Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.2 - Chapter 2

Dunkelfelger’s Ritual

Several days after visiting the library’s archive, an ordonnanz arrived from Rauffen: “How about we play ditter in the knight building?” The bird repeated this three times, after which I sent my response.

“Only after we do the joint research.”

Another ordonnanz appeared soon after, this one from Hannelore. “My apologies,” it said in her voice. “The previous message was supposed to be about our research, not ditter.”

And so, we accepted the invitation.

“Rozemyne, it seems pretty obvious that you’ll do something crazy with this joint research,” Wilfried said. “That’s why I’m coming with you to the knight dormitory.”

“Dearest brother,” Charlotte interjected, “do you not simply wish to accompany her because of your interest in ditter?”

Wilfried faltered. Although he probably was curious about the ritual, Charlotte was right on the money. The boys in the dormitory had grown especially passionate about ditter ever since reading Roderick’s story about it.

“As I expect our dear brother to be unable to concentrate, and I am personally interested in this research, I shall come as well,” Charlotte announced. “May I, Sister?”

Never in a million years would I turn down my hardworking Charlotte, especially when she just wanted to learn about the ritual in preparation for her own next year. It was my duty as an older sister to grant the wishes of my cute little sister.

“Of course you can,” I replied. “And as both of you are going to be in attendance, we may have your apprentice scholars help as well.”

I wasted no time gathering their apprentice scholars in the common room, then distributed sheets of paper and started explaining how to conduct questionnaires. Naturally, with no printing presses in the dormitory, preparing identical copies was far from easy. That was why each scholar was going to take a sheet listing all the questions they were to ask, then transcribe the answers separately like a street reporter. This way, they only had to reproduce the question sheet once—and as long as the answers were written according to a template, putting everything together would prove simple enough.

“Lord Wilfried...”

“Give it up, Ignaz. Rozemyne’s suggesting some weird new way of doing things, sure, but we all know that we’ll need to learn it sooner or later. No matter how you might feel about this, you need to embrace it.”

After teaching the scholars how to go about conducting the questionnaire, we made our final preparations and went to the knight building. Rauffen was gathering the apprentice knights for us, and we were meeting him there in a large conference room. The knight building was extremely large—as one would expect, considering its many training grounds of various sizes—so one needed a highbeast to traverse it.

Leonore led us to our destination at once. We had gathered all our knights in their third year or above, and with three archduke candidates present, there was quite an abundance of retainers as well.

“So this is the knight building?”

“This is my first time here.”

Charlotte and I had alighted from our highbeasts and were looking around curiously—a sight that elicited a chuckle from Rihyarda. “Miladies, both of you have been here for the Interduchy Tournament,” she said. That much was true, but we had gone straight to the largest training grounds; we hadn’t been near the rooms where classes were actually held.

“I thought it would be a bit... muskier in here,” I mused aloud. After all, this was the building for apprentice knights who so often spent their time training. I had been expecting the offensive stench of deodorant that had always polluted the girls’ changing room after gym class back on Earth, or the thick scent of sweat that had so often come from the boys’, but there was nothing like that at all.

“Most perform waschen on themselves after training,” Matthias explained. “That is why there are no strong smells here like there are in the scholar building.”

Theodore seemed to recall the herbal scent of the scholar building and gave a half-smile.

Praise be to waschen.

I continued toward the conference room with that thought in mind, and soon enough we reached Rauffen, Lestilaut, and Hannelore. They welcomed us, and we exchanged greetings.

“Alright, let’s start ditter—”

“Professor Rauffen?”

“—after we explain and demonstrate the ritual.”

A stern glare from Hannelore had extracted a hasty correction from Rauffen, but I got the feeling that he still only cared about one thing. We couldn’t allow ourselves to be led astray by this ditter-obsessed professor.

The research is far more important, you know.

I exchanged a look with Hannelore, then we both nodded. “I wish to speak with the apprentice knights before the ditter ritual,” I said. “You gathered apprentice knights of other duchies as well, correct? We should not keep them waiting.”

“Lady Rozemyne is right; we must first speak to everyone. This is our promise to Ehrenfest. Ditter can wait until afterward.”

“Yes, yes. Let us finish the talking first so that we can play ditter without any reservations,” Rauffen said. He then strode on ahead, eager to get the less interesting part of today’s meeting over and done with.

