Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.9 - Chapter 9

New Perspectives

Karstedt had persuaded me, so I returned to the temple as soon as my luggage was taken care of. Egmont was involved in this somehow—that much I already knew—but it was possible that the other blue priests were involved as well. I went to the High Priest’s chambers and spoke to Hartmut.

“Hartmut, Ferdinand has gone to the castle, so can I ask you to speak to the other two suspects?”

“Your wish is my command, Lady Rozemyne,” Hartmut said, then left with Ferdinand’s attendants. All at once, the blue priests who had been working under his supervision relaxed their shoulders.

“Do not let your guards down,” I said. “This is going to be a regular occurrence when Hartmut officially becomes the High Priest. Continue to dedicate yourselves to your work.”

Ferdinand and Hartmut were similar in their complete lack of tolerance for useless blue priests, but their means of dealing with them were significantly different. Perhaps their unique perspectives were to be expected; Ferdinand was a priest, having entered the temple to escape Veronica, whereas Hartmut was assisting me while retaining his noble status.

Hartmut was the quintessential archnoble. He didn’t view blue priests as fellow nobles, since they hadn’t graduated from the Royal Academy. In fact, in terms of status, he could even lump them together with the gray priests, since his house was above everyone in the temple except Ferdinand and me. As he had stated in his acceptance speech, his main concern was whether the blue priests would prove useful to me. They needed to be careful, else they would very likely be seen as less valuable than the gray priests.

Not to mention, we don’t even know how many blue priests will remain blue priests after this winter.

Ferdinand had said that the former Veronica faction was going to be purged, and without support from their houses, blue priests couldn’t remain blue. Noble relations wouldn’t be the only thing changing dramatically—the temple would feel the ramifications as well.

The students can avoid death by offering their names in the Royal Academy, but what about the really little ones? Will the orphanage take them? It might be hard on our budget, but Ehrenfest will struggle in the long term if we don’t raise more nobles. I wonder what Sylvester is thinking in that regard. Maybe we should talk before I leave for the Royal Academy.

I started to work while I mulled over the situation, and, eventually, Hartmut returned. The other two blue priests seemed to have nothing to do with the infiltration, and after speaking with them and their attendants, we decided that there was no longer a need to keep them under lock and key.

“I appreciate your cooperation,” I said. “You may now return to your rooms.”

After releasing the blue priests and their attendants and thanking Ferdinand’s attendants for dealing with Hartmut, I returned to my own chambers. It was already time for my underage retainers to return home.

“Lady Rozemyne, take great care with your surroundings,” Leonore cautioned, her tone betraying her concern, before she, Judithe, Roderick, and Philine departed. Cornelius saw them off with me and then sighed.

“A warning to take care with your surroundings is all well and good, but I do not know what to pay attention to, Lady Rozemyne. I did not even notice that you were mere moments away from being poisoned. There is still so much for me to learn. I need to have Eckhart teach me sooner rather than later...” he muttered, a strong light in his dark eyes.

Hartmut placed a hand on his shoulder. “Cornelius, what exactly do you mean when you say that Lady Rozemyne was almost poisoned?” he asked, a dangerous glint in his orange eyes. He had already left by the time the poison was discovered—and now that I thought about it, we hadn’t told him about the fake bible yet either.

I explained everything that had taken place while we were operating separately.

“Oh? The fake bible was smeared with poison that would have killed Lady Rozemyne and me if we had touched it? And it was Viscountess Dahldolf who put it there?” Hartmut asked, wearing a chilly smile. I started to panic, his capture of the blue priest all too fresh in my mind.

“We have not yet confirmed that she is the culprit,” I said. “At the very least, wait until we receive Wilma’s report from the four guards.”

“In that case, we can discuss oft-used poisons and their antidotes in the meantime.”

Hartmut turned to Damuel, Angelica, and Cornelius, then began a lecture on various kinds of poison. Angelica was resolutely channeling mana into Stenluke all the while.

“Hartmut, where did you learn all of this?” I asked once he was finished.

“Lord Justus instructed me on matters of poison while he was working at the temple. According to him, this is knowledge best known by all those serving the archducal family. He did not believe it would prove useful in this era when the archducal family is on good terms, but here we are...”

Hartmut got Fran to fetch his key box, then put on leather gloves and took the bible key from inside. He splashed several potions and pressed various feystones against it, much like Eckhart had done, while explaining what he was doing to my guard knights.

