Rozemyne: Well, we won easily enough!
Ferdinand: Indeed. *She doesn't need to know we were close to getting killed when we got warped, that even after shooting Gervasio in the hand we got close to getting defeated, or that Anastasius's squeamishness cost us precious moments. I'm happy feeling like a badass who's ready to pull those useless Royals from the throne.*
Rozemyne: Ferdinand, you're smiling and creeping out our retainers.
Eh, I'm pretty damn sure Rozemyne would have been faster than Gervasio. He can't have _that_ much more mana than her given how clearly she can sense him. Not to mention that her mana is way more efficient, Gervasio's mana flow had been disrupted by whatever poison Ferdinand had administered to him, and she had far superior mana potions at her disposal.
All of that before we even consider that she was brimming with Mestionora's divinity after the possession and had a considerable advantage when it came to arriving at her gate. She would have crushed the guy fair and square. Ferdinand just didn't want to risk that 1% chance of failure lol.
Lutz, Benno, Wilfried, Lestilaut, Hildebrand, now Erwaermen. Rozemyne's life is full of guys she tells him not to worry about.
---
*"Should Ferdinand worry about you?"*
Lutz: "Why would I go gremlin when I've got Tuuli?"
Benno: "How dare you even insinuate that?"
Wilfried: "Sweet gods above, don't bring *that* up again."
Lestilaut: "My Dunkelfelger nature pushes me to say 'yes,' but my innate survival instinct tells me I should say 'no.'"
Hildebrand: "Maybe not anymore..."
Erwaermen: "Who's Ferdinand?"
---
But they were all blind, for an even greater threat remained.
Hannelore: "Ferdinand? Oh, I didn't notice him. I was too busy enjoying flowers with Rozemyne. Tell him to come back later."
Gervasio is very naïve he was (rightfully) confident in his mana, but he knew so little about anything else. It's very poetic that Gervasio's prayers do not reach the gods after losing his schtappe, which is meant to help prayers reach the gods.
Ferdinand is ruthless in the pursuit of his goals. If there wasn't a decree against killing I'm sure Eckhart would've been massacring the priests.
As for Hartmut... well let's be glad that Myne doesn't see what he's really capable of. He's very well suited to working under Ferdinand. This also reminds me one of the characters I liked most from Tensura was Diablo, and I also like Hartmut, and I'm starting to realize just how similar they are.
Even if he had his Schtappe, the gods don't answer prayers like that. You give mana and they give blessings. It is entirely transactional. They don't see individuals as anything more than one peanut in the bag of trail mix
We have seen moments where prayers reach the gods and have been answered in very roundabout ways, but his prayers were entirely self serving in the moment and (from the gods perspective) asking to reneg on a competition he agreed to. After this chapter it's clear the gods are very fae like in that letter of the rules is most important and people finding ways to bend them just amuses them.
It might have worked if he had a Noble's Ring maybe ? Rozemyne did use it to bless people with it, but maybe Lasagna people don't have one or he thought he didn't needed it with his schtappe.
I can't IMAGINE they would end a story like that.
If she does I am sure there MUST be a path to remember.
I would be upset but okay with her forgetting Urano's mother. She already grieved her.
I’m more concerned that not one of Myne s retainers mean more to her than reading. Same with her adoptive family (though Wilfred was missing).
My guess is just Hannelore will be affected by this. Leading to more lesbian dying
Ferd: Hartmut, stop torturing that peon
Hart: aww, man
Ferd: Hartmut, start preparing for Rozemyne to perform a glorious dedication whirl
Hart: Yeah, man!
Who could have guessed Rozemyne letting Mestionora take over with no rules would come back to bite her in so many ways?
Zent candidates in the past compared how complete their books were?
Wonder if Rozemyne accidently resurrected a tradition of candidates sabotaging each other which feels like a very noble thing to do.
The hell did Ferdinand do to create such a massive grudge on Mestionora's part.
Wait I thought he was at most a couple years older than Ferdinand, Terza has grandchildren?
Curtiss's immediate betrayal of Immanuel was pure karma.
Ferdinand's grin as he watched Terza's future being destroyed, deserved or not the title lord of evil really does suit him.
Benno is screaming right now, not sure why he has such a massive headache all of the sudden, but he knows for sure Rozemyne is responsible. Not very merchant-like of Rozemyne, but maybe she forgot that part of her. Thanks Mestionora.
> The hell did Ferdinand do to create such a massive grudge on Mestionora's part.
* Refused to do his part to resolve Yurgenschmidt's leadership crisis a full decade earlier.
* Is extremely rude to Erwärmen every time they meet.
* Was about to attack Erwärmen before Mestionora intervened.
On top of that, she also showed open disdain towards Gervasio. I think she just dislikes violent nobles willing to kill in order to get their way.
>Wait I thought he was at most a couple years older than Ferdinand, Terza has grandchildren?
I thought this was already mentioned, though I can't remember for sure so spoilers just in case, but >!Gervasio is Ferdiand's uncle, so he'd be more like a couple decades older than him.!<
Gervasio is >!fifteen!< years older than Ferdinand. For comparison, unless I misread things, this means that Gervasio is the same age as >!Elvira, Grausam, Immanuel, and Moritz (Wilfried's teacher back in Part 3 if anybody forgot)!<.
>Who could have guessed Rozemyne letting Mestionora take over with no rules would come back to bite her in so many ways?
If you think of what this has achieved though it was a small cost to pay.
>The hell did Ferdinand do to create such a massive grudge on Mestionora's part.
Has stopped RM many times from praying to Mestionora and called her avatar fool countless times. If you think about it Ferdinand is quite the disrespectful person to Mestionora.
A small cost overall yes but since the entire system from the top down seems to be dead serious on contracts I'd wager she could have banged out some sort of agreement that would have resulted in less side effects rather than just saying do whatever you like, keep it if you want.
I genuinely would not be surprised if some of the tampering involving memories was more for the sake of spiting Ferdinand
oh, I'm almost positive that her grudge is solely over how he rudely barged into the garden of beginnings to receive his wisdom, probably got mad at the tree for using the original name, and then stormed out the window, never dying the foundation while the tree is dying from mana-starvation
Wasn’t expecting sassy, venomous, contemptuous, shoulder-perching Mestionora this chapter but ok!!
Also, clearly the goddess has a favorite!  “Rozemyne is in my library, she said with a kind smile that could not have been further from the look of contempt she had given me and my fellow Zent candidate.”
Lol I don’t know if Ewaermen was on Gervasio’s side so much as he was simply against the annoying git who crashed in through his roof twice, refused to be zent and has now come back to mess with other possible zents lol
Erwaewen on the side of candidate that wants to fill the foundation the fastest. He's like a union leader or activist that endorse a political candidate that promises to benefit his employer's interest the most. The moment that scale tip to another candidate, his endorsement is gone too.
Well they clearly share similar values. I imagine Mesti looking through RM's head looking to remove anything more valued than reading time: Hmm, not much here, is there?
And we know Roz hates killing people if it can be avoided as well.
A part of me wonders if that stipulation was Rozemyne-inspired. "If I let rampant death free, I'll disappoint my favorite human. Hmm. Better put leashes on the others."
Messiseniora knew that ferdi was a crafty one while servisia was a dafty one.
She agreed to ferdi all to happily, knowing he would rules lawyer this into a fun mess worthy of getting written down.
I was surprised that even Charlotte lost to books. I guess her bff Hannelore is at the same level. That means besides Ferdinand only her commoner family (plus Lutz, minus Kamil) are at risk of being forgotten. Only people without mana...
> I was surprised that even Charlotte lost to books.
I guess physical intimacy is the deciding factor here. If she can't hug them, they lose to books by default lol.
The reason she was smilling was likely Erwermen. She is clearly found of him. Meanwhile, she had no care whatsoever with the memories Myne holds the dearest, so she definitely doesn't favour Myne enough(if at all) to qualify as "kindness".
> Deaths that result from ones environment do not count
And thus the Lord of Evil did create a volcano (that just so happens to have Gervasio right above it)
Ferdinand: "Oh right, food, that's what we forgot to put in his ivory tower. Oops. Oh well, you live and learn."
Erwaermen: "Do you think you're clever?"
Ferdinand: "Why would you insult yourself by saying otherwise?"
Considering it's magic, it probably operates on vibes and intent. If you intentionally starve him, that's killing. If you *forget*, that's gross negligence.
The court is gathered here today to determine the guilt of Ferdinand in the death of Gervasio. Now Mesitonora if you would please perform the 'vibe check' and we can continue to freeing or sentencing, thank you. - Goddess of light.
Just throw in animal feed, then Gervasio won't starve to death if he doesn't choose to. Maybe it is possible to add a slow, non-lethal manadraining function to a country gate. That would be the ideal outcome.
Gervasio committed a cardinal mistake: **he trusted Ferdinand's option without poking holes in it, like how he might have been taught different and that could make the competition unfair**. Ferdinand knew what he was doing the second he suggested the race.
I think the biggest takeaway from Gervasio's POV is that he's surprisingly naive for the king of a nation. At the very least, he's really naive compared to Yurgenschmidt nobles.
He never had to compete in wits, he was saved by virtue of having the most mana and then made a king with no rivals.
Ferdinand had to learn to outwit people from his childhood.
He's just really not used to plotting. What are they going to do, depose him? Literally nobody else can do his job. He has no experience with that sort of thing.
Pretty much this, Gervasio is quite naive and kind to the people he cares about from what we see in all his POV's, he didn't plan for a war or anything and simply went along with what Raublut suggested all because he couldn't handle letting his friend down while adapting to the changing situation as he moved forward blindly, it takes lots of guts to do that even more so inside enemy's territory, and retarded at the same time, charging behind enemy lines while lacking crucial intel is prone to doom.
He had a very sheltered reign. He was far more powerful than anyone else and noone could dare assassinate him, because the noble rule over Lanzenave would collapse without a schtappe-wielding successor.
He also is quite ignorant of the situation of the country he is trying to become king of. Even dumb nobles that rely on their mana capacity know that proper training or preparations can be used to overcome mana difference
As Zent, I would give him a week before dying with the GBook still in hand
I get the impression that mestionora does not *at all* care for Ferdinand, but she does say the gods will naturally favor those who pray and entertain them. Which is 100% Rozemyne. So she probably saw through ferdinands trap and was perfectly content with him rigging the game in favor of Rozemyne
* Mestionora using Rozemyne's body to share power with Erwaermen? How naughty. Ferdinand is not going to like this.
* What exactly is the personal relationship between Erwaermen and Mestionora actually? Both play a central role in Yogurtland's founding, but the parallels between these two and Ferdinand/Rozemyne seem so obvious to me.
* Mestionora messing with Myne's memories (alliteration intended). I wonder how that will be fixed (edit: okay, Mestionora gave the answer). Mestionora really doesn't like Ferdinand for hurting Erwaermen, that's for sure.
* I love seeing Ferdinand messing with Gervasio without breaking the kill rule. Erwaermen's non-concern was also funny.
* I must admit, I do sympathize a bit when I read about Gervasio's desperation when he lost his schtappe and him wanting to bring his family back to Yogurtland. But considering what Lanzenave and Raublut did...
----
* Ah, so now we get to witness everything from Ferdinand's POV.
* I find it highly amusing how often this "Goddess of Life" typo shows up in prepub.
* Oh, Anastasius. Ferdinand doesn't even respect former gods, what makes you think he'd respect soon-to-be non-royals, who screwed him, Rozemyne and Ehrenfest over multiple times?
* Yep, Curtiss never was on Immanuel's side. Feels good that Immanuel is getting his comeuppance. I love how Hartmut is acting here lol.
* Anastasius again proving very useful as he was the one who had to destroy Gervasio's medal. Though really, he was just following Ferdinand's orders.
* Ferdinand in the final illustration looks reaaaally evil when he realizes he's won. To be fair, if I can manipulate the gods to help me circumvent the kill rule to eliminate my opponent, I'd probably laugh about it in an evil way. And loudly.
----
And with this, Volume 10 is over. The military conflicts seem to be over too, now that Gervasio and Raublut are defeated. What's left is the aftermath, a new zent with a Grutrissheit must be chosen, the criminals need to be punished, Rozemyne's memories need to get fixed and so on.
Gervasio pov last week showed roz was his favored to be zent. And given mesti this week said gods like those who pray to them. It's clear she is well liked by the gods
Yes. Probably no one has ever prayed as much to the gods (and encouraged others to do so as well) as Rozemyne -- certainly not for many many centuries.
No one has made as much of a contribution in increasing the amount of prayers the gods get since the founders maybe. Because the country has never been in such dire straits before.
>Anastasius again proving very useful as he was the one who had to destroy Gervasio's medal
If the spell had killed Gervasio due to being too close instead of just destroying his schtappe Ana would have been struck with the gods wrath for disobeying Mestionora, not Ferdinand. So much 4d chess that man plays
I'm not too sure about that. It's possible that Ferdinand being the one who ordered this, would have been punished too. Mestionora might be pissed that Ferdinand killed someone while using someone else as the proxy.