The wide classroom was filled with apprentice knights. I got Ehrenfest’s ten apprentice scholars to sit at the row of desks at the far end of the room, where they arranged their question sheets, answer sheets, and ink.

“Everyone, I thank you for your cooperation,” I said. “Ehrenfest’s apprentice scholars will soon start asking you questions, and I must ask that you respond to them all. The final conclusions drawn from your answers will be announced at the Interduchy Tournament. Now, those of you from Klassenberg, please form a line here. You may leave in that direction when you are done.”

Processes like this were easy to carry out here in the Royal Academy, since everything was decided by duchy rank. The students within each duchy could then be separated further into arch, med, and lay ranks, then class years, but I decided to leave that for them to sort out among themselves.

And so, the ten scholars began conducting the questionnaire. They had practiced thoroughly, so there was little confusion or uncertainty; everything progressed smoothly.

“That’s it. Can the next person come forth?” Philine asked, raising a hand.

I guided the next apprentice knight standing in line over to Philine. Then, once we had gone through most of the Klassenberg apprentices, I called for those of the next duchy.

My main role here was guiding the knights, and it seemed that things were going smoothly thanks to my contribution. As I was feeling satisfied with myself, Brunhilde brought over some attendants.

“Lady Rozemyne, we have observed the guiding process,” she said. “We will take over from here. It seems that Professor Rauffen is eager to discuss the upcoming game of ditter.”

I would rather more of this than a conversation about ditter, though.

But as he was the highest authority in the joint research project, avoidance wasn’t an option. Rihyarda and I headed to the corner of the room where the other archduke candidates had cemented themselves.

“This is an unusual manner of giving questions,” Hannelore said.

“There’s a certain convenience to asking the same questions in one-on-one situations,” I replied. “The gathered apprentice knights are all in their third year or above, but when are they actually taught the song and dance used in the ritual? It seems that Ehrenfest’s first-years know it already...”

I shot Theodore a look at that last remark. He had told me that Rauffen had willingly taught the Ehrenfest first-years the process as a result of our joint research project.

“Even first-years visit the knight building for training, so they are taught them immediately. However, those not from Dunkelfelger are largely unfamiliar with the process and thus do not take it seriously. More did this year, however, as we mentioned that it could increase the likelihood of receiving divine protections from the gods.”

The same was true for Ehrenfest’s apprentice knights—when Leonore had heard about Dunkelfelger’s ritual in the dormitory, she had said, “I simply did not see the point of performing it at the time. Had I understood its importance for obtaining divine protections from the gods, then I would have taken it more seriously.”

“So, Lady Rozemyne—shall we talk about the rules for today’s ditter?” Rauffen said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“The usual ones are fine with me.”

“But that would be speed ditter...”

“Indeed. We will not need to fuss over rules if we stick with the norm, will we?”

Rauffen stared at me for three whole seconds, lost for words, then suddenly cried, “But why?! How could you write such a passionate, glorious tale about treasure-stealing ditter but not want to play it yourself?!”

“I am not the one who wrote A Ditter Story—and each game takes quite some time, does it not? I am simply here to see the ritual for my research. Speed ditter will do just fine.”

Rauffen stood paralyzed in shock, while the nearby Dunkelfelger apprentice knights stared at me with their mouths agape. It seemed that they had all been convinced that we were about to play treasure-stealing ditter.

“But Lady Rozemyne...”

“One does not need to play treasure-stealing ditter to hold the ritual, correct? Or, what, does Dunkelfelger not treat speed ditter seriously?” It was well established that a game of ditter needed to be played for our research, but Dunkelfelger had never specified what kind.

Hannelore nodded with a smile. “Just as Lady Rozemyne says, ditter is ditter, whether it be for speed or treasure. The ritual can be performed either way, and Dunkelfelger always takes its games seriously. I also believe that speed ditter is ideal for our purposes here.”

“You may have a point, Lady Hannelore, but...”

Hannelore was speaking as a Dunkelfelger archduke candidate; Rauffen and the other students were in no position to protest. Her small interjection had cemented the fact that we were going to be playing speed ditter.

“Still, Professor Rauffen—I am glad to see that you are enjoying A Ditter Story enough to have become so emotionally invested in treasure-stealing ditter,” I said.

“The story has rocketed in popularity in the Dunkelfelger Dormitory. Was the protagonist’s strategy inspired by advice from Lord Ferdinand, perchance? I recall going up against it myself...”

I sighed. “I did allow the author to borrow his ditter strategy notes. Ferdinand did not come up with the story, however, nor did he directly assist with its writing.”

