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nescamonster · 23 hours

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PART 4: Royalty Kinda Sucks

So, here’s the situation: When we are first introduced to the concept of Nobility, as seen through the Nobility’s eyes, it becomes apparent that there’s a reason behind every nonsensical tradition there is.

You must always smile and conceal your emotions because else, you’ll be in danger, making yourself the enemy of someone you cannot refuse. Civilians must be devoted to their Lord/nobles because they’re the ones with Mana, and without Mana, the farmers suffer. There’s no food, there’s no agriculture.

And at the beginning of the series, Rozemyne accepts this as the truth.

She sees how the amount of Mana offered correlates to the very livelihood of the commoners. Just like her, we as an audience, believe this story 100%. There’s an order to things, Nobility is inherently superior, some people just wield more power than others.

Despite this, however, Rozemyne never fully buys into this idea.

Ferdinand and the rest of the nobles say “There’s no need for commoners, they live entirely by the kindness or lack of it from the nobles”

While, on the surface, Rozemyne agrees to it (or more like, cannot find a way to counterargument), each every action since proves that she very much disagrees.

She keeps listening to commoners, keeps trying to employ the orphans, educating the kids, and forming connection with the merchants. Her instance on staying on the temple is very much a way for her to cling to her commoner origins and refusing to let go of them. And, whenever someone tries to take advantage of them, she tries her hardest to stop it by any means possible.

My favourite argument she makes, is when she explains, in Part 4 to Hartmut that:

“If we view this as nobles thinking up trendy goods and commoners making them, then nobles are the thinking mind while commoners are their hands and feet, no? Overloading commoners with unreasonable demands is no better than crippling one’s own arms and legs”.

On the surface this is an argument that appeals to nobles, seeing commoners as nothing more than another tool that must be properly utilized. However, Rozemyne is inadvertently sneaking in one of her own core views: Nobles and commoners and equals.

Rather than seeing commoners as an entirely detached object, she introduces the idea of commoners and nobility existing in an ecosystem. And here comes the first bit of proper commentary:

Hierarchies are fundamentally flawed, and what we need in a society are communities.

Rozemyne, being a chronically ill person, depends on others to do her work. To survive, we need communities and support networks. Some of the most brilliant minds and powerful players of the game do not thrive in a society that rigidly adheres to power structures such as nobility. Those so quick to toss away and dispose of whoever doesn't "fit in". Best example is Ferdiand - who was stiffled by Veronica.

This is juxtaposed with Ferdinand Hirschurl and Christine, all geniuses in their own right, extremely capable and talented. Neither of which was able to survive Ehrenfest. Even nobles of other duchies state that a single talented individual is incapable of turning the tides of their duchy.

It’s only when Rozemyne comes into the picture, forcing people around her to function as a community, as a system, that any real change is made. She’s remarkable, perhaps more than for her intellect, in her ability to raise people. Her ability to form systems and networks of highly skilled attendants what allows her to be perceived as a saint.

This is a direct contrast to her days as Urano, where she only ever submersed herself in books. I don’t doubt that Urano was as much of a genius as Rozemyne is - but her inability to connect and create a community to help her out was what caused her to be isolated. Only ever to see books and nothing more.

As Myne, she was forced to confront how vital to her survival family and community mean. As Rozemyne, she was forced to build her own, due to how nobility absolutely destroys said community in favour of a hierarchy.

And all of this, is a microcosm of Royalty.

The same attitude the nobles have to commoners is a direct 1:1 to how royals treat other nobles. They see nobles as little more than objects to be ordered around, and just like noble destroy communities and networks, royalty destroys them. Just on a much larger scale.

Rather than seeing other duchies as, you know, arms and legs to make Yurgenschmidt more powerful, capable or rich, they see them as pawns to move around to protect/save Royals themselves. As if they are Yugernschmidt.

Whenever they say “for the good of Yurgenschmidt” it’s always synonymous with the “good of Royalty”.