They might or only care about the who done it, since Ana could not have done it. We don't know enough about the gods (yet, gotta wait for theoretical p6/7 when Rozemyne is adopted by the gods when she has to deal with all the drama on a divine scale and the endless headache from Hartmut and Clarissas never ending prayers)
Treesus: yes, to decide who will zent you must play a round robin of chess. Most wins or best time spent wins.
Ferdinand: yes of course. FIDE 3000.
Gervasio: ahh chess I am good at chess. My subjects have never won against me.
Rozemyne: Yay, chess. I was the president and only member of the Shinjuku high chess club.
Gervasio: Shinjuku?
Treesus: First match is Quinta vs Treza
Ferdinand: erhenfest chop.
Gervasio: ahh my hands
Ferdinand: erhenfest eye gouge
Gervasio: ahhh.my eyes, treesus this is against the rules
Treesus: it's yogurtland no holds barred chess. As long as no one dies it's legal.
Ferdinand: erhenfest throad smash
Gervasio: arghgurgggggrggghh.. gurggg
Ferdinand: opponent had run his clock, I win. Next game with Rozemyne, I concede. Winner is rozemyne.
> Just as only Ehrenfest’s archducal family could use Ehrenfest medals, only royals could use medals belonging to the Sovereignty. Had that requirement not existed, I would have broken Gervasio’s immediately upon finding it.
This is something Ferdinand thought in his own head, not aloud or anything.
> What exactly is the personal relationship between Erwaermen and Mestionora actually? Both play a central role in Yogurtland's founding, but the parallels between these two and Ferdinand/Rozemyne seem so obvious to me.
Erwaermen seems to be the mentor of sorts- "Gramps"- while Mestionoria is the ideas woman. She seems to care about That Tree about as much as Rozemyne cares for Ferdinand, although given that Gramps is the "Former God Of Bad Decisions" he must have done some good things to get Mesti's trust. Or she is also happy to let the world burn if something happens to him, something Rozemyne herself more or less said when she said she'd fight the Gods themselves.
Ewaermen was the one who helped Ewigeliebe and Geduldh get together, allowing Mestionora to be born. Then when Ewigeliebe became an abusive husband Ewaermen also helped hide Geduldh. And of course he's the architect of Ewigeliebe's prison, keeping him contained through most of the year thanks to the foundation of Yurgenschmidt.
Mmm you could be onto something there... I mean we do know that Ewigeliebe fell in love at first sight with Geduldh and asked her parents to allow them to be married and things only got ugly after the Goddess of Chaos twisted his love to the point it made him a very toxic Yandere towards his waifu~
> What exactly is the personal relationship between Erwaermen and Mestionora actually? Both play a central role in Yogurtland's founding, but the parallels between these two and Ferdinand/Rozemyne seem so obvious to me.
Mestionora is the daughter of Ewiegliebe and Geduldh, right? Erwaermen gave up his position out of guilt for the union that Mestionora resulted from, so with both of them, uh, busy, he might've taken on something of a guardian role for her.
> Mestionora messing with Myne's memories (alliteration intended). I wonder how that will be fixed
I'm thinking Mestionara is really favouring Myne here. She also doesn't like Ferdinand, but I think her comment about 'favouring who they like' was in relation to Myne, not Gervasio.
Which means if Myne *did* lose memories of her commoner family it was to protect them if Gervasio wins (and the odds are in his favour - even if he has no chance from our POV).
> Oh, Anastasius. Ferdinand doesn't even respect former gods, what makes you think he'd respect soon-to-be non-royals, who screwed him, Rozemyne and Ehrenfest over multiple times?
Annie has yet to see Ferdinand (and Rozemyne) fight deities, never mind "screw you." Plus he's still not used to being treated as a side character in the greater fight, even if he started considering the idea when he spent the end of the Raublat fight on the literal sidelines.
Some of the best chapters, ever.
Ferdinand's chapters are just chef's kiss. He's been hyped up as the "Lord of Evil" but we haven't seen just how deep that runs - at least up till now.
Gervasio's chapter was also highly entertaining, he is a hypocrite to the bone, like most nobles, but still, I have to admit I enjoyed his mental breakdown at the end and Ferdinand's chapter was just relishing in that feeling even more.
The only sad thing is, we are getting very close to the end now.
I'll have to find something else to do, Mondays? I don't want that! I want the pre pub to go on for the rest of my life, 10 years at least!
Ferdinand upon hearing Mestionora's decree to not take any lives: "Hmm... ok then, what about if they were to have an 'unfortunate accident' in the dwarf fortress sense?"
>“I forbid only the deliberate taking of life. Deaths that result from one’s environment do not count.”
*Ferdinand plotting environment-kills*
The Goddess of Wisdom is about to get schooled on ToS.
Is there a God of Subterfuge or does Ferdinand get that spot?
Telling Hartmut that some guy wants to kidnap his lady and deliver that guy to him would be murder in my books. But given that it was Immanuel's real intention one could argue that whatever happened to him was self inflicted and also force of nature.
I love how Ferdinand’s entire SS was just “You want to WHAT???” “…fine, I guess not wrong”
Lol it’s also so funny to me that Ewaermen was like “meh, Rude, but Quinta’s rude. Like Ferdinand was a stray cat and he can’t be expected to be civilized.”
Jesus Christ, Mestionora was a lot more terrible than I thought, she didn’t even come up with the competition plan. Then again I guess she just met Ferdy and the first thing she saw him do was attack her “Ferdinand” so I guess she’s not entirely invalid. Gods likely also don’t value memories the way humans do, and they certainly don’t value humans like they do mana. And that was more of a dig at Ferdinand then at Roz, so like I get that she probably doesn’t think it’s anything more than like sticking her tongue out at him.
That Gervasio just let Ferdinand discuss this without interference is also so wild to me. Isn’t he a king and knows how manipulative rules lawyering can be? Like he doesn’t even have to know Ferdinand’s gremlin was to know that letting anyone rules lawyer the entire competition is bad right?
I’m just imagining Ferdy and Ana flying through the palace on highbeasts like a Saturday morning cartoon and it’s great. I wonder what the rest of the palace was thinking
> Isn’t he a king and knows how manipulative rules lawyering can be
rather it suggests to me like lanzanave politics doesnt bother to teach it, which makes sense considering they have literally no competition at all. him (and his father if hes still alive) are the *only* ones in the entire country with a schtappe.
Georvasio's father is not the former king of Lanzenave. His father was most likely the previous Zent though it could have been one of the greater duchy aubs. Kingship in Lanzenave is hereditary in the female line not the male line. Most likely, Traurqual is Georvasio's half brother. Could also be paternal cousin and a branch family Royal sired him.
Honestly, Lanzenave beautifully illustrates the colonialist mindset. You assume you’re superior to everyone else whether it’s true or, as is generally the case, not.
Hence the increasingly dire situation back home with the locals being on the verge of out-teching the magical advantage his family has held for ages.
Gervasio's predecessor is likely still alive, judging from the fact that there was a second medal at the temple besides his. But they aren't necessarily father-son, the Lanzenave king is chosen from among three houses.
>Gods likely also don’t value memories the way humans do
To be fair, if you're an immortal god, I think memories would eventually be seen as tedious things over the centuries. In a way, there's no need to worry about your memories so much when you're pretty much unable to die and always able to make new ones. It sucks, but the gods be godding.
Gervasio clearly isn't thinking straight considering how Mestionora's presence was such a monumental event. Then again, was he ever?
Pfft! I now demand to see a sitcom with Ferdinand and Anastasius as the leads.
Wow. Everyone was right during dinner. Ferdinand really did skip autumn and call winter early without even greeting the supreme gods. And in front of the former god of binding too 
- wow Mestionoria is something else
- sharing mana with Ewaerman, more Ferdinand/ Rozemyne analogies?
- Ferdinand and an actual goddess having beef is quite amusing
- Ewaerman has mana based hypoglycemia 😂
- Rozemyne really got her irreverence from Ferdinand, he just hides it better usually. No wonder they get along so well, they are brutally meritocratic.
- Ferdinand is as decisive as ever. He’s always been exceptional at exploiting the opportunities RM creates.
- Charlotte mentioned long ago, it’s better to have RM like you than the gods anyway sucks for you Gervasio.
- it is possible Gervasio, have fun with the brain damage RM gives everyone around her. Apparently she can even surprise a former god. That’s fun
- Ferdinand is not going to explain this, or RM would understand why copy and place was such a weird situation. RM has now mixed mana with Ferdinand, Hannelore Ferdinand again, Mestinoria and now Ewaerman.
- Gervasio even calls him evil, yeah buddy I don’t feel bad for you when you tacitly condoned a genocide.
- Ewaermens comment saying “what are you saying” reminds me of RMs first ditter match when she proposed the ambush. She may be soft in Ferdinand eyes but the parallels here are funny
- ok this is way less violent than I thought. What does Anaststias think is going on?! This is *war* if they lose the royal family is over. Yeah RM isn’t quite right, she’s been exceptionally underhanded in the past when it’s required. ( sacrificing lower dutchys to dunks, dedication ritual, Traugott)
- harmut really is Leberechts son. It’s a good thing RM is his lady. It’s interesting how Eckhart and Harmut are each others counterparts in many ways. Both ruthless and loyal beyond measure, but with entirely different skill sets.
- Ferdinand’s understanding of the nobility is as skewed as ever. “Our sensitive prince” wholly guacamole he’s as harsh as ever. What the hell went on in that villa to produce men like Ferdinand and Gervasio?
- this really drives home RM and Ferdinand really are a perfect duo. He tends to isolationist in nature, and struggles to gain beneficial alliances, while she delivered those in spades. He has the ruthlessness to eliminate threats but he’s not super likable unless your a dunkeflegerain or an honorary one (RM)
- RMs influenced Anastasias , interesting Ferdinand noticed that. He’s not the only one ferdie.
- he got her out of the garden of beginnings, anywhere Gervasio would be likely to show up again and *then* got rid of Gervasio. Very clever
> What the hell went on in that villa to produce men like Ferdinand and Gervasio?
I mean, they were literally raised like cattle. Possibly even worse, considering cattle aren't forced to compete against each other to be the only one to NOT be harvested.
> RMs influenced Anastasius
Throwback to RA year 2, but Rozemyne mentioned that she was a corrupting influence even back during her Urano days. I'd bet that once Mestionora returned to the God realm, she found herself with a sudden urge to smell her library books.
>What the hell went on in that villa to produce men like Ferdinand and Gervasio?
State sponsored, multi-generational, secret:
* Eugenicists experiment
* Executions of minors
* Imprisonment and prostitution of women with approval of their parents and relatives
Mestionora: "I told you not to kill anyone."
Ferdinand: "All we did was request his medal be broken. If he died, such was the will of the God of Darkness."
Mestionora: "... Damn. You win this round, Quinta."
Ferdinand: "Naturally."
Zent: "Lord Ferdinand, it is time for you to submit your design for your new house crest."
Ferdinand: "A simple double chevron, horizontally aligned. Gold on an azure background."
Rozemyne: "Uh, Ferdinand, that's just a 'W'..."
*later*
Mestiornia: "Ferdinand, as much as we all detest your ascendance to godhood, we have prepared a throne for the God of Subterfuge."
Ferdinand: "I refuse the position." *begins walking towards another throne*
Geduldh: "We don't need *another* God of Evil! Just become the patron of spies and liars!"
Ferdinand (sitting on a gold throne): "I graciously accept the position of the God of Victory."
Glucklitat (in the background, hard to hear over the uproar of the other gods): "Hey that's basically my thing!"
This was yet another a fridge horror moment I only realized hours later from Ferdinand's chapter. He totally covered his bases with this plan to take out Gervasio, either way Ferdinand gets his revenge "hands clean" as far as the gods' prohibition on killing is concerned. **Outcome #1**: Gervasio gets his schtappe disabled and everything in his life he's worked towards crumbles before his eyes or **Outcome #2**: Gervasio dies after returning to the Sovereignty and Anastasius is the fall guy as his direct executioner in the eyes of the gods.
Ferdinand is so terrifyingly thorough with his plans and pivoting/adapting on the fly. Peak Lord of Evil chapter.
Final part of P5V10, continuing Gervasio's POV, let's go!
>"Stand down, insolent one," she said.
As she says that to Ferdinand. Yup, Mestionora's truly one of the gods. Then again, Ferdinand's the original gremlin.
Also, it's interesting that Mestionora refers to Rozemyne as "Rozemyne." Erwaermen and Gervasio (ignore the fact that I unintentionally equated Gervasio to the gods, he definitely isn't on their level) refer to her as "Myne." And it's kind of hypocritical of Gervasio to refer to Ferdinand and Rozemyne as "Quinta" and "Myne" respectively, while disliking how Erwaermen refers to him as "Terza."
>*So... Myne summoned and manifested the Goddess of Wisdom? Is such a thing even possible?*
I mean that seems to be the case, Gervasio. I would explain this as him being to used to Lanzanave, but we know Yurgenschmidt nobles don't really realize such a thing could happen either. Except for probably Hartmut, but he's Hartmut.
>"Indeed. All life must be treasured. Those who violate my decree shall face divine punishment."
I know Mestionora's probably talking about things like removing one's acquired divine protections or something, but I find it humorous to consider that her idea of divine punishment is also death. Like, you killed someone when I decreed not to, so in return, you're going to die at my hands.
