Passing Highbeast Creation
I asked to go to the library, since I didn’t have any more classes to attend that day, but Rihyarda refused. That much was to be expected, so I dedicated my time to making manuscripts to be printed. I started fixing up the stories that had been written in childish language, which would give us plenty to work with once spring came around.
The next day, I had practical music lessons in the afternoon. The professor had given me a song to learn, which I simply needed to play in order to pass. It was actually one of the songs that Ferdinand had given me to learn in the past, so after practicing just a few times, I played in front of the professor and instantly got a passing grade.
The professor gave an approving nod. “You have learned songs other than the ones you composed yourself, I see.”
“I simply practice as my personal musician instructs.”
“Well, I very much hope you are bringing this musician with you to the tea party. I am ever so looking forward to it.”
“I am as well. Being invited to a tea party by a professor is such an honor that my musician and I have hardly been able to sleep.”
“Oh my, what an exaggeration...”
When our conversation was over, the lesson came to an end. Believe it or not, my statement hadn’t been a complete exaggeration. Rosina had actually been losing sleep lately, though not due to stress—she was dedicating her time to arranging the songs and writing up lyrics to accompany them. She was genuinely excited for the tea party, so much so that the enthusiastic smile on her face hadn’t so much as faltered in days.
“You learned that pretty fast, Rozemyne,” Wilfried said. He was faced with a song that he hadn’t played before, and he seemed to be struggling with it. He stared down the sheet of music while putting his all into his practice.
I sat down in my seat and merely shrugged in response, having already seized victory at the very first opportunity.
“You can play any song without much effort,” Wilfried continued. “You must have a natural talent for the harspiel.”
“Not true. Ferdinand just kept giving me harder and harder songs to learn. I even practiced this particular song right after my debut.”
“After your debut?” he asked in surprise. Naturally, the song he had played back then was one suited for children of debuting age, not one usually given to a ten-year-old. He frowned, realizing that this gap between us had existed even that long ago.
“If you wish to become a master harspiel player as well, might I suggest taking Ferdinand’s lessons with me?” I suggested. “He gives me five or six songs to learn each season, though since I never know when he might ask me to play them, I need to work my fingers to the bone with Rosina to master them as soon as possible.”
I thought back to how Ferdinand would tell me to bring my harspiel at a seemingly random point toward the end of each season. My heart had pounded nervously in my chest with each practice session. Not meeting his expectations would earn me a drawn-out scolding about how I hadn’t worked hard enough, then he’d go on to list every single way in which I had messed up. When I passed, he would simply give me far more difficult songs to learn before kicking me out, thus starting the cycle all over again.
Upon hearing my explanation, Wilfried closed his eyes in disbelief, then shook his head. “You’re the only one who can easily keep up with Uncle’s demands and expectations, Rozemyne. Mana and magic tools are about my limit; I don’t want to learn music under him too. I’m fine with things the way they are.”
“Just to clarify, I wouldn’t say I’m easily keeping up with them...”
Another day passed, and I was speedily working my way through making the study guides and such for the second-years. The process thankfully didn’t take much time, since I was just organizing Eckhart’s and Ferdinand’s notes, the study documents those who went to the library had borrowed for me, and the information that had already been gathered for me the year before.
“Now that I look at them properly, quite a few classes have changed considerably since Ferdinand and Eckhart were here,” I observed. It hadn’t really hit me before then, since I had only looked at the notes for classes in the apprentice knight course when working as part of the Raise Angelica’s Grades Squadron, but it was a lot more apparent now that I was looking at the notes for the first- and second-year classes.
Philine gave a small shrug as I compared the documents everyone had put together. “The majority of the professors were changed after the civil war, so it is only natural that the course material would change as well,” she said.
It turned out that most professors had assistants, and when a professor died or retired, these assistants would take their places and teach in a similar fashion. This system was completely upturned, however, by the mass purging that followed the civil war; since most professors and their assistants belonged to the same faction, they were all relieved of duty. There were some instances of classes being changed entirely as a result.
“Why couldn’t the new teachers just check the study documents in the library to see what was covered in previous years...?” I pondered.
“The professors have their pride as researchers to consider. They were probably looking to distinguish themselves from the professors who had just gotten fired,” Wilfried interjected while looking over the documents himself. I certainly understood that, but I would have much preferred them to prioritize the learning of their students.
“Doesn’t that mean the older study guides won’t be useful in the slightest?” I asked. There was nothing more annoying for a student like me trying to pass on the first day having to root through old study guides and resources that were completely outdated. I pursed my lips, annoyed that my time in the library was getting delayed once again.
Philine giggled. “Will it soothe your frustrations to think that your study resources covering the new lessons will soon refill the library, Lady Rozemyne?”