The duchies only exist to serve Royals, and not the other way around. They’re more than happy to cut off Ehrenfest and let it struggle, even though it’s slowly becoming the new hot spot for technological inventions in all the country. They’re essentially crippling their own body, to save themselves. And sure, in other contexts maybe it could work. Rather amputate an arm rather than lose the head. But that’s not what they’re doing. They see their “arms” as disposable. Why bother to save one, when you have another that can work as well? (Which is dumb)

This is a direct criticsm of politicians, or position in powers, that see for themselves, rather than for the greater good of a country or the collective. People who would exploit the most vulnerable in a community to keep the status quo, all while claiming it's "for the greater good".

Sisgwald in particular is a great example of what Wilfred could have become if Rozemyne had no stepped in. He very much sees his wives as nothing but ways of attaining more power. He refuses to even think of other people reaching the throne and sees nothing past his own ego.

That’s why he is so taken aback by Rozemyne. Here comes a girl, with so much more experience at negotiating than him, calling him out directly over the many faults that royals are committing. As she points out, they went into a meeting expecting to extort her so completely blind they couldn’t see why Ehrenfest would be unwilling to enter negotiating.

Ferdinand explained in Part 3 how, whoever has more information in a conversation between nobles has the upper hand. This ought to be the way everyone approaches anything, but Royals very much can’t comprehend this in regards to a lesser/middle duchy. To them, all duchies are the same (much like all commoners are the same to nobles) and do not require the information. This is, to put it bluntly, idiotic to the point of impressive.

The best example? The very same meeting they had.

Rozemyne was able to get what she needed. Sure, the Royals also got what they wanted. But that’s it. They were able to obtain the bare minimum. While Ehrenfest was able to walk away with extensive concessions and much more room to make preparations. All while bruising the ego of Royalty.

And because they lack this ability to see nobles as a network, they also have the same problems nobles have. Their petty family drama gets dragged onto the surface for all the country to see. They're giving away information that's critical for negotiations without even noticing.

Hell, they almost exploded a war because Anastasius couldn’t tell Eglantine he liked her. Instead of raising each other up, like Rozemyne does, they drag each other own. Their lack of communication causes Rozemyne to be thrust into the middle of their family feud, trying her damnest to solve their problems, while they worry abt their own selfish desires.

But perhaps the most crucial network that they’ve lost is: Information.

Due to the fact that Ascendance of a Bookworm is a light novel about books - it’s inevitable that we would stumble at some point with the importance of achieving information preservation. Urano herself, as a librarian, is acutely aware of how easily information is lost. Rozemyne on her hand, has had to see the direct impact this has.

The reason why the Grutrissheit is lost, is not just the war. It’s the lack of any real information preservation. And this is artificially created by the Royals themselves.

The Grutrissheit was passed by from heir to heir, but this also meant that very few people were capable of accessing the information. When war struck, those few people were killed, and the texts that remained were written in ancient languages. A language which all but few could read (Let’s put a pin on that*).

And now, we find out that Royals of the past (possibly) implemented a barrier so that no one BUT royalty could access the Grutrissheit. This makes it so that the best Zent candidate they have right now, cannot even touch it.

In an attempt to shield themselves from others, potentially, stealing what they think their “rightful” position is - they’ve blocked access to information. And now that they’re been killed NO ONE HAS ACCESS TO IT.

This is something that Rozemyne, as a librarian at heart, is desperately trying to avoid. Through her transcriptions and the rapid spread of the printing industry, she REFUSES to gatekeep information. She wants it to be accessible to anyone who wants, as long as she can get something of equal value (aka, other stories/books), and that's only to emphasize the VALUE books inherently have.

This is all to say, that the politics of AoB are quite simple if looked through these perspectives, and framing Royalty as the flawed institution it is.

It��s about how hierarchies of power are bad. The few, who have not proven their worth, have the power to deny information to a large population and deny themselves any responsibility for their actions.

Ascedance of a Bookworm initially presents you with the idea of Nobility as something rational, just to later point out all the ways it which it’s failing. The only reason why many things are working or improving in Ehrenfest is because of Sylvester and his ability to properly integrate Rozemyne’s ideas.

