Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.7 - Chapter 14

Ditter at the Interduchy Tournament

“Rozemyne, give me a rejuvenation potion,” Ferdinand said as soon as we returned. “You have more in your room, no?”

“Don’t you have some of your own?” I asked, looking at him quizzically. The blessing worked only to heal wounds and ease pain, not restore mana, so I understood why he would need a potion, but I was pretty sure he always carried his own ones with him.

“I could use them, but then I would have none left. Now that I have expended almost all of my magic tools, I would like to keep at least a few rejuvenation potions on my person.”

He seemed so cool and composed at the time, but could that have been an extremely narrow victory back there?

Now understanding the reason for his request, I gave Ferdinand one of the rejuvenation potions hanging from my hip. I also extended an arm and asked whether he needed another charm.

“No. I would rather not reduce your defenses even more.” He then chugged an ultra-nasty potion without so much as the slightest change of expression, handed the empty bottle to Rihyarda, and asked for a refill.

“Erm, Ferdinand...” I said and instinctively tugged on his sleeve.

“Do not worry about me,” he replied. “There are no other duchies that will abruptly challenge me to a ditter match.” There was nothing more to say about the matter, so I relinquished my grip on him and smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Well, at least there aren’t more duchies like Dunkelfelger,” I noted. “That really would be problematic...”

“Quite the opposite. If there were more, they would surely fight among themselves. It would make my life much easier.”

“Do you think so? I feel that, no matter the situation, Heisshitze would always challenge you specifically.”

“I do not even wish to consider that.”

It seemed that everyone else had already finished eating and returned to the tournament, as the dormitory was completely empty. Ferdinand and I rushed to eat, then joined them in the knight building where the event was being held.

“Have we made it?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ferdinand replied. “Ahrensbach is playing right now, which means Ehrenfest should be playing after the next game.” The order for the second half was apparently determined by the results of a mock battle held during classes, and since Ehrenfest had scored rather highly this year, they were due to play later.

I observed other duchies socializing on our way to the Ehrenfest spectating area. It was quite fun to watch, since family members wearing colorful clothes stood out amid the usual black of the Royal Academy. They were all wearing styles popular in the Sovereignty, but on closer inspection, each had a unique vibe.

“A finsturm, hm?” Ferdinand said, muttering to himself with a glance toward the arena. “This should be over quickly. They are used often during practice.”

All of the Ahrensbach spectators were on their feet and eagerly cheering on their players, so the most I could see were the backs of their light-violet capes and the same-colored capes of the participating knights flying through the air on their highbeasts. I couldn’t even see the feybeast or what it looked like, so I soon gave up on watching the fight and focused on walking as quickly as I could. We needed to get back to our own viewing spot before it was Ehrenfest’s turn.

“How do you think Ehrenfest is going to place?” I asked.

“Luck is an enormous factor in this type of ditter—how well one knows the fey creature involved can dramatically change how long it takes them to defeat it. That said, only fey creatures that can be overwhelmed with raw firepower are ever sent out; it would be much too dangerous for the students to play with beasts they might not be able to defeat on their own. And thus, apprentice knights ceased to use their brains. It truly is quite a conundrum...”

And with that, we arrived back at Ehrenfest’s spot. Sylvester came over the moment he saw us to ask whether we had won our ditter game, and I replied with a big nod.

“Ferdinand was wonderfully evil, as his nickname would suggest,” I said. “He used the prized cape as a distraction to throw his enemy off guard, then exploited the opening to launch a counterattack. It reminded me once again that he doesn’t have even the slightest amount of chivalry to his name.”

“I am not a knight, remember; I have no need for chivalry. And you cheered my opponent on midway through the fight, did you not?” Ferdinand scoffed, narrowing his eyes at me. “I would rather you act more the part of a saint.”

“Oh, but did I not produce Schutzaria’s shield, give Angriff’s blessing, and even provide Heilschmerz’s healing at the end? I must have come across as the perfect saint to everyone else present.” In addition to that, unlike during last year’s ditter, I hadn’t launched any surprise attacks or given any unsolicited instructions. I had obediently stayed in my highbeast and observed the battle from afar.

