Ascendance of a Bookworm (Manga)

A certain college girl who's loved books ever since she was a little girl dies in an accident and is reborn in another world she knows nothing about. She is now Myne, the sickly five-year-old daughter of a poor soldier. To make things worse, the world she's been reborn in has a very low literacy rate and books mostly don't exist. She'd have to pay an enormous amounts of money to buy one. Myne resolves herself: If there aren't any books, she'll just have to make them! Her goal is to become a librarian. This story begins with her quest to make books so she can live surrounded by them! Dive into this biblio-fantasy written for book lovers and bookworms!

Myne has finally started to adjust to her new life... but once a bookworm, always a bookworm. As winter sets in, there are historical methodologies to try: papyrus, clay tablets... anything that can hold letters and words. Even if it means getting well enough to visit the forest! But first there are chores to do and mythical fruits to cook. Fortunately, Myne has an ally in Otto, her father's paperwork-swamped colleague. Can he teach her how to read and write in this world and put her to work somewhere that will advance her goals and status? Or will she be stuck as a poor, illiterate girl forever?

Myne throws everything she has at paper-making while helping at the gate and preparing for Tuuli's baptism. She tries weaving faux-papyrus from fibers during winter and forming clay tablets during the spring, but both fail. Still, her love for books isn't so weak that she'd give up that easily. It's time to think up a Plan C! This is a bibliofantasy for all the bookworms of the world!

Aspiring apprentice merchants Myne and Lutz have signed a contract with Benno, who has promised to sell their plant-based prototype. With his assistance, they finally have the materials and tools to start making their first batch of washi paper! And Benno wants to sell not only paper, but Myne's other inventions, such as the flower hairpins, as well. But getting involved in the world of merchants makes Myne's life more complicated than ever as she gets registered at the Merchant's Guild and catches the eye of the conniving guildmaster. The more people realize that Myne's ideas can be commodified, the more everyone wants a piece of her. Meanwhile, as Myne displays more and more of her otherworld knowledge and adult-like behavior, Lutz has grown suspicious of her real identity... What will Myne do when he demands to know who she really is? How could she ever explain that the real Myne is gone forever?

Myne tells Lutz the truth about herself. He gets mad and confused, but in the end accepts Myne, with whom he has spent the past year making paper and such with. They successfully complete the paper and get accepted by Benno. They go to the Merchant's Guild to register so they can sell paper, where they are asked to make hairpins for the guildmaster's granddaughter. And so, they go to meet the girl herself, to ask how she would like her hairpins to look. This is a biblio-fantasy, by book lovers for book lovers!

Myne advances further into book-making so that she can have books to read. Her disease is known as “the Devouring,” and upon learning that it requires an exorbitant amount of money to cure, she resolves to stay alive by selling her knowledge from her past life. Despite her best efforts, the Devouring heat eats away at her day by day, and she loses consciousness during a business discussion! This is a biblio-fantasy by bookworms, for bookworms!

Myne narrowly escapes death thanks to a magic tool, but is told that she only has one year left to live at most. She decides to spend her remaining time with her family, concluding that she would rather die with them than sign her life away to a noble. Meanwhile, Lutz fights back against his parents, steeling his resolve to become a merchant no matter what. Together, they plan to continue making paper up until their baptism ceremony, but are soon called over by Freida to talk about the Devouring. This is a biblio-fantasy by bookworms, for bookworms! Part 1 concludes with this volume.

Myne successfully negotiates with the temple to become an apprentice blue shrine maiden, ensuring she will receive the same treatment as a noble. Her work there begins, and after such a long wait, she can finally read in the book room! But the temple's status-based structure and her problematic attendants mean she doesn't have it easy: she'll need to beat society to enjoy her books in peace! This is a biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers! Part 2, begin!

Myne slowly gets more and more used to life in the temple—she learns to speak like a noble, successfully breaks the ice with Fran, and is granted the orphanage director's chambers to live in. Her once problematic attendant Gil cleans her new chambers as ordered and learns to love being rewarded for his work, but Delia... Well... This is a biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!

Myne had been steadily growing used to the life in the temple, but just as she thought everything was going to go well, she learned the templed housed a significant number of starving, emaciated orphans. She agonized over the problem, then resolved to become the orphanage director and improve their lives herself. And so the Myne Workshop's temple branch began operation. This is a bibliofantasy by bookworms, for bookworms!

Now serving as orphanage director, Myne begins her mission to save the temple’s orphans—an endeavor that earns her a great deal of respect from those whose lives she continues to improve. She arranges for the orphans to have somewhere to sleep, teaches them how to provide for themselves, and even helps them to experience the festivities of the Star Festival for the very first time. Just before the taue-throwing starts, however, Myne makes a discovery—one that she believes could play a crucial role in saving other children with the Devouring. She goes to see Benno at once, hoping to spare others from her fate, but the matter is far more complicated than she realizes... This is a biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!

"Lutz gets into an argument with his parents and runs away from home, furious that they refuse to accept him becoming a merchant. Their dispute quickly reaches the Gilberta Company, and only when Myne and the High Priest arrange a discussion between the involved parties is the matter peacefully resolved. At last, Myne can return her focus to making books-or so she thinks. After taking Wilma and Rosina as attendants, she finds herself dealing with another clash of opinions. This is a biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!"

Myne shows the High Priest her rewritten bible, hoping to secure his approval, only to cast doubt on who she claims to be. How can a girl who struggles to pen so much as a simple letter produce something so well written? The High Priest demands an answer, but Myne is unsure what to say. Will the truth convince him, and can she afford to risk losing her only ally in the temple? Find out in the continuation of this biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!

Two years after resolving to make her own books, Myne finally finishes her first one! Lutz and Tuuli join the ecstatic bookworm in celebration, but their time together is cut short by the arrival of winter. Myne must endure the bitter season in the temple, away from her family—and her first job as a blue shrine maiden is far from leisurely. How will she fare when faced with a call for aid from the Knight’s Order? Find out in this biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!

As the High Priest battles a trombe alongside the Knight’s Order, Myne glimpses the terrors of noble society. She completes the Healing Ritual and demonstrates her worth as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, but even then, some remain unconvinced. Is she a grave threat to Ehrenfest or a most valuable asset? In this biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers, the High Priest ventures with Myne into the world of dreams...

To protect those she cares about from danger, Myne abandons the life she knows to become Rozemyne, the archduke’s mana-rich adopted daughter. But her passion for books hasn’t changed, nor does she hesitate to charge into another strange new world. In this biblio-fantasy by bookworms, for bookworms, the detailed setting continues to expand—and so too does the book-making industry!

Rozemyne’s reunion with her family is only brief—no sooner has she completed the lower city’s Starbind Ceremony than she is whisked away to the archduke’s castle to perform another. The changes brought about by her adoption are still giving her trouble, but her second Starbinding is a huge success(?) nonetheless. Next, she must attend a meeting at the Italian restaurant, gather funds for the printing industry, and even study magic! In this biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers, Rozemyne continues to strive toward a duchy filled with books.