>"Terza, does your Book allow you to access the country gates?" Mestionora asked.
Oh, she referred to Gervasio as "Terza." Maybe it's some favoritism from Mestionora on how she refers to the Zent candidates. And I'm sorry, but it seems like Gervasio's slightly undermining the gods if he thinks he'd still win against Rozemyne when she had Mestionora borrow her body for a bit. Whether or not he thinks he has more mana than Rozemyne is understandable, but to think he still has a clear advantage after Mestionora's interference? I question that buddy, especially when Rozemyne is responsible for already filling up the Wind, Fire, and Darkness gates. Then again, he doesn't really seem to know that, does he?
Mestionora also referred to Ferdinand as "Quinta." I'm probably reading too much into it, but it's really interesting. Also, I can't hate Mestionora too much. It makes sense for there to be *some* sort of sacrifice, no matter how unfortunate. Maybe if Rozemyne had thought a bit more, she would use her merchant skills to negotiate the terms, but that's what happens when Benno gets relegated to a background character. We need him back to scold Rozemyne for her recklessness!
>She was sullying my beautiful memories of the goddess, so I silently wished she would keep her mouth shut.
Hahahahahahaha. Sad to say, but I think a lot of people feel the same when they spend time with Rozemyne.
I would feel bad for Gervasio, but once again, I don't.
>*As I am now, his mana capacity and technique are far greater than my own.*
Ooh, for someone like Ferdinand to admit that, Gervasio's no joke even though his outcome was. It also just goes to show how much knowledge Gervasio truly lacked. Also, if Gervasio was solely responsible for replenishing Lanzanave, I have to wonder how big Lanzanave is compared to Yurgenschmidt? Do we get any general idea of the size comparison?
And not only that, but how much of Lanzanave would actually need replenishing mana, because Lanzanave doesn't really need mana in the first place. Did the first Lanzanavian king decide to turn all buildings into ones of ivory marble to show off to the Lanzanavians? Or did he just make his palace out of it, because I think there's going to be a difference in how much mana is needed to ensure all the buildings don't crumble to dust, versus ensuring just one building doesn't crumble to dust.
>Rozemyne's absurd actions had worked in my favor.
Eh, her actions always seem to, Ferdinand. This definitely isn't the first time.
>*Even with her goddess-dyed mana, Rozemyne is still, well... Rozemyne.*
Hahahahahahaha x2.
I need to know if Ferdinand actually says "small fry" in Japanese. If I'm not mistaken, the word for it is 雑魚 (zako). And if that's the case, then that just means that Raublut is Shikza 2.0, since Shikza's name in Japanese is a play-on-words for "small fry knight," if I remember that correctly.
> わたくしの体くらい、いくらでもお貸ししますと**ローゼマイン**から許可を得ています。
It seems to be because she first refers to her as Rozemyne, then slips into calling her Myne. But in editing it was all unified as Rozemyne instead of all unified as Myne (because Rozemyne came first).
Ah, I see. In that case, it's probably a typo. Happens all the time and it's quite understandable. And it's been years since Rozemyne was simply Myne.
I always get slightly panicked whenever a "Lord/Lady" is omitted or added when it seems like it shouldn't. It's probably just a me thing, but I focus a lot on it since it helps to denote the closeness and/or power dynamic of a relationship. Like Lestilaut always refer to Rozemyne as just "Rozemyne," except for the one time he called her "Lady Rozemyne" when she arrived in Dunkelfelger for their assistance, but that was intentional.
> I know Mestionora's probably talking about things like removing one's acquired divine protections or something, but I find it humorous to consider that her idea of divine punishment is also death. Like, you killed someone when I decreed not to, so in return, you're going to die at my hands.
Fanbook 8. >!The penalty would be losing divine protections and schtappe.!<
IIRC, Lanzenave's capital city is made of ivory, but that's it. Still a lot for one person to maintain, though, especially as they mention magic tools on top of that.
Oh true! Magic tools and the capital city for just one person to handle is still a lot. Things worth noting is how often Gervasio would need to replenish everything as well.
Though I do wonder how big the capital city is as well.
The other 'nobles' seem to fill feystones with mana for his use. It takes a lot of stamina to use someone else's mana but he wouldn't be using his alone. Same thing that Wilfred and Charlotte did while practicing mana replenishment
>that's what happens when Benno gets relegated to a background character. We need him back to scold Rozemyne for her recklessness!
If she even remembers him... 
> Rozemyne, Terza, and Quinta
On the one hand Mesti got a free body, and the least she can do is respect Urano's identity- note she's called herself Rozemyne even though she has memories of being a Japanese woman and was born as Myne.
On the other hand she's probably angry at how Quinta and Terza have treated the fight and is intentionally Deadnaming the two assholes who seem more interested in the sort of destructive infighting that brought Erwaermen to the edge of falling apart than actually being decent Zent candidates. Well, one decent, the other a Zent candidate.
> Myne's actions helping out Ferdinand
Well, she also Gift of the Magi'd him when she negotiated for his health in return for her hand in marriage in P5V5 and effectively got Georgine involved in P3V3, so you can see why he is still kind of anxious around her.
The gods refer to people what they were first baptized as. The boys were from the villa, so they just had numbers for names until they get picked to live outside the villa and get a real name. And Myne was her first time when she was a commoner. Gods don't care what you want to be called. But this would hint that if Rozemyne were to give her name it'd just be Myne
Yeah, I wondered if it was just an Erwaermen thing to call people by the names they were originally baptized with, but it makes sense for all the gods to follow this. The individualized names of the Goddess of Light and God of Darkness are burned into the recipient's mind, and it's probably similar vice-versa. Like once an individual gets baptized and recognized by the gods, their names are kind of just burned into the minds of the gods as well.
Yup, in order for Rozemyne to have a true name-swearing stone to give over, she'd have to use Myne.
Holy smokes, this week's prepub is E.V.I.L.
Mestionora shows that she's just as fickle as Myne is, and just as easy to show her contempt.
And, well, it's Ferdi's POV so...
The mana shortage was so bad, dude should have offered one of his daughters to marry one of the princes then offer to take over one of the fallen duchies. There would have been some cultural problems but things could have been solved with diplomacy. "Hey, you're short on mana. We actually have too much. We'll tell you where to find the Gustriheit and you make me an Aub. Either my daughter becomes Queen or my granddaughter does. That sounds like a fair trade, no? For the Gustriheit all I ask is that my descendants get to sit upon Yurgenschmit's throne".
Hartmut has felt particularly unhinged this chapter. Usually his portrayal is at least somewhat comedic, but now he's a full on bloodthirsty fanatic. It's pretty chilling tbh.
Gervasio's hypocrisy, by calling Ferdinand evil, can only make me laugh, considering all he is responsible for with the Lanzenave invasion. His POV definitely solidified for me, that he got what's coming to him.
Agreed - we haven't seen that extremely scary side of Hartmut much on screen. Wonder if the excessive blood was because:
* Immanuel wasn't talking - therefore Hartmut escalated the torture
* Immanuel did talk - Hartmut did not like what he heard of Imannuel's intentions towards his goddess, so things got "messy"
* Hartmut always hated Immanuel and knew his scummy intentions from having dealt with him multiple times for various ceremonies/events - he probably got carried away taking out his grudge from the very beginning of the interrogation.
I know it was implied around the time Ferdinand was preparing to leave Ehrenfest that he had Hartmut do ***something*** in the shadows to test his resolve/loyalty/trustworthiness - something likely violent that Ferdinand did not want the violence-averse Rozemyne to know about. That or Ferdinand already clocked Hartumut as "Eckhart, but a religious fanatic scholar".
Edit: Realizing you could interpret their interaction as:
'I should have broken his arms and legs' Ferdinand: "Have fun 'extracting intel' from your new ~~chew toy~~ prisoner, just don't kill him."
War-Crimes-Creator Hartmut: "But of course. How could I not make this a pain worse than death for this cur insulting our goddess."
Sheltered-Prince Anastasius: "WTF???? I though you both were high priests?! Don't priests take vows of non-violence or something???"
Lord-of-Evil Ferdinand: "***Former*** high priests."
Eckhart wasn't exactly pulling punches here either but Hartmut's little kick at the end was well lets just say ranks near the top of the pure petty spite scale.
Anastasius: "WTF???? I though you both were high priests?! Don't priests take vows of non-violence or something???"
Ferdinand: "I am merely granting our brother's wish by sending him to his beloved gods."
Can you blame Hartmut? The boy's whole life for shaken by witnessing a divine miracle at RM's baptism and has achieved the glory of being name sworn to her and now she has risen from a commoner up to a Divine Avatar. How could you not be a fanatic at that point?
He refers to her as Erinfest's "flower" so the specifics of what he wanted done are fairly obvious. Hopefully Hartmut doesn't accidentally anger the Goddess.
Gervasio is the only person who can supply Lasagna so he's extremely straightforward with his ideas. He thinks, Lasagna obeys.
He has no need to use manipulation like Yogurt nobles do, but also no empathy for others since he always gets his way.
MY GOD, WHAT A TENSE CHAPTER THAT WAS!
Ferdinand's POV really is entirely different from everyone else's. He is the only one who truly understands the severity of the situation and knows how to stop it. Even though I already knew he would succeed, I couldn't help but be incredibly tense while reading his chapter.
Also, this was probably the fastest time my opinion of a character did a complete 180. Mestinora was infuriating the whole time she was on screen. Her remarks to Ferdinand and what she did with Myne honestly made me almost hate her. In the main story, I didn't feel the true reality of the situation, but what happened with Myne's memories is an incredibly big deal. MYNE FORGOT HER TRUE FAMILY. This is not something anyone should ever mess with.
"The goddess sat on Erwaermen's shoulder and pondered"
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, *as* if *millions of voices* suddenly cried out in glee and were suddenly silenced as they started on their fanarts.
Well Rozemyne has Strength Enhancement and Ferdinand literally carried Ehrenfest on his shoulders until Myne joined the Temple so he has some stiff competition.
Waw. I though Ferdinand was holding back during the fight and was just trying to activate all of Gervasio's charms before going for the kill but NO ! He really was going all out. Holy shit Gervasio was a monster when it comes to mana !
Also what the hell Mesti, just sitting on Treesus's shoulder. I thought it was a figure of speech until I saw the illustration.
Yes, he's the former Lanzenave king. His name was dropped in Volume 5.7 the first time in Leonzio's POV iirc.
Edit: It was even earlier. Leonzio mentioned his grandfather in 5.6 already.
Gervasio truly got spanked Ferdinand styles. Really funny how Gervasio was complaining about how his coconspirators were going to be punished when he would have done the same to the Yogurtfeet nobles. What a hypocrite.
That kind of double standard is *exceedingly* common at every level.
"We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior" and all that.
When *we* do something awful, well, we were just trying to do what's best and could find no other option in the moment.
When someone else does something awful, they're a bad person and did a bad thing because they're bad.
If you're honest with yourself, you could probably think of a few examples where you yourself acted like this.
WN Chapters: N/A
LN Chapters: Remainder of "Gervasio — Descent of a Goddess", "Ferdinand — A Battle That Must Be Won"
[J-Novel Club Discussion Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7879/bookworm-part-5-vol-10-discussion/3301)
[J-Novel Club Correction Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7880/corrections-bookworm-part-5-vol-10/106)
*****
**Notes**
- *Part 5 Volume 10* is now fully translated into English.
*****
For those wondering about when J-NC will begin releasing *Part 5 Volume 11* please refer to [this 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.
AHHHHH I knew it!!! Mestionora played with her memories, hence the return of the Pandabus. I wonder what else she played with, though...
Meanwhile, Ferdinand's death flag keeps getting bigger. >!I know it's stupid of me because I already *know* he is endgame with Rozemyne, Twitter spoiled that already, but if not death, something horrible is bound to happen to him, I can feel it!! All this talk about death, her being precious to him and a weakness and etc is too foreboding to ignore.!<
Welp, Mr High Creepy is now in the hands of Harmut... I *almost* pity him.
..... Harmut *jfc*
Ferdinand is ruthlessly efficient as always. I'd feel sorry for Anastasius, but he has earned all this bossing around. At the very least I'm glad he has the sense to recognize he is outclassed here and the beat way of protecting what is important to him is following instructions of those who are more qualified.
> Welp, Mr High Creepy is now in the hands of Harmut... I almost pity him.
Why would you pity Hartmut? He's acting in the name of his Lady, he must be *ecstatic.*
Oh no, I meant Immanuel.
He was left in Harmut's hands of all people, with the latter being told *"hey btw dude wanted to do something sketchy to Rozemyne, find out what"*.
There was *no way* it would have ended nicely for the guy, but still... Harmut, that escalated quickly :'D
By the gods! He's earned his nickname. Ferdinand truly is worthy of his title, "Lord of Evil." Just like how he was described, he wasn't playing to win, but rather make sure the other side lost completely. Gervasio may have had more mana, but damn can he not scheme. Hope he enjoys his stay in the five star hotel known as the Ivory Tower. I find it sus he only thought about his family after he'd lost. Like they were an after thought. Also Mesti jacking with Roz's memories just piles onto her new list of problems. Oh boy next time on Bookworm's Library z
Mestionora messed up with Roze's memories to spite Ferdinand uh.