Ascedance of a Bookworm also states that this is not a fix that can be solved in a single action, in fact it cannot be fixed in single generation. Something that Rozemyne critiques of Sisgwals is his insistence that all problems ought to be solved quickly so they cannot cause harm in the future (again, amputating an arm to save the head).

But this is proving to be a flawed response. This idea of cutting all crippled arms is what gives way the purges, and the mana crisis they’re having.

Rozemyne, perhaps as a chronically ill child herself, does her best to avoid this. She recognizes that just because someone isn’t “up to standard”, doesn’t mean they cannot be rehabilitated and integrated back into society. She does this believing human life to be valuable regardless of what can it offer - but because of the world they live in she has hidden this behind the “so they can give back to society”.

It’s way more productive to save someone than to kill them. This creates a bunch of problems, yes. But it’s worth it. Being a leader it’s not an easy job.

It’s something even Ferdinand comments on. To be a Zent, you have to give up everything you love for your country. And that means EVERYTHING. Something that, if I’m being 100% honest, I don’t think Sisgwald understands. The mere idea of him waiting to be Zent simply because that’s what he’s been told all his life is tantamount to laughable.

At this point, the best option is undoubtedly Eglantine. If he fails to understand this and clings to a throne he’s no longer the best suited for - it’s nothing but useless pride wrapped in a cocoon of delusion.

There’s so much that needs to be learned and work to be put in. Rozemyne does not accept the role, not because she’s humble, but because she understands this. Leading takes hard work, it takes time, it takes effort. She does not want it, and why should she? She has been offered none of the privileges of royalty, yet she’s expected to perform their labour and duties.

Those who benefit from Royalty are basically dumping all their work on her lap. Well, granted, not all the work. But definitely a good chunk of theirs. For example, transcribing ancient languages to find their stupid bible, instead of asking the temple.

(*PIN: And mind you, people can absolutely still learn ancient languages. But another huge fault of the royalty, as it is right now, is that there’s no one willing to put in the time and effort to preserve or revive their own goddamn culture).

Yeah, sure, maybe Rozemyne has a duty to rule, as she’s the most capable…But. She shouldn’t. Royalty, who’s been trained their whole lives to rule, or support rulers - should be more than well-equipped to solve their own problems. Hell, they have attracted top talen- No. They’ve stolen top talent from other duchies, they have all the resources they could want, and they have the ultimate say on absolutely everything. Tell me why they want to poach another talented person from their duchy?

It’s not Rozemyne’s responsibility to solve the problems of royalty. In other words, it’s not our duty to solve politicians’ problems. It’s not our duty to solve the problem of first-world countries, it’s not our duty to solve other people’s problems.

Ugh, I’m getting heated.

This is all, mind you, after Rozemyne was told in her early years she wouldn’t be able to achieve anything because she’s just a commoner. Which, again, bullshit. She’s the prime example that there’s nothing that prevents a commoner from being on the level of an archduke, or hell, becoming a Zent, other than a social one. Truly, Yurgenschmidt’s nobility as made-up as our own.

The introduction, or rather, the direct criticism of royalty in part 5, is the house of card toppling in all the themes touched barely in previous parts.

The issues with meritocracy, the absurd power inbalances, the outdated view of older generations that refuse to give way to a better future for the youth, as well as a hierarchy based on an entirely made-up concept.

It quickly proved to be absolutely a political story. But I find it so impressive that it’s not something you would notice, or at least be explicitly made aware, until Part 5.

Part 1 - 4 made sure to lay the ground of how this world works, then in Part 5 it decided to break the illusion that it is, in fact, working.

