Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.4 - Chapter 14

Left at Home

Even once my fever had gone down, I was made to remain in bed. It was apparently an instruction from Ferdinand, who had given Rihyarda a book that he hoped would force me to rest for an additional two days following my recovery. She had warned me that the book would be taken away the moment I disobeyed the order, but I had no intention of doing so anyway, so I quietly read the book in bed.

The book in question was on the fundamentals of magic circles. It quickly became apparent that I would need to go through the arduous process of adopting a new language, including all the symbols to refer to the elements and gods. On the whole, it felt more like a dictionary than anything, and judging by the handwriting, Ferdinand had written it himself.

It must be pretty impressive that Ferdinand can just casually draw magic circles in the air without carrying a book like this around, huh?

An awed sigh escaped me as I recalled the city-wide waschen from a few days before and the magic circle that had been drawn in the air without any hesitation. Mana alone wasn’t always enough when trying to accomplish a goal; sometimes, one needed the appropriate knowledge too. I genuinely wanted to be like Ferdinand in that respect.

“Philine, would you like to study this with me?” I asked, aware that she hadn’t started learning about magic circles either.

“This really is impressive...” she muttered after coming to my bedside. Together, the two of us spent my additional two days of rest poring over the book, enthusiastically working on the coded language contained within.

“Now, now, milady. Hurry up and get ready,” Rihyarda said. “If we leave soon, we may be able to see the archducal couple off. But you still need to meet with Ferdinand first.”

Today was the day the archducal couple was leaving for the Archduke Conference. Ferdinand apparently wanted to make sure it was fine for me to be walking around freely again before then, so I went to the parlor closest to the northern building where he was waiting for me. He touched my forehead and neck with a stern look before exhaling.

“You look well. Your temperature and mana have both stabilized, so you should be fine to leave. Oh, and the archducal couple just left for the Archduke Conference. They expressed concern for you.”

In a shocking twist, the archducal couple had already departed. Rihyarda had been worried about us making it in time to see them go, but we were evidently too late.

“As per the advice from Wilfried, they have had the adults wash their hair with rinsham and the women wear hairpins,” Ferdinand reported. “They have also brought a great supply of plant paper with them, as well as several court chefs so that pound cake and other new recipes can be served. These are, of course, all things that you demonstrated in the Royal Academy. Now, you may return to your room.” He then abruptly stood up, signaling that this was the end of my checkup. To my surprise, however, he had made no mention of us returning to the temple.

“Do you not need to return to the temple...?” I asked. “I recall you saying before that you can’t be away for too long.”

“My temple work has largely settled down now. I have entrusted the rest to our attendants and to the blue priests, Kampfer and Frietack. I intend to spend the day here in my office; the Archduke Conference this year has far too many worrying uncertainties, so there may be an urgent summons from Sylvester,” he said, punctuating his explanation with a glare. There were the new trends and the announcement of my engagement, but both of those were Sylvester’s decisions; I couldn’t see why I should receive all the blame for them.

I made a point of returning the harsh eyes currently fixed on me. “In my opinion, the most worrying uncertainty here is you, Ferdinand.”

“I am worrying?” Ferdinand asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “How so?”

“When you say that you are going to ‘spend the day’ here at the castle, I assume you mean that quite literally. You intend to return to the temple during the night to continue your work, do you not? Just how hard do you intend to push yourself?”

I saw no reason to worry about Sylvester—he had several scholars to consult and Ferdinand to fall back on in an emergency. Instead, I was worried about Ferdinand, the one who was going to have to deal with whatever messes arose.

Ferdinand scoffed as if automatically dismissing my concern. “You need not be concerned about me. Use this opportunity to deepen your bonds with your retainers and siblings,” he said. I apparently needed to work hard on socializing so that I could learn more about noble culture, and also so that I could recognize my current misunderstandings and clarify them with my retainers.

“Ferdinand, how do nobles deepen their bonds?” I asked.

“That question is better suited for someone like Rihyarda, rather than a man,” he replied after a momentary pause.

“Very well. I shall ask Rihyarda.”

My duty while sitting out the Archduke Conference was apparently to spend each day replenishing the foundation’s mana and deepening my bonds with my retainers. I was also told to report my daily activities to Ferdinand during dinner, something I hadn’t needed to do back at the temple, but I nodded reluctantly nonetheless.

Upon returning to my room, I wasted no time in asking Rihyarda my question: “How does one deepen one’s bonds with others?”

“I believe you simply need to do things together and communicate often.”

“Would making Schwartz’s and Weiss’s outfits meet those criteria? I am planning to work on them with Charlotte and the others.”

“That sounds perfect. I will make the necessary preparations at once.”

After borrowing a room in the main building of the castle, we archduke candidates and our retainers all gathered together. The cloth and thread was already dyed with my mana, and I had already drawn the magic circles with the disappearing ink, as Ferdinand had instructed. He had advised me to avoid touching the cloth at all costs, since doing so would make the circles shine and become visible, and so my retainers were going to be handling it for me.

“The scholars most used to drawing magic circles will need to reproduce these circles on the cloth,” I explained. “The women will then embroider them.”

The scholars, who were being led by Hartmut, steadily began drawing the thin lines of the magic circles atop the cloth. Once they were done, it was the girls’ time to shine. Even the female knights had opted to participate, entrusting guard duty to the male knights like Damuel and Cornelius.

“First-years such as yourselves are not yet experienced enough for these magic circles, so please handle this simpler section instead,” Brunhilde said.

Charlotte, Philine, and I were entrusted with the decoy magic circles being embroidered on the apron pockets so that we could make mistakes without causing any issues. Meanwhile, the complex magic circles that required absolute perfection were being handled by those who were good at that kind of precise work. We really did have the right people doing the right jobs.

“It seems that, at the advice of Count Haldenzel, Count Leisegang has at least temporarily given up on making you the next aub,” Brunhilde informed me. “Unless there is a significant change in the political situation, they will merely be observing for now. What happened in Haldenzel to cause this?”

