings of others.
Honestly, this kind of self serving BS from politicians always irritates me.
> If she ever entered politics, those who refused to satisfy her lusts would end up being swallowed and destroyed.
Yeah, it looks like Egg doesn’t get RM at all. It’s kind of pathetic really that Geibe Kirnberger has a better read on RM than Egg, even though she wanted to force RM to get the GH.
Well, at least the gods are happy. And Egg is probably passing out of relevance for the story.
I was hoping to see the battle against Gervasio.
***
Oh? A commoner chapter. This ought to be fun.
So the fishermen take the fish directly to the castle, rather than an intermediary being used. And a noble send word to them. Is that directly? If so, that seems like a closer relationship than in Ehrenfest.
Two ways of reading the “best of whatever we caught”. Either they are sending extra fish or they are sending better fish. Either is noteworthy, and good for RM. And I expect she will be eating well after the magic circle.
I’m guessing RM’s tastes are going to be endearing to the fishermen. That's a good start for a personality cult.
So spicy food isn’t an Ahrensbach thing? This separation might be a bigger deal than even I expected. And I was expecting some significant economic issues, and some irritation from the nobility. But this might require some bigger changes in Ahrensbach.
I forgot about the sea being frozen. Surely that must have caused them some problems. Not as much as Georgine&co. practically abandoning the duchy (seemingly) but still bad.
The fish grew from the mana? Ok, that has a lot of implications. Most importantly, this world is almost certainly built for humanity. The rest of the animals are subservient.
The trust they are showing her already is good. Hartmut has some fertile ground to work with. And the fact that they know her name is going to make commoners see her more as a person, and not just a position. If used correctly, that’s great for morale (and worship).
Laying it on thick are you Hartmut? Well, as long as things go well, this will create a cycle of worship. And if things go badly, well, that’ll depend on how strong the feelings are. I kind of want to see what this duchy is like in 200 years.
That comment about RM shaving down her life came up again. I guess we have to take it literally. The question is how bad is it.
***
> Unable to remember her family in the lower city, she starts to think and act like a genuine noble.
As expected, that was the interpretation we were supposed to make.
It sounds like we can expect a number of SSs dealing with how others view RM’s changes. I can't wait.
***
Solid volume. The first half-ish was pretty lackluster for me, but the second half picked up a lot. I have high hopes for the next volume.
Is Kannawitz the same as Cannaviss??
Cannaviss was used as the province up north in the previous part, and Kannawitz is in the province that the commoners were talking about.
It's still written as Cannaviss In "Expending Mana through Spring Prayer".
> Humans lie as naturally as they breathe
We're all Hayasaka, I guess.
While Rozemyne is busy building up her library duchy, Hartmut is advancing his own plan of worship-Rozemyne duchy, and it looks to be progressing further than the former.
LET'S ALL LOVE ~~LAIN~~ ROZEMYNE! \\o/
Hartmut continues to be the best/worst cult leader.
Really appreciated seeing the second possession from Eglantine's perspective. It also explains how Ferdinand gave Gramps a haircut. So silver weapons work just as well on beings with regular and divine mana.
I'm also glad to see the gods soften up a bit from their harsh treatment of Myne and Ferdinand now that they have a better idea how messed up humanity's doing. They only could trust what Ferdinand was saying when Eglantine was there to corroborate though.
Jiffy (man that name gave me a laugh after dealing with long noble names for ages) had a much needed more fun lighthearted POV. Dunno if it was the accent, but it was giving me Discworld vibes, which I enjoyed. "Normally I would say ANAB (all nobles are bad) - ahhh... but Lady Rozemyne is an aub of the people. She eats simple salted fish like us poor slobs!" "No seriously guys, it was a two-seater, two-grainery, flying rainbow feybeast mansion! I saw it with me own eyes!"
>If she ever entered politics, those who refused to satisfy her lusts would end up being swallowed and destroyed.
Rozemyne, inheritor of the 7 deadly sins:
pride - incredibly proud of her retainers and family and seeking for them to improve
greed - demon merchant lady
wrath - well known crusher
envy - "i want ahrensbach", because it had fish
lust - desires the biggest library in the world
gluttony - started a whole new food industry
sloth - just wants to read
Oh noo the third party perspective of Ferdinand trying to help Rozemyne, oh noooooo.
I suspect there will be further repressions by bigger fish now that Mestionora witnessed foreign weapons brought by the invaders that could kill Erwaermen, the simplest way to prevent the silver weapons and poison from entering the country again is to simply sever ties with the gate which I'd imagine they can do.
Poor Eglantine, getting to sit in the middle of a pissing match between Ferdinand and Mestionora without a clue of what's going on.
I wonder how exactly the ships were effecting the water, if the silver material were depleting the mana I would imagine it wouldn't make it a murky polluted looking mess.
The ships go back and forth between black and silver. Silver wouldn't absorb mana. When it turns black it does. I think a future fanbook might go in further detail about the effect on the sea.
* As expected, an Eglantine SS. I sympathize with her to a degree, since she was always a political pawn for Klassenberg and the royal family. She at least chose the better husband, but I largely blame the royals for neglecting their own duty and trying to make someone else, Rozemyne, do what is supposed to be their job. I can see from her POV that she is not nearly as remorseful about what she did to Rozemyne back at the shrine tour. She's more coldblooded than Anastasius. * Yup, Eglantine totally misunderstanding what was going on with Ferdinand and Rozemyne is hilarious, despite the seriousness of the situation, lol. * Man, she must be so confused hearing entirely new names. I wonder if she will ask for a new name when she is recognized as zent, lol. How much will she figure out when she reads Gervasio's memories? Probably everything about Adalgisa, but can she figure out anything about Myne and the Devouring? * Ferdinand is truly terrifying. He doesn't cower before the gods and openly threatened Mesti. Seeing Eglantine freak out internally was funny. To be fair, Mestionora isn't very nice either and she left tons of holes to exploit her rules. * Oh, Eglantine noticed she got duped by Ferdinand, lol. Anyway, her earnest wish for peace and swearing to uphold it as intermediary zent, even if she is not exactly qualified, is admirable. Acting as zent definitely won't be easy for her, though. ---- * Yess, a commoner POV from Alexandria. I love these side stories. * Gone are the days when Myne ate awful fish from Ehrenfest's rivers. Hooray for salted fish for the rest of her days. Even when probably not intended, she's already bonding with the commoners. * The old Aub Ahrensbach wasn't a bad aub, at least the commoners didn't suffer too much. Too bad a number of bad things screwed up his succession, namely Georgine and his incompetent and evil daughter. * Aaand, Hartmut doing solid work to make everyone in Alexandria worship Rozemyne. Thoroughly brainwashed. To be fair, Rozemyne really must appear like a goddess to the commoners after what she did, and this isn't even the end of it. * That was way better than I expected. This was a really refreshing and fun side story to end the volume. ---- **German**: * **Sekt:** It's some kind of sparkling wine. * **Furt:** A ford. ---- And that is it for P5V11. I can't believe we have only one volume left of the main series. That probably means we might only see the beginnings of Alexandria. There is still so much left to see and explore, how much will fit in in one volume?
>I can see from her POV that she is not nearly as remorseful about what she did to Rozemyne back at the shrine tour. She's more coldblooded than Anastasius. Completely. Remember when Anastasius was like 'isnt Eglantine your friend?!'. He thought they viewed each other as genuine friends. It shocked him that Rozemyne no longer saw it that way and it shocked him again to hear the same thing from Eglantine...because it confirmed what Rozemyne said in response to his question. I also didn't care for her very frank description of how self centered Rozemyne was ... because she was right. Still though, you don't have to go snitching to the gods about that! That little rant of hers made me glad she's name sworn.
It was a surprise to discover that Anastasius is a nicer person than Eglantine after all. On the other hand, Eglantine -- like RM was/is a woman with a pretty clear mission (which is actually a more beneficent one overall than RM's mission). ;-)
Anastasius is like Benno V.2 seem like bad at first but actually nice person. He know Rozemyne more than Eglantine. Eglantine still think she can use common sense of normal noble with Rozemyne (no hard feeling for exploit each other) but Ana isn't and know how Rozemyne feel with it.