PREV <;< MASTERLIST >> NEXT

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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Part 5 volume 8 spoilers

So very glad that Hannelore has joined us on team "Sigiswald is a basic bitch who doesn't even qualify to be Rozemyne's partner" by the reasoning of "look at how cheap his courtship gift was, his mana isn't even on the same level as yours so he couldn't even give you kids :/" like there is also the realization of "oh you really are not someone who should have the unchecked power of a royal and the free time of a third wife" after the whole library rant, but she is out here willing to help overthrow the country if it means she can help her bestie out and bag a good man 👍

I am again enjoying the sheer audacity of Ferdinand's new plan of setting up Myne as a divine figure to give the Grutrissheit, and therefore the tedious job of being in charge, to somebody else so that he and Myne can build their nerd paradise in peace. Like yeah they will still have to rule as Aub and whatnot, but it sure gives them a lot more freedom to do what they want and not be bothered.

And hahahahaha Ferdinand getting embarrassed at Myne's brash declarations about making a place for him to be happy. Sylvester and Co. are never going to let him live it down.

These two really are like aroace couple goals. I really enjoy it.

I am worried about Gervasio being so close to having the full Grutrissheit. Like we now know that there have been multiple people with multiple Grutrissheits in the past, so him getting it isn't an automatic win for them, but it's really going to elongate this battle 😔

But damn the current royal family really does seem entirely useless. I'm totally for Ferdinand's plan just in hopes of getting someone semi-competent on the throne so hopefully the new royal family actually like learns from history and reads some goddamn books.

And like dang has their laziness really made their mana capacity fall that far? Like it seems like this is actually a problem that plagues the entire country. Because supposedly Gervasio was head and shoulders above all the other seeds, but Ferdinand is the only one we've seen on the same level as Myne. And like yeah it's been two decades so who's to say how much Ferdinand's capacity has improved since he was a kid; especially with the new compression method.

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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Ok, but the reason Ferdinand loves Myne so much is because she was the first person to love him unconditionally. Now I'm not saying Ferdinand wasn't loved, clearly Sylvester loves his brother dearly, but because of how Yurgenschmidt works no one was in a position to love Ferdinand just as is. Something else in their lives had to take precedence over him, but for Myne, Ferdinand was a priority. She put him first, and no one in his life has. For the first time, someone cared about him openly without fear of repercussions, and needless to say, that fact resonated with him.

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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I would like us to take a moment and appreciate how much Myne has grown over the series

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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Something I find extremely refreshing in AoB is how the narrative lets Rozemyne be a warrior, and the one with the most political influence on her own.

Ive read too many Isekai and almost all the time the power a Female Lead wields is entirely on who she marries or who is interested in her. She may be just the daughter of a marquis, but the crown prince is so infatuated with her, he’ll do anything! So that means he’ll solve all her problems for her!

Which is, fine in some cases. But I noticed this means that if she gets wronged, she’s the never the one to get revenge (even in so called “villainess” stories).

This ties into the idea of women having to remain “good”, so while they are allowed to want revenge, they can never enact it. Or at least not be the one to, through violence, deal the final blow. This would make them directly responsible for their actions. So while the villain/villainess can die, it can never be the FL who uses the sword to kill them. It always has to be through the Male Lead, another Villain, or even the Court System.

So by having the Male Lead be the one to physically enact the revenge or wielding the power - the Female Lead gets to come out as the “good” one in the READER’s eyes. Because her actions can never be morally grey (in fear of alienating readers)

HOWEVER by doing this you also make her power subservient to the man’s affection towards her. And makes her overall power to come off as…useless in some cases.

I just read one where the, supposedly, genius swordswoman is almost r*ped. She does try to attack the man, but gets overwhelmed. The prince is the one who jumps into the action to not only save her, but kill the man. Which was infuriating cause: Why did the author chose to rob her main character of being the one to hurt the men who hurt her? Minutes later she does kill a man, so it was entirely so she could be saved by a man from an even worse man.

But AoB doesn’t do that.

Rozemyne is powerful, because she wields insane amounts of power as Rozemyne. She’s the one who creates trends, she’s the one who knows the Bible, she’s the one who created paper books, she’s the one forming alliances and creating her own “faction” of sorts that is 120% loyal to her.

