Dirk/Story

# Part 2

Dirk is a boy, who was abandoned at the temple's gate. He was wrapped up tightly, so the guard didn't know that a baby was in it. The woman who handed him the package stated it was an offering to the gods. When Dirk was found, he seemed to be around Kamil's age (both being babies) while Dirk looked a bit older. Myne decides to take care of him as an orphan. Myne appeals to Delia that she can become his big sister, so that Delia will help look after Dirk. While they take care of Dirk, Myne suspects Dirk having the Devouring due to symptoms that surfaced. Ferdinand brought a magic tool to measure Dirk's mana, and he seemed to have the same amount of mana as a mednoble and a higher mana growth potential then Myne originally had. They decided to keep the fact that Dirk suffered from the Devouring a secret.

Delia starts to see Dirk as real family and loves him more than anything else. Due to this, Delia takes Dirk to the High Bishop Bezewanst, when she hears that Ferdinand looked for someone to adopt Dirk, which would mean separating her and Dirk. The High Bishop said he found someone who would adopt Dirk and would allow Delia and Myne to come with them. Delia, being overjoyed, sides with the High Bishop, whereas Myne defies him. When they confront each other, it is revealed that the contract they signed with Dirk wasn't for adoption, but actually a submission contract. Dirk became Count Bindewald's property. A fight occurs, where Bezewanst depletes Dirk's mana using a black feystone, leaving Dirk on the brink of death. As the fight escalates, Dirk and Delia face another life-threatening situation, when the mana clashing between Ferdinand and Bindewald is about to kill anyone unprotected. Delia pleads to Myne to save the baby, prioritizing the baby's survival over her own. They escaped death, but Delia is later sentenced to stay in the orphanage for the rest of her life, which meant she could spend her time with Dirk until Dirk grows up.

# Part 4

By the time Rozemyne entered the Royal Academy, Dirk has entered a somewhat rebellious phase, no longer listening to everything Delia tells him, though he tries to deny this when it comes up in a talk with Rozemyne.

## Part 4 Volume 4

When Konrad arrives at the orphanage, Dirk, likely due to being the only resident of the orphanage of roughly the same age as the new arrival, takes it upon himself to teach the new arrival about life at his new home. He helps the traumatized boy to get his bearings, and the two become fast friends, making it ever harder for Delia to keep up with them.

# Part 5

## Part 5 Volume 6

As a consequence of the purge of the former Veronica faction, many children of executed and imprisoned nobles are sent to the temple, due to Rozemyne being able to convince Sylvester to forgo the traditional guilt by association. For the good of the duchy, those children are given the chance to earn their place in noble society back. Due to having the mana capacity of a mednoble and the dire mana shortage, this chance is extended to Dirk, despite him being born as a commoner. Thanks to his dedication and loyalty, he passes the first hurdle, which is a thorough questioning by High Priest Hartmut and is given a mana draining magic tool and a supply of rejuvenation potions to fill it in time to go to the Royal Academy.

Later that year Dirk, alongside of Bertram, is interviewed by Aub Ehrenfest personally, to see whether he is worthy of joining Ehrenfest's nobility and has the willpower and dedication to withstand the ridicule that is very likely to await the boy among those who will assume him to be the child of executed criminals of the former Veronica faction. Dirk manages to pass this test as well and thus will be baptizes as a parentless noble, with the archduke as his guardian in the coming winter.

## Part 5 Volume 7

In the winter of the same year, Dirk is baptized as a mednoble, with Aub Ehrenfest as his guardian. As expected the Ehrenfest nobles all assume he is the child of an executed member of the former Veronica faction. However the children in the playroom do not appear to hold this against him, at least not while Rozemyne, Wilfried and Charlotte at still present. Despite not yet having a full grasp on a noble's common sense, due to his skill in Karuta and other card games, he's able to fit in and make friends among the noble children.

< Dirk

# References

1. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 4 Volume 2. Chapter 17: Returning to the Temple
2. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 4 Volume 4. Chapter 3: Life in the Temple
3. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 6. Chapter 16: Interviews with the Aub
4. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 6. Chapter 1: Dirk’s and Bertram’s Baptisms