I turned to Charlotte, hoping she could provide the answer I was completely oblivious to. Our eyes met, a moment of contemplation passed, and then she said, “I believe the most significant factor was my sister prioritizing Wilfried in public and demonstrating her support for him. Giebe Haldenzel must have been a bit reassured to see that they are on good terms.”

Since when did that happen...?

Upon noticing my blank expression, Charlotte gave a troubled smile and expanded on her explanation. “The giebe attempted to guide you to your seat first during Spring Prayer,” she said. “You refused his offer, instead allowing Wilfried to be seated first.”

Giebe Haldenzel had attempted to treat me as the highest-ranking archduke candidate—that is to say, as the next aub. By refusing and then instructing him to prioritize Wilfried, I had made it clear that I possessed no desire to take the archduke seat, even with my strong backing.

Ohoho. I see, I see. That was what all that meant.

I nodded, finally understanding the situation, which inspired Charlotte to give me a conflicted look. “It would seem that you require my support in social situations. I suppose this too is my duty,” she said.

The two sisters, Lieseleta and Angelica, were working harder on the embroidery than anyone else, and they were both wearing expressions of unshakable concentration. Lieseleta loved shumils and found making clothes for Schwartz and Weiss endlessly enjoyable, while Angelica wanted to embroider these circles onto her own cape once she was finished with her part of the work. Although they had different motivations, their embroidery skills truly were something to behold.

“Lieseleta, Angelica,” I commented, “I see you are both skilled at embroidery.”

“Oh my. Thank you. But you are certainly not lacking in skill yourself, Lady Rozemyne. You do not seem to enjoy the practice all that much, but the embroidery you complete is all magnificent,” Lieseleta said with a giggle, never pausing her embroidering for a moment. There weren’t many noblewomen who couldn’t embroider, since they were all made to practice it regularly as part of their bridal training. For that reason, it was only natural that a woman who planned to be the first wife of an archduke needed to be at least decently skilled.

“Leonore, will you be embroidering that entire magic circle?”

“Indeed. This is a rare opportunity, plus I would also like to memorize the pattern. It is not often that one is afforded the chance to see such a highly sophisticated magic circle up close,” she replied as she continued to embroider.

Brunhilde laughed, making no attempt to hide the sparkle in her amber eyes. “My, my... Just who do you intend to gift this magic circle to?” she asked. “Or have you already promised to embroider their cape for them?”

In an instant, everyone except Angelica turned their attention to Leonore. Their expressions of eager anticipation reminded me so much of some of the girls I had known back on Earth. It seemed that girls loved to talk about romance no matter where you went.

“That is, well...” Leonore lowered her eyes and gave a troubled smile. “If possible, I would like to be in a position to embroider their cape, but I have not yet exchanged any promises. It seems they already have another on their mind, so...”

Leonore was beautiful, smart, and a high-status archnoble; I was pretty confident that she could earn anyone’s affections if she tried hard enough. But as the incident between Damuel and Brigitte had demonstrated, in this world, love alone wasn’t enough to make for successful romance. I couldn’t say anything irresponsible when I still didn’t fully understand noble marriages, so I decided not to say anything that might encourage her romance and instead focused on getting my questions answered.

“Is embroidering someone’s cape a special gesture?” I asked.

“Yes. The only ones who can embroider your cape are you, your parents, and your spouse. If a family does not have a living mother then it is possible for sisters of the same blood to embroider each other’s capes, but that is more rare than not.”

As a noblewoman, it was apparently customary to confess your feelings by embroidering something like a handkerchief and giving it to your love interest. It was like giving them proof of your magic circle embroidery skills while simultaneously requesting to embroider their cape—a show of affection that was the exclusive right of a wife.

It was then that I recalled a scene from the Royal Academy romance stories Elvira’s gang had written, during which a guy had said something like, “I want you to embroider my cape.” I also remembered thinking that he was being a real pain in the neck for making such a sudden request, but now I realized it was meant to be read as a seductive line akin to a proposal.

I see... My heart was supposed to be aflutter there. Romance novels sure are hard to follow.

“You are already engaged, Lady Rozemyne. You will need to hone your skills for Lord Wilfried. Who knows when he might ask you to embroider a magic circle onto his cape for him?”

“Lady Rozemyne would no doubt embroider an incredible circle for him. I cannot wait to see what she produces.”

Nah, nah, nah. You really shouldn’t expect that much from me.

“You also seem to be embroidering with particular enthusiasm, Judithe. Do you have a certain someone in your heart too?”

“Oh, no. I just want to copy Angelica and embroider my own cape. I’m a mednoble with less mana than everyone else, so my focus is on raising my base strength. I also want to grow a manablade like Angelica,” Judithe declared, nodding with such firm resolve that her ponytail bounced around. She was even copying Angelica’s hairstyle—or at least, her previous hairstyle, considering that Angelica had started wearing her hair up in a braided bun since coming of age.

“I cannot recommend using my sister as inspiration. You should instead find your own talents and focus on developing those,” Lieseleta said. Angelica herself nodded along in agreement. Her talents had resulted from her focusing entirely on her strengths, leaving her weaknesses in the dust as she completely refused to engage with them.

“Judithe, why do you admire Angelica so much?” I asked.

“She uses a manablade that was grown using mana from Lady Rozemyne, she was selected for the Royal Academy’s sword dance, she’s been taken on as Lord Bonifatius’s disciple, and she’s engaged to Lord Eckhart. It would be weird not to admire her!” Judithe exclaimed. I could hear a trace of desperation in her voice, so I stopped my embroidering to look at her.

“You are extolling Angelica’s virtues with a great deal of passion, but it seems to me that you are more anxious than anything. For what reason are you in such a panic?” I asked. My observation caused the smile on her face to freeze, and she soon looked down at her hands.

“That’s... Well... Of course I’m anxious; I’m a medknight among a group of archknights. To make matters worse, Angelica has as much mana as an archknight, and now even Damuel, a layknight, has more mana than me. I was also the only one left behind at the Royal Academy, so I didn’t get to serve as your guard much...”