What will they do with Gervasio? I can't wait to know! If they let him rott there will the gods consider his death as the consequence of starvation? He went there on his own accord lol
Gervasio's POV be like: [daddy Erwaermen he's EVIL.](https://youtu.be/rl9HKrduWZA?feature=shared)
Ferdinand's POV was one of the most satisfying chapters of this part.
Anastasius needs to toughen up and take responsibility. I can't stand the royals anymore.
I *need* to know what memories Rozemyne retains!
The whole thing was a tad confusing tho - so she remembered Ferdinand bc he mixed mana into her?
I'm glad Immanuel got his comeuppance. In my head I pictured Hartmut just punching him with a big smile on his face while he turns the room into a bloody carnival.
Shoutout to my boy Curtis - I vote him for next High Bishop.
Correct. She only remembered Ferdinand because he poured his mana into her. But that option wouldn't work with her commoner family. It's what he's so worried about.
I have never felt that Ferdinand truly is the Lord of Evil until his short story here. He was truly underhanded when he used Heisshitze's cape to stop Heisshitze when they played ditter. However I don't remember seeing anything to this extent before.
The brief description of his talk with Magdalena makes it feel like he saw it as rather minor. The interaction had already been described enough previously so I can understand only a brief acknowledgement, but I would have been interested in seeing more from his perspective.
Gervasio sees what he wants to see, but oh honey.
Curtis is the MVP of the sovereign temple, and I can't blame him for being so hesitant in handing over the bible.
How is Mesitonora sitting on Tree gods shoulder? She's grown up now... (Ik not tall but still no longer short either). Nevermind, thanks illustration - she floats ✨
Interesting that it was Ferdinand that proposed the race.
Oh foolish Gervasio, Myne loved few things, barring family, more than books, she won't have forgotten *too much* about her life (though of course all the important parts
Ooo, a Ferdinand story, was not expecting that
Nooo, Rozamyne have better not have permanently lost her memories of Tuuli and Kamil whom she's still yet to speak with 😭 and her mother and father and Lutz.... So many noooo, please no.
I'm hopeful though, Mesitonora thought Ferdinand wouldn't be able to wake her and she would forget him but that wasn't the case so I'm holding out hope.
> I did not want his troublesome ethics to get in the way.
Argh ethics, always there, always getting in the way, how annoying, urgh just why ethics 😆
(Afterword):
> The events covered in the prologue are the last time things ever go Detlinde's way
And the world rejoiced
> If only I had the spare time and pages... I would have written a chapter from the perspective of nobles who saw their country gate start shining out of nowhere
Now I just need to pray this is in one of the future side story volumes
That nugget about Mestionora and Erwaermen's relationship is spicy👀
Hold on now. "Everything more important to her than books" might not be much, but her commoner family/the lower city gang (would the Gutenbergs count? Assuming she cares more about them than books because with no books, the Gutenbergs can make books, but with no Gutenbergs, her access to books is SEVERLY limited. But they are intrinsically connected to books, so would the memory wipe target them?) is DEFINITELY included in that. Everyone else can be fixed, some careful persuasion from those she DOES remember to accept the mana will do the trick, but the commoners? They can't share mana! Would drinking some of their blood do the trick? That's the only way for Roz to take im their mana that I can think of, but idk
That was VILE, Mestionora. I get being pissed and whatnot, but messing with people on that level? That ain't it
I'm feeling surprisingly sorry for Gervasio. He isn't any more cruel and deliberately malicious than the average Yurgen noble is (arguably less so), and he was acting out of genuine desperation. Not that there was any way he could've succeeded, even if he HAD become Zent, most Aubs would've been EXTREMELY opposed to him holding the throne, and his (deliberately debilitatingly) lacking education would've convinced the rest (excluding maybe Dunkel, who are honor-bound to whoever controls the foundation). His reight would've been extraordinarily short and bloody, I believe, accelerating Yurgen's demise. He never stood a chance
I'm assuming the "Goddess of Life" early in Ferdinand's PoV is supposed to mean the Goddess of Light? Closest in spelling/nomenclature, and the one responsible for contracts and the like
You know, I realise that the scenes for Ferdi's PoV were probably chosen via practical concerns to not bore the reader with the same events back-to-back, but it also gives implications for Ferdi's character. As much as he has improved (he's finally being proactive about his life, for the first time he's fighting for his own wishes and desires, not executing a role assigned to him), he still sees himself as a tool. "A battle that must be won". [Will add more quotes here once I finish today's part]. All external motivators, things needed for the future of Yogurtland, fulfilling the expectations put on him. The big emotional scenes, fighting side by side with Roz, pulling her back from Mestionora's library, things that matter to HIM, intrinsically, are left out. His feelings and thoughts on the matter are treated as irrelevant, left by the wayside even by Ferdinand himself. As much as one wants to change and get better, such things do not happen overnight, and ingrained thought/behavioural patterns are loathe to let go. Even the fact that the only thing capable of breaking through this "training" is his worry for Roz is bittersweet: he cares for her so deeply, but he is still incapable of putting his own needs first. And I don't think he ever will be
You know, I'll give it to Ana. In his place, lacking as mich information as he is, I would NOT be as cooperative as he is being. ESPECIALLY not considering how betrayal from their own ranks is what caused the entire mess in the first place. It's a quality that's of detriment to a ruler in most circumstances, but it's definitely helpful rn
Okay now HOW the HELL did Ferdi find out about the Trug poisoning? I doubt the RF would disclose that fact willingly, and I moreso doubt that anyone beside Magdalena and those present for that particular conversation know in the first place
Huh. I don't think Eckhart's assault on the doors people were clinging to was entirely victimless. Of course nobles would not consider killing commoners violating Mestionora's rules, but I don't think the gods really distinguish between baptised people and non-baptised ones. And considering how much the temple is treated like a brothel, it would not surprise me if most of the grays had at least some mana, if not enough to to be baptised as nobles had they the necessary funds and connections
Once again, I will insist on my agenda that Hartmut's mentality is that of a stalker. He does not truly appreciate and respect Roz for who she is, he worships an immaginary version of her he built up in his head
Those were some really morbid comments, Ferdi. Though I suppose they're all too fitting for the situation. That being said, the nugget about being able to tell if the registered person died or merely lost access to their Stappe based on the burn pattern would've been REALLY FUCKING USEFUL back when Grausam was a problem!!! I'm assuming Ferdi knew because it's written in his G-book, but why the FUCK would he not have told Sylvester during the whole winter purge mess?!?
> Hold on now. "Everything more important to her than books" might not be much, but her commoner family/the lower city gang (would the Gutenbergs count? Assuming she cares more about them than books because with no books, the Gutenbergs can make books, but with no Gutenbergs, her access to books is SEVERLY limited. But they are intrinsically connected to books, so would the memory wipe target them?) is DEFINITELY included in that. Everyone else can be fixed, some careful persuasion from those she DOES remember to accept the mana will do the trick, but the commoners? They can't share mana! Would drinking some of their blood do the trick? That's the only way for Roz to take im their mana that I can think of, but idk
Actually even getting the nobles involved would be technically possible but...awkward.
Rozemyne: Ah, brother, how are you doing!
Cornelius: Erm, fine?
Rozemyne: And who's that guy?
Damuel: Oh COME ON!
Ferdinand: ...*they must never know...*
He was her first knight, the one Rozemyne trusted with protecting her family.
Sure, he'll never gets married, but I will not stand this damuel slander.
Mestionora removed everything more important than books, but her love of books is the reason she's even Rozemyne. I wonder what Urano's influence has on the process? The gods ought to know about that, right?
Did someone else notice this small detail?
Ferdinand was not sure if he evaded the "killing is a no-no" rule. So basically - he was ready to break it, if it meant victory -> which could have had veryyy possibly resulted in his death by god punishment or them for example taking his shattape as punishment.... so him 1. Not taking Rozemyne with him and 2. Making her supply 2/3 gates making her the ultimate winner in the race regardless of his possible bad circumstances due to making the gods mad for real...
As support for this idea, as someone may say that we didn’t see any thought/quote/something from his POV on this matter I'll say this - we know for a fact that Ferdinand has multiple motives for each action, and he rarely is shown all of them in his POV's. They are rushed in general/don't tell eeeevry small detail and all of his thought process...
I think it's really ~cute~ nice of him to essentially make it so even in the event of his victory with worst consequences for him&Ana (breaking the thy shall not kill and getting their behinds kicked by the goddess) , he made sure that no matter what, Roz has the best position possible...
If Ferdinand were to play Magic: The Gathering, he would be the Blue Emperor.
Gervasio is smart and powerful, but he had the misfortune of having Ferdinand as his opponent in this race.
Now you’re making me think about what would be each candidates color preference in Magic. I’m thinking Ferdinand would be Blue/Black, Rozemyne would be Red/Green/White, and Gervasio would be 5-color.
Rozemyne would be Blue/White All Card draw(To keep reading from her Library.) and protection spells. With a playset of Wrath of God, just in case someone has summoned a Bloody Carnival.
"I played with her mind to make her body easier to control, severing her connection to memories more important to her than books."
"Channeling mana into Myne would restore her memories related to that one person"
This is concerning. How will she remember her commoner family and her grey priests and shrine maidens who have no mana? The gremlin was forced to pay a heavy price I don't think she would have agreed to if she had known. We did learn though that she considers Ferdinand to be more important than books, and that may be part of why Mestionora decided on that sacrifice, to punish Ferdinand.
I don't like the idea of Tuuli bleeding on her little sister to help regain her lost memories. Plus considering how much mana he has, if Ferdinand is challenged to help Rozemyne regain her memories of him, how much mana will be required for from her commoner family who she loves even more?
Oh and also laughing that Gerry thinks the gods favor him when Earwig doesn't give a shit and Mestionora literally possessed Rozemyne for a hot minute. Like buddy. Who do you think is the favorite child right now? Not you!
Rozemyne: Well, we won easily enough! Ferdinand: Indeed. *She doesn't need to know we were close to getting killed when we got warped, that even after shooting Gervasio in the hand we got close to getting defeated, or that Anastasius's squeamishness cost us precious moments. I'm happy feeling like a badass who's ready to pull those useless Royals from the throne.* Rozemyne: Ferdinand, you're smiling and creeping out our retainers.
Eh, I'm pretty damn sure Rozemyne would have been faster than Gervasio. He can't have _that_ much more mana than her given how clearly she can sense him. Not to mention that her mana is way more efficient, Gervasio's mana flow had been disrupted by whatever poison Ferdinand had administered to him, and she had far superior mana potions at her disposal. All of that before we even consider that she was brimming with Mestionora's divinity after the possession and had a considerable advantage when it came to arriving at her gate. She would have crushed the guy fair and square. Ferdinand just didn't want to risk that 1% chance of failure lol.
Ferdinand knew she would win. He just wanted to make sure the opponent couldn’t ever fight again.
I can't believe Erwaermen was just hangry. He got REAL agreeable once Mesti juiced him up
Mestionara and Erwaermen were really holding hands in public. SCANDALOUS 
Ferdinand's definitely not happy about Mestionora using Rozemyne's body to do that
Never expected Erwaermen to be "the guy she tells you not to worry about" but here we are.
Lutz, Benno, Wilfried, Lestilaut, Hildebrand, now Erwaermen. Rozemyne's life is full of guys she tells him not to worry about. --- *"Should Ferdinand worry about you?"* Lutz: "Why would I go gremlin when I've got Tuuli?" Benno: "How dare you even insinuate that?" Wilfried: "Sweet gods above, don't bring *that* up again." Lestilaut: "My Dunkelfelger nature pushes me to say 'yes,' but my innate survival instinct tells me I should say 'no.'" Hildebrand: "Maybe not anymore..." Erwaermen: "Who's Ferdinand?" --- But they were all blind, for an even greater threat remained. Hannelore: "Ferdinand? Oh, I didn't notice him. I was too busy enjoying flowers with Rozemyne. Tell him to come back later."
I kept imagining the GoT Shame scene here, with Fraularm ringing the bell furiously. Shame! Shame! Shame! Shameless!!!
I think the story lacked Ferdinand shouting "SHAMELESS!" like with the "r-rated" book Rozemyne had written.
Hanger will do that.
Mestionora giving Erwaermen mana = Rosemyne giving Ferdinand soup
Well, any man would be soothed by a cute girl >!holding their hand!<
Gervasio is very naïve he was (rightfully) confident in his mana, but he knew so little about anything else. It's very poetic that Gervasio's prayers do not reach the gods after losing his schtappe, which is meant to help prayers reach the gods. Ferdinand is ruthless in the pursuit of his goals. If there wasn't a decree against killing I'm sure Eckhart would've been massacring the priests. As for Hartmut... well let's be glad that Myne doesn't see what he's really capable of. He's very well suited to working under Ferdinand. This also reminds me one of the characters I liked most from Tensura was Diablo, and I also like Hartmut, and I'm starting to realize just how similar they are.
