Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.7 - Chapter 16

Unforeseen Consequences

I could tell from the clumps of different colors that most students had already descended to the arena grounds for the awards ceremony. Ehrenfest was the dark-yellow blob of capes, and since Wilfried and Charlotte had been the first to leave our viewing spot, I assumed they were already among them.

“I see Ehrenfest is over there,” I remarked.

“Please descend toward that circle by highbeast,” Hartmut said, leading the apprentice scholars and apprentice attendants down. I followed after them a moment later, surrounded by guard knights.

Once all of the students were lined up, royalty entered. The arena was quickly surrounded by knights flourishing black capes, and highbeasts with widely spread wings descended one after another. It was obvious which one was the king—he had the Sovereign knight commander Raublut guarding him and came out before Anastasius and Eglantine.

He’s even younger than I thought...

From appearances alone, he looked to be no older than Karstedt, and although his features resembled those of Anastasius, they were noticeably harder and more dignified. He and his first wife, along with all the other royals, ascended onto a platform wearing thick, heavy-looking outfits. There was Prince Sigiswald and his wife, as well as Prince Anastasius and his fiancée Eglantine. Hildebrand would apparently be sitting this one out, since he hadn’t yet attended his debut.

“Ewigeliebe the God of Life grants his harsh judgment each winter, and your gathering here today means you have all endured it...”

The awards ceremony began with a greeting from the king. His clear voice, magnified by a magic tool, echoed throughout the arena grounds. My heart pounded with excitement as I gazed up at him and the other royals, taking in the atmosphere of my first awards ceremony. Eglantine was a sight to behold even from this distance, and as I saw the hairpin Tuuli had made standing out against her golden tresses, I couldn’t help but sigh in awe.

And then, out of nowhere, several thunderous explosions shook the arena. One by one, pillars of roaring flame shot into the air—two from among the audience seats, and another from the arena grounds where we students were standing. All were far from where Ehrenfest was gathered, but the sudden noise made me turn on instinct. I could see the fires rising.

There was a moment of complete silence, then people began to scream. The air was filled with their ear-splitting shrieks while the guard knights around me each barked “geteilt” to ready their shields and moved into a defensive formation around me. The nearby students came to their senses a beat later and produced their own shields to protect themselves, while the apprentice knights moved to protect the other archduke candidates.

“O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, protector of all. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side...”

As my three guard knights continued to protect me, I started intoning the prayer to make Schutzaria’s shield. My efforts were interrupted, however, when another loud explosion sounded out from nearby. The apprentice scholars and attendants had shields of their own, but without the necessary combat training, they were unable to stop themselves from being flung back. I instinctively reached out for them, but—

“No!” Leonore shouted. “Please remain still, Lady Rozemyne! You are the one in danger!”

“Your safety is our highest priority,” Judithe added, her face sternly set. “Lord Bonifatius said so. Guard knights exist to protect the archducal family. Scholars and attendants come later.”

They were entirely right, and I retracted my hand just as more explosions resounded across the arena. This time, there was no fire, only the violent tremors of each blast. This made no difference to the panicked students, of course; the screams and chaos continued to intensify.

Calm down... Safety first. Healing comes later.

I closed my eyes, trying to block the wounded from my thoughts, and repeated the prayer. “O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, protector of all. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side. Hear my prayer, and lend me your divine strength. Grant me your shield of Wind, so that I might blow away those who mean to cause harm.”

There was a metallic clink as Schutzaria’s translucent shield formed around us. It was only as large as our designated space on the arena grounds, and as it was circular, those standing in the corners outside its perimeter weren’t given any shelter.

“Can everyone from Ehrenfest fit inside?” I asked. “Prioritize the first-years who can’t yet form their own shields and as many defenseless apprentice scholars and attendants as possible.”

At my instruction, the older apprentice knights left the safety of the shield to begin herding the first-years inside. Meanwhile, Cornelius and my other nearby retainers gazed up at my creation with wonder.

“Lady Rozemyne, what is this...?”

“Schutzaria’s shield,” I replied. “It’s a little bigger than what you’d get from chanting ‘geteilt.’”

“That’s quite an understatement, Sister...” Charlotte noted in an exasperated tone, evidently comparing my shield to the ones the apprentice knights were using.

“Those with malice toward me cannot enter this shield, which means we are safe inside. But in any case, some were hurt before I could form it, were they not? Please bring them to me. I shall heal them at once.”

“We are not injured enough to warrant your concern,” one of the wounded attempted to protest. “These are mere bumps and scrapes—nothing for you to waste your mana on!” But I was unwilling to budge on the matter.

“There is no knowing when we might be called to action, so we must keep ourselves at full strength. Are the apprentice knights who played ditter all fully recovered? Use your rejuvenation potions now while we still can. None can say what might soon happen.”