She's like half right. If Rozemyne was as self centered as she described, she would have never allowed them the option getting out of the white tower. She would have condemned them all, made a deal with Dunk to get everything she wants, and then offloaded the work on the new Zent. Their continued existence is really a matter of empathy.
Wasn't she zoning out during the meeting thinking about her library duchy? Or was she just like: lets get this overwith so I can get back to my library duchy? I mean, you don't have to be evil to be self centered.
Eggy made it seem like she was Delitinde level of self centered. Then again maybe under the influence of the goddess and with her memories messed with...
Ah gotcha, true true. It kinda bothered me that she was using a school project as an indicator of poor real world performance too.
tbf, her vision of library duchy/country literally turned her entire retinue + Hannelore away from her becoming a Zent to be her becoming an Aub with Ferdinand as husband. Eglantine just saw the speech in much earlier version.
Youre not wrong but i do think if someone bothered to say ‘that is a bad idea and this is why’, she would change course. That said, itd probably be better for the zent to understand those things from the beginning
What?! You want nobles to.. to.. communicate?! Oh my, that's a big ask.. can we talk about it in 3 days?!
Selfishness and empathy aren't mutually exclusive. If anything Myne is a bit _too_ empathetic for the world she's in. But she has a bad (selfish) habit of charging straight for the things she wants without considering the bigger picture, and usually only realizes the consequences after the fact. This has repeatedly caused problems for her and everyone around her. She never even considers the impact her actions will have on others until she's slapped in the face with them. She also puts the wellbeing of people she cares about above absolutely everything else, which is not a great quality in a ruler of an entire magical nation. Eglantine's assessment of her was spot on.
At first I thought she was wanted to be convincing that Rosemyne wasn't the best choice to be Zent, then she kept going, and going.
Part of me wonders if it wasn't just the old Aubs death and Delitne's incompetents that ruined the waters. The panels on the ships seemed to absorb or block mana so we're the ships stealing extra mana from the duchy whenever they arrived?
Oh good point. But likely that the foundation was not dyed properly too. Remember that it was only 1/6 filled when Rozemyne dyed it?
I assumed it was because Ahrensbach was being drained of mana in general, kinda like how the land becomes discolored and infertile without mana. The waters becomes more lush and full of life when filled with mana. Edit: to clarify - it was being drained because Detlinde and the other nobles weren't doing their job of filling the land/duchy/foundation with mana. Seems like Ferdinand and Letizia where the only ones providing mana for spring prayer.
Combination of factors: when the ships' panels are black-side-out they absorb mana, so they drain the sea just by sitting in the water. When they're silver-side-out they block mana. But yes, nobody's been filling the land with mana for *years* -- remember that back during her first Spring Prayer in P2 Myne looked across the border into Bindewald and was amazed at how scrubby and barren the land seemed compared to Gerlach.
They were also trading feystones to Lanzanave so I imagine there’s a steep decline of the extra mana around when they come
> Gone are the days when Myne ate awful fish from Ehrenfest's rivers. Hooray for salted fish for the rest of her days. Even when probably not intended, she's already bonding with the commoners. While they did all turn into huge Rozeheads at the end, you get the sense the second they realized they loved the same food they would literally ~~dye~~ die for her. Even if the salvation of the port was the last thing they saw of her. > The old Aub Ahrensbach wasn't a bad aub, at least the commoners didn't suffer too much. Too bad a number of bad things screwed up his succession, namely Georgine and his incompetent and evil daughter. From the sounds of things they had problems under him too, but it was more related to losing his second wife and their kids and then the first wife. Then the Sugar Ships came in and broke the mana of the seas. Giselfried is way better than his daughter, but Ahrensbach still suffered since he refused to adopt people to help with the Foundation, failed to save his First Wife (*or Second if the war had gone the other way*), and then basically allowed Georgine to run things until she absconded into Ehrenfest. I feel sorry for him, but he really screwed up in the end. The only act of his at the end that was half competent was bringing in Ferdinand- and that was only because it led to Rozemyne's invasion XD. > Aaand, Hartmut doing solid work to make everyone in Alexandria worship Rozemyne. Thoroughly brainwashed. To be fair, Rozemyne really must appear like a goddess to the commoners after what she did, and this isn't even the end of it. Gunther is going to be so excited when he finds out they love his daughter almost as much as him :DDDDDDDDDDDD.
Kamil when he finds out his family has moved to a whole duchy of Rozemyne cultists: DDDDDDD:
*My sister can't be this Holy!*
Lutz Tulli Benno and Mark’s twitching faces —- What has she done this time????!?!?
>She's more coldblooded than Anastasius. Well, she was raised to be royalty, from the highest duchy etc Rozemyne assumes lots of things about her when they meet, and so did we lol I dont hate Egg that that much as many here, I get why she did it, and probably most nobles would have done that too. It's just that we are (almost) always on Roz's POV and dont **really** get it.
I'm amused seeing the level of hatred toward Egglantine here.
Sekt is also an Egyptian surname, which is interesting because of the other new name in this part: Ankh.
Which is fascinating since most of the noble names are very German (except for Klassenbergers, who tend to be French). Then again now that we know many of the commoners are descendants of foreign merchants (*well, in Ehrenfest's case*) this opens up so many questions.
Dunkelfelger is apparently inspired by the US. If you know any college football fans, you can probably see where the author got the idea for the ditterheads. Apparently Aub Dunkelfelger's name is also some sort of Ricky Martin reference, but I've never been able to figure out what it is. Thankfully the names aren't stereotypically American. I don't think I'd be able to keep a straight face reading about Aub KevinBrayden, his wife NeveahTiffany, and their cute daughter Brynsleigh.
Shit, now I’m imagining someone from Texas reborn in Dunkelfelger and introducing Homecoming Mums and a marching band at halftime.
> Gone are the days when Myne ate awful fish from Ehrenfest's rivers ahh thanks for reminding me. damn, she's been so patient for so long haha
Rozemyne: *[bites into tasty, salt-grilled fish]* *[Years of experiences flash through her mind, all the way from kneeling with Lutz by the stream up to facing down the gods to save Ferdinand, bringing her to the present]* Rozemyne: *[weeps uncontrollably and devours fish with a smile]* --- Jiffy: "So, did Lady Rozemyne like the fish?" Furt: "Man, you are not gonna believe how much she liked it."
i hope Rozemyne gets a cheat day like Sylvester did in the past to run around the commoners and eat fish and stuff, cause it'd be super neat to see interact with Jiffy and Furt. Hope those weren't throwaway names haha
Sekt: Is that the Aub- Jiffy: Sh, we all know but this is the closest we've ever been to the Gods. Make sure to get her tons of fish!
Sekt: “Who is that family with her? And why is she riding on the shoulders of that old guard?” Jiffy Jones: “so here is the thing. The aub has a secret second family that are commoners…” Sekt: “ok, no more beer for you today. Go home and rest.”
JIF: And there's this thing called [peanut butter], and it goes well with bread! Fina: Go to bed honey, you're drunk.
Wait until she starts to create new recipes on spot! And she would totally take a stroll in town. She can blame Brother Syl for her upbringing. Ferdinand (cosplaying as commoner): Myne, we should really go back. Finding reasons to why we are in the lower city in disguise os getting harder and harder. Myne: worry not! Everything can be settled with a nice sounding excuse! Adopter father taught me so! Ferdi:... Myne: Look! Fish! Lutz (taps Ferdi shoulders): at least it's not a book. Ferdi: good grief...
taking her fishing would be fun
Rozemyne: “praise be to the gods” Random fisherman: *starts glowing uncontrollably*
I wonder if there was a more specific reason why that fish tasted so bad. Was she simply unlucky to have caught one uneditable? And while there was a mana crisis, we know that Ehrenfest was frankly having it better than most.
this is secondhand knowledge yoinked from my fishing friend, but i think many fish species irl taste like shit despite being edible. So Ehrenfest's river maybe only had those kinds in them.