“I look forward to the next volume. When can we expect it?”

He had evidently been infected with the bookworm virus, symptoms of which included dying with anticipation for the next volumes of one’s favorite series. It was all going according to plan.

“The sequel will release... Well, we still need Lord Lestilaut’s illustrations, so at some point after then. We also intend to rebind the first volume to include his work.”

Since the books were only held together with string, we could easily unbind them to add new pages—although the process would no doubt be time-consuming. We would probably do something similar with the second volume, offering a preview copy without the illustrations and then inserting them later. My original plan had been to bring an artist to Ehrenfest after my graduation, but I wasn’t sure what to do when I was already buying illustrations from another duchy, so the idea was kind of sitting on the back burner for now.

I never expected to hire an archduke candidate about to graduate!

“The illustrations are already done, you know,” Lestilaut noted. “I do not have them with me now, but you may see them at a later date. Hm... Perhaps when you show us your ritual or what have you.”

“I eagerly await the opportunity.”

Though we’ll first need to decide on the price and how to do the handover.

As I contemplated my future options, I carefully listened to the Dunkelfelger retainers giving their thoughts on A Ditter Story. Soon enough, we had all the answers we needed.

“We will compile the answers upon our return to our dormitory,” I said. “We will then inform Dunkelfelger of the results before they are announced at the Interduchy Tournament.”

“Lady Rozemyne, at the very least, let us help organize the answers,” Clarissa said. “As it stands, the ‘joint’ nature of this research is true in name alone; I have not contributed at all.”

All of the Dunkelfelger apprentice scholars overseeing our joint research nodded along vigorously. I was intending to compare my ritual with theirs, so this was a collaborative effort in that sense, but it was true that they hadn’t been involved with any of the questioning. It was probably a good idea to give them a task of some kind.

“In that case, let us organize the answers in Ehrenfest’s tea party room. I wish to have the results posthaste, so we shall start tomorrow morning when classes begin. All those who are free may come.”

“Understood. I will come no matter what, through rain or snow,” Clarissa declared, clenching her fists and grinning happily.

“Are you certain about this, Lady Rozemyne?” Hannelore asked, looking concerned. “Should I also attend?”

I-Is she really that concerned about Clarissa coming along?

I suddenly felt uneasy myself, so I asked Hannelore to attend as a Dunkelfelger authority to keep an eye on her. But while I was still mid-sentence, Lestilaut suddenly shot his head up.

“I will go, then. I must be responsible for our duchy’s students.”

“But you have classes, Brother, do you not? I have already written to Mother that you became so absorbed in your illustrations that you allowed your attendance to slip.”

Oh, Hannelore! You’re so reliable!

As my heart throbbed, Charlotte gave a refined giggle. “Lady Hannelore, you are entirely like Rihyarda when she stops my sister from finding some absurd excuse to read.”

“You have a point,” Wilfried added. “But I would much prefer a cute warning from someone like Lady Hannelore to a scolding from Rihyarda.”

“Wilfried, my boy, what exactly do you mean by that?” Rihyarda asked. She punctuated her question with a chuckle, but her tone had sounded so dark that Wilfried immediately stiffened up.

I gave him a small but supportive nod. I understand how you feel, Wilfried. Even if only a little.

After finishing the questionnaires, we moved to the training grounds to play speed ditter. My objective was to absorb the ancient song and dance that Dunkelfelger performed as an offering to the fighting-type gods before games. I hadn’t seen other people perform rituals very often, so I was very much looking forward to it.

As this was joint research, those of other duchies were disallowed from watching. Those of us spectating were going to be looking down at the grounds from the upper stands, much like during the Interduchy Tournament. There were no chairs this time, so we needed to stand, but it was otherwise the same.

We ended up with Ehrenfest at one end of the stands and Dunkelfelger at the other, but the Dunkelfelger side had way more people. It was hard to tell whether that was because they had more apprentice knights or because they were simply that much more excited about ditter.

“Rozemyne, they have a larger audience than us,” Wilfried said. “Should we call over the students of lower grades who wanted to watch?”

I looked at the surprisingly large crowd that was Dunkelfelger’s group and nodded. “We might as well invite anyone who wishes to join us and provide their support.”

Charlotte sent out an ordonnanz at once, and it wasn’t long before pretty much all of our students arrived. Even then, we couldn’t compare to Dunkelfelger’s enthusiasm.

