Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.9 - Chapter 7

Rescue

“Philine, Roderick, stay here in the High Bishop’s chambers and transcribe,” I said. “Gil is due to return soon, and the new information he will surely bring must be organized into a single document. Fran will wait with you, but Zahm, Monika, I need you to gather intelligence from the attendants of the blue priests. You may be able to learn something they refused to tell Hartmut.”

I decided against bringing Philine and Roderick, who wouldn’t be of much use in a fight, and instead instructed them to gather information with my temple attendants. They nodded, then left with Zahm and Monika to do just that.

After seeing them off, I turned to my guard knights, who were standing in a row before me. I wanted to leave one of them here. Angelica was our raid leader, Damuel could sense the mana of Devouring soldiers, and Cornelius had the most mana out of my guard knights, so the three of them were coming with us without a doubt. I just needed to choose between Judithe and Leonore.

“Judithe, I want you to ride with me in my highbeast. Be prepared to both guard me and shoot down any targets,” I said. “Leonore, stay here and receive all of the reports from the lower city and temple in my place, on top of guarding these chambers. The moment the situation changes, send an ordonnanz with the new intelligence.”

“Understood.”

“Damuel, Angelica, Cornelius—carry out any orders you may receive from Ferdinand.”

“Yes, my lady!”

As I finished instructing my guard knights, Ferdinand, Eckhart, and Justus returned, having finished their preparations. Leonore’s expression clouded upon seeing us all together.

“Do you not have too few knights?” she asked. “Perhaps we should contact Aub Ehrenfest and ask him to mobilize the Knight’s Order.”

“And what justification can we give for that?” Ferdinand asked in turn.

“To take back Ehrenfest’s bi...”

Ferdinand shook his head, causing Leonore to fall silent. “We are going only to rescue the gray priests, having by chance heard from the lower city that they were taken away. Furthermore, while we have reason to believe that a suspicious carriage carrying the gray priests exited through the south gate, we cannot confirm this until we go there ourselves. Our focus today is to save gray priests, which is not a valid reason to summon the Knight’s Order.”

Leonore’s indigo eyes were downcast, but then she suddenly looked up at Ferdinand. “Could we not request that they protect you and Lady Rozemyne? The Knight’s Order exists to serve the archducal family.”

“We could ask for additional guards from the Knight’s Order—that much is true—but if we inform the aub via ordonnanz that there is an emergency, our knowing may be leaked to the former Veronica faction retainers still serving him. Sending a messenger is the safer choice, but we simply do not have the time. The matter requires no further consideration, however, as I do not intend to publicize the bible’s disappearance either way. Doing so would only serve to tarnish our reputations.”

If we wanted to avoid the world finding out about our bible’s disappearance, then we needed to resolve the matter using only the people here with us.

Ferdinand continued, “The bible will ideally be with the gray priests in the carriage, but I expect that things will not be so convenient. We are dealing with someone who is attacking us from various angles to secure as much benefit for themselves as possible; they will doubtless have arranged for the bible to be transported through other means. Furthermore, I would not expect a noblewoman who looks down on gray priests to ride in the same carriage as them. She is presumably traveling by highbeast. We must also keep in mind that, at this moment in time, our assumption that Viscountess Dahldolf may be involved is mere speculation. We have no proof to substantiate our claims.”

Everyone nodded. Our first objective was to find and rescue the gray priests. If possible, we also wanted to secure evidence leading us to the noble involved.

Cornelius suddenly shot his head up in apparent realization. “Lord Ferdinand, do you have a plan to prevent Devouring soldiers from exploding?” he asked. During both the Spring Prayer attack and the attempt to kidnap Charlotte, the attackers and their rings had exploded, leaving absolutely no evidence behind. If we allowed the same thing to happen again, then not only would we lose any potential clues, but there was also a risk of the gray priests getting caught in the blast.

We certainly do need a plan to stop the exploding...