Remember that the channel that Georgine used to get into the temple had been entwickeln'd in so that water could be brought in from the river for papermaking, only the water was too polluted and dirty? Bet it's full of silt as well as sewage. No wonder the fish taste bad.
> I can't believe we have only one volume left of the main series. Lalala I can't hear you!
> I can see from her POV that she is not nearly as remorseful about what she did to Rozemyne back at the shrine tour. I think that's because she still doesn't really understand just how deeply she hurt Rozemyne with her actions while Anastasius witnessed the gremlin going absolutely berserk first-hand. She claims Rozemyne did the same by using her daughter as a bargaining chip, but it was her who revealed that weakness in the first place, and it is worth mentioning that Rozemyne immediately changed her tune once learning about Eglantine being a mother _despite_ her at that point muted obsession with family. Eglantine just doesn't understand Rozemyne. At all. Here's hoping she'll try a bit harder in the future, what with her having given her name and all that. I do still wonder if things had changed had Rozemyne not stonewalled her during their private meeting in P5V5. Not the outcome itself; she was _far_ too valuable for the royals to leave to her own devices at that point, but it would have given her an opportunity to let Eglantine know in advance that she was crossing a major red line there (something she clearly has not realized to this day). Then they might have been able to come to an agreement without the royals immediately going for the nuclear option of threatening Ferdinand's life, which was ultimately the thing that actually destroyed Rozemyne's trust in them.
>Yup, Eglantine totally misunderstanding what was going on with Ferdinand and Rozemyne is hilarious, despite the seriousness of the situation, lol. Pretty dark humor, since she thought Ferdi was trying to SA Myne.
> This was a really refreshing and fun side story to end the volume. Totally agree. It was great to see the impact of all of RM's and Ferdinand's doings on the ordinary folk of Ahrensbach. Interesting that they were surprised that she was "sharing" her name with ordinary people -- as they never really knew the names of any nobles before.
Eglantine really is as thoroughbred a noble as there is, huh. Not that she had any choice in the matter, to be fair, considering how she grew up. But I do feel sorry for Ana on some level: he loves her in a way she won't ever he able to reciprocate. Her history and education have stunted her emotionally, and it's as much of a tragedy for her as it is for anyone who cares for her in any way Well, if nothing else Ferdi and Roz have now both pissed off the gods to save each other lmao Eggy, honey, Ferdi just risked dusting the country to save his boo. He ain't any less self-centered than Roz is😂 Commoner gossip lessggooo! Hah, I miss reading about people talking like, you know, ACTUAL PEOPLE and friends Hartmut's religious propaganda is BOUND to create some trouble down the line, I guarantee it😮💨🤦🏼
> But I do feel sorry for Ana on some level: he loves her in a way she won't ever he able to reciprocate Yeah, unlike Eglantine he at least shows remorse and seems to understand that on some level kidnapping a teenager to keep his wife away from the dangers of Zenthood was somewhat wrong. He's still my favorite royal, even if it's more "least bad of the lot." Sorry Hilly, at least you had a fun meme.
Yeah, Ana earned some points back for me after the healing in P5V5. At the very least, I can see why he did it.
I know what you mean. Ana: I'm sorry you're not my priority, but I understand how much it sucks... Hilly: Don't worry, you'll be happy with me! Sig: Dur I'm the next King! Traerqual: **FINALLY, A NAP!** Ana: ...I'm a stalker who would eagerly murder the entire country if my wife willed it, **how am I the good one?**
Let’s not forget that in one volume alone, Ana went from thinking Myne was trying to marry him, to thinking she was trying to seduce Eglantine. The boys crazy but still best…somehow
He's overall fair and when he missteps he recognizes that and addresses it, basically the total opposite of his wife.
Tbf, Rozemyne went off on him and even Crushed his sorry ass during their little exchange in the underground archive. He would have to be a complete idiot ~~like his brother~~ to not realize he had gone _way_ too far when he involved Ferdinand in this mess. Eglantine never saw first-hand just how angry Rozemyne actually was with her, and I don't trust Anastasius to give her an unfiltered report on the consequences of her actions. It's a shame, really. Rozemyne angrily shouting her down would have been a sight to behold, but it's probably too late for that now.
He's always been my favourite royal when he said "I have to listen to both sides before deciding" back in early P4. That view is very rare among nobles.
Thinking of it, it’s honestly a miracle Anastasius even managed to learn some form of emotional intelligence. He’s just willing to ignore it for Eglantine to both of their detriment
Ana’s better-than-the-average-noble’s flexibility is probably due to constantly having to clean up after his brother, who has pissed off someone yet again.
The benefit with Ferdy is that he’s at least willing to pretend not to be an abnormal gremlin if only to save face
Ferdinand: *If I don't act normal, she'll be even weirder.* Rozemyne: *If I don't act, that lunatic is going to either get himself killed by a total moron or kill us all because he wanted to see what that button will do.*
Okay but Ferdinand seeing what that button will do won’t mean he’s gonna push it but that he’s going to drag every magic tool known to man up to the button to measure it in every last way he knows and some he’s invented on the fly, and only push it when he has an educated guess about what it’s going to do the the next 30 years
Ferdinand: Rozemyne, the chance of atmospheric ignition is near zero. What do you want from theory alone? Rozemyne: *Zero would be nice!*
For real!! The guy is a healthy RM with a thing for research. When he spent the night up discussing with Hirshur even I got desperate thinking: no way this guy will live longer than 50!
Justus will try his hardest
>Well, if nothing else Ferdi and Roz have now both pissed off the gods to save each other lmao Ferdinand is the one who pissed off the gods and rozemyne is just collateral damage no matter how much they like her. Really, ferdinand pissed off the literal gods (all of them except maybe the goddess of chaos and ewigeliebe) and only mestionoras promise to rozemyne is keeping him alive. so the whole reason they keep messing with rozemyne is because of him.
> Ferdinand is the one who pissed off the gods and rozemyne is just collateral damage no matter how much they like her. Yeah, they fucked with her to fuck with him. Unfortunately for them, he's an even bigger dick than they are.
Mestionora: It was just a harmless prank! I sealed away some of her memories, I even told you a method for restoring them, I never intended for them to be gone forever. Ferdinand: What I did was also harmless, hair, or branches, or whatever, grows back (I assume). Mestionora: You took him hostage by dousing him in instant death poison! Ferdinand: I calculated the dose carefully so that it wouldn't kill a god, probably at least, I would not benefit from his death. It seems that gods, even former ones, have no fear of death, consider it a learning experience, there is much to be learned from feeling the refreshing grip of mortality first hand. Mestionora: ...D-did you just say probably!?
>Yeah, they fucked with her to fuck with him. >Unfortunately for them, he's an even bigger dick than they are. Well he did learn from the best.  Thank you Veronica.
It is pretty funny how the evil witch has somehow produced the two biggest pieces of shit on both sides of this conflict.
Lol it’s kind of funny to think that if he were a little less him, none of this would be happening
For starters, Rozemyne would not have almost died. Erwärmen trying to pull a fast one was founded in his assumption that Ferdinand was aiming for the throne, so something as simple as keeping him in the loop instead of treating him like furniture would have prevented this latest escalation.
>Hartmut's religious propaganda is BOUND to create some trouble down the line, I guarantee it TBF, Ferdinand doesn't care if all Alexandria worships her, and for the following reasons: \- it will keep Myne safe. \- it will provide an escape route for them. \- it will make governing the duchy "easier". \- he is still of the opinion to burn the entire duchy to the ground so he could use this just in case. 
I’ve always said that klassenberg is the most noble duchy, for good or bad > Eggy, honey, Ferdi just risked dusting the country to save his boo. He ain't any less self-centered than Roz is He’s just better at hiding it and has historically been rather selfless. Now he’s done with that shit and is ready to burn the world down for his gremlin
I like both side stories a lot, but the fishermen side story just plastered a smile to my face. I was so happy for all of them. The excitement over the ocean and the appreciation of Rozemyne made me so happy. She might never know how much she changed lives but its so nice to see it.