“Lady Rozemyne, are you certain this key is a fake?” Hartmut asked. “Unlike the surface-level mimicry of the bible, it is engraved with a rather complex magic circle.”

“It is not registered with my mana, at the very least.”

Was the key in his hand the real thing? I started to wonder, while Hartmut stared intently at its feystone.

“Is it possible that the noble who infiltrated simply reregistered the key with their own mana?” Hartmut asked. “Our current knowledge is not enough for us to say whether this is a complete fake, and if we jump to such a conclusion simply because the bible is an imitation, then the perpetrator will sneer at our panicked searching.”

I examined the key again; I still couldn’t tell whether it was a clever fake or the real thing with someone else’s mana inside it. “Either way, we won’t know until the bible is returned,” I said. “When will Ferdinand be back?”

“He said that he would be investigating Egmont’s memories swiftly and in secret,” Damuel explained, “so I expect he will return tomorrow or the morning after.”

Ferdinand did not return the next day. I summoned the four gray priests, hoping to learn whatever I could from them.

“At first, the driver identified himself as a member of the Plantin Company and asked to be brought to Brother Egmont,” one of the priests began. The guards had immediately found that suspicious; the Plantin Company always used the same driver, and the carriage had not been their usual one. No word of this visit had come from Gil either, and above all else, the driver had acted much like one of the nobility.

“No matter how rich merchants may be, they are still commoners,” another priest continued. “The Plantin, Gilberta, and Othmar Companies are all exceptionally polite when requesting meetings with blue priests—the children of nobility—so we were taken aback when the driver ordered our silence and told us to obey.”

“And when we identified our concerns, Viscountess Dahldolf appeared at the carriage window. I recognized her at once, as I once served Brother Shikza. She told us to hurry, as she had an appointment, so I went to Brother Egmont at once to confirm that he was expecting her.”

Shikza and his family were known for how terribly they treated gray priests, so the guard had determined that angering her would endanger them all. Egmont had revealed that he did indeed have a meeting scheduled and said that he would welcome her.

“I returned to inform the others and then went to open the gate,” the priest explained. “It was after the carriage passed through and when I was attempting to close the gate again that we were captured. It all happened so fast that I had no idea what was going on.”

“We were immobilized, taken into the carriage, and then bound with normal rope. It was then that we heard mention that the magic binding us would vanish as we passed the gate, which told us we were being brought outside the city.”

“We did all we could to resist. We attempted to alert the soldiers while passing through the gate, kicking and stomping so frantically that we inadvertently hurt each other in the process, but it was all in vain.”

And so, the kidnappers had made it outside the city. A certain farm town had already arranged for a farmer and cart to meet the carriage, and when this rendezvous occurred, the gray priests were unbound and ordered to remove their clothing to make escaping even harder for them. Once that was done, they were bound again and put in the back of the cart.

“From what we could gather, the farmer driving the cart had agreed to provide his services for money. He stamped a contract with his blood and was given a ring. The plan was seemingly for him to wear the ring on his finger, but he lacked the mana to adjust its size, so he put it on some string and wore it around his neck instead.”

The gray priests had then been covered with cloth, so there was no more information they could provide.

“Thank you ever so much for speaking with me. I will not let Viscountess Dahldolf get away with this,” I said, then instructed the gray priests to return to the orphanage.

“So, in short, there is no mistaking that Viscountess Dahldolf was the noblewoman who infiltrated the temple, and Egmont was the blue priest who permitted her entry,” I said.

“They are doubtless correct, but the testimony of gray priests will not hold in noble society. The verdict will depend on how much information Lord Ferdinand can obtain from Egmont’s memories,” Damuel replied.

It was important to investigate who Egmont’s ring was connected to, but we didn’t know how long it would take to prepare evidence that noble society would accept. We knew who the culprit was, but we were unable to act, and that realization made me restless beyond measure. I wanted to get the bible back as soon as possible.

“Lady Rozemyne, please do not rush off and search for the bible on your own,” Cornelius said.

“Worry not—I understand that we need a strong basis before I can use my authority as the archduke’s adopted daughter,” I replied. “I have no intention of acting like a tyrant and trying to resolve this on my own.”

For now, I needed to do what I could in the temple. Thankfully, unlike during the incident with Count Bindewald, I could maneuver such that those in the lower city wouldn’t fall victim to the cruelty of nobles.

“We explained the circumstances to the Plantin and Gilberta Companies through Gil and warned them about their names being used during this incident. In response, the Gilberta Company gave us the cloth that they had sold to the suspicious noble’s servant.”

