Ascendance of a Bookworm Guesses

 Here is some speculation regarding Ascendance of a Bookworm. I am following the j-novel.club weekly releases. The only spoilers that I am using are the color pictures from the future volumes that can be accessed via bookwalker.jp.

As of 07/05/2021, j-novel.club is up to Part 4 Volume 2 part 5.

1. Regarding the Duchy Foundations, I have cobbled a preliminary guess that they are located & locked away in each of the dorms. During the high beast test, Rozemyne mentioned that the Academy grounds were supposed to have been the place where the gods appeared.  As the site of the origin of the nation, having the Foundations of the Duchies set there would not be out of the question. 

The claiming of the Divine Wills in Part 4 V1 showed the grounds used by the Academy still contain sites of great practical & historic significance beyond Academics or diplomacy, i.e. it is not just a school ground.

Circumstantial evidence: 

* the dorms prevent entry from outsiders. 

* They have rooms for the Archduke & 

* were constructed from the special white stone. 

*They also have the teleportation circles. These are very powerful features that hint toward a purpose rather than just housing students.

I emphasized that this is preliminary, because it was mentioned that Duchies could be invaded if the Aub does not supply enough mana. Can an archduke conquer another duchy if the Foundation is off limits? Can the invaders force their way in through the teleportation circle? Or can the Sovereignty grant access to the conqueror once the defeated Aub cannot no longer function & render mana, tribute, etc. to the Sovereignty.

Another question is if the Duchy Foundation is in the dorm, isn't it too dangerous not to have a standing army? Answer, it is protected by the Sovereignty and there is a truce in place not to attack the dorms head on. This is the biggest hole & why I have not presented this as a theory.

2. From the jureve's description, humans can have mana harden in a near death situation, implying that feystones can be harvested from humans as well. There seems to be a taboo against harvesting and using them. It also looks like they are not kept as keepsakes.

I am guessing that the feystones of dead nobles are returned to the Farthest Hall. The feystones of executed nobles are snuffed out & obliterated like the traitors of Hasse.

This is not supported by text, which is why I have not brought it up in the forum.