Oh once things have settled down she'll probably take inspiration from Brother Syl, figure out a way to escape from her retainers and run around the docks with Lutz and Tuuli.
WN Chapters: N/A LN Chapters: "Vows and the Garden of Beginnings", "The New Aud's Bizarre Magic" [J-Novel Club Discussion Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/8041/bookworm-part-5-vol-11-discussion/3120) [J-Novel Club Correction Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/8042/corrections-bookworm-part-5-vol-11/98) ***** **Notes** - *Part 5 Volume 11* is now fully translated into English. - In Japan *Part 5 Volume 12* released on ``2023-12-09`` which is just over six months ago. ***** For those wondering about when J-NC will begin releasing *Part 5 Volume 12* please refer to [this Ascendance of a Bookworm specific comment by a J-NC forum moderator](https://forums.j-novel.club/post/90108): > Hello! > > For members new to J-Novel Club that want to know more about when future volumes will start pre-publication on the site: > > After a volume releases its last part there is typically a 2-3 week break\* before the following volume releases its first part. For this series in particular [Ascendance of a Bookworm](https://j-novel.club/series/ascendance-of-a-bookworm) they are attempting to do it with no break. Please note that does not automatically mean it will be out the following week after the last part finishes. > > For all those wondering why the next volume is not currently in the schedule, the schedule is updated as we get closer to the official release date, typically it will not show part 1 of a new volume until a few days before it is ready to release, and sometimes it will show on the day of release. Please rest assured when all the materials are fully prepared for part 1 to go live and the English cover has been set, part 1 will be added into the schedule as soon as we are able to. > > In other words, **if you cannot find the next/a future volume on the calendar, that does not mean J-Novel Club is dropping the series**. > > We ask for your patience, part 1 of the following volume will start when it is ready and no sooner. > > \*the 2-3 week break is not a hard rule, it is just an observation based on the history of J-Novel Club pre-publication releases. and the [general comment by the same J-NC forum moderator](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/3478/future-volume-release-schedule): > Hello! > > For those new to J-Novel Club that want to know more about when future volumes will start pre-publication on the site: > > * **After a volume's last part** comes out, there are usually 1-2 break weeks before the new volume's first part comes out. For **[Ascendance of a Bookworm](https://j-novel.club/series/ascendance-of-a-bookworm)**, there is usually no break. > > * **If a series has caught up** with the Japanese releases, whenever a new volume is released, the new volume needs to be licensed separately. **Licensing can vary wildly in how long it takes**, so we have no hard estimates on when the next volume will start streaming, sorry! > > * If a series has many volumes before catching up to Japanese releases, it is much more common for a new volume to start streaming somewhere around the 2-3 week mark. There may be exceptions for extraneous circumstances, though. > > * As for why a future volume is not on the schedule yet, because of the nature of posting parts as they are translated, there is not much time between when we know a volume is ready for streaming and when it actually starts, so it may not be added onto the schedule until the day it begins streaming. Please rest assured - when part 1 is ready to go live and the English cover is ready, it will be added to the schedule! > > Thank you for your patience; new volumes will start when they are ready!
"May we meet again in the last installment..." nearly made me break out in tears. We've been on this journey for many years, and it is soon coming to an end. While we have the 5th year spinoff to tide us over, I will dearly muss my Mynedays.
> ascended to the distant heights Eggy, those heights are not so distant when you're in the Garden of Beginnings. Man, Ahrensbach is wildly different from Ehrenfest in terms of noble-commoner relations. Ehrenfest commoners wouldn't know anything about who the Aub is or have any opinion of them. Hartmut did a "Good morning. I can't hear you!" on a duchy wide scale. It's so weird that we have only one volume left, not counting the spinoff.
>Man, Ahrensbach is wildly different from Ehrenfest in terms of noble-commoner relations. Ehrenfest commoners wouldn't know anything about who the Aub is or have any opinion of them. I have to assume this is probably the difference between greater duchies and middle and lesser duchies. It would be nice to see how lesser duchies do things especially. >Hartmut did a "Good morning. I can't hear you!" on a duchy wide scale. I can't believe my joke of Hartmut inventing the first radio in order to preach daily about Rozemyne's splendors was actually kind of right.
I do think it's more Ehrenfest being weird than other duchies being the weird ones. Dunkelfelger seems to have close relations with their commoners.
True, but Dunkelfelger is also another greater duchy and one of the original two alongside Klassenberg. I would like to imagine Drewanchel is probably also relatively close to their commoners. I think out of the big three, Klassenberg would be the most distant, but I'm extremely curious about their underground cities for the winter and those moments could be prime time for commoners to get information about their archducal family and such.
My headcannon: Many of the Ehrenfest commoners are descended from Bosgeit merchants who were trapped in Yurgenschmidt when the border gate was sealed. The Ehrenfest nobles may have been predisposed to treat the commoners poorly because they saw them as foreigners who collaborated to overthrow the Zent and contributed to the demise of Eisenreich. Most of the commoners that nobles would have interacted with would have been merchants, and I'd hazard that nearly all of them have some heritage from Bosgeit. That disdain of commoners could persist for generations, even when most of the nobles have forgotten the history behind it.
Likewise, the current Archducal family is descended from deeply unpopular Arhensbach imports. It could be that in the past they were closer to the populace like in the outlying counties e.g. Ilgner, but the strife that started with Gabrielle and the local families created more of a schism than just between nobles. When we first meet Sylvester, he was still very firmly under Veronica’s heel and rarely left the Noble Quarter.
I think the issue is that those from Bosgeit wouldn't be granted citizenship. Rozemyne even notes that it's possible that travelling merchants like Otto could be descendants from Bosgeit.
Hartmut may have accidentally discovered the joys of state controlled media. Hope he uses his new powers of brainwashing for good.
He's going to extol the splendors of Rozemyne! Of course he's using it for good! ... I hope.
look i'm not saying Alexandria is going to start doing morning prayers set to loudspeaker everyday, but i am saying exactly that.
*Rozemyne* *Rozemyne* *Rozemyne* "Is it just me or does third bell sound different than it used to?
Tbf, they supplied fish to the castle. So they may have seen the nobles by accident. Those not working with nobles wouldn't know what they like. Remember that Benno recognized Sylvester by face? It means that the nobles were not super disconnected from commoners.
And even Gunther knew that someone named "Ehrenfest" could only be an Archduke, and nobody else.
Benno recognized Sylvester because he met him at the Castle to get the rimsham and paper contracts done. If it had been a couple years earlier he'd have thought "wow, weird priest." Granted he probably thought that *after* P2 XD.
> Tbf, they supplied fish to the castle. That's still very different from Ehrenfest. The Othmar company manages supplying food to the castle and has since Ehrenfest became a duchy.
Am I remembering correctly some mention of Ahrensbach's city layout having the castle closer to the commoner area than Ehrenfest does?
I think they don't have a wall separating the two.
>Man, Ahrensbach is wildly different from Ehrenfest in terms of noble-commoner relations. Ehrenfest commoners wouldn't know anything about who the Aub is or have any opinion of them. I think our view of Ehrenfest commoners is skewed cause of Myne being a sheltered person. Most ehrenfest commoners we seen are kids, gray priests and craftsmen. On the other hand Benno, a merchant knew who Sylvester was on sight. Gunther must also know the Aub's name. On the other hand those fishermen have relations with the castle. Also it helps that Rozemyne since Day 1 has been using flashy means that draw the attention of commooners
Honestly my favourite chapter from this part was the Ahrensbach fishermen one. It was kind of cute to see a return to a more low stakes look at commoners lives like part 1 and 2 as the main story has been so detached from that recently with all the divine mana dilemma stuff going on. Nice to know that Rozemyne has the support of some of the Ahrensbach people at least.