“Now, let us begin!” boomed Rauffen’s voice. “All participating apprentice knights, descend to the grounds so that we might show our ritual to Ehrenfest!”

Dunkelfelger’s apprentice knights produced their highbeasts and flew down to the grounds as instructed, while the other students hooted and hollered in celebration. If they could get this excited over speed ditter, then there really hadn’t been a reason for us to play the treasure-stealing variety.

“Well, Hannelore?”

“The rest is up to you, Brother.”

Lestilaut nodded, used a feystone to envelop his black Royal Academy uniform in light armor, then descended to the grounds with the others. The apprentice knights formed a circle around him as he raised his schtappe and shouted, “Grant power to those of us going into battle!”

“Lanze!”

The apprentice knights all transformed their schtappes into spears.

“We are those who offer prayers and gratitude to the gods who have created the world,” came the familiar introduction. Then, they all thumped their spears into the ground at once. “Grant us power so that we might obtain victory. Grant us Angriff’s mighty power, which is second to none. Grant us speed so that we might obtain victory. Grant us Steifebrise’s speed, which is second to none.”

Like the ceremony performed in Haldenzel, the song was based on a prayer in the bible. The surrounding apprentice knights began moving their spears while praying to the gods related to combat, doing what appeared to be some kind of sword dance. They spun them around, then thrust them into the ground. Then, they drew their weapons from the earth and pounded them against their feystone armor, producing a metallic chorus.

From the center of the circle, Lestilaut swung his spear and danced like the other apprentice knights. He twirled and twirled, yet he was in complete control of his polearm. That explained why his dedication whirling was superb.

“Lady Hannelore, can you also whirl while wielding a spear?” I asked, my eyes still glued to Lestilaut.

Hannelore gave a somewhat shy smile. “I am being made to practice, naturally, but I am not very talented. I would not dare attempt it in front of others.”

“Naturally”? I can’t believe that even tiny, timid Lady Hannelore can perform such a crazy-looking dance. Dunkelfelger really is something else.

Lestilaut then thrust his spear up into the air and shouted, “Fight!” The apprentice knights roared in response and copied the gesture as if attempting to pierce the heavens.

All of the Dunkelfelger students watching from the stands were cheering along, which hyped the rest of us up even more. It was clear that the whirling apprentice knights were unified in their enthusiasm, which they were directing to the upcoming battle.

“This is incredible...” Judithe muttered, in a daze. “It’s totally different from when they taught us during training.”

The other apprentice knights nodded in agreement, dumbfounded.

“And we’re about to fight them,” Matthias said. He and everyone else were completely absorbed in Dunkelfelger’s performance. The battle hadn’t even begun, but we were already losing spiritually. That wouldn’t do at all.

“Laurenz, I know that Professor Rauffen taught our apprentice knights the ritual, but can we actually perform the song and dance?” I asked.

“Yes, more or less,” he replied. “Though, um, Lady Rozemyne... Don’t tell me...”

I smiled. “Fight fire with fire, as they say.”

“But performing it now won’t hype us up as much as an initial dance would...”

I couldn’t help but cackle. “Giving blessings is my specialty, I’ll have you know.”

Having deduced my intentions, Leonore smiled. “In that case, Lady Rozemyne, please take the central position and sing to improve our morale.”

I produced my highbeast alongside the apprentice knights who would be playing ditter, but Wilfried grabbed my hand before I could do anything else. “I don’t know what you’re planning, Rozemyne, but I think you should drop it,” he said, frowning. “My pattern recognition skills are good enough that I can tell you going down there is going to cause major problems.”

“At most, we are only copying Dunkelfelger, dear brother. My aim is just to raise the spirits of our troops.” I pointed at our apprentice knights, who were still dispirited in the face of our opponents’ passionate display.

Charlotte put a contemplative hand on her cheek. “Erm, Sister... Dunkelfelger cannot perform the follow-up ritual unless they win, so should you not leave things be? There does not seem to be a need for you to mimic the ritual.”

“Now that you mention it... that is true.”

Dunkelfelger performed rituals before and after ditter, with the latter being to celebrate victory and offer their thanks to the gods. But as I moved to dismiss my highbeast, Lestilaut returned from the grounds and waved at me.

“You should take this opportunity to perform it,” he said. “Will our research not require you to compare what happens when our two duchies perform the same ritual?”

“W-Well... you certainly are correct about that, Lord Lestilaut...”