All eyes gathered on Ferdinand as we awaited an answer. He glanced at me and my lined-up guard knights, then let out a slow sigh. “The most reliable method would be to kill them ourselves; they cannot explode without mana in their rings,” he said dryly. “This will allow us to obtain their rings, but it will also make it harder for us to search their memories. If we wish for both, then we will need to sever their arms, heal them, and then tie them up or toss them into a time-stopping magic tool so that they do not die.”

I gasped despite myself. The very idea was horrific, and the thought that it might happen before my very eyes made me sick to my stomach. Ferdinand must have noticed this, as his brow furrowed at once.

“You may stay behind, Rozemyne,” he said. “Screaming in fright or otherwise panicking will only distract your guard knights, and that is beyond unacceptable.”

I understood that he was trying to spare me from what was bound to be a bloody battle, but I had promised Konrad that I would personally save the day. Not to mention, as the orphanage director and the High Bishop, I couldn’t just run away when gray priests were in danger.

“No,” I replied. “I will go.”

We flew south by highbeast. Carriages were drastically slower by comparison, so we were bound to catch up before long if they had left a bell or less ago. We passed over the outer walls, crossed the freshly harvested fields, and traced along the road visible through the leafless branches of autumnal trees.

“If only we at least knew where they were going...” Judithe said from the back seat of my Pandabus.

I considered the situation for a moment. “They said that the carriage left some time after fourth bell, correct? In that case, they won’t have enough time to make it outside the Central District by nightfall. They will need lodgings without fail.”

Lodgings were seldom necessary for me, since I could transport all the gray priests to our destination in my Pandabus, but most people didn’t have drivable highbeasts, and a normal noble wouldn’t allow gray priests to ride with them in the first place. It was only natural that they would need somewhere to stay.

“Lady Rozemyne, do you have any idea where they might be heading?”

“Given that they are carrying bound gray priests, they likely won’t approach cities with winter mansions; the farmers have all moved there now that the Harvest Festival is over. This also means that the farming towns are largely empty. I would expect them to use the houses there.”

Winter being so close meant brutally cold nights; our targets couldn’t risk traveling slowly, as one would during the summer. They would no doubt travel as far as possible, then stay in a vacant house without permission. A carriage would surely stick out in an empty farming town.

“I can’t imagine they would turn in just yet, so if the people we’re looking for haven’t changed direction or boarded a boat, we should see them soon,” I said. “There is a crossroads up ahead, however. Both paths lead south, but I would rather we catch up before—”

“A CARRIAGE!”

Judithe had interrupted me with a loud shriek. I enhanced my eyes and squinted, and indeed, there was a carriage below us. It was approaching the crossroads we had just been talking about, but it appeared to be stuck behind a luggage cart traveling in the same direction. The farmer pulling the cart glanced over his shoulder, then took the left road. The carriage took the right and accelerated at once, pleased that its path was clear, while the cart slowed down, relieved that the carriage was gone.

Hm... Something about that felt strange to me.

I cocked my head and gazed down at the cart—in particular at the wide cloth covering its luggage—when Ferdinand suddenly let out a sharp call.

“Damuel!”

Damuel focused on the cart and carriage intently. He was the very best when it came to detecting trace amounts of mana, even now that he had more mana than before. He had purposefully honed his ability so that he could detect others, according to Bonifatius.

“I feel many weak sources of mana in the carriage,” Damuel said. “Those are likely the Devouring soldiers. From the cart, I feel only the faintest traces of mana—not even enough for a single Devouring soldier. It must be carrying commoners.”

“Understood. Everyone, move as we planned.”

“Yes, sir!”

We’re in a battle to save them now. I need to focus.

I pricked up my ears, listening as everyone went over the plan, then looked across all the knights. “Prioritize saving the gray priests above all else,” I said. “We can obtain evidence later, but we cannot restore lives.”

Everyone nodded in response.