I spread out the cloth we had received from Gil; it wasn’t a piece that Mom had dyed, so those of the Gilberta Company had presumably noticed the servant’s strange behavior and given him something from another craftsperson. In any case, the cloth that I used myself was made on order, so it wasn’t able to be purchased so easily.

“Still, why did they want to buy cloth similar to the kind that I prefer?” I asked, tilting my head just as an ordonnanz flew in.

“This is Ferdinand,” the bird said. “I am returning now. Gather your guard knights.” It repeated this message twice more, then turned into a yellow feystone.

“Damuel, fetch my guard knights,” I said. “Zahm, contact the High Priest’s chambers.”

“Understood.”

“Put simply, I have gathered more than enough evidence,” Ferdinand said, having come to my chambers immediately after returning from the castle and getting changed into his priest robes. He then lowered his voice and continued, “The incident began with an inquiry from Egmont’s noble family.”

My guard knights and I listened with tense, serious expressions. Egmont’s family had messaged him to ask whether there were any days when both the High Bishop and High Priest would be absent from the temple. There were plenty of occasions when both Ferdinand and I were absent, since we both visited the castle, but Egmont was in no position to know when these visits occurred.

Several days later, however, an opportunity had presented itself. The blue priests had all been informed that the High Bishop’s chambers were going to be closed for our trip to the Italian restaurant.

“Egmont wasted no time informing his house,” Ferdinand continued. “In response, they sent him a request for a meeting with Viscountess Dahldolf.”

The meeting had apparently been scheduled for the day of our absence. Egmont had agreed at once; Viscountess Dahldolf exercised so much control over his house that refusal wasn’t an option.

“Egmont received a letter informing him that she would use the Plantin Company’s name upon her arrival, since she had a secret request. His family had emphasized that he was to do everything in his power to assist her. He burned this letter so that it could not be used as evidence, but of course...”

On the day of, Egmont had waited anxiously, unsure of what the request was going to be. He had then gone to welcome Viscountess Dahldolf upon her arrival.

“The person whom Egmont saw was Viscountess Dahldolf, without a doubt,” Ferdinand continued. “Egmont himself was unaware that the gray priests serving as guards had been kidnapped.”

Apparently, Egmont had received a simple request from Viscountess Dahldolf: “Use one reason or another to remove the attendants still in the High Bishop’s chambers. I would not like for there to be any violence.” To accomplish this, he had sent one of his own attendants to artfully distract Nicola, Fritz, and Gil while they were delivering divine gifts to the orphanage.

“So they snuck in while this attendant kept Gil and the others away?” I asked.

“Indeed. Egmont ordered another of his attendants to sneak into the High Bishop’s chambers through the attendants’ rooms. They unlocked the chambers from within, then brought out the bible’s key. That much was simple, as all keys are kept in the same place.”

Managing keys was a duty often left to head attendants, and while the front door to my chambers had of course been locked, many of the attendants’ rooms had remained open. As a result, it had been easy for someone familiar with the temple to sneak in. Egmont’s attendant had searched for the box in Fran’s room while Viscountess Dahldolf switched the bibles.

“That commoner child is responsible for the death of my son, and for the aub growing cold to my house,” she had said while placing a fist-size magic tool against the bible and watching it morph into a perfect replica. “Surely I can be forgiven for seeking some revenge, no?”

She had then switched the bible for the fake. The likeness was so uncanny that even someone who had witnessed the events in person would struggle to tell which was which.

“I cannot wait to see that vile girl squirm during the autumn coming-of-age ceremony and winter socializing,” the viscountess had continued with a venomous smile. “By the time she realizes that she has lost the true bible, it will already be too late—and she will be none the wiser as to who took it and how.”

She had then plucked the bible key from the box that Egmont’s attendant had found and reregistered it with her own mana, hoping to make us think it was a fake as well.

“Both she and Lord Ferdinand will be reproached for failing to properly look after the bible, and a punishment of no small significance will doubtless follow,” she had concluded. It seemed that she was envisioning me embarrassing myself during a ceremony and then being removed from my position as the High Bishop—or, as an even grander outcome, being disowned by the archduke.

Egmont had chuckled at the very idea. The arrogant child who had somehow become the High Bishop despite her origins as a commoner blue robe would no doubt fall apart in front of all those gathered when she realized that her bible was a fake. He was dying to see the ceremony where this shocking truth came to light. Apparently, he was hoping that it would ease some of the anger he felt about his pay cut after the death of the previous High Bishop and the fact that the Harvest Festival was now less of a treat than it used to be.

