Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 5 Volume 7 Part 8
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 5 Volume 7 Part 8
No sooner has Rozemyne’s fourth year at the Royal Academy begun than she ends up somewhere unexpected. How will the saint respond when an incident in Ahrensbach leaves everyone else feeling defeated?
You're viewing a single thread.
Glad we got some more insight into how Raublut fits into the picture. We knew he had some kind of tie in to Ahrensbach, but evidently it was really the king of Lanzenave where his true allegiance lied.
Now I'm much more worried about Hortensia. I thought she might have been pregnant and not in real trouble and that Raublut was merely a 'red herring' character, but not now. Her being a key holder to reach the Grutrissheit in the underground archive means she is a prime target for Leonzio and Detlinde's scheme. Glad the door needs three keys to open and am pretty sure that's not a door that can be overcome with silver cloth, but who knows. It also probably means that Raublut knows who the other key holders are and likely has some scheme in place to obtain Rozemyne and Hannelore's keys.
Also suspecting Raublut's involvement with the poisoning of the third prince. Not really sure why the current Zent decided to keep this guy around. Perhaps just a lack of nobles due to the purge, which Raublut was likely in favor of.
I was definitely wondering about Raublut and what role he'd play. Your comment does give me a little hope that Hortensia is still alive at least...
Partyway through reading these tow chapters, I started to think that Raublut was the father of the Lanzenave King, but it seems I was wrong on that account.
I too believed Raublut to be a red herring before. He was just too suspicious ironically. Then again, Kazuki sensei was far from suble when establishing Grausam, Georgine and Detlinde too, so I guess we really should have seen this coming XD. I too got immensely worried for Hortensia from reading the new release, but your post actually made me a bit more hopeful.
Lanzenave's side has mind controlling drugs, meaning it would be easy enough for them to make Hortensia open the archive for them. This means they have a good and solid reason to keep her alive, at least until she did that for them. If they kill her however, they run into several risks and problems. First of all, neither we, nor probably they, know if the archive keys have some contingencies built into them. It's entirely possible that should the wielder die, the keys are teleported to the archlibrarian rooms... rooms which only Hortensia is currently able to open, but which she surely locked, when returning to her home... with a key that was absorbed into her body and thus will not drop to the floor upon her death for certain. Or since they are tied to the library and an archive meant for royalty, either the library or the royal family might get an automatic alert upon the death of a keyholder, blowing their cover instantly. There's also the issue of ordonnanzes. If she is dead, no ordonnanzes can be sent to her and if anyone tried, they would become instantly aware of her death, leading to some uncomfortable questions for Raublut. But even if they are certain they can get the archive key from her, without setting off any alerts, it took Hortensia multiple days to dye it. So in my opinion it's probably far more benefitial and less risky for them to keep her alive, than to kill her... that is, IF they really need to get into the underground archive, which is likely, but not entirely certain.
But if they do, that would mean they will also need Rozemyne and Hannelore, since the archive only works when all three keys are used together.
Considering how Gervasio said that Valemaria's death was due to the laws of Yurgenschmidt, I have a feeling that she died as part of the purge and that Raublut's attempts to bring down the royal family started only at her death. Which means he might have proofen himself a capable and seemingly loyal retainer to Trauerqual, before going off the deep end. And once Trauerqual became a Zent with neither the necessary training, nor a Grutrissheit, he probably became so overworked and exhausted, he failed to notice any small slips in Raublut's facade that may have happened.
It would be quite interesting if he was put in a position, were he had to harm Hildebrand, but has grown so fond of the boy, that it is an actual struggle for him to decide whether to go along with this duty, or maybe even have this as his breaking point and abondon his Lanzenave master over it.
Ordonnanzes can't be used to show that someone is dead, as there are several things that can block them. The recipient could just be in another duchy or another type of unreachable space. Ordonannzes can be used to show that someone is alive.
Generally yes, for this specific case however, it does not matter. Hortensia is supposedly too ill to travel and resting in her room. In that situation it doesn't matter for which of the three possible reasons the ordonnanz can't be sent, because all three would be equally incriminating. Anyone who tried to send her an ordonnanz, but couldn't would instantly know that something is very wrong here and that Raublut lied to the academy staff and the royal family.