Sylvester raised a hand as if to interrupt my protest. “Rozemyne, the details of the match can wait. I want to know what was decided afterward.”

“The specifics are going to be ironed out later,” I said.

Sylvester nodded and then glanced over at Florencia, whose smile broadened at once. Perhaps it was just me, but I could feel a certain intensity radiating from her. “That’s good, because both sides are going to need some time,” he said. “I’m sure Aub Dunkelfelger will need to speak to his first wife and retainers as well.”

The aubs had essentially settled this matter between themselves, and it seemed that their wives were less than pleased. Florencia had apparently cautioned Sylvester against agreeing to the ditter match, which explained the vein bulging on her forehead.

“Our trade with Dunkelfelger will most certainly come up during the Archduke Conference, with Aub Dunkelfelger requesting a trade deal in return for their listening to our request to some degree,” Ferdinand said with a polite—and noticeably false—smile. “I will trust the rest to Aub Ehrenfest’s skill in political matters.”

All of a sudden, a loud cheer reverberated in the air, and we heard Rauffen’s magic tool-enhanced voice boom through the arena. “Ehrenfest, come forth!”

The apprentice knights had already gathered at the very front of our spot, within viewing distance of the arena floor, and they all climbed onto their highbeasts and took flight. The number of dark-yellow capes on highbeasts increased, with the apprentice knights flying loops above the arena.

“Now, let’s see just how much they’ve grown,” Karstedt said, seeming quite interested. Elvira was a step behind him, having come to see Cornelius’s upcoming feats of heroism.

First Sylvester and Florencia, then Wilfried and Charlotte moved to fill the gap left by the apprentice knights. There was also space for me to watch as an archduke candidate, but despite my best efforts, I struggled to see over the strangely high wall separating us from the action. I could have craned my neck and stood on tiptoe, but no archduke candidate would ever risk doing something so ungraceful.

“Milady. Here you are,” Rihyarda said as she put a stand in place for me. I climbed atop it, and immediately, everything was visible. I could see the apprentice knights getting into position.

“Thank you, Rihyarda.”

“Now, let’s cheer them on.”

My retainers gathered around me, and together we watched the arena. I was hopeful that we could win—at least, I was for a brief moment, but when the professor arrived to make a fey creature atop the magic circle, my heart sank. Waving at the ensuing cheers was none other than Fraularm, and she snickered as she looked over at us. I had a really bad feeling about this, and it seemed that I wasn’t alone—there were outbursts of “Oh, come on...” and “Her, of all people?” from those nearby.

“Why is Professor Rauffen not making the fey creature?” I asked, my cheeks puffed out.

“Because a single professor wouldn’t be able to activate enough magic circles for each match,” Karstedt, who watched the tournament every year, explained. “According to Lamprecht and Cornelius, to prevent trickery, dorm supervisors are never put in charge of their own duchy’s circle. Everything else is decided by drawing lots, so who gets whom comes down to chance.”

So in short, Ehrenfest has terrible luck.

“Do you think there might be foul play?” I asked.

Karstedt merely shrugged.

“There is not much she can attempt with so many eyes on her,” Ferdinand said. “The most she could possibly do without sullying her reputation as a professor is create an obscure or time-consuming feybeast.”

“You make that sound harmless enough, but isn’t that a huge disadvantage for speed ditter?” I asked. Ehrenfest was playing sixth from last after doing well in the mock battle, and if we performed terribly compared to all of the duchies that had come before us, then our place in the rankings would no doubt be called into question.

“There is very little to worry about; the apprentices performed admirably even when that one exceptionally rare feybeast appeared,” Ferdinand replied in a low voice. He had nothing but high praise for how we had dealt with the ternisbefallen, which meant our chances against this feybeast would greatly depend on whether Leonore recognized it.

I swallowed hard as I gazed down at the arena. Fraularm produced her schtappe and said some spell, activating the magic circle. It glowed bright and then slowly faded to reveal a large, wiggly... blob. It didn’t roar like the previous fey creatures, nor did it launch an immediate attack. I couldn’t even see where its head was; at first, I assumed Fraularm had simply failed in her attempt to make something.