Although Judithe and Angelica were both medknights, there was a huge gap between their mana capacities. Furthermore, as a big sister herself with many younger siblings, Judithe needed to do a good job and earn recognition for her achievements. The problem was, she had less mana than any of my other guard knights. I figured that she would overtake Damuel as she grew older, but that apparently wasn’t enough for her.

“Even though he’s a layknight, Damuel has had your trust since you were in the temple. You even taught him your mana compression method before anyone else, didn’t you? He has as much mana as a medknight, plus you and Angelica both trust him more than anyone.”

“Damuel really is a big help when I want to focus on my guard duty,” Angelica said with a smile. I immediately understood that as her being happy that he handled all the thinking work, but Judithe failed to pick up on this hidden message; her violet eyes shone with newfound determination, and she stood up with clenched fists.

“Since Angelica trusts him so much, he’s going to be my first opponent to overcome. Damuel, I will defeat you!”

It thereby came to be known that Judithe’s goal as a medknight was to become like Angelica. She had also evidently taken Damuel as her rival, which was more heartwarming than anything. She reminded me of a small puppy barking at a larger dog that had absolutely no interest in fighting. I almost wanted to wish her luck, albeit in the smuggest voice imaginable.

“M-Me too! I won’t lose either!” Philine suddenly declared, standing up as well. “I might only be a laynoble, but Damuel has proved that we can grow to have just as much mana as mednobles! I’ll work hard too. I’ll earn as much trust as Damuel and make myself worthy of serving as Lady Rozemyne’s retainer.”

No sooner had Judithe and Philine announced their goals than the other girls giggled and made quiet exclamations—reactions that made the two girls realize everyone was now looking at them. They blushed, sat back down, and sheepishly resumed their embroidering.

“All of my retainers are such hard, dedicated workers,” I mused aloud. “If you keep up the enthusiasm, I am sure that you will both eventually attain perfection. I must say though, Judithe—you will not grow stronger by copying Angelica. A manablade will most likely be a waste of mana for you.”

“Wha?”

“You are not a sword specialist, are you? Your talents seem to be with the bow and other ranged weaponry. For that reason, rather than mimicking Angelica and focusing on swordplay, I sincerely believe you would grow stronger by working on your ranged abilities and trying to perfect your accuracy.”

My statement earned me surprised stares not only from Judithe, but from the other knights as well. All apprentice knights apparently carried swords, and there was a strong implicit belief that knights could only be sword users, but I saw no value in Judithe focusing on swordplay when she wasn’t particularly good at it. There was no denying that she was much better with ranged weapons; it was almost entirely thanks to her skill that we had managed to make the feybeast eat the ruelle during our game of ditter.

“If you hone your ranged abilities then you will eventually be able to launch stones even without mana,” I continued. “You could use this technique to strike your opponents as they are preparing their own mana, thereby breaking their focus. Another approach you could use is to fill your projectiles with sand, such that they will explode on impact. Not only would this frighten your opponent, but it might even temporarily blind them. A sword is not your only tool in battle. You have talent, so why not use it?”

“Sister...” Charlotte said, her cheek twitching ever so slightly. “That is not how knights are meant to fight, is it?”

“Charlotte, that mindset is unsuitable for a guard knight,” I shot back with a serious look. This statement likewise confused Charlotte and the gathered guard knights, so I once again explained my point. “A guard knight must not have pride in combat; their duty is to protect their charge without fail, and while duels or training may be clean and simple, the same cannot be said for actual combat. You will want as many secret techniques and options as possible to secure the success of your mission, no matter what.”

Regardless of whether one was taking on feybeasts or other people, the primary objective was protecting one’s charge. The prideful type of combat that knights valued so highly served no purpose when there was no telling what tricks an opponent had up their sleeve.

“Ferdinand uses whatever tools he has on hand depending on the situation,” I went on. “During a battle against a trombe, he used a bow that duplicated its arrows, and when fighting numerous weak feybeasts, he used a net. Of course, he also uses a sword at times, but I have seen him wield a large scythe as well. He once mentioned that he could throw a feystone and have it explode while simultaneously fighting with a weapon. I imagine there are few others who can do all these things at once, but at the very least, one does not need to consider a sword their primary weapon. Other alternatives can be used instead.”

Judithe blinked at me in surprise before eventually conceding with a quiet, “I’ll think about it.”

During dinner that day, I reported to Ferdinand that we had embroidered Schwartz’s and Weiss’s clothes and that all of my retainers were exceedingly hard workers. Charlotte then proceeded to announce her resolve to support my socializing as much as possible when she started attending the Royal Academy in the coming winter.

Embroidery wasn’t the only thing I was doing with my retainers—I also had my harspiel practice, plus I was going to the knights’ training grounds for my physical rehabilitation. Angelica was able to watch the apprentices train while guarding the door for me, since she and the other adults trained at a different time.

During one of my rehabilitation sessions, I removed my magic tools and slowly started working my arms and legs. They still weren’t quite moving like I wanted them to, so I was immediately struck by the urge to use enhancement magic.

“Lady Rozemyne. Please don’t attempt to secretly use enhancement magic,” Damuel said. He always watched over me during my rehabilitation sessions, since he was able to feel even slight shifts in mana. “It may be subtle, but your mana is definitely flowing.”

“Rozemyne can already unconsciously enhance her body?” Bonifatius asked, turning toward me in surprise. I immediately looked away from him. It wasn’t unconscious; I was doing it on purpose to cheat.

“How are the students, Grandfather? Are they showing more coordination now?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“No, not in the least. They focus only on offense, not defense. As they are, they’re certainly not fit to be guard knights. I suppose the one thing I can praise is... their motivation, I reckon,” Bonifatius answered, looking down at the training apprentices.

Some might have found it unusual that Bonifatius was watching my rehabilitation session rather than training the apprentices himself, but there was a good reason for it—after just a single session, it had been concluded that his methods were simply too much for the layknight apprentices. He had consequently been removed from direct duty for all groups except the apprentice guard knights and was instead spending his time putting together training schedules, observing the ongoing drills from afar, and searching for those who could withstand learning under him directly.