“We are honored, Lady Rozemyne.”

With Schutzaria’s shield produced and the wounded healed, Ehrenfest’s safety was secured, at least for now. I used the brief moment we had been afforded to examine our surroundings and quickly deduced that the other duchies had either fallen into chaos or promptly formed defensive positions. There were no in-betweens.

Those from Dunkelfelger were already clad in armor with their shields at the ready and withdrawing to their audience seats by highbeast in orderly formation—as anyone would expect from a population of such battle-ready warriors. The duchies whose viewing spots were now engulfed in flames, however, were unsure where to retreat to. Their defenseless apprentice scholars and attendants had been thrown into a massive panic.

“Aah! A feybeast! Kill it!”

“You lot are in the way! Move!”

We heard shouts from all over, and the apprentice knights around me readied for battle again.

“What?! It got bigger?!”

“This thing?! Here, of all places?!”

A hulking form began to rise up amid the chaos, similar in appearance to a black dog and with small, differently colored eyes on its forehead that flitted about in all directions. There was no mistaking it—it was a ternisbefallen.

The explosions alone had thrown the arena into chaos, and this unfamiliar feybeast that seemed immune to all attacks had plunged the apprentice knights into a terror beyond controlling. Their chain of command was shattered.

“Do not attack it! Get out of our way!” shouted the Sovereign knights, but their words fell on deaf ears. The students were launching one frantic attack after another, while the ternisbefallen sucked up their mana and continued to grow.

“GRAAAAAAH!”

As the beast roared, the Sovereign knights were already taking action with their black weaponry at the ready. It seemed they had divided themselves into two teams, one charged with protecting the royals and the other with slaying the ternisbefallen, but they were being held back by the panicking apprentice knights and their wild attacks.

“Lady Rozemyne, can you grant us black weaponry?” the Ehrenfest apprentice knights asked me. They had defeated a ternisbefallen before and were sure they could be of some assistance.

“I cannot,” I replied. “The king has forbidden us from using it.”

“But...”

The ternisbefallen lunged at some students, its mouth opened wide as it attempted to snap them up. An attack from a Sovereign knight knocked it off course just in time, preventing any casualties, but the battle was far from over.

I instinctively produced my schtappe, and a moment later, a black mass appeared near the stage where the king was still standing. Without even the slightest hesitation, all of the Sovereign knights who had been trying to kill the ternisbefallen in the arena turned around and worked their way back to the stage, prioritizing royalty over the students.

“Lady Rozemyne, please grant us black weapons to defeat the ternisbefallen near us!”

“Would you abandon them?!”

As much as I didn’t want to leave the students to fend for themselves, apprentice knights weren’t taught to make black weaponry. Even back in Ehrenfest, they weren’t allowed to use them at all. Wielding such weapons here in the Royal Academy simply wasn’t an option, especially in front of the king himself. I pursed my lips and looked up at the audience seats, where the adults with power were. We underage students couldn’t do anything, but perhaps they could.

Sylvester! Ferdinand!

It was then that a booming voice came from somewhere behind me and echoed throughout the arena. “We shall assist the Sovereign Knight’s Order! To that end, we request permission to wield black weapons!” I turned to see blue-capes lined up in sharp rows, with Aub Dunkelfelger standing at the front. They had their weapons ready, and it was clear they would leap down as soon as they were told to sortie.

“We permit duchies with black weapons to use them!” the king declared in response. “Defeat the Darkness feybeasts!”

“Understood!”

Now with royal permission, the blue-caped Dunkelfelger knights descended upon the arena. I was a bit uncertain about whether it was proper for an aub to lead a feybeast hunt, especially when it meant leaving the women, scholars, and such alone... but on closer inspection, the duchy’s students had already met up with their guardians in the audience seats, and the apprentice knights were looking after the noncombat personnel. Their expert coordination put them on a completely different level from anyone else.

As I watched the Dunkelfelger knights with my mouth agape, Ferdinand descended with Eckhart and Justus. “I came out of concern that you might grant the apprentices black weapons, but I see you were thoughtful this time,” he said. “Tell me, what is the situation?”

The apprentice knights all gave uncomfortable looks, having been repeatedly asking me for black weapons.

“Some were scraped or bruised when caught up in the explosions,” I replied, “but I’ve healed them, and they can now mobilize at any moment. Shall we go up to the audience seats?”

“No. There is a ternisbefallen up there as well, albeit not a large one. The duchies granted permission to use black weapons are already working to slay these beasts, so leave the matter to them and wait here.” Hearing his clearly stated orders was enough to make me sigh with relief; having even just one reliable adult around made things so much better.

“Dunkelfelger certainly has a lot of knights...” I observed.