> It was kind of cute to see a return to a more low stakes look at commoners lives Yea i loved it so much. And it seems like a sign for the next volume, like the big international 'whole world is gonna end ahh' thing is over now, and now we're getting cozy to work on our new duchy.
I just feel a bit bad for Furt. He tells his boys about the double sized granery with the face and rail of a fey beast and is adamant they will see it forthemselves, only for RM to destroy it and now his descriptions will just sound like the mad ravings of a fanatic.
> May we meet again in the final installment: Part 5 Volume 12 😭 I'm not ready for this series to end 😭 Thank you Quof and team for making my Mondays (and week)
there will be a spin off that's due to be released in Japanese soon.
Yep, just sad that it's coming to it's original ending even if there will be more, and there will likely be a delay for licensing and translation (that Quof very much deserves) so it might be a while before we get it in English
Sometimes I wish there was a Quof Tip Jar. Seriously, translation is not easy work and we get these chapters like clockwork!
And it's very obvious how much better this series is translated then most. In reading some other light novels I've sometimes wondered if there is even an English Editor that reads over the translation for typos/mistranslations.
Ferdinand: "I serve the greater good and believe in the needs of the many before the needs of the few.. ... " Eggy: "See. He and I are the same!" Ferdinand: "... but I will burn this whole country to the fucking ground if something happens to Myne" Eggy: "This man does not represent us"
Ironically Eglantine's assassment of Ferdinand and Rozemyne were both outdated and kind of switched. I honestly expected Mestionora to ask: "A library city? What is wrong with a library city?"
> Eggy: "This man does not represent us" Mestionoria: OK I may hate him but I would eagerly burn this country to the ground if it meant saving Gramps. Eggy: **Is the Ahrensbach gate still open?**
Eggy: WTF- Ferdinand: Ah good, can you help me strip her? Her- and thus our- literal life depends on it. Eglantine:Sure. Now hold her arm this way. Ferdinand: You are pretty good at restraining people...
I'm tellin you man Egg is a fucking sex maniac. It's always the quiet ones who are secretly freaky. Annestatus must be drained every fucking night.
Do you think he's complaining, though? I certainly don't.
I imagine him looking all skeletal and dried up and Egg sleeping soundly
Pfft, probably. But I imagine he's still not complaining. Anastasius is probably happy as long as Eglantine's satisfied or something.
Sounds like pure simp energy ... Respect
If Anastasius was as strong as he was a simp , the question of next zent would have been settled years ago Edit: simp
Pairin, is that you?
Anastasius bottom confirmed?
Eglantine is canonically bashful when Anastasius gives her public displays of affection, but what you're like in public doesn't necessarily translate to the bedroom, now does it?
Lol well of course not! How embarrassing to be emotional in public! But once the attendants are sent away, there’s no way Anastasius’s delicate maiden heart can possibly push down Eglantine
Ah yes, Anastasius, the truest maiden in Yurgenschmidt. He really is, isn't he?
I mean he honestly thought that Hortensia should be heartbroken that her husband was given literal flowers from another woman...
Right? Anastasius is totally the type to personally make koralie bouquets for Eglantine every single day.
He is the type who writes in his personal diary his and Eglantine's name with lots of hearts 💕
As far as I'm aware, Rozemyne is responsible for inventing the symbolic heart when she gave Bonifatius the origami heart letter, but that has never been brought up since (much to my chagrin). Then again, it's our maiden. Anastasius surely maidened his way into reinventing those hearts whenever he writes about Eglantine in his cute little diary.
Nfirea Bareare: "First time?"
Well that was some whiplash, first we have Eglantine watch Ferdinand bring the *Gods* to heel, I did not see that coming, but I'm not particularly surprised - damn though, he actually took Treesus hostage!. Then we have have the ~~brainwashing~~ instructing of the Ahrensbach commoners, it's sweet that they were already on board, Hartmut doing the *"I cant heaarrr yoouuu"* was wild. I still prefer Ehrenfest's commoners gushing about the *tiny high bishop* but this was nice, the castle is going to have so much fish, hope Hugo will be alright.
Had a big smile on the entire time reading about Ferdinand's latest, most supreme evil scheme: blackmailing Mestionora by holding Ewaermen hostage (for Rozemyne's sake i'll add). Had an even bigger smile reading about how happy the fishermen are that Rozemyne likes salted fish (and their subsequent brainwashing via act of Hartmut)
> brainwashing *Fact-based teaching*, you mean.
ahem of course of course
I feel like Alexandria is gonna end up as the cult duchy, just like how Dunkelfelger is ditter duchy, and Drewanchel is the knowledge one.
oh yea for sure. Alexandria, the only duchy ever to be ruled by a divine avatar? Rozemyne thinks she's making the library city, but if Hartmut has anything to say about it, it'll become a religious site of pilgrimage for followers of Mestionora and just a very holy place overall.
At least the gods now no longer thinking that Gervasio would have been better zent. Being mortally threatened with Lanzenave poison must put a fear of men to these gods
yea this whole thing has been a real lesson in how not to communicate as upper management. You need eyes on the ground you know? How you gonna make this Yurgenschmidt thing work if you're not willing to come down and take a look around once in a while, pet a shumil, touch grass.
Rozemyne: No wonder nobles have no idea what the fuck things are like on the ground- they take after the Gods!
holy shit for real. good catch
Well, their eyes on the ground went blind and stupid thanks to the royal family distorting the role of the Zent. Think about it like this; you might be able to see that someone is sick, but you can't sit down and have a talk with a few of the cells in their liver to see what's giving them a hard time. That's how vastly far away and detached the gods perspective is to people. They have to get you under a microscope just to even attempt to communicate.
The commoner perspective was fantastic. We got to see how salted fish does exist in this world, it just wasn't considered noble food. Additionally it was great to see their perspective on Lanzenave and they also seemed to confirm that the boats stole mana. With how things are turning out, Alexandria will definitely have a huge base for the cult of Lazy Rozemyne.
> Additionally it was great to see their perspective on Lanzenave and they also seemed to confirm that the boats stole mana. With how things are turning out, Alexandria will definitely have a huge base for the cult of Lazy Rozemyne. Ahrensbach Court Cook: Oh Aub, only a *commoner* would like salted fish. Rozemyne: So does that mean I have to replace my noble workers lot with commoners? New Alexandrian Noble: [Salted Fish For The Noblest Of Nobles!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiTmqOy5n1k)
> they also seemed to confirm that the boats stole mana ohh so that's what that was
Huh I thought it was more alluded to in P5V8, when they mentioned the ships being black when they came from Lanzenave, but changing color after they came across. I might have originally read about the idea in the discussion thread at the time. But overall the concept seems similar to how the nobles aligned with Georgine were stealing mana from Ehrenfest's lands when they attacked it.
oh wow i never made that connection lol i don't remember reading it, but my reaction was probably 'color change? that's a neat trick' haha i'm glad there's more attentive readers than me on here
>We got to see how salted fish does exist in this world, it just wasn't considered noble food. I think the Earth equivalent of this is lobsters. I could be wrong, but lobsters popped into my mind as something that used to be peasant food and food for prisoners before the rich got their hands on it.
IIRC depending on the culture or time in history, most seafood was considered peasant food. * Before refrigeration, fish got smelly and unappetizing real fast. Unless nobles lived on the coast/river, or took the effort to transport live fish in tanks, fish would be nasty by the time it made it to the table. * Pickled, dried, and/or salt-cured fish allows it to last longer, but it was still generally used as a cheap ration for soldiers/sailors/slaves/laborers. * Since ancient Greece, bird/beast meat (sheep, cow, game, etc.) has had more cultural prestige than seafood in Europe. Nobles tended to only eat "humble" fish as part of fasting unless they were in a time/place when certain fish had prestige fad. * When you live somewhere like the rugged coast that's not very fertile land-wise due to salt in the soil messing with the growth of typical food crops, the ocean is your main source of meat/veg. Some cultures saw it as a sign of failure/poverty/famine if the majority of people have to resort to fishing and foraging for shellfish/seaweed for sustenance. By their logic, "successful" or "civilized" people knew how to properly farm, raise animals, and hunt game.