“A hundertteilung, hm?” Ferdinand muttered, sounding vexed. “This is problematic.” Apparently, it was a feybeast that lived near Ahrensbach’s oceans and divided itself each time it was attacked. This would continue until it reached its smallest possible size, and only then could it be killed. It wasn’t a very strong feybeast, but it took forever to kill.

“What’s that?” someone in the crowd asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Is this actually a fey?” another muttered.

As the stirring continued, Fraularm glanced our way for just a single moment before making her exit. Rauffen, the judge, then shouted, “Begin!”

Leonore gathered everyone together and started to say something while looking down at the completely immobile hundertteilung. Cornelius and Traugott then began storing up their mana, as if preparing to launch repeated full-power attacks, as the other apprentice knights scattered, readied their shields, and prepared to endure the aftershock. Leonore did the same, positioning herself right next to Cornelius.

“Oho, so she knows how to deal with hundertteilungs, then?” Ferdinand remarked, his voice making his satisfaction exceedingly clear. “She is very learned indeed.” His compliment was reassuring to hear; my initial assumption had been that Traugott was about to go nuts again.

Leonore swiftly cut through the air with her right hand, and Cornelius swung his sword down in turn, launching a blob of mana toward the hundertteilung. Traugott attacked at the same time and then readied his shield for the upcoming shockwave, while Leonore moved forward to shield Cornelius, who was building up mana again.

This is a battlefield, but it feels like they’re in their own little world...

And it seemed that I wasn’t the only person who thought so—Elvira was letting out coos of delight beside me, presumably making a mental note of material for a new book.

Cornelius readied his mana-filled sword from behind Leonore’s shield and then swung it with a thunderous, “Hyaaaaaah!” A second blob of mana, which seemed a bit smaller than the first, flew toward the hundertteilung. There came a loud explosion a mere moment later, and a number of tiny creatures scattered all over as if riding the aftershock.

“Aim for the heads!” Matthias shouted. “Act fast, before they have time to remerge!”

The gathered apprentice knights began moving all at once. The hundertteilung—once a squishy blob—had become a multitude of miniature snakes, which would apparently form together to become one big snake if given the opportunity. Traugott and Cornelius’s full-power attacks had successfully split it into its smallest form.

“The only way to defeat a hundertteilung is to separate it into its composite parts and destroy them all,” Ferdinand explained. “Failing to separate it completely results in an unnecessary swarm that will simply fuse back together again and achieves nothing but exhausting all those involved. Instead, to be victorious, one must strike it with a strong enough mana attack to fully divide it.”

I nodded along while looking down at the fight. The apprentice knights were having a rough time, since they needed to kill the tiny, scattered snakes without letting them reform. Thankfully, it seemed that a simple stab to the head was enough to finish each one off. It looked so easy that even I could have managed it.

Cornelius withdrew to chug a rejuvenation potion and then began flying around the arena. Meanwhile, Leonore shouted, “Fall back, those in front of me!” before swinging and throwing something. It blew open in the air and spread wide.

“A net?” I asked myself.

Something resembling the net that Ferdinand had used to defeat a horde of feybeasts at once on the Night of Schutzaria had spread out and seized a bunch of the smaller hundertteilungs. Leonore then let out a shout, and a moment later, all of the blobs she had trapped were exterminated. She repeated this three more times, targeting the densest clumps, then left Matthias in charge and retreated to a safe distance to recover her mana.

“That net requires quite a lot of mana...” Karstedt murmured, impressed. “I didn’t notice during her normal training, but I see Leonore’s capacity has grown quite a bit.”

Elvira’s dark eyes sparkled, and she let out a happy sigh. “She must have worked so hard to catch up to Cornelius. Love truly makes a woman strong. I am moved by the mental fortitude of a young woman in love who wishes to match her partner’s mana as closely as possible. I must write this down.”

Oof. Rest in peace, Cornelius, Leonore.

Cornelius had kept his relationship a secret from me for an entire term, fearing that Elvira might find out about it; I saw no reason to intervene for his benefit. Of course, I wasn’t going to let anything happen that would make life in the dormitory hard for Leonore—Florencia had asked me to promise her that much—but as for the rest, I would simply sit and watch.