“...You are a wise one, Philine. I must admit, now I feel ever so slightly grateful for the war.”
“It all depends on perspective,” Wilfried agreed with a nod.
“In any case, we have almost finished putting together our study resources. What will you do when we are done, Philine?” I asked.
“A tea party is planned for all the laynobles who wish to become apprentice scholars.”
It seemed that, once the study resources were done, Philine would be putting her time into associating with laynobles from other duchies. She mentioned that she wanted to make at least some headway with entering society so that she could find more valuable information for me.
“I am still nervous about joining a tea party with older students, so we thought we would first practice with each other,” she continued. “So, erm... is there anything in particular I should or should not bring up during the tea party?”
“A tea party, hm? I suppose that is something I should consider doing myself...”
Wilfried nodded. “Yeah, and I’ve got that tea party with my cousins. We should get the older students together and discuss what we should and shouldn’t reveal at these kinds of gatherings,” he suggested.
As we thought it over, Hartmut decided to give us some advice. He had passed his class that morning and was visiting the common room to kill some time.
“You should know, Philine, they’re absolutely going to ask you about Ehrenfest’s rising grades. I’m not even a first-year and people are asking me all kinds of questions.”
The efforts of the Better Grades Committee had ultimately paid off, and with students of all years easily passing their written lessons, plus all our first-years having passed our written lessons on the first day, Ehrenfest had apparently become a hot topic of conversation throughout the Academy.
“Lord Wilfried is standing out due to his excellent grades, but you are garnering a reputation for many more reasons, Lady Rozemyne,” Hartmut continued.
“Oh yes, I certainly am. I was the last one to pass my mana control class because I turned so many feystones to dust; I apparently attacked a professor with a feybeast-shaped highbeast; and I collapsed in the Farthest Hall. Truly I am making an excellent impression,” I said, glum about having stood out in all the worst ways. “What do you say when they ask about Ehrenfest, anyway?”
“I tell them that our grades are rising thanks to the Saint of Ehrenfest, and that next year will come as even more of a surprise.”
“Hartmut?!”
“Is that not the truth? The Better Grades Committee was your idea, Lady Rozemyne, and the first-years passing all their classes was a result of your passion for the library. Those who have learned your mana compression method will show excellent results in their practical lessons next year, and so I have not lied whatsoever. You seem to be unaware, Lady Rozemyne, but you are not standing out in exclusively unfavorable ways; in fact, your reputation has made you quite enviable as well, with many being well aware that you created original compositions, passed your written lessons with almost perfect marks, and passed court etiquette in a single try.”
Hartmut gave a bright smile, then turned to Philine and continued. “There is no need to inform those from other duchies of the details. Keep the information you disclose vague, but under no circumstances are you to lie. You must first earn the trust of your enemies before you can deceive and betray them.”
“I understand,” Philine said with a nod, looking at Hartmut with a gaze that made her respect for him all too clear.
“Oh my goodness...” I said, having had a sudden epiphany. “It’s your fault, Hartmut. You’re the reason all the rumors about me are getting exaggerated in weird ways!”
“Lady Rozemyne, that is a misunderstanding... I am not the only one to blame; everyone from our duchy is working together to spread the glory of the Saint of Ehrenfest.”
“That’s even worse! At the very least, dedicate that energy to elevating Wilfried, since he’s likely to become the next archduke. I’m just a humble, everyday student planning to spend most of my time in the library,” I protested.
Much to my displeasure, Hartmut, as well as everyone else in the common room, said it was already much too late for that. “In the first place, Lady Rozemyne, it will not be good for Lord Wilfried to grow accustomed to receiving credit for your actions.”
“Right. I want to do what I can on my own,” Wilfried said.
I had no choice but to agree with them, and it was beyond me to realize that my doing so would cause the legend of the Saint of Ehrenfest to accelerate even further.
We had our practical highbeast creation lesson in the afternoon. Our previous lesson had been cut short when Professor Fraularm, the dormitory supervisor for Ahrensbach, passed out upon seeing my highbeast, and she was evidently mad enough about it to claim that I had attacked her.
I don’t really care about her holding a grudge, but I don’t want her to keep me from passing out of spite...
I was sure there was nothing to worry about thanks to my illicit deal with Hirschur, but from what I knew about her, there was always a chance she might forget about it entirely and not come to the class. She seemed to be the kind of person to forget promises when absorbed in her research, and it was hard to trust someone who seemed to be even more of a mad scientist than Ferdinand.
In the end, however, my fears were unfounded. Hirschur came to the class, along with many other professors whom I didn’t recognize.
“Oh my. Professors. What brings you all here today?” Fraularm asked.