Wilfried and Charlotte exchanged looks of concern.

“I am interested in seeing whether the same ritual carried out at the same time and in the same place can produce different results depending on who performed it,” Lestilaut said forcefully. “Do it. For the sake of our research.”

“Very well. For the sake of our research,” I said, nodding. I then made my way down to the grounds with the apprentice knights. Once I arrived, Judithe indicated where I was to stand.

“Can you really do that song and dance, Lady Rozemyne?” she whispered, sounding fragile.

I could see the Ehrenfest apprentice knights looking worried about performing the same ritual that Dunkelfelger had just done so well. Leonore alone had realized that I was using this as an excuse to give a discreet blessing, and she directed the apprentice knights to take their positions.

“Not in the least,” I replied. “Today was my first time seeing it. I am simply going to follow Lord Lestilaut’s example by holding up a spear with all of you. It seemed a good opportunity to stealthily give everyone Angriff’s blessing.”

Judithe’s violet eyes widened, then she gave me a small smile. “Doesn’t that mean this won’t be the same ritual as Dunkelfelger’s? We won’t be able to justify it as part of our research.”

“Worry not—aside from the words of prayer, it won’t be any different. Giving everyone a blessing is my main concern, but we can still use it for our research, no?”

Judithe nodded and then returned to her spot. Leonore soon took her place at my side, whereupon she informed me that everyone was in position and told me a few things to be wary of. To summarize, I just needed to nail the beginning and end.

I scanned the apprentice knights surrounding me. From what I remembered, the first step was for me to call out and transform my schtappe into a spear.

“Grant power to those of us going into battle!” I declared. And then: “Lanze!”

I whipped out my schtappe and turned it into Leidenschaft’s spear. The apprentice knights all managed to transform their schtappes in turn, but their eyes were locked on mine in shock.

Oh, right... I revealed a glimpse of this spear during class last year, but I guess I never showed the apprentice knights.

Leidenschaft’s spear wasn’t exactly something that was shown to everyone, so perhaps my retainers who visited the temple were the only ones who had seen it. Still, this was no time for them to be standing around, awestruck.

Come on. Don’t look at me. Start singing!

I glared at the apprentice knights, slammed my spear against the ground, and said in my loudest voice, “We are those who offer prayers and gratitude to the gods who have created the world.” The sudden impact and the familiar prayer snapped the apprentice knights out of their stupor, and they immediately began to swing their spears around and sing.

“Grant us power so that we might obtain victory. Grant us Angriff’s mighty power, which is second to none. Grant us speed so that we might obtain victory. Grant us Steifebrise’s speed, which is second to none.”

I stood in place with my spear in hand. Although I couldn’t sing with them—I couldn’t remember the song—I did remember the prayer. I chanted it quietly enough that my voice was lost among the others.

Now I just need to shout “Fight!” at the end and raise my spear up high, right?

I waited for that very moment, then thrust my spear toward the sky and cried, “Fight!” An instant later, a loud boom resounded throughout the training grounds.

“Bwuh-guh?!” I cried, unconsciously letting out my goofiest noise in quite some time. Nobody seemed to notice, however; they were all focused on the mana that had shot out of my transformed schtappe.

I slowly lowered my arm, my eyes turned heavenward. In my hand was Leidenschaft’s spear, drained of mana and no longer shining with blue light. Its feystones were transparent.

Next, I tried to see what had become of the mana that had fired out of me. If possible, I wanted it back... but I wasn’t sure that was possible. It drew circles in the air and at some point became cloaked in a variety of colors. It was mostly blue, but I could see some yellow, red, and green in there too. The light then abruptly poured down on everyone, so dazzlingly bright that I closed my eyes on instinct.

I could see the light even through my eyelids, but it vanished before long. The sky was clear again by the time I opened my eyes again, and everyone was looking as dazed and confused as I was feeling.

After a prolonged silence, someone among the spectators cried, “What was that?!” The rest of the audience area started to buzz with noise immediately after. Those from Dunkelfelger were especially loud, while Wilfried and Charlotte had their heads in their hands. I could already tell that they were going to say, “We told you not to go!” the moment I got back.

“Lady Rozemyne, the match is about to begin, so please return to the audience area.”

“Leonore, do you understand what just happened...?” I asked.

“You performed a large-scale blessing. That is as much as I gathered. Perhaps you should ask the others in the audience; they would have gotten a better view.”