My main job was to offer a prayer, so I produced my schtappe and said, “O God of War Angriff, of the God of Fire Leidenschaft’s exalted twelve, I pray that you grant those gathered your divine protection.”

Blue light shot from my schtappe. I confirmed that everyone had received the blessing, then moved away from them in Lessy. I needed to get into a position that Judithe could effectively attack from.

“Will this do, Judithe?”

“Could you take us a bit lower? Mm... There. Please stop here.”

I stopped as advised, then looked at the back seat of my Pandabus. Judithe had already taken aim at the carriage driver. We would need to start by separating him and the horses from the carriage, thereby bringing it to a stop.

Judithe’s face was stiff, save for her trembling lips. She was being entrusted with making the first move, so it was only natural that she was nervous.

“Even if you miss, we have backup plans,” I tried to reassure her. “Focus on the task at hand, and try not to worry. You have allies you can count on.”

“Lady Rozemyne, if I miss this shot, my life will lose all meaning, and Hartmut will scold me for wasting the magic tools he gave me,” Judithe replied. Although she sounded more serious than ever, she also seemed to have relaxed a bit. She refocused on her weapon, and her violet eyes gleamed with confidence. “I actually get to do something this time. Don’t worry. I won’t miss.”

I took out my schtappe, feeling tense. After she attacked, I would shoot a rott into the air to signal to the others that the battle had commenced.

“Hyah!” Judithe cried out as she launched a feystone toward the carriage below. Hartmut had made a magic tool for her so that she could attack at long range. I didn’t actually see the feystone strike its target, but I did see the driver sway.

“Rott.”

I fired into the sky without a moment’s hesitation. An instant later, a massive ball of mana flew past Lessy and trailed through the air, racing downward. It was Cornelius’s attack, meant to stop the carriage. The great light collided with the ground and then exploded, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. The horses reared in panic, while the driver fell from his perch. Judithe’s aim had evidently been true.

All at once, everyone raced toward the ground on their highbeasts, then one disappeared from sight. Angelica, buffed with full-body magic enhancements, had dispelled her ride so that she could fall even faster.

“Hyaaaaaah!”

Angelica launched an attack while in free fall, tracing a blue arc through the air with her brightly glowing manablade. Her cape was fluttering madly behind her, and she was falling so fast that my mouth went dry with worry. Then, all of a sudden, the carriage lurched and stopped. She had cut through its reins and shafts in the blink of an eye, and the now free horses wasted no time in fleeing.

Angelica had made the slice seem trivial, but it was anything but. It was beyond me, at the very least. To cut through the shafts in such a deceptively easy motion, one needed to build up so much mana that it was possible to blast even the horses into nothingness.

“That’s our Angelica,” Judithe said, her voice bright now that she had carried out her role. “That carriage won’t be going anywhere, even with the horses rampaging around.”

I started descending toward the immobile carriage in my Pandabus, but the attack was far from over. Eckhart and Cornelius sliced open the side of the vehicle and went to pull out the Devouring soldiers, but their hands stilled when they saw what was inside.

“If you come any closer, they die,” came a voice. There was but a single Devouring soldier in the carriage, and with him were two gray priests bound with rope. One was groaning in pain, a sword protruding from his side, while the other was being held in place by the soldier, with a blade pressed against his neck.

“H-High Bishop! Help!” the gray priest taken hostage cried, inhaling sharply as he tried to look down at the sword threatening his life. The soldier would cut his throat much faster than we could approach.

Eckhart and Cornelius exchanged glances, distracting the Devouring soldier while Ferdinand went around to the other side of the carriage.

Wait a second...

I was continuing toward the ground, suspicious, when Damuel pushed through Eckhart and Cornelius with a simple “Excuse me.” He then started to approach the carriage.

“D-Don’t come any closer!” the Devouring soldier yelled. “Do you not care about this man’s life? Would you so callously sentence him to death in the presence of the merciful Saint of Ehrenfest?!”