“Guard knights have to fight while keeping their charge in mind,” Bonifatius continued. “We can’t let more knights end up like Traugott, who doesn’t understand that his natural position is beneath the one he’s meant to protect. Since you and Wilfried are in the same year, the knights need to know how to guard someone properly, even if they aren’t guard knights themselves yet. Otherwise, they’re going to be useless when it counts.”

Because the Royal Academy was founded around the concept of there being no interference from adults, guard duty was up to the apprentice knights. It seemed that Bonifatius was a bit apprehensive about entrusting that responsibility to these apprentices whose exclusive experience playing speed ditter meant they only understood offense.

“Try moving close enough to the training grounds that you can see the apprentices without using enhancements,” Bonifatius instructed me. I attempted just that until, soon enough, I could see the apprentice knights flying around on their highbeasts with weapons in hand. “Do you need more guard knights, Rozemyne? Erm, I heard from Karstedt that you require an adult female knight to accompany you to the temple.”

“Angelica has come of age since then, so that is no longer a concern,” I replied. “Rather, I am more concerned about needing another apprentice guard knight once Cornelius graduates. Given that Traugott resigned, I am going to have too few guards in the Royal Academy.”

It was a struggle securing guards for the temple because I needed people who were able to get along with my gray priest attendants. Thankfully enough, Angelica and Damuel more than sufficed at the moment. My real concern was getting more guards in the Royal Academy.

“Unfortunately, it seems that serving as my guard is no easy task.”

“Because you’re sickly and might collapse at any moment?”

“Because Damuel is both my most trusted guard knight and the one I have the longest history with. Any guard knight who wishes to enter my service absolutely needs to be able to work well with him.”

Bonifatius narrowed his eyes in thought. “Have you ever thought of relieving Damuel of duty, Rozemyne? Karstedt and Ferdinand keep rejecting the idea, but it seems best to me. Never before has a laynoble been assigned to guard the archducal family. It seems to me like it would be best to replace him with a medknight or an archknight.”

“I am the High Bishop and the orphanage director. If there exists an archknight who would not mind entering the temple and the orphanage or helping my temple attendants with their work then I will gladly accept them into my service, but that does not seem entirely realistic. Most archnobles grimace whenever the temple is so much as discussed, and since the temple is where I was raised, I do not think highly of such reactions. I find it much easier to use laynobles and mednobles, who swallow such feelings for the sake of raising their status.”

Bonifatius let out a long sigh. “This isn’t gonna be easy...” he muttered. Although he saw me as his adorable granddaughter regardless of where I was raised, even he felt some revulsion to the temple.

“Scholars will soon be visiting the temple to discuss the printing industry, so I intend to negotiate with Sylvester to allow even my apprentice guard knights into the temple,” I explained. “I have no intention of taking on a guard knight who refuses to enter the temple and looks down on Damuel.”

Neither Judithe nor Leonore had displayed any particular aversions to the temple, perhaps because Damuel, Angelica, and Cornelius were all okay with going there, and that was exactly what I wanted from my guard knights. The last thing I needed was someone ruining that atmosphere.

“Furthermore,” I continued, “there is one more condition that must be met before someone can become my guard knight.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes. They must be able to help Ferdinand with his work in the temple. Even Eckhart assists him in this regard. Angelica instead spends this time guarding the door with her life, but she is an exception; I do not need two or three guards doing the same. That is why my guard knights need to be able to do at least the bare minimum of scholarly work.”

Bonifatius let out a laugh and looked over at Damuel. “You don’t want to let him go because he’s a good scholar, then?”

“Indeed,” I replied with a nod. “He is very good. He does Angelica’s share of the work as well.”

“Not because I want to.”

Upon hearing Damuel clarify the situation, Bonifatius laughed even harder. “I see now why you treasure him so much,” he said to me.

“Lady Rozemyne. Judithe is requesting permission to enter,” Angelica interjected, interrupting Bonifatius’s chuckling. I swiftly replied that she had my permission, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense as the question of what might have happened ran through our minds.

“I don’t have any more rejuvenation potions!” Judithe cried as she burst into the room, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please grant me permission to gather ingredients, Lady Rozemyne! At this rate, I won’t be able to participate in training even though I’m a guard knight!”

It seemed that the training for apprentices had intensified quite severely with Bonifatius putting together the new schedule. Judithe was having to use potion after potion to keep up, and now she had run out of the stock she had made while attending the Royal Academy. She had thought about buying more from the other knights, but everyone wanted to keep theirs for themselves. As a result, the demand for rejuvenation potions within the Knight’s Order was skyrocketing.

“The only way for me to get more is to make them myself. Please grant me leave from training and my duties to gather ingredients!”

“I do not mind granting that permission, of course, but where will you be gathering?” I asked. “Apprentices cannot leave the Noble’s Quarter.”

She replied that she intended to go to the castle’s forest, which was apparently where those who were raised in and never strayed from the Noble’s Quarter, like Damuel, and those who were living in the knight dorms, like Judithe, did their basic gathering. It perhaps went without saying that commoners were forbidden from going there.

Gathering, huh? That sounds nice...

A strong wave of nostalgia washed over me as I recalled my days going to the forest with Lutz and Tuuli. I wanted to go gathering too.

I wonder... Can I think of a good excuse to use here?

After a moment of serious thought, I clapped my hands together and looked up at Bonifatius. “Grandfather, what say we give the apprentices some guard duty practice?”

“Hrm?”

“I will attend the gathering too, meaning the apprentices will need to protect me while collecting their ingredients. If you accompany us as a supervisor then there is nothing to fear, no? Will you accompany me to the forest, Grandfather?”

“Hmm... Good idea. They definitely need to experience fighting while protecting someone,” Bonifatius replied, accepting my suggestion with a grin. He then began stroking his chin and got right to work discussing whom and what we were going to bring.

“I believe it would be wise to report this to Ferdinand,” I said. “I have been repeatedly told not to make these kinds of decisions on my own.”

The message I sent was a simple one: “We will be gathering in the forest to help train the apprentice knights. Grandfather will oversee us and intervene if necessary. There is nothing to fear.” My response came in record time.