Hmph. As soon as Leonore graduates next year, Cornelius is in for a world of suffering. His romance is going to be turned into a book sooner or later.

“Aha! Judithe is going all out too!” Karstedt exclaimed. “Your guard knights are something else, Rozemyne.”

I turned my attention to the arena and saw Judithe holding knives between her fingers, throwing one after another at the blobs. Each one struck a tiny hundertteilung square in the head, causing the snakes to evaporate.

“Judithe, they are scattered far apart at three-one-one. Clean them up!” Matthias said, flying up a little higher than everyone else and giving instructions in Leonore’s place. “Traugott, some are merging at two-five-one. Stop them. Rudolf, some are sticking to the walls. Deal with six-four-three. Natalie, one-four-two.”

Traugott had refused to follow any orders last year, so the fact that he was obeying the instructions of a medknight probably went to show just how much he had grown.

“What are those numbers Matthias is saying?” I asked.

“They reflect the space in the arena,” Ferdinand replied. “I used them often myself; they make it easier to give orders and translate well to gewinnen demonstrations in post-game meetings. It is fortunate that male socializing involves gewinnen so heavily.”

Aah. Did Matthias and everyone start using them because they’ve been referencing Ferdinand’s guides? Interesting.

“Well, how do they know where to go when there aren’t any lines or symbols? I wouldn’t be able to respond to such random numbers so quickly...” I said. There was a circle for the feybeast, a circle for the knights to wait in, and a line between them, but no other markers to serve as visual cues. If someone had belted off a string of numbers like that to me, I wouldn’t have had even the slightest idea of where to go.

“There were a few female knights in my day who struggled to follow them, as your female knights are struggling now, and it took much practice before they could move as soon as they were instructed. There is nothing one can do but train until it makes sense.”

Cornelius and Leonore recovered their mana and started assisting with killing the remaining hundertteilungs until, eventually, only one remained.

“Judithe, there’s the last one!” Matthias called.

Without missing a beat, Judithe threw a knife at the snake below, piercing its head with perfect accuracy. At that instant, the glowing magic circle dulled.

“Ehrenfest, finished!” Rauffen boomed.

Those of us watching from Ehrenfest’s spot moved aside so that our apprentice knights would have space to land. They returned one after another, while those wearing Hauchletzte capes took their place in the arena.

Once the apprentices had put their highbeasts away, they knelt in front of Sylvester and Florencia. “Aub Ehrenfest. My apologies,” Cornelius said, speaking as a sixth-year and their representative. “We did not push our ranking as much as we had hoped.”

“No need to apologize,” Sylvester replied. “You expertly dealt with a feybeast that nobody in Ehrenfest except Ferdinand knows about, and on your first encounter with it as well. It is clear that you have been studying hard and training often—you have more mana, skill, and coordination than last year. Well done.”

“We are honored by your words.”

Cornelius and the other apprentices then bowed in unison.

Sylvester nodded and then looked at Karstedt. “Tell me, what are your thoughts as the knight commander?”

Karstedt’s normal place was behind Sylvester as his guard knight, but here he stepped forward, having been granted an opportunity to speak. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, looked down at the apprentice knights, and said, “There is no denying that the Interduchy Tournament values speed above all else, and your battle was far from a quick one, but that mostly came down to bad luck. You all fought unbelievably well considering that it was your first time encountering this particular feybeast. There is still room for improvement, but you have proven that you can follow orders and carry out your individual roles while keeping an eye on what the others are doing. Your growth is clear and steady. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes, sir!”

Once the apprentice knights had dispersed, it was time for us to return to our tables and socialize again. Wilfried and Charlotte discussed the heroic efforts of the apprentice knights as they headed to the frontmost table, while the rest of us went to the ones farther back.

“Now that I’ve seen the whole dormitory working together and making progress with my own eyes,” Sylvester muttered, “I do feel bad about the former Veronica faction children not getting the mana compression method...”

It was rare for a duchy to have three archduke candidates without splitting up into several factions that refused to assist one another. Children grew differently before and after their graduation, and given that they would one day be the adults running Ehrenfest, Sylvester wanted them to start growing their mana as soon as possible.

“It’ll be rough, but...” he continued and then trailed off. The most I could do was nod in agreement.