“They leave only the bare minimum at their duchy so that they can bring as many as they can here to observe the ditter tournament,” Ferdinand replied. “I considered their obsession with ditter to be nothing but a cause for exasperation, but I see now that their enthusiasm can sometimes be helpful. To be frank, I find it quite heartening to see such a sizable Knight’s Order capable of operating with complete coordination, even during an unexpected situation like this.”

In contrast, Ehrenfest had only brought as many knights as was needed to protect the archducal couple and the parents who had come to watch their children in the tournament. Barely anyone had the power to participate in the feybeast slaying.

“They’re quite strong...” I said. “Are we just going to leave things to them?”

Ferdinand glared at the ternisbefallen by the stage, his expression hard. A moment later, Wilfried, who had been keeping an eye on our surroundings, shouted, “Uncle! There’s a ternisbefallen here!”

I turned and saw people screaming at the beast that had suddenly emerged nearby. It was dangerously close to us, having appeared in Immerdink’s spot. Some green-caped students desperately tried to fly away by highbeast, only to be knocked down, while others struggled to escape the gnashing teeth coming straight for them.

“Move aside! We’re forming our highbeasts!”

“Close your ears, all of you! None must hear the black spell!”

Eckhart and Ferdinand instantly produced their weapons and, after pausing to form their highbeasts, sprang into action. They cast the black weapons spell while all the students were covering their ears, then jumped onto their highbeasts.

“Ehrenfest students, do not leave Rozemyne’s shield, no matter what!”

Everyone had now gathered that the ternisbefallens grew when attacked, but some couldn’t help but retaliate when one got close. Ferdinand swung his weapon to launch an attack, but in that moment, the ternisbefallen swelled in size.

“Lord Ferdinand!” Eckhart yelled in a panic.

The beast’s suddenly massive claws had torn through the cape Ferdinand was wearing—the one that was completely devoid of protective charms, unlike his usual blue one. I remembered that he had mentioned feeling unsafe wearing it, and this clearly demonstrated why. The color drained from my face, my eyes were wide, and my mouth hung open. I was unable to speak.

“I am fine,” Ferdinand said. “Let us finish this in one blow, Eckhart. It seems we have no time to simply watch.”

Ferdinand recovered at once, as if making a point that he didn’t need my concern, and soared high into the air while pouring mana into his black weapon. The ternisbefallen must have noticed the dense mana above it, as several of its eyes started following his movements.

“Come, Karstedt!” Ferdinand shouted during his ascent.

Karstedt was tasked with protecting the archducal family and was dealing with a ternisbefallen in the spectating area, but even so, he flew over at once with his black weapon in hand. He and Ferdinand seemed to coordinate without exchanging any words or signals—presumably, they were well accustomed to their particular roles when fighting together—and silently moved into position while readying a full-power attack.

“Brace yourselves, everyone!” Ferdinand warned. “The blast will affect all, whether friend or foe!”

Speed was an absolute priority here, since the ternisbefallen was surrounded not by trained knights, but by a crowd of confused students. Ferdinand declared that he would wipe it out in a single blow, no matter how much collateral damage this caused, so I poured as much mana into Schutzaria’s shield as I could, hoping it would endure the aftershock.

“Hyaaah!”

Ferdinand, Eckhart, and Karstedt all struck the ternisbefallen with a huge mana attack, with no regard for their surroundings. The beast disappeared so suddenly that it was kind of underwhelming, leaving a single feystone in its place, but the impact was far from a letdown.

Students cried out all around me. Schutzaria’s shield trembled and made sparking noises as it bore the shockwave, but it seemed to endure thanks to my constant supply of mana. Those who had been closest to the ternisbefallen weren’t able to stand their ground with just their shields to protect them, so many were flung back, especially the nearby Immerdink students.

Of course, students weren’t the only ones affected by the blast—the Dunkelfelger knights, who were fighting another ternisbefallen elsewhere while trying to minimize collateral damage, were hit as well. Several knights who hadn’t seen the shockwave coming were thrown into the air.

“What idiot launched a full-power attack with this many people around?!” came a shout from Heisshitze, who had been flung back just as he was about to land a blow himself.

“Me,” Ferdinand replied coolly. “Use your brain and finish this quickly. Acting slowly is exactly what the enemy wants.” He then returned to the safety of my shield, disappeared his highbeast, and walked straight toward me. The students between us quickly stood up and made a path for him. “Rozemyne, I was hit by the ternisbefallen. Heal me. Flutrane first.”

He turned away from me, revealing his completely shredded new cape—and a series of reddish-black welts that ran down his back. The red wasn’t just blood; there was sludge like that which I had seen at the gathering spot wriggling on his wounds too.

“This happened to you earlier?” I asked. “And you said you were fine?! This doesn’t look the slightest bit fine!”