“Do tell me how that commoner ceremony goes,” the viscountess had said. She had then turned away from Egmont, stroked the fake bible with a gloved hand, and then returned the key to its box.

Ferdinand continued with his explanation. “Once the deed was done, and the pair had removed all traces of their entry, they moved to Egmont’s chambers. There, they signed a magic contract.”

The viscountess had then explained what was to come now that they had swapped out the bible. “Once that child is removed from her post, I shall recommend that you be chosen as the next High Bishop,” she had said with a smile. “After all, you have helped me a tremendous deal.”

“Egmont smiled in turn, thinking that only a fool would trust the word of a noble—and as if reading his mind, Lady Dahldolf produced a magic contract to reassure him,” Ferdinand continued. This magic contract truly had included a passage saying that she would recommend Egmont to be the next High Bishop. “To sign a magic contract is to make a vow that cannot be broken. This alluring offer was enough for Egmont to sign his name and stamp the contract with his blood, officializing their agreement. She gave him a feystone ring to signify her trust and told him that he had now become a noble himself.”

Feystone rings were given to noble children during their baptism. As a blue priest, Egmont had never before received one, so he had eagerly slid it onto his left middle finger.

“This ring will allow you to wield the mana within yourself,” the viscountess had said. “All you must do now is wait for that deceitful commoner to be dragged from her post.”

Egmont had gazed at his feystone ring with a broad grin. Both parties spoke at length about how much they loathed the commoner High Bishop, and then, once they were both satisfied, Viscountess Dahldolf started home by highbeast with the bible now in her possession. Separating from the carriage had been a deliberate move to ensure that nobody knew she had visited the temple.

“And, indeed, no traces of their visit remained,” Ferdinand said. “Egmont was assured of victory, thinking that he needed only wait until the autumn coming-of-age ceremony—but that quickly changed when we forced our way in and captured him. Perhaps he had grown arrogant after drinking so much alcohol and hearing Viscountess Dahldolf speak so ill of you.” He sighed, then gave me a cynical smile. “Rozemyne, do you recall the time Count Bindewald signed a submission contract with an orphan?”

I did. The paper that Delia had believed to be an adoption contract had in fact been double-layered, and it had actually been a submission contract.

“Don’t tell me...”

“Indeed. The contract that Viscountess Dahldolf produced was double-layered as well. Egmont had actually signed a submission contract, and the ring he had received was that of a Devouring soldier. They were most likely going to eliminate him once they finished their business,” Ferdinand explained. “It is... fortunate that we were able to capture him so soon. His memories as a blue priest have provided us with irrefutable evidence, which we can use to eliminate not just Viscountess Dahldolf, but her entire house. Furthermore, as Egmont’s ring bore the crest of Gerlach, his involvement is clear as well. I am much looking forward to this winter.”

Ferdinand seemed rather pleased to have gotten his hands on such powerful evidence against the former Veronica faction, and the grin playing on his lips only further confirmed it. Karstedt and Sylvester had both praised us for getting through this trap when Ferdinand reported the situation to them.

“In this instance, it was your ever-persistent attachment to books that surprised me, not your womanly intuition,” Ferdinand concluded. “We discovered this incident due to the sense of unease that you felt. Had you not noticed, things could have gone much worse.”

“If you are done contemplating my love for books, then let us get going at once,” I said, standing up.

Ferdinand shot me a look, his brow furrowed. “And where are you going?”

“Isn’t that obvious? To get my bible back.”

We knew that Viscountess Dahldolf now had our bible, and we had evidence that would convince noble society. Surely there was nothing left for us to do but retrieve what had been taken from us.

Ferdinand raised an eyebrow, eyeing me like I was stupid. “Your answer did not match my question,” he said. “I asked where you are going. I said nothing of your objective, which I understood without even needing to ask.”

“To the places Viscountess Dahldolf will most likely be. First, her winter estate in the Noble’s Quarter. If she is not there, I will attack her summer estate in Dahldolf. I will retrieve my book no matter how far I must chase her. She will not get away,” I declared, clenching my fist in determination.

Ferdinand stood up as well. “We certainly do need to retrieve the bible. Very well, then; let us make for Viscount Dahldolf’s estate. We shall restrain all those who oppose us. As we do not know whose memories will prove valuable, we will need to search them all.”

So began my invasion of Viscount Dahldolf’s winter estate with Ferdinand and my guard knights. I was resolved to get my bible back, no matter what.