After the ruckus at the end of the previous volume, one would hope Lady Rozemyne would have earned respite of some sort. Not so much. Within weeks of the spectacle that saw the little girl fight for her life against a nefarious assortment of greedy nobles and selfish zealots, Rozemyne is thrown back into the spotlight. It's comical to fathom all the twists and turns the author must have gone through in planning ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM #8. It is, in a word, impressive, the reinvention of Myne a noble, to hide her commoner roots, the elevation of her position in the temple, and her further integration into the family of the Archduke of Ehrenfest, and all without carelessly invoking retroactive continuity. All in all, it's fun to see how many characters are as bewildered at these glitzy shenanigans as the readers are.
The land of the nobility contains therein an intriguing and strangely complementary grouping of traits to which Rozemyne is perfectly suited: profound work ethic, valuing of knowledge and education, establishing of trends. Rozemyne is a bit snake-bitten at realizing how many hours she must dedicate to the craft of social graces (e.g., tea parties, cultural rites), but the girl adapts quickly and knows how to put her knowledge where it fits best (e.g., convincing rich women to purchase rinsham). The girl already earns high marks for her intelligence; now she's turning heads with her clever perspective on how to engage others with that intelligence in hand.
And it's just as well, since it's time to officially open the Italian restaurant, it's time to officially scout land for a satellite office of the workshop, and it's time to officially boost Rozemyne's knowledge of her illness on a granular level. ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM #8 turns and glances down a number of side streets and alleyways. For example, when the high priest, Ferdinand, deigns to teach Rozemyne about mana use, the result provides a unique glimpse into how magic is taught and learned in this fantasy realm. The girl is a natural. And even though her ability to attenuate the strength of her mana requires further training, it's great to see the characters are taking seriously the many different ways she can apply her incredible power. (Also, the author's not-so-subtle shout-out to My neighbor Totoro is devilishly funny.)
Another funny example occurs when it becomes abundantly clear Rozemyne's knowledge of food and cooking is, well, otherworldly. The restaurant launch is a huge success. So much so that Ferdinand, Karstedt, and Sylvester all vie to hire (steal away) Rozemyne's chefs. The resulting bickering pits the sly and straightforward high priest against the warm but stern knights commander against the archduke himself, and no matter how tasty the bread, soup, salad, or roasted duck, all anyone can do is sigh. Ferdinand's extravagant rhetorical elucidation on the restaurant's consommé is at once heartrendingly beautiful and outrageously comical ("Now, now, Ferdinand. Don't try to sneak her out from under our noses here.").
Readers may have initially feared the next arc of the novel series would pit Rozemyne against all sorts of snooty royal types, but the truth, thankfully, is quite different. The girl is welcomed warmly by most of the book's several new characters. A few are haughty and a few are silver-tongued, but that's to be expected. As for the unexpected, there is a clever note about Wilfried, Sylvester's eldest son, who is a few years older than Rozemyne, being somewhat illiterate. And then there's Brigitte, a bodyguard who eschews most feminine articles and tropes, who slowly warms to the weird proclivities of her young new charge.
ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM #8 leans heavily on character dynamics and acclimation to a new social environment, and as such, doesn't overly emphasize the printmaking facet of the novel series. Rozemyne makes progress on her work with wax stencils and advances the quality of letterpress printing in general. The fruits of her labor are impressive and she earns a great deal of respect for it. Funnily enough, almost too much respect. And while it looks like this bookworm is well on track to becoming a librarian in another world, if she's not careful, she'll be more than a book otaku, she'll become a saint.