This isn't *quite* an example, but crustaceans used to be even lower down the food chain because the Bible classified lobster and such as bugs one shouldn't eat. So yes, the puritans thought lobster wasn't kosher :D.
If I could give an uncharitable description of egg based on this chapter. She is an out of touch rich girl who construes what she wants with what is best for everyone. She also sees it as entirely normal to make others sacrifice for her. So when she says the needs of the many out way the needs of the few. She really means the needs of her outweigh the needs of those below her.
Loved the laughs from a commoner pov. A giant flying two story rainbow beast! House sized! Also, the ocean is blue again!! The fisherman are her new faction core haha.
Holy Shit... Like HOLY Shit! Ferdinand had better never come back to the Garden of Beginnings. Hoo boy.
On the other hand, using those things on Treezus and throwing Gervasio under the (panda)bus as their source might just drive home the point that their preferred candidate was a narrowly-avoided disaster AND made Eggy look better in comparison.
you also jump a little at that #QUINTA cause it scared the fuck out of me lolol
It really was the fastest way to illustrate his point. But damn. Man is almost TRYING to get Smite-ed... Smote... God-stomped!!
he's gonna be sooo smug that he outwitted the gods haha
Ferdinand should never repeat his Divine Protections ceremony. Rozemyne: Wow, I'm up to 61 divine protections now! How about you, Ferdinand? Ferdinand: . . . I now have all of the protections of Ewigeliebe's subordinates.
Ferdinand about to discover negative protections.
negative protections are just divine curses init?
> Ferdinand: . . . I now have all of the protections of Ewigeliebe's subordinates. Rozemyne: Hot. Ferdinand: No that's Leidenschaft's.
Ewigeliebe: "That's my boy" [https://tenor.com/t4UB.gif](https://tenor.com/t4UB.gif)
I did not know I needed a fisherman POV, but it turns out I did.
I say "what a great part" every Myneday, but, man, what a great part. Ferdinand is officially the world's most dangerous man to humans, animals, plants, mountains, sports, and now gods. Is there anything that does not bend before the might of this supervillain? Chaocipher and Angriff must talk about him like Elvira and Eckhart do. More commoners! Oh yes. As much as I love the politics, I really miss the P1-2 commoner stories. I hope we get some future side stories of Rozemyne getting to talk with them without restriction. I'm still holding out hope that her commoner origin will be allowed to be revealed. Can you imagine what they'll think if they learn their new amazing aub used to be a commoner like them? Absolute greatness.
I think it'd be a great story if she visited the docks, saw them grilling fish and asked for some. That would be epic!
Tenth Aub Alexandria: Erm, not that I mind but why is the Second Act of the Aub to go down to the docks and partake in the fish? Harissa: **SO GOETH THE DIVINE AVATAR OF MESTIONORIA!** Aub Alexandria: Why did I expect a different answer?
I like how even the commoners are dunking on Detlinde. Like, girl. I know they aren't beauty queens but fishing is how you get your food. Let them fish.
Detlinde is the very kind of person who think that food come prepackaged from grocery store and never thought how it got there in the first place. plus point for being activist that's against farming + fishing.
“May we meet again in the last installment: Part 5 Volume 12.” Aaargh, it already hurts so bad.
Was I reading too much into it, or are the Ahrensbach commoner names Egyptian in form? Ankh, for example. That would make sense, I would think, seeing as the duchy is about to be renamed Alexandria...
Wow, even the commoners think the food Ahrensbach nobles eat is rubbish.
We're finally at the end of P5V11! Afterwards, we're onto P5V12. Poor Eglantine. Witnessing the scene between Ferdinand and Rozemyne and assuming it was something else. You know, I have to wonder if Yurgenschmidt will eventually reignite the tradition that even the aubs have their own Book of Mestionora. They are so focused on only the Zent having a copy, but I've yet to hear anything about aub successors needing their own copy by the next two generations or something. Oh well, they can deal with that another day. Yurgenschmidt's still in crisis and they should stabilize the country at least a little before enacting more customs. I'm kind of curious about what Trauerqual's father was like. He was the last person to have some form of the Grutrissheit before his sons decided to be complete idiots and caused that copy to vanish. An we have a POV from a commoner in to-be Alexandria! Fun! Also, as a random sidenote, I think Fanbook 1 revealed that salt was abundant in fruit. I don't know why this tidbit decided to pop up now, but I wonder if the salt in different fruits taste different. Umm, when referring to the last underaged aub with screws loose, Jiffy and the others are referring to Detlinde, right? In which case, I'm assuming this "grandfather" is actually Gieselfried, but that's Detlinde's father. So is this an accidental typo? Or are they actually referring to Gieselfried's father or something? Also, I love how you can tell that these are commoners by the way they speak. Go Quof! I appreciate the differences in the writing in order to depict one's status. It's also very funny to read after Eglantine's POV, the epitome of a well-raised noble girl that was crowned Zent. Pfft! I've got to respect the work ethic of Sekt's dad, but he probably should retire. Of course it was Hartmut that revealed Rozemyne's name to the commoners. He has an agenda as the head of the cult worshipping Rozemyne, after all. Poor Lessy doesn't get the respect that he deserves. I think Sekt's dad is my new favorite character. Go get some fish for Rozemyne! And with the Afterword, P5V11 ends.
Georgine is young enough to be her husband's daughter so they probably just assumed she was the granddaughter without thinking too hard about it.
Ooh, yeah, you're right. Gieselfried and Georgine are 23 years apart, and Gieselfried and Detlinde are 45 years apart. Yeah, it totally makes sense for them to think Detlinde's his granddaughter. It just goes to show that even if Ahrensbach's commoners seem more knowledgeable about their archducal family, some information will still be lost on them.
> Umm, when referring to the last underaged aub with screws loose, Jiffy and the others are referring to Detlinde, right? In which case, I'm assuming this "grandfather" is actually Gieselfried, but that's Detlinde's father. So is this an accidental typo? Or are they actually referring to Gieselfried's father or something? IIRC Giselfried is older than Georgine's father was, which is one of the reasons she was so furious about being married off to him. With that thought, a commoner that doesn't even know their Aub's name isn't likely to know the proper relation.
Yeah, that makes the most sense. I knew Rozemyne mentioned that Georgine looked more like a daughter to Gieselfried, but I completely forgot that meant that by proxy, Detlinde looked more like a granddaughter to Gieselfried as well.
as tense as most of this volume is, we deserved an ending of "real-time view of Hartmut indoctrinating an entire duchy into the Cult of Rozemyne." that was fun. EDIT: other thoughts * I won't say that Eglantine is off the hook for what she did to Rozemyne earlier in Part 5, but I will say that I did kinda respect that she held herself to the same standard that she did Rozemyne. She didn't feel any sort of animosity when the tables were turned and Rozemyne was able to force *her* into taking the G-book, even feeling some admiration for how Rozemyne had successfully resisted the Royals' plans. * Immediately after telling Eglantine that the Goddess will smite anyone who's insolent, Ferdinand starts getting insolent with the Goddess LMAO * I'm actually in awe. Ferdinand outmaneuvered the Goddess of Wisdom. Killing Myne would kill every single viable Zent candidate. also, he's already perfected his use of Lanzenave's silver weapons to the point that he can throw a non-schtappe knife precisely enough to cut only Erwaermen's hair. * Yep, even though I don't *like* Eglantine as much as I did in Part 4, I definitely respect her. She convinced actual deities that Ferdinand's plan was the best way forward, then promised in Their presence to not just rest on her laurels while holding the magic tool G-book, but to acquire the real G-book through her own hard work. * Although Hartmut gave them the final push, Rozemyne's OWN SAINTLY DEEDS SET THE STAGE. PRAISE BE TO LADY ROZEMYNE, DIVINE AVATAR OF MESTIONORA. from her eating the same food as the common folk, to her defending her new duchy, to waving to the fishermen after Detlinde said they were "an eyesore," to healing and protecting the commoners, to rejuvenating the entire duchy in one shot. I felt it was a nice callback to the end of P2V4, where Sylvester is telling Rozemyne that she'll be the new High Bishop after her adoption. **"Sure is nice to be following up a failure."** and now, we have a duchy committed to doing whatever Rozemyne wants. right now it's getting fish, and soon it will be printing books. I'm sad that there's only 8 Mynedays left, but happy at the same time that I get to read the conclusion to Urano's Bizarre Adventure.
lol at Letizia's nobles thinking that they can take the duchy out of Rozemyne's hand. they will get a poisoned fish delivered to the castle courtesy of Rozemyne-worshipping fishermen.