The soldier was clearly panicked, and the gray priest yelped as the blade started digging into his neck... but Damuel ignored them both. He readied his blade in complete silence, then mercilessly ran the gray priest through himself. His free hand reached at once for the Devouring soldier’s throat, and a beat later, the man was flung backward out of the carriage.

“What?!”

“Damuel?!”

Seemingly deaf to the cries of all those watching him, Damuel yanked the blade from the second gray priest’s side and then thrust it through his throat to finish him off. “I have been guarding Lady Rozemyne ever since she was a blue shrine maiden, so I know the faces of every single gray priest in the orphanage,” he said, then turned to the Devouring soldier. “Neither of those men were ours. Where are the real gray priests?”

Knew it. I thought I didn’t recognize them.

The two dead “gray priests” were actually Devouring soldiers who had disguised themselves with the actual gray priests’ robes. It must have never even crossed their minds that we knew everyone from the orphanage.

The surviving Devouring soldier paled, now being held down by Eckhart. “If you kill me, you’ll never know where your gray priests are!” he cried, trying to negotiate for his life.

I sighed, watching him from inside Lessy. “We already know where they are; that cart we saw earlier was rather unusual. Farmers start moving to winter mansions after the Harvest Festival, as they need to prepare their harvested crops, make candles, and get ready for the long winter. That left road leads to an empty farming town, and no sane farmer would drive away from their nearest winter mansion during this important period unless something quite significant was happening.”

The driver was presumably a Devouring soldier contractually obligated to obey the nobles keeping him alive—and one who knew nothing about how farmers lived, at that. By avoiding cities with winter mansions to stay out of sight, he had made himself stand out so much more.

“Let us go rescue the gray priests,” I said, taking to the skies again.

“Wait, Lady Rozemyne!” Cornelius shouted as my guard knights raced after me.

“Eckhart and I will interrogate this man and clean up this mess. Justus, stay with Rozemyne. Keep her on a tight leash!” Ferdinand ordered. He was referring to me like some kind of wild animal—which was quite rude, if you asked me—but Justus obeyed all the same.

“Yes, my lord!”

We returned to the crossroads and found the cart in no time; it was clattering along the road at a casual pace, much like before. Had it been summertime, I wouldn’t have even batted an eye. The sight was easy to interpret as a farmer making their way back home. The driver even had the appearance of a simple farmer.

“Lady Rozemyne, should we attack the cart like we did the carriage?” Cornelius asked.

I nodded slowly. “Those other Devouring soldiers didn’t have rings, did they? Perhaps this person does. They used one to pass through the gate, so someone must have it. Let us get our proof.”

Eckhart had immediately moved to sever the Devouring soldier’s hand after he was thrown out of the carriage, only to pause for a moment in confusion. That man hadn’t been wearing the ring, but it was bound to be somewhere.

I waved a hand, signaling for the ambush to begin, and Cornelius launched a mana attack without the slightest hesitation. Just like before, it caused an explosion that kicked up a huge cloud of dust, and just like before, Angelica leapt down to slice through the reins and shafts.

“Guh! Wh-What the...?!” the driver yelped, sounding nothing like a trained soldier. He stared up at Angelica, who had landed on top of the cart and was now pointing Stenluke at him, then started crawling backward, sputtering all the while. “I... I did’n hear nothin’ about this! All they told me was to carry these guys out! Did’n think for a moment it was mixed up w’ anythin’ dangerous!”

I couldn’t tell whether this man was an actual farmer or just a Devouring soldier putting on an act.

“Who are you working for?” Angelica asked, thrusting her manablade closer to the man’s throat, refusing to let down her guard.

The man trembled as the tip of the sword came within almost a hair’s breadth of his chin. “Agh! Aaagh! Help me!” he roared.

“Answer my question.”

“I’m working for— Gah!”

Before he could get the words out, thorns of what seemed to be pure light appeared all over his body. They sank into his flesh, then slowly turned into golden flames. A ring hanging from his neck began to shine at the same time.