“You fool,” the ordonnanz said. “That is obviously not an option. Bonifatius is far more dangerous than any feybeast in the forest. He could toss you aside in an attempt to help and you would die. How many times has he almost killed you already? Do not trouble me with these unnecessary matters when the Archduke Conference is yet ongoing. Is that understood?”

The ordonnanz repeated the response twice more, making its message painfully clear. I exchanged a look with Bonifatius and then sighed. “Oh well... It seems we cannot go to the forest after all.”

“Nghhhhhh...”

I had already given up on the idea, but Bonifatius now looked more determined than ever. He ruminated on the situation for a moment, grinding his teeth in frustration all the while, then said he was going to “persuade” Ferdinand and almost literally flew out of the room; he must have been using physical enhancements, considering how ridiculously fast he moved.

“Rest in peace, Ferdinand...” I muttered, feeling a bit dazed.

Angelica let out a small chuckle as she closed the door Bonifatius had thrown open. “Master was delighted that you asked for his help, Lady Rozemyne. He was talking about how he doesn’t get to spend much time with you.”

Not everyone was taking the situation quite so leisurely, however. “Lady Rozemyne, what will happen to my gathering now?” Judithe sobbed, having been unable to hold back her tears since the gathering request was rejected.

“There is no need to worry,” I assured her. “I will ask whether the apprentice guard knights can go on their own. If not, I will give you some of the rejuvenation potions I made myself.” I had plenty that Ferdinand had evaluated as being good enough for apprentices, and it wasn’t like I was going to use them.

“You’ve made rejuvenation potions?” Judithe asked, blinking in surprise. “But you haven’t learned how to yet, have you?”

“I learned from Ferdinand. It seems that knowing how to make your own is a necessary skill.”

“H-He certainly is strict...”

“I’ve been entirely reliant on his ingredients and potion-making skills. That’s why I wanted to learn to brew my own potions.”

As Judithe and I continued our conversation, another ordonnanz flew into the room. “Do not forget to bring rejuvenation potions,” it said, relaying an exceedingly displeased-sounding message from Ferdinand. “Furthermore, do not leave Cornelius’s side for an instant. Order him to protect you from Lord Bonifatius. Understood?”

Just as the ordonnanz turned back into a yellow feystone, Bonifatius burst into the room. “I got permission from Ferdinand!” he declared. “We go tomorrow!”

It was easy to assume that Bonifatius had taken this permission by force. He picked me up in an excited hug and started to spin me around, and it was then that I recalled Ferdinand’s initial warning—that Bonifatius posed more of a threat to me than anything we might come across in the forest. I could already feel myself growing exceptionally worried... and as the spinning continued, exceptionally dizzy.

And so tomorrow came.

I wanted to put on the same cool outfit I had worn when gathering for the jureve, but Rihyarda and Brunhilde immediately shot down the idea. They maintained that it wasn’t appropriate for the archduke’s adopted daughter, and since I had no chance of persuading them both, I was changed into highbeast riding clothes right after breakfast. These included a leather belt, which had pouches for the gathered materials and slots for rejuvenation potions.

“I am ready too, Lady Rozemyne.”

Philine came over once she had changed, now wearing her riding outfit and a leather belt similar to my own. She and Hartmut were going to be accompanying us despite only being apprentice scholars, since they needed ingredients for the magic tools required for Royal Academy classes. They would otherwise have bought such ingredients from apprentice knights, since venturing to places with feybeasts by themselves was much too dangerous.

“This is my first time going to the castle’s forest and my first time gathering. I can’t wait,” Philine said with a smile. I could tell from her eyes that she was hoping I would share in her excitement, but this was far from my first time; I had gone gathering for my jureve ingredients many times before.

I’ve been to the castle’s forest too. Well, when I was kidnapped and stuffed in a bag on a horse, at least...

I shook off that unpleasant thought, not wanting to remember it, and then exited the room. Wilfried was already waiting downstairs.

“I see you are ready as well, dear brother.”

“Yep. This is going to be my first time gathering. I’m pretty excited,” Wilfried replied. After hearing about our outing through his guard knights, he had asked to join us over dinner, wanting to harvest ingredients for his next year at the Royal Academy. Ferdinand was against the idea, maintaining that this addition would prove too much to handle, but Bonifatius had retorted that he could protect us both. And so, here we were.

There were a lot of people coming with us on this gathering trip. The Knight’s Order had even dispatched a few knights to serve as our guards.

“Off we go, then!” Bonifatius declared, clearly in an excellent mood.

As our party began trudging forward, I climbed into my Pandabus and drove beside Bonifatius. Such was my position in our formation, as determined by the knights.

“I have no good memories in the castle’s forest...” I said. “But you’re going to keep me safe, aren’t you, Grandfather?”

“Rest assured, any feybeasts that appear are going to be small fry like zantzes and eifintes. I won’t even need to step in.”

I was already familiar with zantzes and eifintes; the former species was catlike and grew tall enough to reach the knees of most adults, while the latter was more comparable to a squirrel and about as large as a normal cat. Damuel could beat them on his own, so with this many knights present, we were totally safe.

“You there! Apprentice! Don’t break formation! You’re on duty right now!” Bonifatius suddenly barked. It seemed that a young apprentice had attempted to run off upon spotting some leaves that served as a rejuvenation potion ingredient. In contrast, the apprentice knights who had received direct training from Bonifatius and the Knight’s Order hadn’t budged an inch, so as to preserve the formation. “What kind of guard disappears to gather materials?! First, search your surroundings for danger and ensure your charge is secure. Then and only then can you even consider gathering! Do I really have to go over something this basic?”

Bonifatius put his head in his hands, incredulous, at which point Cornelius chimed in. “You just need to put into practice what you’ve learned in your classes. Now, all of you, recite the rules of a guard!”

The apprentices began repeating the rules on instinct. It was something that Wilfried and I had seen many times before in the Ehrenfest Dormitory.

“You clearly know the rules; start putting them into practice,” Cornelius said. His gaze then moved from the apprentices. “Over there. An eifinte.”