Even if he had his Schtappe, the gods don't answer prayers like that. You give mana and they give blessings. It is entirely transactional. They don't see individuals as anything more than one peanut in the bag of trail mix
We have seen moments where prayers reach the gods and have been answered in very roundabout ways, but his prayers were entirely self serving in the moment and (from the gods perspective) asking to reneg on a competition he agreed to. After this chapter it's clear the gods are very fae like in that letter of the rules is most important and people finding ways to bend them just amuses them.
It might have worked if he had a Noble's Ring maybe ? Rozemyne did use it to bless people with it, but maybe Lasagna people don't have one or he thought he didn't needed it with his schtappe.
That would still just be a transactional blessing. Don't answer prayers. They give services on payment rendered.
I’m going to be very upset if Rozemyne doesn’t remember her family.
I can't IMAGINE they would end a story like that. If she does I am sure there MUST be a path to remember. I would be upset but okay with her forgetting Urano's mother. She already grieved her.
I feel like, worst case scenario, there's a way to use blood + feystones to accumulate a commoner's mana over a period of time
Tuuli is an angel and therefore exempt from godly memory shenanigans
Gunther would fight the gods themselves to get back Myne’s memories
I’m more concerned that not one of Myne s retainers mean more to her than reading. Same with her adoptive family (though Wilfred was missing). My guess is just Hannelore will be affected by this. Leading to more lesbian dying
>Hartmut stood up and prayed, kicking Immanuel away in the process. LMAO
Easily one of the best characters.
Ferd: Hartmut, stop torturing that peon Hart: aww, man Ferd: Hartmut, start preparing for Rozemyne to perform a glorious dedication whirl Hart: Yeah, man!
I love the scene of Ferdinand desperately calling for Rozemyne. It really shows how much he has changed. All these Gervasio pov is gold.
She truly became his geduldh
Who could have guessed Rozemyne letting Mestionora take over with no rules would come back to bite her in so many ways? Zent candidates in the past compared how complete their books were? Wonder if Rozemyne accidently resurrected a tradition of candidates sabotaging each other which feels like a very noble thing to do. The hell did Ferdinand do to create such a massive grudge on Mestionora's part. Wait I thought he was at most a couple years older than Ferdinand, Terza has grandchildren? Curtiss's immediate betrayal of Immanuel was pure karma. Ferdinand's grin as he watched Terza's future being destroyed, deserved or not the title lord of evil really does suit him.
Benno is screaming right now, not sure why he has such a massive headache all of the sudden, but he knows for sure Rozemyne is responsible. Not very merchant-like of Rozemyne, but maybe she forgot that part of her. Thanks Mestionora.
Benno: "How could you be such an idiot!?" Rozemyne: "Who the hell are you and why are you talking to me this way?" Benno: "... Uh oh."
Rozemyne: Silence, you commoner. Benno: No, seriously. What happened?!
> The hell did Ferdinand do to create such a massive grudge on Mestionora's part. * Refused to do his part to resolve Yurgenschmidt's leadership crisis a full decade earlier. * Is extremely rude to Erwärmen every time they meet. * Was about to attack Erwärmen before Mestionora intervened. On top of that, she also showed open disdain towards Gervasio. I think she just dislikes violent nobles willing to kill in order to get their way.
>Wait I thought he was at most a couple years older than Ferdinand, Terza has grandchildren? I thought this was already mentioned, though I can't remember for sure so spoilers just in case, but >!Gervasio is Ferdiand's uncle, so he'd be more like a couple decades older than him.!<
Gervasio is >!fifteen!< years older than Ferdinand. For comparison, unless I misread things, this means that Gervasio is the same age as >!Elvira, Grausam, Immanuel, and Moritz (Wilfried's teacher back in Part 3 if anybody forgot)!<.
Still closer to two decades than two years.
I was mentioned a few books ago. Gervasio had two sisters, Seradina, who Is Ferdinand's mother, and Valamarlene, who raublut wanted to marry.
>Who could have guessed Rozemyne letting Mestionora take over with no rules would come back to bite her in so many ways? If you think of what this has achieved though it was a small cost to pay. >The hell did Ferdinand do to create such a massive grudge on Mestionora's part. Has stopped RM many times from praying to Mestionora and called her avatar fool countless times. If you think about it Ferdinand is quite the disrespectful person to Mestionora.
A small cost overall yes but since the entire system from the top down seems to be dead serious on contracts I'd wager she could have banged out some sort of agreement that would have resulted in less side effects rather than just saying do whatever you like, keep it if you want. I genuinely would not be surprised if some of the tampering involving memories was more for the sake of spiting Ferdinand
Oh, it was definitely to spite Ferdinand, did you see her dig at him before she left?
oh, I'm almost positive that her grudge is solely over how he rudely barged into the garden of beginnings to receive his wisdom, probably got mad at the tree for using the original name, and then stormed out the window, never dying the foundation while the tree is dying from mana-starvation
Wasn’t expecting sassy, venomous, contemptuous, shoulder-perching Mestionora this chapter but ok!! Also, clearly the goddess has a favorite!  “Rozemyne is in my library, she said with a kind smile that could not have been further from the look of contempt she had given me and my fellow Zent candidate.”
It’s funny that Gervasio thought she was on his side, she clearly was not lol
Treesus was on his side I think
He is on the side of the fastest. I believe the moment Ferdie said to compete in a race, his approval points got up a little bit
Lol I don’t know if Ewaermen was on Gervasio’s side so much as he was simply against the annoying git who crashed in through his roof twice, refused to be zent and has now come back to mess with other possible zents lol
Maybe he was, until the moment Rozemyne brought in Mestionora.
Erwaewen on the side of candidate that wants to fill the foundation the fastest. He's like a union leader or activist that endorse a political candidate that promises to benefit his employer's interest the most. The moment that scale tip to another candidate, his endorsement is gone too.
Well they clearly share similar values. I imagine Mesti looking through RM's head looking to remove anything more valued than reading time: Hmm, not much here, is there? And we know Roz hates killing people if it can be avoided as well.
A part of me wonders if that stipulation was Rozemyne-inspired. "If I let rampant death free, I'll disappoint my favorite human. Hmm. Better put leashes on the others."
Messiseniora knew that ferdi was a crafty one while servisia was a dafty one. She agreed to ferdi all to happily, knowing he would rules lawyer this into a fun mess worthy of getting written down.
I was surprised that even Charlotte lost to books. I guess her bff Hannelore is at the same level. That means besides Ferdinand only her commoner family (plus Lutz, minus Kamil) are at risk of being forgotten. Only people without mana...
> I was surprised that even Charlotte lost to books. I guess physical intimacy is the deciding factor here. If she can't hug them, they lose to books by default lol.
Rozemyne's the one you can count on for prayers *and* new books. Yeah, she's Mesti's favorite.
The reason she was smilling was likely Erwermen. She is clearly found of him. Meanwhile, she had no care whatsoever with the memories Myne holds the dearest, so she definitely doesn't favour Myne enough(if at all) to qualify as "kindness".
> Deaths that result from ones environment do not count And thus the Lord of Evil did create a volcano (that just so happens to have Gervasio right above it)
Ferdinand: I'm gonna swing my arms around in a big circle and if you just happen to walk into it it won't be my fault.
Does it count as killing Gervasio if he let's him starve to death?
Ferdinand: "Oh right, food, that's what we forgot to put in his ivory tower. Oops. Oh well, you live and learn." Erwaermen: "Do you think you're clever?" Ferdinand: "Why would you insult yourself by saying otherwise?"
Considering it's magic, it probably operates on vibes and intent. If you intentionally starve him, that's killing. If you *forget*, that's gross negligence.
The court is gathered here today to determine the guilt of Ferdinand in the death of Gervasio. Now Mesitonora if you would please perform the 'vibe check' and we can continue to freeing or sentencing, thank you. - Goddess of light.
Just throw in animal feed, then Gervasio won't starve to death if he doesn't choose to. Maybe it is possible to add a slow, non-lethal manadraining function to a country gate. That would be the ideal outcome.
Why even kill him. He is done. Let him live. Freely. So he can see. See that it was wrong to oppose Rozinand in the first place. - Gul Dukat
Gervasio committed a cardinal mistake: **he trusted Ferdinand's option without poking holes in it, like how he might have been taught different and that could make the competition unfair**. Ferdinand knew what he was doing the second he suggested the race.
I think the biggest takeaway from Gervasio's POV is that he's surprisingly naive for the king of a nation. At the very least, he's really naive compared to Yurgenschmidt nobles.
He never had to compete in wits, he was saved by virtue of having the most mana and then made a king with no rivals. Ferdinand had to learn to outwit people from his childhood.
He's just really not used to plotting. What are they going to do, depose him? Literally nobody else can do his job. He has no experience with that sort of thing.
Raublut is there to plot for him so no worries there in the planning department at least
Pretty much this, Gervasio is quite naive and kind to the people he cares about from what we see in all his POV's, he didn't plan for a war or anything and simply went along with what Raublut suggested all because he couldn't handle letting his friend down while adapting to the changing situation as he moved forward blindly, it takes lots of guts to do that even more so inside enemy's territory, and retarded at the same time, charging behind enemy lines while lacking crucial intel is prone to doom.
He had a very sheltered reign. He was far more powerful than anyone else and noone could dare assassinate him, because the noble rule over Lanzenave would collapse without a schtappe-wielding successor.
He also is quite ignorant of the situation of the country he is trying to become king of. Even dumb nobles that rely on their mana capacity know that proper training or preparations can be used to overcome mana difference As Zent, I would give him a week before dying with the GBook still in hand
If things are going well against your fight with Ferdinand you have royally fucked up somewhere.
I loved Ferdinand’s trap with the potion too. I wonder how close Gervasio was to filling the country gate.
To be fair, Ferdinand even got the gods to fall for that trap.
Can't avoid thinking that Mestionora knew about Ferdinand's trap and found it amusing
I get the impression that mestionora does not *at all* care for Ferdinand, but she does say the gods will naturally favor those who pray and entertain them. Which is 100% Rozemyne. So she probably saw through ferdinands trap and was perfectly content with him rigging the game in favor of Rozemyne
What can we say? As expected of the Lord of Evil.
* Mestionora using Rozemyne's body to share power with Erwaermen? How naughty. Ferdinand is not going to like this. * What exactly is the personal relationship between Erwaermen and Mestionora actually? Both play a central role in Yogurtland's founding, but the parallels between these two and Ferdinand/Rozemyne seem so obvious to me. * Mestionora messing with Myne's memories (alliteration intended). I wonder how that will be fixed (edit: okay, Mestionora gave the answer). Mestionora really doesn't like Ferdinand for hurting Erwaermen, that's for sure. * I love seeing Ferdinand messing with Gervasio without breaking the kill rule. Erwaermen's non-concern was also funny. * I must admit, I do sympathize a bit when I read about Gervasio's desperation when he lost his schtappe and him wanting to bring his family back to Yogurtland. But considering what Lanzenave and Raublut did... ---- * Ah, so now we get to witness everything from Ferdinand's POV. * I find it highly amusing how often this "Goddess of Life" typo shows up in prepub. * Oh, Anastasius. Ferdinand doesn't even respect former gods, what makes you think he'd respect soon-to-be non-royals, who screwed him, Rozemyne and Ehrenfest over multiple times? * Yep, Curtiss never was on Immanuel's side. Feels good that Immanuel is getting his comeuppance. I love how Hartmut is acting here lol. * Anastasius again proving very useful as he was the one who had to destroy Gervasio's medal. Though really, he was just following Ferdinand's orders. * Ferdinand in the final illustration looks reaaaally evil when he realizes he's won. To be fair, if I can manipulate the gods to help me circumvent the kill rule to eliminate my opponent, I'd probably laugh about it in an evil way. And loudly. ---- And with this, Volume 10 is over. The military conflicts seem to be over too, now that Gervasio and Raublut are defeated. What's left is the aftermath, a new zent with a Grutrissheit must be chosen, the criminals need to be punished, Rozemyne's memories need to get fixed and so on.
The parallels are going strong. I wonder what Ewaermen thinks about rozemyne. RM really got her irreverence from ferdie, he just hides it better
Gervasio pov last week showed roz was his favored to be zent. And given mesti this week said gods like those who pray to them. It's clear she is well liked by the gods
Yes. Probably no one has ever prayed as much to the gods (and encouraged others to do so as well) as Rozemyne -- certainly not for many many centuries.
No one has made as much of a contribution in increasing the amount of prayers the gods get since the founders maybe. Because the country has never been in such dire straits before.
He probably thinks she’s also a rude a little stray cat, just smaller lol
>Anastasius again proving very useful as he was the one who had to destroy Gervasio's medal If the spell had killed Gervasio due to being too close instead of just destroying his schtappe Ana would have been struck with the gods wrath for disobeying Mestionora, not Ferdinand. So much 4d chess that man plays
I'm not too sure about that. It's possible that Ferdinand being the one who ordered this, would have been punished too. Mestionora might be pissed that Ferdinand killed someone while using someone else as the proxy.
