Erwaermen

**Erwaermen** (エアヴェルミーン, *Airvermeen*) is the former god of binding and the one Schwartz and Weiss refer to as *Gramps*.

# Appearance

Erwaermen looks like a tall and slender man in his thirties.

# History

When Ewigeliebe fell in love with the Goddes of Earth, Erwaermen assisted him in his proposal to Geduldh and acquiring the God of Darkness' permission to marry her. But soon after the happy wedding, Ewigeliebe changed. Twisted by his fear of losing his wife, he froze her in ice to keep her only for himself and jealously guarded her.

Confronted with how Ewigeliebe treated his new wife and her subordinates, Erwaermen was outraged. He gathered Geduldh's subordinate goddesses and guided them to Flutrane, determined to save their mistress. In the guilt and shame of his role in binding the threads that led to Geduldh's suffering, Erwaermen retired from his position as god and passed both his duties and his powers to Liebeskhilfe.

It isn't clear how it ended up like this, but today Erwaermen is guarding access to the Grutrissheit, apparently taking the shape of an ivory tree in the Garden of Beginnings, in the Royal Academy's Farthest Hall. Usually being silent and inanimate, he only takes on his old shape, albeit still retaining the colour of ivory, when communicating with Zent Candidates, who are either close to or have already fulfilled the necessary steps to be granted Mestionora's Wisdom.

At some point in the history of Yurgenschmidt, a princess creates the shumil-like magic tools Schwartz and Weiss to both help the librarians of of the Royal Academy Library and aid Zent candidates on their path to obtain the Grutrissheit, in a slightly different way, that is accessible only to member of the royal family. With Erwaermen being their spiritual predecessor, the princess made the two shumil refer to Erwaermen as "Gramps." Erwaermen himself seems to have warm and nostalgic feelings toward being called by this name.

During his time in the Royal Academy, Ferdinand - or Quinta, as he is known to Erwaermen due to this being his true name - rather than properly praying and donating mana through proper rituals and ceremonies, forecully charged the magic circle that appeared after praying at the Large Shrines with mana and forced his way through the opening above the Garden of Beginnings. Despite this exceptionally rude behaviour, Erwaermen still began the process of loading Mestionora's Wisdom into the boy's mind, but Ferdinand refused the knowledge, which broke off the process after only about 30 to 40 percent was put into his mind, much to the chagrin of Erwaermen.

# Story

Ten years later, Rozemyne - during her fourth year at the Royal Academy - fulfills the prerequisites to obtain the Grutrissheit and is summoned to the Garden of Beginnings, the proper route. Since he is unable to see the physical world and only perceives it through mana, Erwaermen is convinced that Ferdinand returned to get the remaining knowledge, rather than a new person. The former god appears still a bit sore about the mortal's previous misbehaviour, but is glad that this time 'he' has come the proper way and is showing the appropriate manners. Erwaermen is surprised that "Quinta's" vessel had regressed to a smaller size, to the point were it could no longer contain "everything" and wonders of he suffers from some kind of curse. He calls upon Anwachs for help, which the God of Growth provides, growing Rozemyne to a state a person her age should have. Apparently pleased with her vessel now once again having the necessary size, he makes the mortal go through the process of obtaining Mestionora's Wisdom and transfers the remaining 60 to 70 percent of it, into their mind. Due to his forceful and commanding presence, Rozemyne temporarily forgoes any questions and protestations and follows the former god's instructions, without resistence.

Only after the process is finishes, does she speak up and state that she is not the same person who came here ten years ago. This initially confuses Erwaermen, sicne their mana is nearly identical, but after some back and froth, in which Rozemyne reveals that she was once dyed by Quinta and realizing that this dying stuck to this day, on account of Rozemyne being a child with the Mark of Ewigeliebe, she is able to convince the former god of the truth of her statement. This means that now the Wisdom of Mestionora is split between them. He commands Rozemyne to gain the parts that she is missing, by killing Ferdinand and absorbing his feystone, before going back to being a silent, inanimate statue of a tree.

# References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 7. Chapter 6: Meeting Gramps
2. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 2. Chapter 9: Tea Parties and Negotiations
3. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 7. Chapter 7: The Book of Mestionora