Some apprentices moved to strike the lone feybeast, thinking this was finally their time to shine, only to get yelled at again. Their job was to guard their charges, not secure glory for themselves. Many understood the theory, but they were much too used to launching all-out attacks on feybeasts the second they saw them. They needed to learn to change that mindset, which was precisely why they were accompanying us today.

The apprentice knights hunted the small feybeasts that popped up, occasionally having to endure a harsh rebuke from Bonifatius, while we leisurely enjoyed our gathering. The particular ingredients they needed depended on what year they were in in the Royal Academy, and since some brews required more mana than others, there was a disparity between which ingredients the laynobles, mednobles, and archnobles were searching for.

Second-years and above had already taken brewing classes in the Royal Academy, so they knew and were easily able to gather what they needed. Wilfried, Philine, and I had only ever seen illustrations, however, so we didn’t quite know what we were looking for.

“Behankraut is necessary for making rejuvenation potions,” Damuel noted, offering some helpful advice.

“Yes, and you will want some of these as well. Schallaub is strong with Wind, so it is commonly used to make ordonnanzes,” Hartmut added.

After receiving my impromptu lesson, I climbed out of my Pandabus, used messer to turn my schtappe into a knife, and started gathering.

“Rozemyne, look at this!” Wilfried exclaimed, proudly showing me his schtappe. He had added a crest that was popular among first-year archduke candidates and archnobles, but that wasn’t all—he had also shaped the handle to resemble a lion, with the shaft of the wand protruding from its gaping maw. “Cool, huh?”

“It’s certainly impressive...”

“Heh. Right?”

The crest was cool and all, but visualizing and producing a schtappe like that must have taken quite some time. I was more impressed that he had gone through all that trouble for the sake of aesthetics, especially considering that I had personally given up on the idea almost immediately.

For someone who described the Royal Academy as having been nothing but suffering while I was gone, he sure seems to have had a lot of spare time on his hands.

As glamorous as his schtappe was, it became a regular knife when he chanted “messer” a moment later. It was presumably too much of a struggle for him to maintain that cool form forever.

“Is this what we’re looking for?” Philine asked, pointing at one particular plant.

Damuel shook his head. “It looks similar, but no. You’ll have an easier time if you focus on the roots. Here, see how this part’s red?”

After listening to his explanation, I cut off one such plant with my messer schtappe and stuck it in one of my pouches.

“You’ll want rungorbs as well,” Bonifatius said to me, pointing up into a nearby tree. I followed his finger to several white fruits.

“Could you get them for me, Grandfather?” I asked. “I cannot reach that high.”

“What are you saying? We can just do this,” Bonifatius said, sticking his hands under my arms before hoisting me into the air. I was now close enough to reach the fruit, so I used my knife to cut it from the tree.

“I would also like some,” Wilfried said. “What should I do, Lord Bonifatius?”

“Hmph! Here! Take what you need!” Bonifatius put me down and then picked up Wilfried, completely unfazed even now that he was carrying someone heavier. There was no doubting he was insanely strong.

Oh yeah... He was also swinging around Cornelius, who’s way older than us.

“We were fortunate enough to have you here this time, Grandfather, but how does one normally gather fruit high up in trees? Are highbeasts not unwieldy in forests?” I asked. I personally could have flown up there in Lessy, but the winged highbeasts everyone else had were much harder to use in a place with so many trees.

“A tree this short can easily be climbed with enhancements. You just need to do this.” Cornelius stabbed his knife deep into the trunk of the tree before using it as a foothold to boost himself up. He managed to grab and then effortlessly climb onto a branch. “Does anyone else want rungorb?”

“Me!”

“I do.”

Several of the knights spoke up in response; rungorb was an ingredient commonly used to make marginally higher-quality potions for archknights. Cornelius harvested and tossed down quite a few before eventually returning to the forest floor.

“Here, Leonore. Take these,” Cornelius said. “Looks like you didn’t get too many.”

“I thank you ever so much,” Leonore happily replied.

Angelica was next to climb the tree, leaping up among its branches to take Cornelius’s place. She moved so weightlessly that I could tell she was using enhancement magic, and after spending a brief moment gathering some rungorbs, she jumped back down. It was clear that she was trying to minimize the time she spent away from me.

“There is a zantze on that tree,” Leonore said, indicating a feybeast that was noticeably wary of the approaching vanguard. “It is far enough away that ignoring it is an option, but we do not want to risk it attacking our rear. Exterminating it now would certainly be safer; what shall we do?”

“Judithe, instead of using your sword this time, turn your schtappe into a slingshot and aim for the zantze,” I said, pointing at the zantze. She nodded in response, turned her schtappe into a slingshot rather than the usual longsword of a knight, and then expertly fired a stone I had picked up and given to her.

A moment later, the zantze dropped from the tree.

Lamprecht must have heard the sound of the zantze being struck because he readied his weapon in an instant, bolted in the direction of the feybeast, and then cut it down before it could even reach the ground. All that remained was a tiny feystone.

“I imagine you will be able to extend your range once you learn enhancement magic, and since you can launch projectiles with mana, increasing how much mana you have will allow you to fire even more. You’ll do better focusing on this rather than your sword, I am certain.”

“Agreed. You’re already skilled enough to strike a feybeast that far away. If you practice hard enough then your accuracy will be something to behold,” Bonifatius said with an impressed nod as he looked down upon Judithe. “Your strength is going to be your ability to attack your foes while still remaining close to your charge. You would do well to focus on it.”

“Yes, sir!” Judithe replied enthusiastically.

“It depends on the weather and the specific battle situation, but Ferdinand mentioned in his notes that bags filled with sleeping or stun powder can prove very effective,” I suggested.

“No matter how effective of a method it might be, I can’t make powders like that...” Judithe replied, dispirited. It was because of my strategizing that we had won our game of ditter, so rather than bemoaning such a technique as cowardly or not very knight-like, she just regretted that she couldn’t utilize them herself.

“I suppose a skilled scholar is needed to make effective powders and magic tools...” I mused aloud, prompting Hartmut to step closer.

“Did you call for me, Lady Rozemyne?”