I gave up and returned to the stands. Wilfried and Charlotte were both cradling their heads, while Lestilaut and Hannelore practically leapt on me with questions.

“Lady Rozemyne, what in the world was that?” Hannelore asked.

“Never have I seen something like that happen during the ritual,” Lestilaut added, his tone demanding. “What in the world did you do?!”

They were both interrogating me at once, and everyone else was eagerly awaiting my answers... but I wasn’t sure myself.

“I... believe it was a blessing,” I eventually said, “but as this was my first time performing the ritual, I cannot tell you precisely what happened. From down below, the light seemed to be multicolored, but how did it look from up here?”

They both exchanged glances, then Hannelore explained what they had seen. “You produced Leidenschaft’s spear, correct? I may have seen it before, but the others had not and were very surprised as a result.”

“And for good reason,” Lestilaut added. “I remember getting a report some time ago saying that she can produce the spear, but who would have expected her to make the divine instrument here, of all places?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Hannelore pouted. “Brother, when I gave you that report, I remember you saying it was ‘obviously fake’ and then ignoring everything else I said about the matter.”

“It was the most beautiful sight that ever graced my eyes,” Clarissa interjected from the side. “I have seen that very same ritual performed in Dunkelfelger more times than I can count, but only now do I understand its true divinity. Lady Rozemyne, O Saint of Ehrenfest, we are blessed to be in your presence.”

“Um, Clarissa...”

I attempted to stop her, but she continued to rant, her blue eyes sparkling.

“Hark! For with hearty sparkling did the great blue light shoot from Leidenschaft’s spear, proving to all that it was the genuine article! As she clutched it with serene grace and sang her holy prayer, Lady Rozemyne became the very image of Mestionora herself, a resplendent beauty with the very gods’ permission to use their divine instruments at will. The sight claimed my heart, and verily I wept!”

“Shut her up,” Lestilaut said, grimacing at Clarissa. Certainly, our conversation wouldn’t be able to continue with her butting in and rambling to herself.

“From the very bottom of my heart, I am truly, truly grateful to have been given life, as it allowed me to witness such a miraculous sight!” Clarissa went on. “Oh, but why must I be so much older than you, and from a different duchy, Lady Rozemyne?! I want nothing more than to be with you here at the Royal Academy—to spend each year burning thy blessedness into mine eyes!”

“Clarissa,” I said, “I have a request for you.”

She turned to me at once. “And what might that be, Lady Rozemyne? Ask, and you shall receive!”

I presented several sheets of paper that Philine had brought with her. “Before you forget, I would like you to write a letter to Hartmut detailing what you saw here today. For his research, he will want to know even the smallest minutiae, and it would mean very much to me if you could provide as much detail as you can. Supporting your fiancé is an important job, is it not?”

“As much detail as I can... Understood. You can count on me!”

Clarissa accepted the papers and then began scrawling furiously. That would keep her quiet for a while.

“Now, let us continue,” I said, turning back to Lestilaut and Hannelore. “I copied Lord Lestilaut by raising my spear, and nothing more, so I was more surprised than anyone when it suddenly fired out the mana I’d put into it.”

“You were surprised too?” Wilfried muttered. “It sure didn’t look that way.”

Apparently, from their perspective, the mana had shot up into the air, developed color, and then rained down again.

“It seemed to me that a portion of the blessing flew off somewhere,” Charlotte said, eliciting nods from the others. This wasn’t something I’d noticed myself, but it had been clear as day to those watching from above.

“Where did it go, exactly?” I asked.

“I do not know. The most I can say is that, while the light was spinning in the air, a portion just... whooshed away.”

“Now that you mention it, I remember something similar happening during another ritual that I performed. Perhaps it occurs during all those that take place at the Royal Academy.”

Of course, I was referring to the ritual during which I’d obtained the names of the God of Darkness and the Goddess of Light, but I refrained from saying that outright. The topic was handled very cautiously even during archduke candidate class, and the last thing I wanted was any spontaneous combustion.

“You appeared to receive blessings from all the gods you prayed to, but what separates your ritual from Dunkelfelger’s?” Lestilaut asked, his expression thoughtful and serious. “Does one need to use Leidenschaft’s spear?”

I racked my brain for an explanation. “The spear could be a factor, as could the mana donated. It was the mana itself that went flying off, right? And you did not offer any, as I understand it.”

“The mana is offered during the ritual that follows a victory.”