“Angelica!” I yelled, sensing that an explosion was imminent. She flung her cape around herself, since it was embroidered with countless protective magic circles, and instantly leapt back.

The man started to scream, but the explosion at his chest and the roar of the golden flames drowned out his voice. By the time the fire had subsided, he was nowhere to be seen.

“What was that...?” I asked.

“He must have been bound by especially powerful contract magic,” Damuel replied as he started toward the cart. “He was presumably obligated not to speak of those who hired him or where he was going.”

Everyone nodded in response, not seeming all that surprised or disturbed, but my eyes were wide with shock. “That’s what happens when you violate a magic contract...?” I asked.

“This is my first time seeing it too, but there is no point worrying about those who brought death upon themselves. All that matters right now is whether the gray priests are here,” Damuel said. He gripped his weapon, then cautiously tore away the sheet covering the back of the cart. “Ah...”

Damuel winced and immediately replaced the sheet. It was a strange enough response that everyone tensed up and readied themselves for combat, but upon seeing this, Damuel merely unmorphed his weapon and, with a half-smile, gestured for them to relax.

“It’s fine. The four gray priests are here and nothing else. It’s just... The women might not want to get any closer. The priests had their clothes taken, so...”

Apparently, they were all stark naked save for a single piece of cloth each. That wasn’t good at all. They would surely catch colds in this weather.

“Ferdinand, we rescued the gray priests, but they are without clothes. Please recover the robes the Devouring soldiers were wearing. I will use waschen to remove the blood from them,” I said to an ordonnanz before sending it away. Even some torn robes were better than nothing.

Justus returned to the carriage to fetch the clothes, while Damuel and Cornelius freed the gray priests from their bindings and started asking them questions—after very sensibly covering them with the cart’s sheet, of course. Angelica continued to watch our surroundings, while Judithe and I waited inside Lessy.

Now that things had calmed down, a look of realization dawned on Judithe’s face. “Lady Rozemyne, am I going to be punished...?” she asked. “I’m outside the Noble’s Quarter even though I’m still underage...”

“Whatever do you mean?” I replied. “You never left the Noble’s Quarter.”

“Um... Um?”

“Ferdinand already explained it, didn’t he? We won’t be making this incident public under any circumstance. The gray priests were never kidnapped, and we never left the temple.” This, as well as the fact that our bible had been stolen, would never see the light of day—and there was no way she would be punished when she hadn’t done anything wrong. “More importantly, please send an ordonnanz to the temple. We must inform them that the gray priests are safe.”

“Right!” She prepared an ordonnanz at once. “This is Judithe. Leonore, we have safely rescued the gray priests.”

Having received its message, the ivory bird flew off. Fran would no doubt go inform those in the orphanage that the gray priests were safe.

“Their clothes are a mess, but I am glad everyone’s okay.”

Justus had struggled to remove the robes from the Devouring soldiers, so two had great slices across the front. He had found the other two robes rolled up inside the carriage, perhaps for later use or to prevent the other two gray priests from running away.

The two priests stuck wearing tattered robes had to hold the fabric in place, but it was better than nothing. They could always get new robes from Wilma once they were back at the temple.

“I never thought you would come with knights, Lady Rozemyne,” one of the gray priests said. “We are truly, eternally grateful.”

“It is only because Konrad witnessed your kidnapping through the orphanage window that I was able to arrive so swiftly. Please show him that you are safe when we return.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The incident with the magic contract violator had given me quite the scare, but the rescue had ended safely nonetheless. We were preparing to make our way back to the temple, with Judithe in the passenger seat of my Pandabus and the gray priests in the back, when an ordonnanz came flying in.

“This is Leonore. My sincerest apologies, but if you have finished rescuing the gray priests, I must ask that you hurry back to the temple as soon as possible. I cannot stop Hartmut alone.”

Uh, what...? Hartmut?!