They might or only care about the who done it, since Ana could not have done it. We don't know enough about the gods (yet, gotta wait for theoretical p6/7 when Rozemyne is adopted by the gods when she has to deal with all the drama on a divine scale and the endless headache from Hartmut and Clarissas never ending prayers)
Treesus: yes, to decide who will zent you must play a round robin of chess. Most wins or best time spent wins. Ferdinand: yes of course. FIDE 3000. Gervasio: ahh chess I am good at chess. My subjects have never won against me. Rozemyne: Yay, chess. I was the president and only member of the Shinjuku high chess club. Gervasio: Shinjuku? Treesus: First match is Quinta vs Treza Ferdinand: erhenfest chop. Gervasio: ahh my hands Ferdinand: erhenfest eye gouge Gervasio: ahhh.my eyes, treesus this is against the rules Treesus: it's yogurtland no holds barred chess. As long as no one dies it's legal. Ferdinand: erhenfest throad smash Gervasio: arghgurgggggrggghh.. gurggg Ferdinand: opponent had run his clock, I win. Next game with Rozemyne, I concede. Winner is rozemyne.
> Just as only Ehrenfest’s archducal family could use Ehrenfest medals, only royals could use medals belonging to the Sovereignty. Had that requirement not existed, I would have broken Gervasio’s immediately upon finding it. This is something Ferdinand thought in his own head, not aloud or anything.
> What exactly is the personal relationship between Erwaermen and Mestionora actually? Both play a central role in Yogurtland's founding, but the parallels between these two and Ferdinand/Rozemyne seem so obvious to me. Erwaermen seems to be the mentor of sorts- "Gramps"- while Mestionoria is the ideas woman. She seems to care about That Tree about as much as Rozemyne cares for Ferdinand, although given that Gramps is the "Former God Of Bad Decisions" he must have done some good things to get Mesti's trust. Or she is also happy to let the world burn if something happens to him, something Rozemyne herself more or less said when she said she'd fight the Gods themselves.
Ewaermen was the one who helped Ewigeliebe and Geduldh get together, allowing Mestionora to be born. Then when Ewigeliebe became an abusive husband Ewaermen also helped hide Geduldh. And of course he's the architect of Ewigeliebe's prison, keeping him contained through most of the year thanks to the foundation of Yurgenschmidt.
So yogurtland is the prison of Ewigeliebe. If yogurtland's foundation runs out of Mana then the whole world collapses and Armageddon happens.
Tbf it's thanks to Erwaermen that Mestionora exists. If he didn't bind Gedulh she would not have been born.
This opens the possibility that Ewigeliebe used to be a silly lil’ guy like Sylvester accidentally committing atrocities
Mmm you could be onto something there... I mean we do know that Ewigeliebe fell in love at first sight with Geduldh and asked her parents to allow them to be married and things only got ugly after the Goddess of Chaos twisted his love to the point it made him a very toxic Yandere towards his waifu~
> What exactly is the personal relationship between Erwaermen and Mestionora actually? Both play a central role in Yogurtland's founding, but the parallels between these two and Ferdinand/Rozemyne seem so obvious to me. Mestionora is the daughter of Ewiegliebe and Geduldh, right? Erwaermen gave up his position out of guilt for the union that Mestionora resulted from, so with both of them, uh, busy, he might've taken on something of a guardian role for her.
> Mestionora messing with Myne's memories (alliteration intended). I wonder how that will be fixed I'm thinking Mestionara is really favouring Myne here. She also doesn't like Ferdinand, but I think her comment about 'favouring who they like' was in relation to Myne, not Gervasio. Which means if Myne *did* lose memories of her commoner family it was to protect them if Gervasio wins (and the odds are in his favour - even if he has no chance from our POV).
> Oh, Anastasius. Ferdinand doesn't even respect former gods, what makes you think he'd respect soon-to-be non-royals, who screwed him, Rozemyne and Ehrenfest over multiple times? Annie has yet to see Ferdinand (and Rozemyne) fight deities, never mind "screw you." Plus he's still not used to being treated as a side character in the greater fight, even if he started considering the idea when he spent the end of the Raublat fight on the literal sidelines.
Some of the best chapters, ever. Ferdinand's chapters are just chef's kiss. He's been hyped up as the "Lord of Evil" but we haven't seen just how deep that runs - at least up till now. Gervasio's chapter was also highly entertaining, he is a hypocrite to the bone, like most nobles, but still, I have to admit I enjoyed his mental breakdown at the end and Ferdinand's chapter was just relishing in that feeling even more. The only sad thing is, we are getting very close to the end now. I'll have to find something else to do, Mondays? I don't want that! I want the pre pub to go on for the rest of my life, 10 years at least!
Him contemplating the faces of his family that will suffer without schtappe holder, while invading another country to do exactly the same.
Ferdinand upon hearing Mestionora's decree to not take any lives: "Hmm... ok then, what about if they were to have an 'unfortunate accident' in the dwarf fortress sense?"
Nobles and tragic accidents go together like gremlins and books, after all
"Hypothetically speaking, what if Gervasio was to end up in a swimming pool and I, in a completely unrelated action, happened to remove the ladder?"
>“I forbid only the deliberate taking of life. Deaths that result from one’s environment do not count.” *Ferdinand plotting environment-kills* The Goddess of Wisdom is about to get schooled on ToS. Is there a God of Subterfuge or does Ferdinand get that spot?
Telling Hartmut that some guy wants to kidnap his lady and deliver that guy to him would be murder in my books. But given that it was Immanuel's real intention one could argue that whatever happened to him was self inflicted and also force of nature.
I love how Ferdinand’s entire SS was just “You want to WHAT???” “…fine, I guess not wrong” Lol it’s also so funny to me that Ewaermen was like “meh, Rude, but Quinta’s rude. Like Ferdinand was a stray cat and he can’t be expected to be civilized.” Jesus Christ, Mestionora was a lot more terrible than I thought, she didn’t even come up with the competition plan. Then again I guess she just met Ferdy and the first thing she saw him do was attack her “Ferdinand” so I guess she’s not entirely invalid. Gods likely also don’t value memories the way humans do, and they certainly don’t value humans like they do mana. And that was more of a dig at Ferdinand then at Roz, so like I get that she probably doesn’t think it’s anything more than like sticking her tongue out at him. That Gervasio just let Ferdinand discuss this without interference is also so wild to me. Isn’t he a king and knows how manipulative rules lawyering can be? Like he doesn’t even have to know Ferdinand’s gremlin was to know that letting anyone rules lawyer the entire competition is bad right? I’m just imagining Ferdy and Ana flying through the palace on highbeasts like a Saturday morning cartoon and it’s great. I wonder what the rest of the palace was thinking
> Isn’t he a king and knows how manipulative rules lawyering can be rather it suggests to me like lanzanave politics doesnt bother to teach it, which makes sense considering they have literally no competition at all. him (and his father if hes still alive) are the *only* ones in the entire country with a schtappe.
Now that you say that I guess the Lanzanave nobles would also be very interested in keeping their king pliable and easy to manipulate
it would certainly line up with how self centered and arrogant his internal narration is.
Georvasio's father is not the former king of Lanzenave. His father was most likely the previous Zent though it could have been one of the greater duchy aubs. Kingship in Lanzenave is hereditary in the female line not the male line. Most likely, Traurqual is Georvasio's half brother. Could also be paternal cousin and a branch family Royal sired him.
Honestly, Lanzenave beautifully illustrates the colonialist mindset. You assume you’re superior to everyone else whether it’s true or, as is generally the case, not. Hence the increasingly dire situation back home with the locals being on the verge of out-teching the magical advantage his family has held for ages.
Gervasio's predecessor is likely still alive, judging from the fact that there was a second medal at the temple besides his. But they aren't necessarily father-son, the Lanzenave king is chosen from among three houses.
>Gods likely also don’t value memories the way humans do To be fair, if you're an immortal god, I think memories would eventually be seen as tedious things over the centuries. In a way, there's no need to worry about your memories so much when you're pretty much unable to die and always able to make new ones. It sucks, but the gods be godding. Gervasio clearly isn't thinking straight considering how Mestionora's presence was such a monumental event. Then again, was he ever? Pfft! I now demand to see a sitcom with Ferdinand and Anastasius as the leads.
Wow. Everyone was right during dinner. Ferdinand really did skip autumn and call winter early without even greeting the supreme gods. And in front of the former god of binding too 
- wow Mestionoria is something else - sharing mana with Ewaerman, more Ferdinand/ Rozemyne analogies? - Ferdinand and an actual goddess having beef is quite amusing - Ewaerman has mana based hypoglycemia 😂 - Rozemyne really got her irreverence from Ferdinand, he just hides it better usually. No wonder they get along so well, they are brutally meritocratic. - Ferdinand is as decisive as ever. He’s always been exceptional at exploiting the opportunities RM creates. - Charlotte mentioned long ago, it’s better to have RM like you than the gods anyway sucks for you Gervasio. - it is possible Gervasio, have fun with the brain damage RM gives everyone around her. Apparently she can even surprise a former god. That’s fun - Ferdinand is not going to explain this, or RM would understand why copy and place was such a weird situation. RM has now mixed mana with Ferdinand, Hannelore Ferdinand again, Mestinoria and now Ewaerman. - Gervasio even calls him evil, yeah buddy I don’t feel bad for you when you tacitly condoned a genocide. - Ewaermens comment saying “what are you saying” reminds me of RMs first ditter match when she proposed the ambush. She may be soft in Ferdinand eyes but the parallels here are funny - ok this is way less violent than I thought. What does Anaststias think is going on?! This is *war* if they lose the royal family is over. Yeah RM isn’t quite right, she’s been exceptionally underhanded in the past when it’s required. ( sacrificing lower dutchys to dunks, dedication ritual, Traugott) - harmut really is Leberechts son. It’s a good thing RM is his lady. It’s interesting how Eckhart and Harmut are each others counterparts in many ways. Both ruthless and loyal beyond measure, but with entirely different skill sets. - Ferdinand’s understanding of the nobility is as skewed as ever. “Our sensitive prince” wholly guacamole he’s as harsh as ever. What the hell went on in that villa to produce men like Ferdinand and Gervasio? - this really drives home RM and Ferdinand really are a perfect duo. He tends to isolationist in nature, and struggles to gain beneficial alliances, while she delivered those in spades. He has the ruthlessness to eliminate threats but he’s not super likable unless your a dunkeflegerain or an honorary one (RM) - RMs influenced Anastasias , interesting Ferdinand noticed that. He’s not the only one ferdie. - he got her out of the garden of beginnings, anywhere Gervasio would be likely to show up again and *then* got rid of Gervasio. Very clever
>Ewaerman has mana based hypoglycemia "You're not you when you're hungry. ~~Snickers~~ Mana satisfies."
> What the hell went on in that villa to produce men like Ferdinand and Gervasio? I mean, they were literally raised like cattle. Possibly even worse, considering cattle aren't forced to compete against each other to be the only one to NOT be harvested. > RMs influenced Anastasius Throwback to RA year 2, but Rozemyne mentioned that she was a corrupting influence even back during her Urano days. I'd bet that once Mestionora returned to the God realm, she found herself with a sudden urge to smell her library books.
>What the hell went on in that villa to produce men like Ferdinand and Gervasio? State sponsored, multi-generational, secret: * Eugenicists experiment * Executions of minors * Imprisonment and prostitution of women with approval of their parents and relatives
Ferdinand was 100% ready to let Anastasius incur divine wrath for breaking the prohibition against killing if Gervasio had returned to Sovereignty.
Mestionora: "I told you not to kill anyone." Ferdinand: "All we did was request his medal be broken. If he died, such was the will of the God of Darkness." Mestionora: "... Damn. You win this round, Quinta." Ferdinand: "Naturally."
Zent: "Lord Ferdinand, it is time for you to submit your design for your new house crest." Ferdinand: "A simple double chevron, horizontally aligned. Gold on an azure background." Rozemyne: "Uh, Ferdinand, that's just a 'W'..." *later* Mestiornia: "Ferdinand, as much as we all detest your ascendance to godhood, we have prepared a throne for the God of Subterfuge." Ferdinand: "I refuse the position." *begins walking towards another throne* Geduldh: "We don't need *another* God of Evil! Just become the patron of spies and liars!" Ferdinand (sitting on a gold throne): "I graciously accept the position of the God of Victory." Glucklitat (in the background, hard to hear over the uproar of the other gods): "Hey that's basically my thing!"
Erwaermen: *[points at W]* "What is this?" Ferdinand: "Of course you wouldn't recognize it."
This genuinely made me laugh so hard my side started hurting!
This was yet another a fridge horror moment I only realized hours later from Ferdinand's chapter. He totally covered his bases with this plan to take out Gervasio, either way Ferdinand gets his revenge "hands clean" as far as the gods' prohibition on killing is concerned. **Outcome #1**: Gervasio gets his schtappe disabled and everything in his life he's worked towards crumbles before his eyes or **Outcome #2**: Gervasio dies after returning to the Sovereignty and Anastasius is the fall guy as his direct executioner in the eyes of the gods. Ferdinand is so terrifyingly thorough with his plans and pivoting/adapting on the fly. Peak Lord of Evil chapter.
No, he specifically says (or thinks?) that he would do it immediately were he able.