“That is most likely the reason, then. Offering mana is essential for receiving blessings and divine protections from the gods.”

At some point during our discussion about rituals, the game of speed ditter had started. Rauffen summoned a feybeast to be defeated, and the Dunkelfelger knights riding their highbeasts leapt into action. Their coordination was impeccable, as always.

Once they were done, it was Ehrenfest’s turn. This was a highly anticipated moment if ever there was one; the spectators were leaning forward to see just what our knights could do after receiving such a grand blessing.

“Begin!” came the call.

The fight had officially started and the feybeast was summoned... but everyone was acting weird. Some charged forward at tremendous speed only to fall flat on their faces as though someone had suddenly stepped on the brake. Judithe aimed a shot from far away, as expected of our specialist sniper, but her attack ended up flying in a completely different direction. They were all moving so... unusually. Something had to be wrong.

“Did something happen?”

“Everyone is moving so strangely...”

Wilfried and Charlotte expressed their concerns, causing Lestilaut to scoff. “Are you sure you gave them a blessing and not some bizarre kind of curse?”

“Brother!” Hannelore exclaimed—but everyone else’s reactions seemed to suggest that he was right. Something really was wrong.

“Hyaaah!”

However, while everyone was bumbling about like this was some kind of comedy skit, Traugott alone roared a battle cry and charged toward the feybeast. The sword in his hands was packed with mana and shone with an iridescent light.

“Hold it, Traugott!” Matthias shouted. “Uncontrolled mana is dangerous!”

“We’ll lose if we don’t hurry!”

“After all this fumbling, we’ve already lost! It’s not worth the risk!”

Traugott merely looked at Matthias with wide eyes, then lowered his sword in frustration.

“Bring it down to seventy percent, at least,” Matthias continued. “If you don’t, someone in the audience area might get hurt.”

“That would never happen. My mana isn’t that—”

“Right now, it is that dangerous. Contain your power when you attack.”

The light around Traugott’s sword dimmed as he obediently started containing his mana, then he launched a weakened attack. He was holding back, but even then, his strength was comparable to that of our very own knight commander, Karstedt. Traugott’s single blow vaporized the feybeast entirely.

Traugott had that much mana? I wondered, blinking in surprise as Rauffen made his announcement.

“Time! Victory goes to... Dunkelfelger!”

“I’m going to go ask the apprentice knights what exactly Rozemyne’s blessing did to them...” Wilfried said, then produced his highbeast and flew down to meet them. Charlotte and I followed, as did Lestilaut and Hannelore.

By the time we reached the grounds, Wilfried was already speaking with the knights.

“Can you tell me what the problem was?”

“I was really struggling to control my mana. It was a battle just trying to move...”

They hadn’t experienced any problems when moving around normally on their highbeasts, but trying to speed up with mana had made them go super fast, and trying to slow down had made them come to an abrupt stop. Then, whenever they had attacked, they had felt greater recoil than ever before—far more than they were able to take.

“Was the blessing too much, then?” I asked. Perhaps it had put them all in a state similar to after I performed my divine protections ritual, when I was barely able to control my mana.

The apprentice knight nodded. “Most likely. Our bodies could not keep up with it.”

In short, we had lost because our knights were so over-blessed that they couldn’t even move properly. How humiliating. We would have played better without my assistance, even if we’d still ended up losing.

“So it was more of a curse than a blessing...” Wilfried said.

Charlotte nodded. “Sister, you must be more careful with how much mana you use when giving blessings.”

They were both right—and at a time like this, the only thing I could do was hang my head in shame. “My apologies, Lord Lestilaut, Lady Hannelore. I, um... had no idea this would happen... I did not intend to use the ritual that Dunkelfelger has protected and treasured for so many centuries to place, erm, a horrible curse upon my own apprentice knights.”

Hannelore smiled. “Your timing was simply unfortunate, Lady Rozemyne. This is a new discovery for us all, so please do not feel so down.”

Bwehhh... Lady Hannelore is so kind. She’s my soulmate!

As I was gushing over my dear friend, Lestilaut flourished his cape and pointed to the center of the arena. “It is time for the final ritual, Hannelore,” he said. “You go.”

“Understood, Brother.”

Hannelore climbed into her highbeast and flew to the center of the arena, as instructed. Lestilaut watched her go for a moment, then turned to me and said, “Only knights may remain here. We must return to the audience.”