Never does her power become related to who she’s engaged with. Her power is inherent to her, and people try to tie her down or control her via marriage. She gets engaged to Wilfred because she’s becoming too influential and they hope that that can be transferred to Wilfred and cement HIS position as the next in line. She gets engaged to Sisgwald because she’s the one who is closest to getting the Book of Mestionora and they NEED her be part of the royal family.

The only instance in which she wields the power of who she’s engaged to get away with anything - is during the Ahrensbach attack and it’s simply a

Which facilitated everything but given the circumstances, she was gonna do it even if he didn’t give her his blessing.

Even with her endgame partner, Ferdinand, the dynamic is so different.

In most stories the FL attracts the attention of progressively more powerful and higher-ranking-than-her men, and most always ends up with the one with the highest political power.

In more than one occasion I’ve seen a FL ditch the knight who’s been with her since day 1, to be with the crown prince cause he’s the one who will make her the most powerful woman in the room. It’s always framed as “true love” but sometimes it’s done so poorly you can see that’s just the author wanting her to end up as a princess.

Ferdinand is never the most powerful man in the room. At least politically speaking. Yes, he’s the smartest, most capable and the one pulling the strings, but that doesn’t translate to political power. In part 2, in the temple, the one with the most power is Bezewanst. And part 3 an onwards, you could argue Rozemyne is always the one with the higher rank.

In the temple, she’s the High Bishop, and in the castle she’s an archduke candidate with Leisgang blood. Ferdinand is the High Priest and the half brother of the archduke with no real faction behind him. Rozemyne is aware that titles aren’t the only thing that matters and Ferdinand is obviously the best because he’s capable - but that’s not the norm in most Isekai stories.

It’s even used at times as a way to alíviate Ferdinand’s burden. She’s the High Bishop - she’s capable of denying extra work and even ordering him to take care of himself.

Even as Ferdinand is married off, the one creating connections to the royal family to alíviate his pain is Rozemyne, not the other way around. The one wielding her power to force others to protect her loved ones is HER. Ferdinand is, up to that point, only trying to save himself and Ehrenfest. Rozemyne fits the archetype of a Male Lead far better than Ferdinand in some cases.

And while she never gets to give out the order or kill someone whos wronged her directly, it doesn’t feel bad because one, Rozemyne rarely holds a grudge and sees them getting disposed outside of her eyes as the best way to handle it. Because two, she hates blood and unnecessary violence. And that, in the narrative, is genuinely presented as a flaw. It’s not a “she’s so pure she can’t be mean”, it’s a “she would do it but she genuinely can’t stomach it”. She could do it, she would rather not.

There’s also the fact that she’s genuinely good at combat - at least as a strategist, healer and commander. Her inability to wield a sword to directly attack others (but she did use the spear once) and frail nature, is not doesn’t feel like an excuse to not have her kill, but a limit. She can’t do everything. She’s filling a lot of positions, having her grab a sword is not only out of character but unnecessary.

The only people who she seems to hold a very real grudge against are Georgine and Detline, and that’s entirely for what they’ve done to others, not her. And while I’m still in part 8, her not being the one to directly kill then of get rid of them in the future, does not seem bad. Because Ferdinand and Sylvester have waaaay more reasons to hate them and get their revenge.

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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World is Myne

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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On the topic of Myne's chronic illness I also want to talk about the magical cure trope and how the narrative subverts it. The magical cure is more times than not a very harmful trope and difficult to use properly, typically it involves a character who is disabled in some way and a cure of some sort that cures them of their disability. The problem with it however is the fact that for most disabled or chronically ill people there is no cure and that the narrative will typically imply, whether the author means to or not, that a person can only be "whole" if they are physically and mentally fit. With Ascendance of a Bookworm however this doesn't happen, of the three cures Myne receives throughout the story none of them remove the fact that she is chronically ill and the narrative never treats the fact that she is as a bad thing but rather something that she and the people around her have to cope with and work around. This is most telling in how her apprentice attendants lose points in their classes when she collapses at tea parties at the academy, it is seen not as her fault for not being well but her attendants for not being prepared enough to care for their lady.

