Ascendance of a Bookworm (Manga) Part 1
7 total works
A certain college girl who's loved books ever since she was a little girl dies in an accident and is reborn in another world she knows nothing about. She is now Myne, the sickly five-year-old daughter of a poor soldier. To make things worse, the world she's been reborn in has a very low literacy rate and books mostly don't exist. She'd have to pay an enormous amounts of money to buy one. Myne resolves herself: If there aren't any books, she'll just have to make them! Her goal is to become a librarian. This story begins with her quest to make books so she can live surrounded by them! Dive into this biblio-fantasy written for book lovers and bookworms!
Myne has finally started to adjust to her new life... but once a bookworm, always a bookworm. As winter sets in, there are historical methodologies to try: papyrus, clay tablets... anything that can hold letters and words. Even if it means getting well enough to visit the forest! But first there are chores to do and mythical fruits to cook.Fortunately, Myne has an ally in Otto, her father's paperwork-swamped colleague. Can he teach her how to read and write in this world and put her to work somewhere that will advance her goals and status? Or will she be stuck as a poor, illiterate girl forever?
Myne throws everything she has at paper-making while helping at the gate and preparing for Tuuli's baptism. She tries weaving faux-papyrus from fibers during winter and forming clay tablets during the spring, but both fail. Still, her love for books isn't so weak that she'd give up that easily. It's time to think up a Plan C! This is a bibliofantasy for all the bookworms of the world!
Aspiring apprentice merchants Myne and Lutz have signed a contract with Benno, who has promised to sell their plant-based prototype. With his assistance, they finally have the materials and tools to start making their first batch of washi paper! And Benno wants to sell not only paper, but Myne's other inventions, such as the flower hairpins, as well. But getting involved in the world of merchants makes Myne's life more complicated than ever as she gets registered at the Merchant's Guild and catches the eye of the conniving guildmaster. The more people realize that Myne's ideas can be commodified, the more everyone wants a piece of her. Meanwhile, as Myne displays more and more of her otherworld knowledge and adult-like behavior, Lutz has grown suspicious of her real identity... What will Myne do when he demands to know who she really is? How could she ever explain that the real Myne is gone forever?
Myne tells Lutz the truth about herself. He gets mad and confused, but in the end accepts Myne, with whom he has spent the past year making paper and such with. They successfully complete the paper and get accepted by Benno. They go to the Merchant's Guild to register so they can sell paper, where they are asked to make hairpins for the guildmaster's granddaughter. And so, they go to meet the girl herself, to ask how she would like her hairpins to look. This is a biblio-fantasy, by book lovers for book lovers!
Myne advances further into book-making so that she can have books to read. Her disease is known as “the Devouring,” and upon learning that it requires an exorbitant amount of money to cure, she resolves to stay alive by selling her knowledge from her past life. But despite her best efforts, the Devouring heat eats away at her day by day, and she ultimately loses consciousness during a business discussion. This is a biblio-fantasy by bookworms, for bookworms!
Myne narrowly escapes death thanks to a magic tool, but is told that she only has one year left to live at most. She decides to spend her remaining time with her family, concluding that she would rather die with them than sign her life away to a noble. Meanwhile, Lutz fights back against his parents, steeling his resolve to become a merchant no matter what. Together, they plan to continue making paper up until their baptism ceremony, but are soon called over by Freida to talk about the Devouring. This is a biblio-fantasy by bookworms, for bookworms! Part 1 concludes with this volume.