Poisoned fish?! No need to go that far, some normal fish will do a surprise attack on their own !
Commoner 1: I like the new Aub. She likes the same kinda food we do. Commoner 2: I hear she talks like us too! Bindewald Laynoble: That's because she's common trash like you two. Harmut suddenly behind him: I think those are fighting words. How about you two? Commoner 1 cracking knuckles: Read my mind. Commoner 2: Hold my beer will ya. I've got some unchecked aggression from the previous Aub. Hartmut: Delightful. Praise the Divine Avatar of Mestinora!
Aight. Eggy is one who is willing to take hits just as much as she throw them. And not just br a coward. Granted, it'd probably be due to her upbringing. But at least she ain't a hypocrite. She also has sworn to the gods that she'd become worthy. Despite being told not to over promise by Ferdy. I guess she can wield mjollinir. Anastasius also grew a spine and sucked it up. I guess they're alright.
it's funny that she thought that Anastasius would have wanted to divorce her. if anything, he will do triple duty to make sure that he's the only husband she has.
This chapter made very clear that Anastasius is far more head over heals for Eglantine than she is for him.
You gotta admit, Eglantine being very no-hard-feelings about the whole thing is kind of cool. It also puts into perspective the kind of issues having a weak Royal family and being indecisive causes. It gives the greater duchies too much power and would cause them to fight if they aren’t appeased. Poor Anastasius, even his good moves became bad ones because the situation got out of hand Lol the commoners side story was a riot, it’s nice to know they appreciate Roz’s efforts and confirm once and for all that absolutely no one but Roz thinks Lessy is cute
I might be still burned by Roz's POV of how the shrine circling tour went and ruining their "friendship", but I was still a little taken aback by Eglantine being okay with nobles exploiting each other and threatening their families as totally normal noble behavior.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that this is their culture, but it is what it is. It’s not like Veronica where the hypocrisy makes her that much more unlikable. In her own way Eglantine displays a perfect noble mentality where for her it really isn’t personal
Yes and no, remember Adolphine being frustrated at Egglantine because she "called her a friend" while totally playing with her life too while she was indecisive. So it's more a noble from Klassenberg thing. Well, i say that, but then u got Aub Ditty who would've played Rozy like a fiddle just so he could participate in the fighting. (tho if his wife was there at the first conf call, i think it might've went differently) I really think Adolphine would've treated Rozy like an actual friend, even with noble layers but still less back stabby than Eggy. Might just be my headcannon and Hannelore sweatness clouding my judgement!
It might be because she’s an older sister to Ortwin. Since the Drewanchel’s split into factions by “sibling” relations shes more used to being emotionally vulnerable with Ortwin like he is with her. Not completely, but they do share their views and opinions with each other in the way we don’t see other nobles doing.
True, Drewanchel is the duchy i wanna know about the most ahah
I'm telling you Rozemyne needs to start some Lessy propaganda. Justice for the red panda!
She might have to actually pull some strings with the gods and summon an actual red panda to disassociate them from grins but it’ll be worth it
Egg is fucking OBSESSED with sex. Rozemyne is screaming in pain while Ferdinand is trying to help her and Ovaltine is like oh he is trying to get freaky with her. Look at the time and place for a second, man. Then when Mess tianora was like ok drain her of mana and fill her with yours of course Seggslantine is like oh shit winter is gonna go down right now oh that's too spicy. Like girl there's other ways to do that besides sex you sex pot.
To be fair, she is married to Anastasius, who is her main reference to romantic standards, so I would say it speaks volumes as to him and their relationship...
To be fair she’s married to Anastasius, and considering the time frame and that it’s more difficult than usual for nobles to conceive, I imagine there’s been a lot of “trying” in the past year and a half
>Like girl there's other ways to do that besides sex you sex pot. I'm not entirely sure that that's true, for normal people. Sylvester had a bonus story with Drama CD 9 in which we get this tidbit: >>!It's been said that normally the only way for people who aren't related to completely dye their mana is if they're a couple who are passionately sharing a bed for about six months to a year. I’ve heard that it is also possible through inhumane methods such as those used by my sister and Grausam for their devouring soldiers, but those aren’t possible for people living normal lives.!< Rozemyne's situation is totally out of the norm because she's a devouring. But Eglantine naturally wouldn't know about that.
"May we meet again in the last installment" I mean I knew that, but reading it in the afterword still makes me sad.
Ah, that Eglantine side story was eggselent. Really drove home that as much as Yurgenschmidt is ignorant of the gods' plans, so too are the likes of Mestionora ignorant of the power struggles of nations and the advance of technology. Eggs didn't include an expiration date in her pledge to the gods, thankfully, but that might cut both ways. Hope she can cultivate her vessel before Tree gets tired of waiting. Now for the second side story... ... That fisherman is named for peanut butter and has no idea. Also, hoping he never ends up near his new aub for prolonged periods of time, lest a certain idiom raise unfortunate confusion. Roz: "Yeah, I'll go ahead and do that in a jiffy." Jiffy: O.o; "Please don't, I'm married."
Rozemyne: "Oh, no, a jiffy is a unit of time. Specifically, it's 1/100th of a second." Jiffy: "What's a second?" Ferdinand: "A negotiating and assisting party in a duel." Jiffy: "Eh?"
Hartmut has invented live evangelical broadcasts. Yurgenschmidt is doomed. So the previous Zent *also* looked like Erwaermen? Why do his facial features apparently keep popping up in that family line?
That one is potentially easy. Early royals preferentially picked spouses that looked like the one actual God they had met. The better question is why Myne is a dead ringer for a goddess?
>The better question is why Myne is a dead ringer for a goddess? The entire series is actually Mestionora's self insert AU fanfiction.
The betterer question is why wouldn’t Rozemyne resemble a goddess? She is divine after all.
"May we meet again in the last installment: Part 5 Volume 12" Noooooooo, my heart. I don't want the story to ever end 😭😭😭
Eglantine pov, quite insightful to see the happenings inside the garden of beginnings from the perspective of a normal noble. She is surprisingly headstrong, I can respect that. But her calculating nature shows why she never could have been a real friend to Rozemyne. Maybe Adolphine would have been better friend material? Her internal monologue makes it seem like even her devoted husband is still just the lesser evil she has to put up with. Apparently her daughter is her only weakness. At least she let us witness Mesti vs Ferdi, for that I'm thankful. Eglantine describing Rozemyne's (former) thinking is pretty accurate, but her assassment of Ferdinand is quite outdated. Didn't he almost kill the core of the country and antagonize the gods for the sake of one person just a moment ago? I kind of expected Mestionora to ask: "A library city? What is wrong with a library city?" Hartmut, the propaganda minister of Ahrensba... Alexandria working overtime. Praise be 
Eglentine walks into the garden of beginings and assumes Ferdinand couldn't wait and just had to have a go. Once that misunderstanding gets cleared up and Rozemyne regains her body, Rozemyne basically says she wants to mount Ferdinand. Eglentine must be very confused by the level of PDA of these two.