And so, we promptly returned to the stands. I couldn’t tell what Hannelore was saying from so far away, but she morphed her schtappe into a staff that I didn’t recognize and slowly started spinning it in a circle above her head.

“Lord Lestilaut, what is that staff?” I asked. Its tip was decorated with a large feystone that looked a lot like a jewel, flanked by what appeared to be the wings of a bat or the extended gills of a fish.

“It is said to belong to Verfuhremeer the Goddess of Oceans. Though I cannot say whether that is true.”

It definitely was; I could practically hear the crashing of waves against the shore with each turn of Hannelore’s staff. The sounds soon filled the air, and mana gradually began gently rising from the Ehrenfest apprentice knights like a haze.

If I’m the Saint of Ehrenfest, then Hannelore must be the Saint of Dunkelfelger.

I continued to watch, feeling thoroughly moved as the mana twisted up into the air like waves. Lestilaut, in contrast, was rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

“What is that...?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Is it not the usual ritual that Dunkelfelger performs?”

“It is, but this is my first time seeing this phenomenon.”

“What?! I mean, it looks like mana is coming out of the Ehrenfest apprentice knights... Is everything going to be okay?”

“Who knows?”

“O-Oh no...”

I continued to look down at the grounds, feeling uneasy. In tune with Hannelore’s spinning, the mana from the apprentice knights began swirling like a whirlpool, being sucked closer and closer to the center. Hannelore then thrust her staff up into the air and said something that I couldn’t hear, at which point the swirl of mana flowed up to the heavens like a dragon.

Thus concluded the ritual. Hannelore returned to the stands, then so did the apprentice knights.

“Lady Hannelore, what in the world just happened...?” I asked.

Lestilaut added, “Never have I seen the ritual produce such results.”

Hannelore gave a troubled smile. “I understand your prior confusion very well now, Lady Rozemyne. I similarly have no idea what happened. However, I sensed that stopping the ritual midway through would be unwise, so I finished it despite my uncertainty.”

Leonore and Matthias provided answers in her stead.

“I believe that Dunkelfelger’s closing ritual returns the blessings provided by the gods.”

“I agree with Leonore—I could feel the blessing that Lady Rozemyne granted us fade and my mana return to normal. It also seems to have eased my excitement; my heartbeat is surprisingly steady considering all that has happened.”

“So it has a calming effect?” Hannelore asked, blinking at the apprentice knights. “I suppose everyone is rather calm despite our recent victory...” She clasped her hands in front of her chest and whispered, “I must use this power well.”

Even after such a great shock, Hannelore was so forward-thinking. Her ability to get back on her feet so quickly made her seem that much more like an archduke candidate of a greater duchy. In truth, seeing how great she was made me feel dumb for having simply panicked and spun my wheels in confusion. I needed to learn from her example and focus instead on how I could use the ritual to our benefit.

Assuming I can manage how much mana I put into it a little better, this ritual would probably be useful for things like the Lord of Winter hunt. I’ll need to do some research.

“There have been many unexpected developments today, but there have been many new discoveries as well,” Lestilaut said. “Overall, this has been a productive use of our time.”

“We are glad to have been of use,” Wilfried replied.

“So, when will Ehrenfest perform its ritual?”

Hannelore tugged on Lestilaut’s cape. “Brother, we saw Lady Rozemyne’s ritual mere moments ago, did we not?”

He shook his head. “She was copying us, not performing an Ehrenfest religious ceremony. The agreement was that, in return for us showing our ritual, they would show us theirs.”

As he said, we had yet to uphold our side of the bargain.

“I’ll ask again—when will Ehrenfest perform?” Lestilaut said, staring at me intently. His red eyes were overflowing with curiosity, and for good reason—we had already surprised him twice today, and that was with his own duchy’s rituals.

“Well...” I scanned the faces before me. There was the apologetic Hannelore; the curious Lestilaut; the eager, quivering Clarissa; and the rest of the Dunkelfelger students. I smiled at them all and said, “Lord Lestilaut, contact us once you have finished all of your classes. Relations between our duchies would suffer if Aub Dunkelfelger were to believe that Ehrenfest books and rituals have caused your grades to plummet.”

“That is a wonderful idea, Lady Rozemyne,” Hannelore said cheerfully. Everyone else looked at Lestilaut, questioning whether he could manage it.

“Hmph!” Lestilaut scoffed. “Once I start taking them seriously, mere classes will take me no time at all to complete!” And with that declaration, he flourished his cape and strode away from the training grounds.