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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.2 - Chapter 6




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Preparing for the Ritual

We had agreed to perform the Dedication Ritual in front of the shrine in the room behind the Royal Academy’s auditorium, but it wasn’t going to happen right away—Lestilaut still needed to finish his classes, and Ehrenfest had to complete its own Dedication Ritual. In the meantime, the duchies that had approached Dunkelfelger about joining our research would play ditter to decide who was actually allowed to participate.

“Muriella, please send an ordonnanz to Dunkelfelger regarding the participants,” I said. “Ask them to grant permission only to archnobles and archduke candidates, as anyone with a smaller mana capacity will struggle greatly. Furthermore, inform them that any first-years who have just recently learned mana compression cannot participate either.”

Even while relying on feystones filled with my mana, Wilfried and Charlotte had struggled to perform the ritual back when they were just getting used to controlling their own mana. Plus, in other duchies, it was apparently common for children to wait until they had picked up a mana compression method at the Royal Academy before supplying their foundational magic. We wouldn’t have adults there to assist all of the beginners, so it was simply too dangerous for those who had never supplied mana before to participate.

“A reply has come, Lady Rozemyne—they accept your conditions and are prepared to play. They are just waiting for the lesser and middle duchies to form teams among themselves.”

Wowee. They all have my deepest sympathies.

I clasped my hands in silent prayer, then reached for the books that I was borrowing. “I suppose I shall read for now. Everything else can be prepared after the temple’s Dedication Ritual is concluded.”

And so, my time was spent leisurely reading books, going to Hirschur’s laboratory, and just otherwise relaxing. I attended some tea parties, but pretty much all anyone did was complain about having to play ditter to participate in our research.

It seemed that those from Dunkelfelger still weren’t massively impressed that we had finessed our way into playing speed rather than treasure-stealing ditter previously, as they had taken great care to ensure that these next games were going to be of the treasure-stealing variety. The other duchies had certainly learned about this version during written lessons, but they had never actually played it. As a result, even after forming a team of their best players, they had been utterly thrashed. No amount of rejuvenation potions had been enough.

I smiled at their grumbling. “Ditter is a necessary requirement for doing research with Dunkelfelger. Ehrenfest had to play against them as well.”

Though our game of treasure-stealing ditter took place during my first year. Still, I’m not lying to them. Mm-hmm.

All this talk about joint research and playing ditter was so much less emotionally draining than listening to people bad-mouth Sylvester. For the first time in my life, I was actually grateful for Dunkelfelger’s obsession.

Aside from that, I also had to listen to progress reports from the apprentice scholars doing research with Drewanchel. Gundolf was putting a lot of passion into the project, apparently; he had already included the paper in various brews that brought out the special traits of each feyplant. The changes themselves were only slight, such as the nanseb paper we used for identification traveling faster or showing movements from farther distances than before.

“So the paper’s effects are enhanced...” I mused. “My end goal is to produce moving books for my library, which are sure to be much heavier than lone sheets of paper, so please tell them to keep working hard until such a thing is possible. These books will also include magic circles, and I would like to reduce mana expenditure by improving the quality of the ingredients.”

Apparently, one could transcribe a song onto a sheet of effon paper and then run a feystone across it to produce music. Still, there was plenty more room for research.

“If one simply needs to move a feystone over the sheet music, then perhaps we could stick effon paper to instruments to create automatic performances,” I murmured. My thoughts immediately wandered to a pipe organ from my Urano days that had automatically played whatever music roll was inserted into it. The spectacle truly had been amazing.

I had mostly been speaking to myself, but Marianne heard my mutterings and said, “Allow me to pass these suggestions on to Professor Gundolf. We of Ehrenfest were recently chastised for having ‘no interesting ideas.’”

“If you are fine with using my thoughts rather than your own, then certainly.”

It seemed that Ehrenfest’s scholars weren’t yet able to keep up with those from Drewanchel, who were pouring their all into their research. Marianne in particular had lost some of her confidence.

“After you graduate and return to Ehrenfest, there will not be many opportunities for you to participate in research of such a high caliber as this project with Drewanchel,” I said. “Though there may be times when you struggle with the perceived gap between you and the other students or when you feel disheartened by the stern words of your professors, you mustn’t get so down. Keep your chin up and press on with your research.”

We had just received a report from Clarissa, informing us that Lestilaut had finished his classes. She had also included the results of their questionnaire; it seemed that Dunkelfelger’s attendants and scholars of the sword possessed many divine protections as well.

“Dunkelfelger truly is a duchy that exists for and has thrived on ditter,” Philine observed, moved.

I gave a firm nod of agreement. “According to what was discussed during the tea party, the apprentice knights are still overwhelmed by the ditter matches. Dunkelfelger may be livelier than ever, but the other duchies are exhausted.”

“I can imagine.” Philine then produced a board, which she extended to me. “On that note, here is a list of students who will be participating in the ritual. Do have a look.”

I accepted and then started to read from the board. Listed were the duchies that had passed the ditter selection process, and alongside each one were the names of three to eight students, with the higher-ranked duchies having more representation. More than half of all the duchies in Yurgenschmidt were due to participate, with more than sixty students in total.

