The cast really explodes starting in part 3. It all seems very complicated, but it's mostly introduced bit by bit over the story so it doesn't seem so bad. Several of the characters I mentioned above rarely or never directly appear in the series, too. It's a lot easier with a family tree of the characters. There's a couple I used on Pixiv somewhere but I can't go digging them up right now. So long as this is the spoiler forum, let's give some more details about what I mean: As to whether Maine is in connection with the highest nobles, it's sort of yes and no. The country is named Jurgenschmidt, and it's shaped like a perfect circle that's divided into a central territory directly owned by the king, who is called the Zent/Tsent, and 20 territories entrusted to lords called Aubes. Those Aubes then entrust parts of their territories to nobles called Gebes. There are also many unlanded nobles who work under both the Tsent, the Aubes, and the Gebes, and all the nobles below the Aube and his/her immediate family are divided into lower, middle, and upper ranks. All these divisions are not just social constructs, but magical. Magical barriers separate the territories between the Aubes' territories, with passage only possible through certain gates. The realm is divided up because in this world magical power needs to be infused into the land to promote the growth of plants. By splitting up the territory, the magical burden can be shared. Infusing that power, altering the placement of the barriers, or changing who is in charge of what territory requires using a magical artifact that's at the core of each territory. Even the ranking of the nobles is based on how much magic power a famiily has, and there's little mixing between the different ranks of nobles, as if two people have vastly different amounts of magic power they can't conceive a child. Because of all these barriers and such, there's comparatively little actual interaction between the different territories. There's an academy for nobles in the crown's territory that all noble children attend together, and it's the same place that has a meeting of all the Aubes once a year where they discuss economic deals, marriages, and decide a ranking for the territories based on their economy, magic power, and good standing with the crown. And that's about all the interaction they have. There's some trade, but it's fairly limited. The territories of other Aubes are basically treated as foreign nations and potential enemies. The crown has great power over the Aubes, but also relies on their support. Jilvester, who adopts Myne, is the Aube of Ehrenfest, which is considered to be near the bottom of the middle-sized territories. It's moderately large in area but low in population, which also means fewer nobles to generate magic power. Shortly before the start of the series there was a political disturbance as two different princes fought each other for the crown. Many nobles died in the fighting, creating a magic shortage throughout the realm. Ehrenfest managed to stay neutral in this conflict. After the conflict was over, who sided with who affected the ranking of the territories, with allies to the prince who won getting boosted. Ehrenfest was normally near the bottom of the territorial ranking, but because they were given precedence over the territories who sided against the prince who won, they were raised up towards the middle, placing #13 out of 20 by the start of the series, and rising as the story goes on. So basically, Myne was in tight with the highest ranking nobles in her territory, and had basically absolute say within that territory. The higher ranked territories could apply a degree of pressure on Ehrenfest to force an issue like an engagement, and could negotiate trade deals from a position of power, but they couldn't annul an engagement that was already made or straight up steal stuff. The Zent could do this with a royal order, though. As for Ferdinand, he's Jilvester's half-brother. When he made his first public appearance at his baptism, Jilvester's father said he was his, but Jilvester's mother Veronica refused to acknowledge him. He was bullied and tortured throughout his childhood at Veronica's hand, and it escalated after his father died and Jilvester became Aub, leading to him deciding to voluntarily enter the temple and retire from public life to try and get away from it. Spoiler: That being said, there's a bit more stuff that's revealed very close to the end of the story. The Zent had a deal with a neighboring country, Lanzenave, that was founded 400 years ago by a prince who left Jorgenschmidt to found his own country. There are no magic-users outside of Jorgenschmidt, so in Lanzenave only the royal family has any magic power, and it's a precious resource. There are certain rituals for creating a fully fledged magic-user that have to take place at the noble academy, and they can't inbreed forever, so they made a deal with the Zent of Jorgenschmidt. Every few generations they would present a princess to the royal family of Jorgenschmidt. She, and any children she then produced would be confined to a certain villa. When the children came of age, the boy with the highest magic power would be returned to Lanzenave, where he would become king. Ferdinand was one of the boys born in that villa between the princess of Lanzenave and an unknown man from the Jorgenschmidt royal family. He was not chosen to return to Lanzenave. Normally, the "excess" children are killed, both to prevent them from making claims on the Jorgenschmidt crown and so their bodies could be turned into valuable magic stones and taken back to Lanzenave. However, the Aube of Ehrenfest reportedly received guidance from the goddess of time and managed to rescue and adopt Ferdinand as his own child. (The details on this are a little fuzzy but might get cleared up in the ongoing spinoff) So while publicly Ferdinand is the half-brother of Jilvester, the Aube of Ehrenfest, he's technically both a son of two countries' royal families, and has magic power on the level of a king.