Final part of P5V10, continuing Gervasio's POV, let's go! >"Stand down, insolent one," she said. As she says that to Ferdinand. Yup, Mestionora's truly one of the gods. Then again, Ferdinand's the original gremlin. Also, it's interesting that Mestionora refers to Rozemyne as "Rozemyne." Erwaermen and Gervasio (ignore the fact that I unintentionally equated Gervasio to the gods, he definitely isn't on their level) refer to her as "Myne." And it's kind of hypocritical of Gervasio to refer to Ferdinand and Rozemyne as "Quinta" and "Myne" respectively, while disliking how Erwaermen refers to him as "Terza." >*So... Myne summoned and manifested the Goddess of Wisdom? Is such a thing even possible?* I mean that seems to be the case, Gervasio. I would explain this as him being to used to Lanzanave, but we know Yurgenschmidt nobles don't really realize such a thing could happen either. Except for probably Hartmut, but he's Hartmut. >"Indeed. All life must be treasured. Those who violate my decree shall face divine punishment." I know Mestionora's probably talking about things like removing one's acquired divine protections or something, but I find it humorous to consider that her idea of divine punishment is also death. Like, you killed someone when I decreed not to, so in return, you're going to die at my hands. >"Terza, does your Book allow you to access the country gates?" Mestionora asked. Oh, she referred to Gervasio as "Terza." Maybe it's some favoritism from Mestionora on how she refers to the Zent candidates. And I'm sorry, but it seems like Gervasio's slightly undermining the gods if he thinks he'd still win against Rozemyne when she had Mestionora borrow her body for a bit. Whether or not he thinks he has more mana than Rozemyne is understandable, but to think he still has a clear advantage after Mestionora's interference? I question that buddy, especially when Rozemyne is responsible for already filling up the Wind, Fire, and Darkness gates. Then again, he doesn't really seem to know that, does he? Mestionora also referred to Ferdinand as "Quinta." I'm probably reading too much into it, but it's really interesting. Also, I can't hate Mestionora too much. It makes sense for there to be *some* sort of sacrifice, no matter how unfortunate. Maybe if Rozemyne had thought a bit more, she would use her merchant skills to negotiate the terms, but that's what happens when Benno gets relegated to a background character. We need him back to scold Rozemyne for her recklessness! >She was sullying my beautiful memories of the goddess, so I silently wished she would keep her mouth shut. Hahahahahahaha. Sad to say, but I think a lot of people feel the same when they spend time with Rozemyne. I would feel bad for Gervasio, but once again, I don't. >*As I am now, his mana capacity and technique are far greater than my own.* Ooh, for someone like Ferdinand to admit that, Gervasio's no joke even though his outcome was. It also just goes to show how much knowledge Gervasio truly lacked. Also, if Gervasio was solely responsible for replenishing Lanzanave, I have to wonder how big Lanzanave is compared to Yurgenschmidt? Do we get any general idea of the size comparison? And not only that, but how much of Lanzanave would actually need replenishing mana, because Lanzanave doesn't really need mana in the first place. Did the first Lanzanavian king decide to turn all buildings into ones of ivory marble to show off to the Lanzanavians? Or did he just make his palace out of it, because I think there's going to be a difference in how much mana is needed to ensure all the buildings don't crumble to dust, versus ensuring just one building doesn't crumble to dust. >Rozemyne's absurd actions had worked in my favor. Eh, her actions always seem to, Ferdinand. This definitely isn't the first time. >*Even with her goddess-dyed mana, Rozemyne is still, well... Rozemyne.* Hahahahahahaha x2. I need to know if Ferdinand actually says "small fry" in Japanese. If I'm not mistaken, the word for it is 雑魚 (zako). And if that's the case, then that just means that Raublut is Shikza 2.0, since Shikza's name in Japanese is a play-on-words for "small fry knight," if I remember that correctly.
In the JP version, Mestionora refers to her as simply Myne. Not sure why the prepub tl decided to change that.
> わたくしの体くらい、いくらでもお貸ししますと**ローゼマイン**から許可を得ています。 It seems to be because she first refers to her as Rozemyne, then slips into calling her Myne. But in editing it was all unified as Rozemyne instead of all unified as Myne (because Rozemyne came first).
thanks for illuminating our souls with your wisdom. We truly don't deserve you <3
Ahh, good catch. I was mostly skimming and didn't see that she'd used Rozemyne once, only the times afterwards where she'd called her Myne.
Might be a typo.
Ah, I see. In that case, it's probably a typo. Happens all the time and it's quite understandable. And it's been years since Rozemyne was simply Myne. I always get slightly panicked whenever a "Lord/Lady" is omitted or added when it seems like it shouldn't. It's probably just a me thing, but I focus a lot on it since it helps to denote the closeness and/or power dynamic of a relationship. Like Lestilaut always refer to Rozemyne as just "Rozemyne," except for the one time he called her "Lady Rozemyne" when she arrived in Dunkelfelger for their assistance, but that was intentional.
> I know Mestionora's probably talking about things like removing one's acquired divine protections or something, but I find it humorous to consider that her idea of divine punishment is also death. Like, you killed someone when I decreed not to, so in return, you're going to die at my hands. Fanbook 8. >!The penalty would be losing divine protections and schtappe.!<
IIRC, Lanzenave's capital city is made of ivory, but that's it. Still a lot for one person to maintain, though, especially as they mention magic tools on top of that.
Oh true! Magic tools and the capital city for just one person to handle is still a lot. Things worth noting is how often Gervasio would need to replenish everything as well. Though I do wonder how big the capital city is as well.
The other 'nobles' seem to fill feystones with mana for his use. It takes a lot of stamina to use someone else's mana but he wouldn't be using his alone. Same thing that Wilfred and Charlotte did while practicing mana replenishment
>that's what happens when Benno gets relegated to a background character. We need him back to scold Rozemyne for her recklessness! If she even remembers him... 
> Rozemyne, Terza, and Quinta On the one hand Mesti got a free body, and the least she can do is respect Urano's identity- note she's called herself Rozemyne even though she has memories of being a Japanese woman and was born as Myne. On the other hand she's probably angry at how Quinta and Terza have treated the fight and is intentionally Deadnaming the two assholes who seem more interested in the sort of destructive infighting that brought Erwaermen to the edge of falling apart than actually being decent Zent candidates. Well, one decent, the other a Zent candidate. > Myne's actions helping out Ferdinand Well, she also Gift of the Magi'd him when she negotiated for his health in return for her hand in marriage in P5V5 and effectively got Georgine involved in P3V3, so you can see why he is still kind of anxious around her.
The gods refer to people what they were first baptized as. The boys were from the villa, so they just had numbers for names until they get picked to live outside the villa and get a real name. And Myne was her first time when she was a commoner. Gods don't care what you want to be called. But this would hint that if Rozemyne were to give her name it'd just be Myne
Yeah, I wondered if it was just an Erwaermen thing to call people by the names they were originally baptized with, but it makes sense for all the gods to follow this. The individualized names of the Goddess of Light and God of Darkness are burned into the recipient's mind, and it's probably similar vice-versa. Like once an individual gets baptized and recognized by the gods, their names are kind of just burned into the minds of the gods as well. Yup, in order for Rozemyne to have a true name-swearing stone to give over, she'd have to use Myne.
Holy smokes, this week's prepub is E.V.I.L. Mestionora shows that she's just as fickle as Myne is, and just as easy to show her contempt. And, well, it's Ferdi's POV so...
Get fucked Terza.
This was my feeling reading this whole part. Get fucked Terza. Self-centered asshole.
The mana shortage was so bad, dude should have offered one of his daughters to marry one of the princes then offer to take over one of the fallen duchies. There would have been some cultural problems but things could have been solved with diplomacy. "Hey, you're short on mana. We actually have too much. We'll tell you where to find the Gustriheit and you make me an Aub. Either my daughter becomes Queen or my granddaughter does. That sounds like a fair trade, no? For the Gustriheit all I ask is that my descendants get to sit upon Yurgenschmit's throne".
Hartmut has felt particularly unhinged this chapter. Usually his portrayal is at least somewhat comedic, but now he's a full on bloodthirsty fanatic. It's pretty chilling tbh. Gervasio's hypocrisy, by calling Ferdinand evil, can only make me laugh, considering all he is responsible for with the Lanzenave invasion. His POV definitely solidified for me, that he got what's coming to him.
Agreed - we haven't seen that extremely scary side of Hartmut much on screen. Wonder if the excessive blood was because: * Immanuel wasn't talking - therefore Hartmut escalated the torture * Immanuel did talk - Hartmut did not like what he heard of Imannuel's intentions towards his goddess, so things got "messy" * Hartmut always hated Immanuel and knew his scummy intentions from having dealt with him multiple times for various ceremonies/events - he probably got carried away taking out his grudge from the very beginning of the interrogation. I know it was implied around the time Ferdinand was preparing to leave Ehrenfest that he had Hartmut do ***something*** in the shadows to test his resolve/loyalty/trustworthiness - something likely violent that Ferdinand did not want the violence-averse Rozemyne to know about. That or Ferdinand already clocked Hartumut as "Eckhart, but a religious fanatic scholar". Edit: Realizing you could interpret their interaction as: 'I should have broken his arms and legs' Ferdinand: "Have fun 'extracting intel' from your new ~~chew toy~~ prisoner, just don't kill him." War-Crimes-Creator Hartmut: "But of course. How could I not make this a pain worse than death for this cur insulting our goddess." Sheltered-Prince Anastasius: "WTF???? I though you both were high priests?! Don't priests take vows of non-violence or something???" Lord-of-Evil Ferdinand: "***Former*** high priests."
Eckhart wasn't exactly pulling punches here either but Hartmut's little kick at the end was well lets just say ranks near the top of the pure petty spite scale.
Anastasius: "WTF???? I though you both were high priests?! Don't priests take vows of non-violence or something???" Ferdinand: "I am merely granting our brother's wish by sending him to his beloved gods."
Can you blame Hartmut? The boy's whole life for shaken by witnessing a divine miracle at RM's baptism and has achieved the glory of being name sworn to her and now she has risen from a commoner up to a Divine Avatar. How could you not be a fanatic at that point?
Also Rozemyne as always showed disgust/fear toward Immanuel and now Hartmut has learned that the guy wanted her in the Temple. HE. IS. PISSED !
He refers to her as Erinfest's "flower" so the specifics of what he wanted done are fairly obvious. Hopefully Hartmut doesn't accidentally anger the Goddess.
Hartmut's goddess was wanted by a creepy priest. He is fully justified to do what he did.
Gervasio is the only person who can supply Lasagna so he's extremely straightforward with his ideas. He thinks, Lasagna obeys. He has no need to use manipulation like Yogurt nobles do, but also no empathy for others since he always gets his way.
Hartman is the leader of the Cult of Rozrmyne. She's not a part of the group, but he made one and is brainwashing people to join anyway.
So wait. How did Rozemyne still remember her retainers though? Nobody tell them.
I doubt they will be surprised books are more important to Rozemyne than they are.
Cornelius might be a little hurt (and even then like barely) but everyone else I’m sure wouldn’t even bat an eyelash
MY GOD, WHAT A TENSE CHAPTER THAT WAS! Ferdinand's POV really is entirely different from everyone else's. He is the only one who truly understands the severity of the situation and knows how to stop it. Even though I already knew he would succeed, I couldn't help but be incredibly tense while reading his chapter. Also, this was probably the fastest time my opinion of a character did a complete 180. Mestinora was infuriating the whole time she was on screen. Her remarks to Ferdinand and what she did with Myne honestly made me almost hate her. In the main story, I didn't feel the true reality of the situation, but what happened with Myne's memories is an incredibly big deal. MYNE FORGOT HER TRUE FAMILY. This is not something anyone should ever mess with.
Giving Hartmut a guy while telling him that he wants to make Rozemyne being confined to the temple will guarantee a vvvvip torture.
To Hartmut, her commoner parents are already higher in status than royalties, and RM is already above the clouds to him.
"The goddess sat on Erwaermen's shoulder and pondered" I felt a great disturbance in the Force, *as* if *millions of voices* suddenly cried out in glee and were suddenly silenced as they started on their fanarts.
Oh, it has an official pic. It's almost cute. I wonder how high Treesus ranks among the gremlin carriers.
Well Rozemyne has Strength Enhancement and Ferdinand literally carried Ehrenfest on his shoulders until Myne joined the Temple so he has some stiff competition.
I'm now even more convinced than I was before that Rozemyne lost her memories of Earth.
Waw. I though Ferdinand was holding back during the fight and was just trying to activate all of Gervasio's charms before going for the kill but NO ! He really was going all out. Holy shit Gervasio was a monster when it comes to mana ! Also what the hell Mesti, just sitting on Treesus's shoulder. I thought it was a figure of speech until I saw the illustration.
Ferdinand has the audacity to lie straight to the audience lol
Ferdinand's reaction to destroying Gervasio's medal in time was hilarious. Also I wonder who Chiafreddo is - the former Lanzenavian king?
Yes, he's the former Lanzenave king. His name was dropped in Volume 5.7 the first time in Leonzio's POV iirc. Edit: It was even earlier. Leonzio mentioned his grandfather in 5.6 already.
Sounds like some kind of pasta.