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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just learned a character in the story I'm reading (ascendance of a bookworm) named Damuel was originally going to be named Samuel but the author mistyped his name and just went with it. that's the funniest shit to me. imagine if your parents named you Felix but mistyped your name as Gelix and now you're named Gelix for your whole life. this is exasperated by how Damuel is like the saddest most pitiable poor little meow meow. not even his name is right bro. holy shit.

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nescamonster · 23 hours

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"ascendance of a bookworm" and the centrality of education

something "bookworm" recognizes that i think a lot of other isekai miss is that myne's greatest advantage from her past life isn't her knowledge of certain technologies or products. it's her education.

this is obviously true in the lower city, where most of the people around her have received zero formal education; but it is even true among the highest levels of nobility, where the standard amount of formal education is six terms at the royal academy. that's three months of the year for six years, and nobles intentionally budget their time at the academy to spend more of it on socializing than they do on education. outside of the academy, many nobles receive some form of private tutoring, but the quality, quantity, and consistency vary widely from person to person.

compare that to urano's university-level education in modern-day japan. she spent a minimum of sixteen years attending school for most of the day for most of the year. and it shows.

one of the moments from the series that has really stuck with me is the scene where ferdinand reads myne's memories and experiences, from her point of view, what her education was like: year after year, across her entire childhood, with many different teachers, in many different subjects, in many different classrooms, surrounded by other children her age. the way seeing that allows him to finally grasp why she seems so uniquely capable of being taught compared to other people he knows. it's not that she's some sort of unparalleled genius. it's merely that she's been conditioned to perform academically and that she's been taught how to learn.

and each time myne "ascends" within jurgenschmidt society and is forced to perform in a new environment with minimal time to learn its ways, this conditioning serves her well. she knows how to sit down at a desk, crack open the books, and study until she's got it. equally, having received a comprehensive education puts her far ahead of the average jurgenschmidt citizen in terms of being able to synthesize information from a variety of sources and see how disparate phenomena are interrelated. when she arrives, she may not know anything about jurgenschmidt's economy, government, social structure, etc., but she knows that they exist, are worth learning about, are having a huge effect on her own life, and can be manipulated to her own ends.

what's more, her belief in the fundamentality of education is the single force driving the greatest amount of change within jurgenschmidt. yes, the printing press is the most revolutionary technology she introduces, but her educational reforms will have more immediate and farther-reaching effects.

by the point in the story we're currently at in the english translation (p5v7), she has improved educational access and outcomes for the following:

specific people in the lower city of ehrenfest (lutz, tuuli, kamil, those wealthy enough to purchase her picture books and toys)

those in the ehrenfest temple orphanage (said to receive a level of education equivalent to the average mednoble)

members of some farming villages of ehrenfest (those who have been visited by gray priests over winter hibernation)

all noble children of ehrenfest (through the winter playroom and better grades committee, as well as her educational materials)

some nobles in other duchies (those who have gained access to her picture books and educational toys, and those who have been personally influenced by her, such as hannelore and hildebrand)

commoners with the devouring in ehrenfest like dirk, who can receive funding from the aub to receive a noble education

no, she hasn't yet introduced mandatory, free public education, but she's laid the foundation for it. she has introduced educational reform at multiple levels of society and, more importantly, impressed its importance upon key authority figures, such as sylvester, charlotte, and melchior. that ensures that her reforms have staying power.

this is one of the things i adore about this series: the realism of the societal changes myne brings about. a lesser story would have shown her introducing free, compulsory education for all commoners within the space of a few years. that would have been nice, but it wouldn't have felt real. instead, myne has achieved every small reform through sheer bull-headedness, with blood, sweat, and tears, with immense effort. and that makes her accomplishments feel meaningful in a way an easy win would not. and yet we see widespread change, inertia that we can envision snowballing into the kind of education system urano enjoyed in japan somewhere in the not-to-distant future.

myne's societal reforms feel earned, and it all begins with the story's recognition of the immeasurable value of the education she received back in japan.

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