This.........the author really put a heavy detailed of to this. Usually, whenever an isekai novel/manga that I read, always quick and simple in detailing its world. Not step by step, and certainly not layer by layer like this. You peel one layer, there's still another layer, when you think finally no more layer, there's a layer hidden. XDD Well, that's my impression 'nyway. Somehow this is amazing, and bewildering for me. I read this novel from manga forst. And from manga, (also after I read the novel 1st arc from translation) Myne world is relatively small, not simple but not too complicated, but a bit undeveloped in terms of knowledge (tho food knowledge of WoW Japanese food is the most delicious and has plenty of variety and everyone likes it, is like the norm in every isekai I read LOL )
Thank you so much for taking time to tell me and write such long detailed explanation. You're so nice and helpful ^^ I read it again, and cant help but thinking '.......so ancient chinese world like. Where so many rules of states, area, duke, king, commoner and noble, rules of what/who/where/etc should do/not do.......' I dont really know of other ancient country like, I mentioned Chinese coz I also like reading rebirth in ancient chinese such as To be a virtuous wife and etc. And I can just sigh in relief, thank goodness this is 2018 XDD And regarding Ferdinand.......so messed up.....no wonder Maine is angry and asked them to treat him well. From the manga raws I read, I suspected he has big magic capability too, but never thought his fate is like that.
It gets even better after you read the whole thing and go back to read Part 2 again, knowing everything in hindsight and then reading it again almost feels like reading a completely different novel to your first run through. There's so many moments in there that really hits you in the feels. @@
There's some major plot developments, both at the end of Arc 2 and Arc 3, that later on led to the Tuuli/Lutz route. From the entire story's point of view, Arc 1 (up to the point where she enters the temple) really is a full blown extended prologue, and Arc 2 is where the story begins. For the pic though, for some reason the link isn't working for me, so I don't know whether it's official or not, but, as far as the published light novels go, they've covered a lot of the web novels already, just broken into Arc 5 (the last and the longest arc) of the story I think, so it's quite likely that the art is official. ( ´･ω･`)_且~
I don't remember exactly when that happened; Ferdinand is a huge part of the series, way more than Lutz is in the long run, and makes a cute couple with Myne, who also spends a large amount of time being carried around.
I apologize if my question has been 'answered' so to speak.. Ill just put my questions in a tag just in case Spoiler But I was very much curious if she ever gets back with her - I hate to use the term but.. 'real family' as Its pretty clear she really wants to; I was just hoping to find out that bit in detail... and if the ending is happy. (feel free to detail me since ive had a few series end kinda bleh and I would rather just not finish another bleh end atm) and I heard she has to under go procedures at some point ? I was curious what happens. Thanks
Read the latest translation, and then went here again to refresh my spoiler remembrall XD Regarding Tuuli. Is she still working as seamstress/apprenticing at it? I read she works/manages the Myne Workshop w Lutz. So, she quits her apprenticeship? If Lutz still manages her workshop, they still able to communicate (just like how Benno strategized after the temple calls Myne), and they still sell the products like Arc1? Is Benno (and the characters from Arc1 like Otto etc) got mentioned again? Does he manage to open his own shop, adopt Lutz and make him his heir? So, Myne family has new house? I saw the raw, Myne baby brother has black hair too, and very cute ^^ Is there any story/interaction with her brother?