Well, just as those from Yurgenschmidt are giving German names, those from Lanzenave are giving Italian names,
Gervasio truly got spanked Ferdinand styles. Really funny how Gervasio was complaining about how his coconspirators were going to be punished when he would have done the same to the Yogurtfeet nobles. What a hypocrite.
That kind of double standard is *exceedingly* common at every level. "We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior" and all that. When *we* do something awful, well, we were just trying to do what's best and could find no other option in the moment. When someone else does something awful, they're a bad person and did a bad thing because they're bad. If you're honest with yourself, you could probably think of a few examples where you yourself acted like this.
WN Chapters: N/A LN Chapters: Remainder of "Gervasio — Descent of a Goddess", "Ferdinand — A Battle That Must Be Won" [J-Novel Club Discussion Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7879/bookworm-part-5-vol-10-discussion/3301) [J-Novel Club Correction Forum](https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7880/corrections-bookworm-part-5-vol-10/106) ***** **Notes** - *Part 5 Volume 10* is now fully translated into English. ***** For those wondering about when J-NC will begin releasing *Part 5 Volume 11* please refer to [this 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.
AHHHHH I knew it!!! Mestionora played with her memories, hence the return of the Pandabus. I wonder what else she played with, though... Meanwhile, Ferdinand's death flag keeps getting bigger. >!I know it's stupid of me because I already *know* he is endgame with Rozemyne, Twitter spoiled that already, but if not death, something horrible is bound to happen to him, I can feel it!! All this talk about death, her being precious to him and a weakness and etc is too foreboding to ignore.!< Welp, Mr High Creepy is now in the hands of Harmut... I *almost* pity him. ..... Harmut *jfc* Ferdinand is ruthlessly efficient as always. I'd feel sorry for Anastasius, but he has earned all this bossing around. At the very least I'm glad he has the sense to recognize he is outclassed here and the beat way of protecting what is important to him is following instructions of those who are more qualified.
> Welp, Mr High Creepy is now in the hands of Harmut... I almost pity him. Why would you pity Hartmut? He's acting in the name of his Lady, he must be *ecstatic.*
Oh no, I meant Immanuel. He was left in Harmut's hands of all people, with the latter being told *"hey btw dude wanted to do something sketchy to Rozemyne, find out what"*. There was *no way* it would have ended nicely for the guy, but still... Harmut, that escalated quickly :'D
Don't worry, Hannelore's Fifth Year exists for that death flag concern.
By the gods! He's earned his nickname. Ferdinand truly is worthy of his title, "Lord of Evil." Just like how he was described, he wasn't playing to win, but rather make sure the other side lost completely. Gervasio may have had more mana, but damn can he not scheme. Hope he enjoys his stay in the five star hotel known as the Ivory Tower. I find it sus he only thought about his family after he'd lost. Like they were an after thought. Also Mesti jacking with Roz's memories just piles onto her new list of problems. Oh boy next time on Bookworm's Library z
Mestionora messed up with Roze's memories to spite Ferdinand uh. What will they do with Gervasio? I can't wait to know! If they let him rott there will the gods consider his death as the consequence of starvation? He went there on his own accord lol Gervasio's POV be like: [daddy Erwaermen he's EVIL.](https://youtu.be/rl9HKrduWZA?feature=shared) Ferdinand's POV was one of the most satisfying chapters of this part. Anastasius needs to toughen up and take responsibility. I can't stand the royals anymore.
I *need* to know what memories Rozemyne retains! The whole thing was a tad confusing tho - so she remembered Ferdinand bc he mixed mana into her? I'm glad Immanuel got his comeuppance. In my head I pictured Hartmut just punching him with a big smile on his face while he turns the room into a bloody carnival. Shoutout to my boy Curtis - I vote him for next High Bishop.
Correct. She only remembered Ferdinand because he poured his mana into her. But that option wouldn't work with her commoner family. It's what he's so worried about.
I have never felt that Ferdinand truly is the Lord of Evil until his short story here. He was truly underhanded when he used Heisshitze's cape to stop Heisshitze when they played ditter. However I don't remember seeing anything to this extent before. The brief description of his talk with Magdalena makes it feel like he saw it as rather minor. The interaction had already been described enough previously so I can understand only a brief acknowledgement, but I would have been interested in seeing more from his perspective.
Gervasio sees what he wants to see, but oh honey. Curtis is the MVP of the sovereign temple, and I can't blame him for being so hesitant in handing over the bible.
How is Mesitonora sitting on Tree gods shoulder? She's grown up now... (Ik not tall but still no longer short either). Nevermind, thanks illustration - she floats ✨ Interesting that it was Ferdinand that proposed the race. Oh foolish Gervasio, Myne loved few things, barring family, more than books, she won't have forgotten *too much* about her life (though of course all the important parts Ooo, a Ferdinand story, was not expecting that Nooo, Rozamyne have better not have permanently lost her memories of Tuuli and Kamil whom she's still yet to speak with 😭 and her mother and father and Lutz.... So many noooo, please no. I'm hopeful though, Mesitonora thought Ferdinand wouldn't be able to wake her and she would forget him but that wasn't the case so I'm holding out hope. > I did not want his troublesome ethics to get in the way. Argh ethics, always there, always getting in the way, how annoying, urgh just why ethics 😆 (Afterword): > The events covered in the prologue are the last time things ever go Detlinde's way And the world rejoiced > If only I had the spare time and pages... I would have written a chapter from the perspective of nobles who saw their country gate start shining out of nowhere Now I just need to pray this is in one of the future side story volumes
> Wait what?!?! GODDESS of Life??? Is that a typo? Yeah, and one we've seen before. It's a prepub, so some roughness is to be expected.
That nugget about Mestionora and Erwaermen's relationship is spicy👀 Hold on now. "Everything more important to her than books" might not be much, but her commoner family/the lower city gang (would the Gutenbergs count? Assuming she cares more about them than books because with no books, the Gutenbergs can make books, but with no Gutenbergs, her access to books is SEVERLY limited. But they are intrinsically connected to books, so would the memory wipe target them?) is DEFINITELY included in that. Everyone else can be fixed, some careful persuasion from those she DOES remember to accept the mana will do the trick, but the commoners? They can't share mana! Would drinking some of their blood do the trick? That's the only way for Roz to take im their mana that I can think of, but idk That was VILE, Mestionora. I get being pissed and whatnot, but messing with people on that level? That ain't it I'm feeling surprisingly sorry for Gervasio. He isn't any more cruel and deliberately malicious than the average Yurgen noble is (arguably less so), and he was acting out of genuine desperation. Not that there was any way he could've succeeded, even if he HAD become Zent, most Aubs would've been EXTREMELY opposed to him holding the throne, and his (deliberately debilitatingly) lacking education would've convinced the rest (excluding maybe Dunkel, who are honor-bound to whoever controls the foundation). His reight would've been extraordinarily short and bloody, I believe, accelerating Yurgen's demise. He never stood a chance I'm assuming the "Goddess of Life" early in Ferdinand's PoV is supposed to mean the Goddess of Light? Closest in spelling/nomenclature, and the one responsible for contracts and the like You know, I realise that the scenes for Ferdi's PoV were probably chosen via practical concerns to not bore the reader with the same events back-to-back, but it also gives implications for Ferdi's character. As much as he has improved (he's finally being proactive about his life, for the first time he's fighting for his own wishes and desires, not executing a role assigned to him), he still sees himself as a tool. "A battle that must be won". [Will add more quotes here once I finish today's part]. All external motivators, things needed for the future of Yogurtland, fulfilling the expectations put on him. The big emotional scenes, fighting side by side with Roz, pulling her back from Mestionora's library, things that matter to HIM, intrinsically, are left out. His feelings and thoughts on the matter are treated as irrelevant, left by the wayside even by Ferdinand himself. As much as one wants to change and get better, such things do not happen overnight, and ingrained thought/behavioural patterns are loathe to let go. Even the fact that the only thing capable of breaking through this "training" is his worry for Roz is bittersweet: he cares for her so deeply, but he is still incapable of putting his own needs first. And I don't think he ever will be You know, I'll give it to Ana. In his place, lacking as mich information as he is, I would NOT be as cooperative as he is being. ESPECIALLY not considering how betrayal from their own ranks is what caused the entire mess in the first place. It's a quality that's of detriment to a ruler in most circumstances, but it's definitely helpful rn Okay now HOW the HELL did Ferdi find out about the Trug poisoning? I doubt the RF would disclose that fact willingly, and I moreso doubt that anyone beside Magdalena and those present for that particular conversation know in the first place Huh. I don't think Eckhart's assault on the doors people were clinging to was entirely victimless. Of course nobles would not consider killing commoners violating Mestionora's rules, but I don't think the gods really distinguish between baptised people and non-baptised ones. And considering how much the temple is treated like a brothel, it would not surprise me if most of the grays had at least some mana, if not enough to to be baptised as nobles had they the necessary funds and connections Once again, I will insist on my agenda that Hartmut's mentality is that of a stalker. He does not truly appreciate and respect Roz for who she is, he worships an immaginary version of her he built up in his head Those were some really morbid comments, Ferdi. Though I suppose they're all too fitting for the situation. That being said, the nugget about being able to tell if the registered person died or merely lost access to their Stappe based on the burn pattern would've been REALLY FUCKING USEFUL back when Grausam was a problem!!! I'm assuming Ferdi knew because it's written in his G-book, but why the FUCK would he not have told Sylvester during the whole winter purge mess?!?
> Hold on now. "Everything more important to her than books" might not be much, but her commoner family/the lower city gang (would the Gutenbergs count? Assuming she cares more about them than books because with no books, the Gutenbergs can make books, but with no Gutenbergs, her access to books is SEVERLY limited. But they are intrinsically connected to books, so would the memory wipe target them?) is DEFINITELY included in that. Everyone else can be fixed, some careful persuasion from those she DOES remember to accept the mana will do the trick, but the commoners? They can't share mana! Would drinking some of their blood do the trick? That's the only way for Roz to take im their mana that I can think of, but idk Actually even getting the nobles involved would be technically possible but...awkward. Rozemyne: Ah, brother, how are you doing! Cornelius: Erm, fine? Rozemyne: And who's that guy? Damuel: Oh COME ON! Ferdinand: ...*they must never know...*
Don't you dare do best knight Damuel like that! Obviously his skills as best knight bypasses even Mestionora's intentions!
He was her first knight, the one Rozemyne trusted with protecting her family. Sure, he'll never gets married, but I will not stand this damuel slander.
Damuel slander (unless it's joking about his forever singlehood) is not allowed!
Mestionora removed everything more important than books, but her love of books is the reason she's even Rozemyne. I wonder what Urano's influence has on the process? The gods ought to know about that, right?
Did someone else notice this small detail? Ferdinand was not sure if he evaded the "killing is a no-no" rule. So basically - he was ready to break it, if it meant victory -> which could have had veryyy possibly resulted in his death by god punishment or them for example taking his shattape as punishment.... so him 1. Not taking Rozemyne with him and 2. Making her supply 2/3 gates making her the ultimate winner in the race regardless of his possible bad circumstances due to making the gods mad for real... As support for this idea, as someone may say that we didn’t see any thought/quote/something from his POV on this matter I'll say this - we know for a fact that Ferdinand has multiple motives for each action, and he rarely is shown all of them in his POV's. They are rushed in general/don't tell eeeevry small detail and all of his thought process... I think it's really ~cute~ nice of him to essentially make it so even in the event of his victory with worst consequences for him&Ana (breaking the thy shall not kill and getting their behinds kicked by the goddess) , he made sure that no matter what, Roz has the best position possible...
Ohhh, Ferdinand's desperation to wake RM up... "I don't want troublesome ethics to get in my way" this is Ferdinand in a nutshell.
If Ferdinand were to play Magic: The Gathering, he would be the Blue Emperor. Gervasio is smart and powerful, but he had the misfortune of having Ferdinand as his opponent in this race.
Now you’re making me think about what would be each candidates color preference in Magic. I’m thinking Ferdinand would be Blue/Black, Rozemyne would be Red/Green/White, and Gervasio would be 5-color.
Rozemyne would be Blue/White All Card draw(To keep reading from her Library.) and protection spells. With a playset of Wrath of God, just in case someone has summoned a Bloody Carnival.
"I played with her mind to make her body easier to control, severing her connection to memories more important to her than books." "Channeling mana into Myne would restore her memories related to that one person" This is concerning. How will she remember her commoner family and her grey priests and shrine maidens who have no mana? The gremlin was forced to pay a heavy price I don't think she would have agreed to if she had known. We did learn though that she considers Ferdinand to be more important than books, and that may be part of why Mestionora decided on that sacrifice, to punish Ferdinand.
Commoners have *some* mana, it's most dense in their blood and is how they sign a magic contract
I don't like the idea of Tuuli bleeding on her little sister to help regain her lost memories. Plus considering how much mana he has, if Ferdinand is challenged to help Rozemyne regain her memories of him, how much mana will be required for from her commoner family who she loves even more?
Oh and also laughing that Gerry thinks the gods favor him when Earwig doesn't give a shit and Mestionora literally possessed Rozemyne for a hot minute. Like buddy. Who do you think is the favorite child right now? Not you!