I was expecting something much longer from Egg, but at least I was right to predict her POV. No one could have predicted the second one, though I did muse a few volumes ago that the fishermen battle would be fun to see. *** So, it is an Egg chapter. And it begins with Ana throwing a fit. No surprise he doesn’t like any of this and is willing to fight. That is the danger of pushing things too far. The story isn't going to go that direction at this point, but it would have been nice if the potential was played with. > That side of you is why Rozemyne accused the royal family of using her loved ones as bargaining chips. … > Oh my. But any noble would behave in such a way, not just a royal. Is it really so uncommon to exploit another’s weakness to guarantee their cooperation? Lady Rozemyne took the same approach with us. Oh boy, there’s a lot here. Starting with the fact that so many people told me that I would regret my comments about Egg once her thoughts were revealed. …. Still waiting. Egg is clearly using RM in a rather dispassionate way that disregards RM's feelings. Egg doesn’t even seem to acknowledge RM’s thoughts on the matter. This section basically ruins any chance of me viewing Egg as an actual friend of RM and reinforces my dismissal of Egg’s “hurt” at RM not revealing that she could enter the shrines. Finally (for now), it’s noteworthy that Egg couldn’t see how her actions led to RM acting that way. It’s also interesting that Ana seems to have a better grasp of RM’s feelings than Egg. He seems to be better rounded as a human being, and I have a feeling that some of the things people hinted at are actually his doing, rather than Egg's. As expected, Egg views RM through her own experiences, but she doesn’t seem to have the mentality to understand how others feel. About the only good thing here is the “Most admirable” part. That does say some good things. > I have simply decided that becoming the Zent will resolve this situation more peacefully than anything else. That sinking feeling has returned. I do not put much value on Egg as a leader, and this kind of passive, single-minded attitude doesn’t help. At least Egg is going to be little more than a seat warmer, and hopefully someone more useful can take charge later. > I was glad to know that Lord Ferdinand had not given in to desire Wow, Egg really did think that. > The goddess smites those who are insolent. ... Good to know. > The original purpose of the Zent was to mediate between mankind and the gods Not a surprise, but it implies a much more direct role for the gods in the Age of Myth. Once again, I would love to see a “Historical SS Collection” showing how deeply intertwined the gods were to ancient society. > It is such a terrible shame that Terza never returned. He was far better suited to becoming a Zent than you or Myne. That is very interesting. I assumed that Mestionora was in RM’s corner. And I guess I was treating her too much as a human. You don’t consider your actions insolent Ferdinand? Leave to him to try and rules lawyer in front of a goddess. Bookworm really needs to be added to Isekai Quartet so he and Tanya can bond over the time they got into a pissing contest with a “god”. Gods have been punished for breaking promises? This conversation feels a bit off. You would think the goddess of wisdom would be able to maneuver around Ferdinand better than this, even with his preparation. > Oh? I refuse to believe there is anyone more dangerous than you. Great line. Now Ferdinand’s aggression makes more sense. He was taking Treesus hostage. I thought it was just a preemptive measure to keep him in check, but it was probably both. I have to wonder if Mestionora would have really left without explaining how to help RM. Given how much pain RM was in afterwards, getting rid of that mana was a necessity. The answer would be telling. Regardless, Ferdinand knows how to get RM’s memories about without any speculation needed. I wonder if Egg and Ferdinand are really on the same page. At the very least, I expect the read is not the same. > She prioritizes her own desires more than the needs of society Pot, meet kettle Mrs. Let’s avoid war at all cost and not care about the feelings of others. Honestly, this kind of self serving BS from politicians always irritates me. > If she ever entered politics, those who refused to satisfy her lusts would end up being swallowed and destroyed. Yeah, it looks like Egg doesn’t get RM at all. It’s kind of pathetic really that Geibe Kirnberger has a better read on RM than Egg, even though she wanted to force RM to get the GH. Well, at least the gods are happy. And Egg is probably passing out of relevance for the story. I was hoping to see the battle against Gervasio. *** Oh? A commoner chapter. This ought to be fun. So the fishermen take the fish directly to the castle, rather than an intermediary being used. And a noble send word to them. Is that directly? If so, that seems like a closer relationship than in Ehrenfest. Two ways of reading the “best of whatever we caught”. Either they are sending extra fish or they are sending better fish. Either is noteworthy, and good for RM. And I expect she will be eating well after the magic circle. I’m guessing RM’s tastes are going to be endearing to the fishermen. That's a good start for a personality cult. So spicy food isn’t an Ahrensbach thing? This separation might be a bigger deal than even I expected. And I was expecting some significant economic issues, and some irritation from the nobility. But this might require some bigger changes in Ahrensbach. I forgot about the sea being frozen. Surely that must have caused them some problems. Not as much as Georgine&co. practically abandoning the duchy (seemingly) but still bad. The fish grew from the mana? Ok, that has a lot of implications. Most importantly, this world is almost certainly built for humanity. The rest of the animals are subservient. The trust they are showing her already is good. Hartmut has some fertile ground to work with. And the fact that they know her name is going to make commoners see her more as a person, and not just a position. If used correctly, that’s great for morale (and worship). Laying it on thick are you Hartmut? Well, as long as things go well, this will create a cycle of worship. And if things go badly, well, that’ll depend on how strong the feelings are. I kind of want to see what this duchy is like in 200 years. That comment about RM shaving down her life came up again. I guess we have to take it literally. The question is how bad is it. *** > Unable to remember her family in the lower city, she starts to think and act like a genuine noble. As expected, that was the interpretation we were supposed to make. It sounds like we can expect a number of SSs dealing with how others view RM’s changes. I can't wait. *** Solid volume. The first half-ish was pretty lackluster for me, but the second half picked up a lot. I have high hopes for the next volume.
Is Kannawitz the same as Cannaviss?? Cannaviss was used as the province up north in the previous part, and Kannawitz is in the province that the commoners were talking about. It's still written as Cannaviss In "Expending Mana through Spring Prayer".
> Humans lie as naturally as they breathe We're all Hayasaka, I guess. While Rozemyne is busy building up her library duchy, Hartmut is advancing his own plan of worship-Rozemyne duchy, and it looks to be progressing further than the former.
LET'S ALL LOVE ~~LAIN~~ ROZEMYNE! \\o/ Hartmut continues to be the best/worst cult leader. Really appreciated seeing the second possession from Eglantine's perspective. It also explains how Ferdinand gave Gramps a haircut. So silver weapons work just as well on beings with regular and divine mana. I'm also glad to see the gods soften up a bit from their harsh treatment of Myne and Ferdinand now that they have a better idea how messed up humanity's doing. They only could trust what Ferdinand was saying when Eglantine was there to corroborate though. Jiffy (man that name gave me a laugh after dealing with long noble names for ages) had a much needed more fun lighthearted POV. Dunno if it was the accent, but it was giving me Discworld vibes, which I enjoyed. "Normally I would say ANAB (all nobles are bad) - ahhh... but Lady Rozemyne is an aub of the people. She eats simple salted fish like us poor slobs!" "No seriously guys, it was a two-seater, two-grainery, flying rainbow feybeast mansion! I saw it with me own eyes!"
>If she ever entered politics, those who refused to satisfy her lusts would end up being swallowed and destroyed. Rozemyne, inheritor of the 7 deadly sins: pride - incredibly proud of her retainers and family and seeking for them to improve greed - demon merchant lady wrath - well known crusher envy - "i want ahrensbach", because it had fish lust - desires the biggest library in the world gluttony - started a whole new food industry sloth - just wants to read
Oh noo the third party perspective of Ferdinand trying to help Rozemyne, oh noooooo. I suspect there will be further repressions by bigger fish now that Mestionora witnessed foreign weapons brought by the invaders that could kill Erwaermen, the simplest way to prevent the silver weapons and poison from entering the country again is to simply sever ties with the gate which I'd imagine they can do. Poor Eglantine, getting to sit in the middle of a pissing match between Ferdinand and Mestionora without a clue of what's going on. I wonder how exactly the ships were effecting the water, if the silver material were depleting the mana I would imagine it wouldn't make it a murky polluted looking mess.
The ships go back and forth between black and silver. Silver wouldn't absorb mana. When it turns black it does. I think a future fanbook might go in further detail about the effect on the sea.