“Slaying the beast took priority. If you have time to complain, use it to heal.”

As instructed, I first purified the wounds with Flutrane’s blessing, refilling the mana-drained parts, then used Heilschmerz’s blessing to close them. Meanwhile, Ferdinand chugged a rejuvenation potion. Eckhart did the same.

“Will we be retreating now?” I asked.

“It depends on what happens above,” Ferdinand replied. “Our enemy deliberately waited for royalty and students without adequate combat experience to gather in this arena. After causing some explosions and releasing ternisbefallens, I doubt they are going to be content with just causing some panic. We are better off remaining here within Schutzaria’s shield, where we are safer and can observe the situation, than separating and risking attack.” He then paused for a moment and said, “How is your mana?”

“Still fine,” I replied.

As we spoke, I could see the knights of other duchies descending to protect their students—maybe because Ferdinand had just carelessly blown them all aside with his attack, or because Dunkelfelger had started rethinking its approach and was now prioritizing speed over minimizing collateral damage.

“The fact that the knights are mobilizing suggests the viewing areas have been at least somewhat secured...” Ferdinand muttered as he watched the descending highbeasts. I noticed that some among them were moving strangely—that they were plunging straight toward the stage.

“Ferdinand, those highbeasts...” I said, but before I could even comment on them, he had assumed a defensive stance.

“O false king! He with no Grutrissheit! Feel the wrath of our fallen allies!”

The men riding the highbeasts at the front of the charge cried out as they dropped more ternisbefallens from boxes they were carrying under their arms. Apparently, they were nobles who had survived the purge despite their duchy having lost the civil war. Sovereign knights wielding black weapons cut down some of the falling ternisbefallens, but this distraction allowed the highbeasts to get even closer to the king.

They’re suicidal terrorists?!

They rushed toward the king with no regard for their own safety, aiming only to attack their target. Before them was none other than Eglantine, readying a shield.

“Lady Eglantine!” I cried and instinctively moved to fly over to her, but Ferdinand caught me in an instant.

“Fool!” he snapped. “Our defenses are weak enough already. You cannot leave and cost us our most important shield!”

“But—”

“You may entrust this to the Sovereign knights. Their job is to protect royalty, while yours is to be protected. If you have any strength to spare, use it to protect Ehrenfest in turn.”

I watched as the Sovereign knight commander Raublut started cutting down the terrorists. They dropped from their highbeasts, their bodies beginning to swell in unsettling ways.

“Avert your gaze, Rozemyne. You too, Charlotte,” Ferdinand said as he covered our eyes with his sleeve. An instant later, there was a series of quiet bursting sounds. The reactions of those around us holding back their urge to vomit was enough for me to guess what had happened.

“Uncle...” Charlotte said uneasily, still unable to see.

“Rozemyne was disturbed to the point of mental instability from Hasse alone,” Ferdinand said plainly. “You are both better off not seeing, else you lose sleep for who knows how long.”

“Right...”

My vision was blocked, but I could tell the situation was changing from the sounds alone. Dunkelfelger slew each ternisbefallen one after another, while the Sovereign Knight’s Order successfully protected the royals to the bitter end.

As it turned out, there hadn’t actually been that many terrorists in the end, and those who had revealed themselves were now no more. In their dying breaths, they had unleashed their hatred of the victorious royals—and of all the winning duchies satisfied with their false king.

Once all of the ternisbefallens were slain and the remaining terrorists were dealt with, the main focus became carrying the wounded back to their dormitories, where their duchies would heal them. Some appealed for the awards ceremony to continue with those who remained, unwilling to allow the terrorists even the slightest victory.

“Rozemyne, return to the dormitory with the wounded,” Ferdinand said.

“What?”

“You have protected our duchy’s students with Schutzaria’s shield and healed many. You are low on mana, and if you remain here, it will only cause more problems.”

I don’t feel low on mana, though...

Although I thought it was strange, I agreed. Ferdinand would be returning with me, since he was likewise in danger without his protective cape and magic tools.

“Rozemyne is going to have Rihyarda with her, so only Judithe needs to join them,” Ferdinand said. “Cornelius, Leonore, remain here. I believe you have awards to collect.”

“But I—”

“Cornelius, this is your final awards ceremony. Make your parents proud,” Ferdinand said, his voice surprisingly soft and considerate. “Elvira came just to see this.”

Eckhart was next to address Cornelius, who was unable to argue. “Mother really has been looking forward to this,” he said with a reassuring smile. “That is, she’s been looking forward to you and Leonore being decorated together.”

Cornelius slumped over, at which point Eckhart gave him a firm pat on the back and said that he’d look after both Ferdinand and me. In other words, Cornelius really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Incidentally, I came first in class for the second time—and for the second time, I was unable to participate in the awards ceremony.