Oh, right. Hartmut is a skilled scholar.

“I was discussing ranged implements with Judithe,” I explained. “Specifically, about how sleeping powder and such are effective in ditter, according to Ferdinand.”

“I shall think about it. According to Lord Justus, during the days of treasure-stealing ditter, scholars would prove their worth by creating magic tools that guided their duchy to victory. The ones made back then had enormous areas of effect, but because they would pose a threat to the audience in an arena, they were banned for games of speed ditter. In actual fights, however... they would indeed be of use.”

“Indeed,” I said, looking up at him with nothing but respect and admiration. “Actual fights are what matter most. Please think up as many long-range magic tools for Judithe to use as you can; I will purchase them all.”

“Understood.”

Judithe broke into an overjoyed smile, having found her path toward the future. “I’m going to work hard compressing my mana so that I can learn enhancements and truly make my ranged skills my own, Lady Rozemyne.”

“You will need to prepare many things to throw and carefully consider which projectiles will prove most effective against which opponents. An eye for reading the situation and the enemy formation is going to be crucial, so study these things closely.”

“Okay!”

There we go! Now she’s focused on more than just training her body to be like Angelica!

“Stop!” Bonifatius cried out while Judithe and I exchanged a smile. “I smell a grun!” My first instinct was to say that I couldn’t smell anything unusual, but before I could even get the words out, he started sniffing and pointed to a nearby tree. A grun had apparently marked its territory there.

Is it just me, or does Grandfather seem like a wild animal all of a sudden?

The gruns often encountered in this season were very much on edge, since they were hungry from having spent so long in their nest raising babies, and would commonly have their mate nearby with them. In other words, they were exceedingly troublesome to deal with.

“That’s enough gathering. We’re heading back immediately and forming a hunting squad. Rozemyne, can the scholars ride in your highbeast? They’ll be easier to guard when they’re together,” Bonifatius said. He had evidently made the right call, because just as we started to move, Angelica let out a cry.

“Master, it’s here!”

From among the trees appeared feybeasts with gaping mouths and malicious-looking eyes. Their bony torsos were striped with black and dark-green fur, although they weren’t particularly large. They seemed to be about as big as Saint Bernards.

“Those are gruns...?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

“They don’t look anything like my Lessy! They’re not cute in the slightest!”

The two gruns opened their gaping mouths wider, and in an instant, I was hit with a wave of what smelled like especially thick miso soup.

You know... this actually takes me back a little.

But as that thought crossed my mind, I noticed everyone else was holding their noses and writhing about, bemoaning the terrible stench. It certainly felt odd to have such a different reaction from everyone else.

Hm. I guess the smell is pretty strong.

“Guard your charge and escape!” Bonifatius ordered. “Only the adults need to fight the gruns!”

The adult archknights stepped forward and morphed their schtappes into weapons, while the medknights got into formation behind them. A lone apprentice knight drew his sword, despite having been told to focus on protecting.

“We defeated a grun during the Interduchy Tournament!” the apprentice shouted. “We can fight too!”

“I don’t care! Follow your orders!”

“Apprentice scholars, get in!” I called out, making Lessy larger for Philine and the others. But it seemed that the issue ran deeper than just a lack of battle experience—many had never even seen a feybeast before. They stared at the grun in shock, completely rooted to the ground.

Lamprecht was the first to take flight and retreat, carrying Wilfried in his arms. It took them a moment to snap back to reality and summon their highbeasts, but Wilfried’s apprentice guard knights followed soon after. Hartmut was glued to the spot, vacantly watching the fleeing knights, so Damuel gave him a hard shove through Lessy’s open door.

“Enough daydreaming! Get inside already!”

Damuel threw Philine inside next, then Judithe. I closed the door the very instant the girls were secured and gripped the steering wheel, prepared to fly away as soon as the others were ready.

Cornelius, Leonore, and Damuel took out and immediately mounted their highbeasts, and we all soared up into the air at once. A grun seemingly launched toward us at such an incredible speed that it was impossible to track with the naked eye, but Bonifatius jumped up in a similar fashion and smacked it back down to earth, no doubt using physical enhancements. I hadn’t actually seen him smack the grun, for the record; from my perspective, it had suddenly been launched back into the forest from whence it had come, crashing through trees along the way with a tremendous noise. Hanging in the air where the feybeast had once been was Bonifatius with his arm swung downward, so it was easy to conclude that he had moved faster than I could perceive.

“I won’t let you touch Rozemyne!” Bonifatius declared. His announcement was reassuring to say the least, and with the immediate threat disposed of, I retreated to the castle, surrounded by guard knights.

Lamprecht had been the first to leave the scene, and we had seen his highbeast heading toward the training ground of the Knight’s Order. Damuel told Cornelius to send an ordonnanz to Ferdinand, which he did effortlessly while still controlling his mount.

“I believe we can leave the rest to the Knight’s Order,” Damuel said before turning his attention to me. “Are you unharmed, Lady Rozemyne?”

I nodded. As far as I was concerned, it had actually been a rather productive day—we had completed our gathering and revealed flaws in the apprentices’ training. I stepped out of my Pandabus with a satisfied smile, only for Judithe to angrily leap out after me.

“I’m not a scholar, Damuel! I’m an apprentice guard knight! I can use my highbeast, and I’m not someone who needs to be protected!” she yelled, her violet eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. After being tossed into Lessy with the scholars, her pride as an apprentice guard knight had seemingly been wounded. “Why did you throw me into Lady Rozemyne’s highbeast?!”

Damuel gazed down at Judithe, wearing a troubled expression as tears began to well up in the apprentice knight’s eyes, but Angelica interjected before he could respond. “Didn’t he do it because he thought you’d make the best guard?” she asked, her head tilted quizzically. “That’s how I saw it, at least.”

“Wha...?” Judithe stared at Angelica with wide eyes, almost pleading for an explanation, but none was given. Instead, Angelica wore a pleased grin that seemed to say, “My work here is done,” even though she hadn’t actually done anything.