“Do you not remember? Your passing out last time interrupted my brewing. I would not like for that to happen again, and so I have decided to observe today’s lesson in its entirety,” Hirschur said with a chuckle, a noticeable glint in her purple eyes. “Incidentally, I will not bear a grudge for the materials wasted in that failure. As long as you pay for them, that is.”
“W-Well... I advise you seek recompense from the dangerous student who attacked me with her feybeast.”
“I wanted to question that, actually. As far as I can tell, the highbeast was not one particularly suited to attacking others. Are you not just exaggerating the incident to avoid accepting blame?”
“Wh-What was that?!” Fraularm stood up abruptly, only for a sharp-eyed older man to step between them, the smile plastered across his face being the only peaceful thing about him.
“I cannot speak for all this exaggeration business, but with rumors of a student attacking a professor with a feybeast-shaped highbeast going around, it would be better for everyone to have other professors observe your class. It should prove whether or not what you have said is the truth,” the older man said, using security and confirmations to justify his and the other professors’ attendance.
Fraularm had no choice but to accept, since she was the one spreading rumors about me being unsafe in the first place. “Very well. You can all see for yourselves how dangerous her highbeast is,” she said, speaking in a tone befitting a sore loser before moving to stand at the center of all the students and instructing us to take out our highbeast feystones.
The other professors wasted no time in positioning themselves around me, seeming to be preparing for the worst. I bemoaned their lack of trust in me, which only made Hirschur break into a smile.
“Lady Rozemyne, everyone here is interested in your highbeast. They are all passionate researchers with enough interest in new things to have warranted me calling upon them,” she explained.
In other words, they weren’t actually on guard—they were looking at me with the intrigued looks one would give a research subject. I decided it was probably best for me to obediently show them Lessy and put on a show to prove he wasn’t dangerous.
I can endure it for the sake of a passing grade...
According to Hirschur, the professors who had seen my Pandabus after I collapsed in the Farthest Hall had told the others that it was very unusual, and that its clunky movements were very unlike those of a grun. This had caught the interest of several other teachers.
“I would also like to get a closer look at you making your drivable highbeast,” Hirschur continued, holding a feystone for her own purposes. It seemed she was preparing to make a drivable highbeast herself.
“Those of you who can form highbeasts, do so now,” Fraularm instructed. The gathered professors urged me on as I begrudgingly created my one-person Pandabus.
“Oho. I see... It has something of a flat face, but this certainly is a grun,” one said.
“There’s a seat, but how in the world does one get inside?” asked another. The professors had closed in on Lessy almost immediately to touch and examine him, so I hadn’t been able to take a step forward myself.
“Lady Rozemyne, you mentioned that you can change the size of your highbeast, correct?” Hirschur asked.
I grew Lessy into the size of a large family van, and no sooner had I opened a door than Hirschur gleefully climbed inside and started touching the inner walls. She had done exactly the same thing the last time she saw my Pandabus, so she acted without an ounce of hesitation.
“Aha, I see. So this is how you ride it,” one of the professors said. There was no mistaking that they were researchers who loved discovering new things, and they all went into Lessy one after another to look around.
“Lady Rozemyne, what is this? How does it move?” one asked.
“Aah. This is quite comfortable...” a second professor sighed.
The nearby students watched in a daze as the professors, who were supposed to be here to determine whether my feybeast-shaped highbeast posed a threat of any kind, instead examined it with excitement.
“Look, everyone! Professor Hirschur can ride it even while wearing a skirt!” one of the girls exclaimed.
“Now that you mention it, I did hear that one could ride such a highbeast without changing into riding clothes...” another murmured.
“Such a highbeast would actually be cute if made as a shumil,” said a third.
The female students were starting to approach as they talked, their interest having clearly been caught. Everyone said that the Pandabus looked like a grun, but the first-years who weren’t familiar with such feybeasts didn’t seem to find it scary in the slightest.
“Watch yourselves! That thing is abnormal and dangerous!” Fraularm shrieked desperately, but everyone could clearly tell from the other professors’ complete lack of concern that nothing dangerous was going to happen.
“I believe I shall use Lady Rozemyne’s highbeast as a reference and make one of my own,” Hirschur announced. “I have always thought it would be convenient to have a highbeast for carrying around tools and materials.”
“Professor Hirschur, is making a new highbeast really that easy?” I asked. “My guard knights have led me to believe it would be impossible to handle two.”
“It might be a challenge for knights, considering that they need to make split-second decisions, but if one has ample time to think, it is quite easy to change the focus of one’s mind. Furthermore, making another highbeast is no problem for me, since I am quite fine abandoning my original one.”