Yes, but only at the very, very end of the series. Check out my spoiler tag below for details. It's been a while now since I read Bookworm so I'm a little fuzzy on these sorts of details, but IIRC Tuuli winds up working in Benno's textile-focused Gilberta company (with the more Myne-focused industries having been spun off into the Plantin company). In practice she's the most skilled creator of the embroidered flower hair ornaments that become a local specialty, and she's Rosemyne's personal craftsman (since those hair ornaments are her signature look), getting permission to enter the lord's palace for her job, though in a semi-public setting so she can't interact too friendly. She gets a lot of business through Rosemyne, even producing some items that Rosemyne would gift to members of the royal family. Lutz works under Benno in their new Plantin company. One of the company's primary focuses is on developing the papermaking and printing industries around Ehrenfest, and as Lutz has spent longer than anyone else in those fields and was among the craftsmen Myne gave the title of Gutenberg to, he was one of the key personnel in expanding the industry. He manages to keep in close contact with Myne up to partway through part 3 (I think?), at which point Myne gets old enough that they can't make excuses for her disappearing into a hidden room with a boy. In the later parts Lutz spends a lot of his time on business trips around Ehrenfest, leading the team that establishes new paper and printing workshops for the Plantin company. He still sees Myne sometimes, but it's a lot harder for them to find a chance to meet properly and not without Myne having to keep on her noble persona. Benno is probably among the longest-lasting part 1 characters, since it's a little more common for him to be able to enter the temple, noble district, or castle with business for Rosemyne. I think he made Lutz his heir? I can't remember very well. Myne's family get at new house at the very, very end of the story. I'll put this under a spoiler tag, just in case. Spoiler: Spoilers for the very end After Rosemyne conquers the neighboring territory, renames it Alexandria, and builds her library there, she brings along pretty much her entire family, since on paper her mother and Tuuli are her exclusive craftsmen. The Gilberta and Plantin companies open branches in the capital of Alexandria, and her family lives in the attached dormitory. She and Ferdinand construct a hidden teleportation magic circle in a hidden room in her library that leads to a hidden room in that dormitory (since as the Lord of the territory she can alter the territory's buildings magically). Thanks to that, and the fact that the magical contract binding them to not treat each other as family was only valid within Ehrenfest, it's the first time in many years that she can meet them openly and treat them like family. Kamil, Myne's baby brother, is born in part 2. He doesn't have much of a direct role in the story, but Myne is completely taken by him. She puts a lot of effort into making toys and picture books for Kamil, and continues to pass them to him via Lutz after she becomes a noble. She did this in part out of a desire to help make him a bookworm like herself, a goal that succeeded, with Kamil deciding to follow Lutz in the printing industry by joining the Plantin company. After becoming a noble, Myne has almost no chances to meet Kamil, however. The only time she gets to see him is after one of the temple ceremonies that occur a couple times a year. As the head of the temple, she enters partway through the ceremony, but at the end of it she remains at the lecturn as the doors open. Her family parks themselves out front, and for a brief instant they can gaze at each other from a distance. She doesn't properly meet him until the very end of the story. The main character is Hannalore, Rosemyne's friend she made at the Noble Academy/House of Lords/Aristocrat School/however you want to translate it. She's the daughter of the Lord of the Dunkelfelger territory, a large and militarily powerful land who had a role in ending the last civil war and choosing the present king. The various territories of Yurgenschmidt are ranked by power/influence, and Dunkelfelger is 2nd out of 25, with Ehrenfest, the region Myne and the others hail from, is all the way down at 13 at the start of the series. (And even that is artificially high, since there are many more powerful fiefs that were demoted due to their opposing the current king in the last war). The nobles of Dunkelfelger are also obsessed with the series' Quidditch-equivalent, a sport called Ditter. Hannalore is one of the few exceptions, being shy and withdrawn in comparison to the football-jock atmosphere of Dunkelfelger. The main Bookworm storyline ends around the end of Rosemyne's class's fourth year, in a five-year institution. One of the few remaining unresolved questions was Hannalore's marriage. She'd had a couple flags with Wilfried, Rosemyne's adopted brother and the presumed heir to Ehrenfest, but nothing had come of it and both were free at the end of the series. Being the daughter of one of the most powerful regions and a friend to the extremely powerful Rosemyne, who all nobles were desperate to get a connection to, Hannalore became one of the most eligible girls in the whole country. Her side story focuses on her many options and cursing her own indecision, shows the effects of some of the events of the main Bookworm story from another perspective (some things having made Hannalore's position very complicated), lets the author tie up remaining loose plot threads, and lets us see a bit of Myne's life after the epilogue. It's very good, but incredibly slow to update.