“Er, sorry. I’m not really sure why you’re so upset. I guess it’s because you want to know why I put you in the highbeast with Lady Rozemyne,” Damuel said, looking between the two girls while scratching his head. Judithe responded with a nod, her expression stiff, and so he continued with an explanation. “Given that the scholars were riding with Lady Rozemyne, at least one guard knight needed to remain with her. And since you can strike enemies from afar, you could attack from inside the highbeast, with Lady Rozemyne’s permission. I thought you were the best guard for the job—that was why I had you ride with her.”

“It wasn’t because you don’t think I’m a good enough knight...?” Judithe asked. It seemed that her complex about never getting assigned guard duty had twisted her perception, and upon realizing that, Damuel shook his head with a smile.

“I would never think of you like that, especially considering how impressive your aim is. Even Lord Bonifatius praised your skill. But if you were preoccupied with such thoughts... did you forget to do your duty as a guard while inside the highbeast?”

Judithe looked up in stunned realization, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to compose a response, before eventually hanging her head and apologizing. She was blushing so hard that even her ears were bright red, but she had warmed up to Damuel in an instant and was now asking him all sorts of questions. As expected, entrusting the leadership of my guard knights to him had been the right course of action.

“Just as I warned, there were problems,” Ferdinand said during dinner, tapping his temple while looking my way.

“No one was hurt,” Bonifatius retorted. “You could even say this went better than expected. We would have needed to hunt those gruns sooner or later, and now they’re taken care of. The real problem here is the apprentice knights’ complete lack of coordination.”

Wilfried nodded enthusiastically. “I agree. I never understood why Rozemyne kept saying they couldn’t work together while we were in the Royal Academy, but after seeing them back there... I think they need to work on protecting others.”

If everyone had come away from this with a newfound understanding of the importance of coordination, especially the apprentice knights themselves, then I considered the gathering session a huge win. That said, I was now aware of something else that needed to be improved even more.

“What say we hold these gathering events more often?” I suggested. “It will serve as useful practice not just for the apprentice knights, but also the apprentice scholars, who desperately need to work on improving their self-preservation instincts. At the very least, they need to better understand their role as charges.”

“What makes you think this, Rozemyne?” Ferdinand seemed perplexed, so I described what the scholars had done when the gruns showed up.

“If scholars cannot summon their highbeasts to escape, prepare their schtappes to defend themselves, or even obey the instructions of the knights protecting them when enemies arrive, they will end up being abandoned by those protecting the archducal family in moments of danger. I think the scholars need more exposure to threats so that they may grow more accustomed to them.”

“Hmm... Now that you mention it, Rozemyne, you were surprisingly calm when the gruns arrived. You did exactly what you needed to without any hesitation,” Bonifatius observed. Of course, my composure had come from experience; I had encountered feybeasts during my jureve gathering several times before and was much too familiar with being ambushed, so working with guards was something I had needed to get used to whether I wanted to or not. “Training the apprentice scholars to stop being dead weight, huh...? In that case, we should prioritize the ones working with the archducal family.”

“I do not mind you training the apprentice knights and scholars, Bonifatius, but I believe the Knight’s Order should first sweep the forest for any more feybeasts that must be hunted,” Ferdinand said. “If our scholars really are that much of a burden in times of crisis, we do not want to risk the appearance of any strong feybeasts.”

And so it was decided that the Knight’s Order would spend a few days sweeping the forest, allowing the apprentices a few days’ rest from training.

“Wha...? We’re going to be participating too?” Philine asked, paling when I explained our plan to have the scholars join the apprentice knights in their training.

I nodded. “You will not be following the same regimen, but considering how many times I have been attacked in the past, it is exceedingly likely that my retainers will find themselves wrapped up in dangerous situations moving forward. For that reason, it is crucial that you and Hartmut learn to protect yourselves. Even just running away requires a certain presence of mind that neither of you showed in the forest.”

“Understood...” Philine conceded after a pause, looking unwell. She then received a reassuring pat on the back from Judithe, who advised that she prepare lots of rejuvenation potions.

“Given that Philine cannot make rejuvenation potions, I think it would be a good idea for us to make some together for her sake. Let us use the castle workshop while the apprentice knights have their break,” I said. It was also an ideal opportunity for me to demonstrate boiling down a solution in a pot, which would in turn help me to teach my retainers the fourth step of my compression method.

We received permission to brew in a castle workshop under the condition that Ferdinand supervise us, which meant I was able to demonstrate the boiling down process to my retainers. As nobles, they had never cooked for themselves, meaning the display was entirely new to them.

“Ferdinand, why is it that an older archnoble like Hartmut doesn’t know about boiling down when Professor Hirschur mentioned during a lecture that she visualizes the boiling down of a potion?” I asked.

“There are some potions that become more effective when boiled down, but these are not particularly common,” he replied. Those at the Royal Academy were apparently only taught how to put ingredients in a brewing pot and stir them together with their mana. From a noble’s perspective, Ferdinand was unusual for going beyond those lessons and using all sorts of additional techniques, while Hirschur was even more unusual for attempting to teach first-years through such an obscure potion-making method.

Though, well... she was just offering her own approach in case anyone else found it useful.

Soon enough, all of my retainers had reached and adopted the fourth step of my mana compression method. For Philine, this meant also learning the first three steps. She would need to work pretty hard from this point on, since she had the least base mana out of any of my retainers.

Although Philine had earned enough money in the Royal Academy to pay for my compression method, the accompanying contract magic was somewhat problematic. Country-wide contracts were much too expensive to use on her alone, so we decided that we were going to have her sign with the next batch of people, as we had done with Damuel. In the meantime, we were using an Ehrenfest-wide contract, which prevented her from teaching others the method until we could have her sign the country-wide one during the next group teaching session. I very much doubted she was going to reveal the secret either way, but it was important that we took the same approach with everyone.

The days that followed had a lot in common. My retainers took turns undergoing training and making potions with their gathered materials, while I practiced the harspiel, embroidered Schwartz’s and Weiss’s clothes with Lieseleta and Brunhilde, answered various questions from Hartmut about blessings, and worked on my rehabilitation. Before I knew it, the Archduke Conference had come to an end.