Hirschur took her feystone in hand and started making her new highbeast, all the while focusing her eyes on my Pandabus. Perhaps due to how much she was used to controlling her mana, she was able to complete the process with surprising speed and noticeable ease.
“Wooow!” A cheer arose from the students as Hirschur finished making her highbeast. Beside Lessy there was now a one-person highbeast with the head of a shumil. It had reins in the place of a steering wheel, and there was only one seat, indicating that she didn’t plan on having other people ride with her. There was, however, a considerable amount of space in the back for luggage. It truly was a highbeast made just for her.
Hirschur flicked her wrist, and much like with Lessy, a door opened in the side of the highbeast. She climbed inside, still wearing her skirt, then sat down in a seat that looked very similar to mine, gripped the reins, and started pouring mana into the shumil. Soon enough, it started to move around, then soared above the hall with very little effort. This meant she was already able to perfectly visualize something flying without wings.
Wowee... She might be even more open to new ideas than Ferdinand. Talk about being open-minded.
“It seems that reins can control it just fine,” Hirschur commented, climbing out of her shumil highbeast with an exceptionally content smile. “It moves and flies just like my previous highbeast, and given that I can leisurely relax in the chair, it feels even more graceful than riding a normal highbeast.”
“Professor Hirschur, could you teach us to make a highbeast like that too?” one female student asked.
“I would like to know as well,” added a second.
The girls all wanted to copy Hirschur’s highbeast, since shumils were considered much more acceptable, and the students were more familiar with using reins. She was a star among the girls in an instant, but nobody came to look at my Pandabus.
“Lessy is cute too...!” I protested.
“That’s where you’re mistaken, little one. He is certainly interesting though,” the older man said, perhaps trying to comfort me. He then went to leave the class with the others, saying that his time here had been quite productive indeed.
“All those who have created their highbeast shall pass upon flying it once in a circle above the Academy,” Hirschur announced, proactively striding outside. It was getting more and more cramped in the hall due to all the highbeasts, so the students who were already confident in their riding ability turned their highbeasts back into feystones and followed after her.
The moment the cold outside air hit me, my body tensed up so much that I could practically feel myself shrinking. I hurriedly brought out and climbed into Lessy, then gripped on to the steering wheel. My highbeast was a lot warmer inside, since the walls blocked the icy winds.
On the bright side, the Royal Academy isn’t quite as cold as Ehrenfest.
It was still cold since it was winter, but Ehrenfest was even colder, and the snow there was much worse. It was this slight change in climate that reminded me I wasn’t in Ehrenfest anymore; I was at the center of the country, far away from home.
“Shall we go?” Hirschur asked. She took the lead, going up into the air in her shumil while I stayed close behind. Fraularm had remained indoors to aid those who were still struggling to create their highbeasts.
We lined up our highbeasts in the air and then flew over the Royal Academy, which was my first time seeing the entire grounds. Before this point, I had simply teleported inside and then used the dormitory entrance to go straight into the hallway by the auditorium; not once had I gotten a look of the Academy exterior or the dormitory from the outside.
The Royal Academy was located atop a sizable hill, the slopes of which were covered with thick conifer forests on all sides. The trees were evergreen, meaning they kept their leaves even in winter, and the coating of snow that topped them made the entire world appear white. The grounds themselves were so sprawling that they actually took me by surprise.
Directly beneath us was the massive primary building of the Academy, surrounded by ivory buildings placed on top of smaller hills nearby. The ivory structures dotting the forest were probably the dormitory buildings; I saw several as we circled the grounds, but in all honesty, I couldn’t tell which belonged to Ehrenfest. Rihyarda had been right when she said that each dorm was built in a unique architectural style, though, and it was fascinating to see all the variety.
Let’s see... Are there any buildings here that look like Ehrenfest’s castle? I guess it’d be that one over there. Or maybe that one.
Not only was the Royal Academy surrounded by slopes and thick forests, the area around was covered with a sea of clouds that hid everything beneath it. Maybe I would have seen more had the weather been better, but as far as I could tell from my aerial view, the only things here were the dormitories and the Academy itself. At the very least, I didn’t see any commoner cities attached to it like the lower city in Ehrenfest, nor did I see any crop-covered fields. It was entirely as though the Academy was just a massive temple.
Perhaps this was where the gods had descended upon the country and given the king the power to rule over the people, as described in the bible. This thought ran through my mind as I gazed across the Academy’s grounds. When covered with such a delicate blanket of snow like this, it was certainly a fantastical enough location for the gods to descend and make their presence known.
“All of you pass highbeast creation,” Hirschur announced, signaling my completion of yet another class. Thanks to her, drivable highbeasts became a popular trend among the female students throughout the Academy.
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