@Bakanogami Thank you very much! So, Plantin Company is the new company Benno open. Wow, another dream is fullfilled ^^ PS. Rather than Lutz, I thought Benno might be Myne suitor, the flag is rising in Arc1 several times Ah, so Tuuli is with Gilberta. I thought she is with/managing Myne Workshop. And old Lutz is finally grabbing his dream as travelling merchant too ^^ And I got to hear her baby brother name, Kamil ne I saw in raw, that scene with her parent, Tuuli and Kamil in temple with Myne in the altar/temple. I didnt understand, but I thought that was a nice scene, and I also thought Eh, is Myne the Head Temple replacing that old fat pig? XD I heard her mother, sister, brother, what about her father? Is Gunther still a soldier/guard?
There's never anything between Benno and Myne. Benno remains unmarried at the end of the series. Myne/Ferdinand is the main romance. Lutz was close but couldn't keep up with her and stopped appearing so much. She spends much of the series engaged to her adopted brother Wilfried, but there was never really any romantic love there and they both knew it. It's been a while, but I think the "Myne Workshop" founded in part 1 may have been dissolved on paper during the coverup to make Myne into Rosemyne at the start of part 3? I forget the details. Regardless, the Plantin company takes care of most of the business end, while the main workshop under Rosemyne is the orphanage at the temple. At the end of part 2 there's a scandal as the temple head forges documents, brings foreign nobles from a rival territory into the city without permission, attempts to assault and capture Myne, etc. After they realized how valuable Myne was, the Head Priest Ferdinand worked together with the Lord of Ehrenfest, Jilvester, to put together a magical contract to make Myne into the Lord's adopted daughter. Using that contract they essentially tricked the temple head into committing treason by assaulting a member of the ruling family. He was killed, and many related nobles were convicted, etc. It's one of the main events that leads into the rest of the story. After all that, it was decided to make Myne, now Rosemyne, into the new Temple Head, a position I believe she stays in until the end of the series or near to it. (In the epilogue she's now the temple head of Alexandria, and passed on the Ehrenfest position to her adopted little brother) Gunther remains a guard throughout the series. He shows up from time to time when Rosemyne needs to recruit some guards as an escort or so on for carriages carrying her stuff, and has a few scenes in the battles later in the series as well. He transfers to Alexandria with his family.
Hmm. Just skimmed a very low quality rip of the episode bundled with volume 20. It was interesting that they Spoiler had the very first scene being the Part 2 Volume 2 scene from the end of the PVs. If I remember correctly in the WN that scene was when Ferdinand goes through her memories from before she was Myne so I sorta see how it makes sense but it's just so weird.
@Nighthawlc I dont know what you refered to. @Bakanogami Thank you for all the answer an eve more details ^^ Good riddance with that fat pig priest lol I cant wait for the translation and the manga ^^