“I see there are going to be greater duchies participating as well,” I said. “I had assumed they would simply observe until the results became clear.”

“This is a perfect opportunity to learn what other duchies are researching ahead of time, and our research into increasing one’s divine protections is expected to draw more attention than anything at the Interduchy Tournament.”

In other words, they were taking full advantage of this chance to participate in what was sure to be a very big event. Names from Klassenberg, Drewanchel, and Ahrensbach were listed as well. Every single archduke candidate from Drewanchel was going to be involved, while Ahrensbach was putting forward only apprentice scholars, meaning that Detlinde would not be participating herself.

I tilted my head as I continued to look through the names. “I see that Immerdink is not here, despite how much its representatives expressed their desire to participate during tea parties.”

“There were only a few lesser and middle duchies with the leeway to play ditter. Many backed out when they heard about others getting beaten down and the costs of rejuvenation potions and such.”

Mm... I can see why. I dumped all this on other duchies specifically because I didn’t want to endure it myself.

I wondered whether the Dedication Ritual would prove a nightmare for the duchies that had expended a ton of rejuvenation potions on their ditter games. Ehrenfest’s gathering spot was overflowing with high-quality ingredients, but the same could not be said for those of other duchies.

Maybe we should distribute rejuvenation potions...

“Lady Rozemyne, we will need to explain the process of the ritual to the participants,” Philine continued, snapping me back to reality.

“True. Let’s see... I suppose they will need to know to cleanse themselves on the morning of the ritual, to prepare rejuvenation potions, and to memorize the relevant prayer. They will not have ceremonial robes, but there is no helping that,” I said, recalling my days as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, when the temple had only wanted me for my mana. “Perhaps we should send these instructions by ordonnanz and then guide the apprentice scholars separately. The prayer they need is written on this board, so have them transcribe it for themselves.”

“Understood,” my apprentice scholars replied, all nodding their assent.

“Rozemyne,” Wilfried called out to me, looking worried, “I don’t know the prayer for the Dedication Ritual either. I’ve only ever helped with Spring Prayer and the Harvest Festival.”

“It is the same prayer that we speak when supplying mana to the foundational magic. Would you like a reminder, though?” I wrote the prayer out on a separate board and then handed it over.

After skimming the text, Wilfried visibly relaxed and sighed in relief. Charlotte looked it over as well, having been watching from the sideline, then smiled; she was going to be fine with it as well.

“By the way,” Wilfried said, “we got a report from Ehrenfest. Seems like their Dedication Ritual is over, and they’re preparing the tools we need. Sounds like getting everything from the temple to the castle during the snow is proving difficult.”

Moving luggage was never a problem with my Pandabus, but those in Ehrenfest were currently relying on normal highbeasts. They had also yet to slay this year’s Lord of Winter, so the blizzards were at their worst. Cornelius, Hartmut, and the others were apparently having to go back and forth between the temple and the castle.

Wilfried continued, “They also said you should get the royal family’s permission for Hartmut to participate in the ritual.”

Just as Ferdinand had brought the bible last year, there needed to be someone present who could manage the tools used for the ritual. Hartmut maintained that this duty belonged to the High Priest.

“I get the feeling that he just wants to see your ritual, Lady Rozemyne...” Judithe said.

Leonore nodded. “Without a doubt.”

Philine and Roderick exchanged glances, both wearing amused smiles.

“I imagine you are correct, Judithe, but there are no gray priests in the Royal Academy to prepare the ritual,” Philine said. “Nor are we receiving help from the Sovereign temple, correct?”

“Status is important when working in the Royal Academy,” Roderick added. “You will struggle to manage and prepare everything on your own, Lady Rozemyne, and Hartmut, an archnoble, would make for an ideal assistant.”

Indeed, it would be a struggle to carry out the ritual with only those from the Ehrenfest Dormitory. Philine and Roderick had both witnessed Hartmut’s preparations for becoming the High Priest, and they knew how many strict, detailed traditions needed to be observed during religious ceremonies, but that wasn’t enough. They didn’t have any of the temple’s ceremonies memorized, nor had they even watched one, as only the priests were allowed to attend. We needed someone who could take charge.

“I suppose we have no choice but to summon Hartmut,” I conceded.

I swiftly wrote a letter to Eglantine. No matter which member of the royal family I attempted to contact, it was always Anastasius who replied, so maybe we would have been better off sending it his way to begin with.

As expected, an ordonnanz soon arrived from Anastasius. He said that Hartmut was allowed to attend, then added, “Father is going to be participating in the ritual as well, so send us both a thorough description of the process and a list of every expected participant. He seems to believe it proper and necessary to thank all those who are gathering to offer us mana.”

The king himself was going to participate, perhaps because I had advised the royal family to experience rituals for themselves. They would surely receive plenty of divine protections if they learned the prayer for the Dedication Ritual, since they were pouring such enormous quantities of mana into Yurgenschmidt.

But while I merely saw this as a nice opportunity to ease the burden on the royal family, everyone else was absolutely losing their minds.

“Hold on!” Wilfried yelped. “The king is joining?! Doesn’t that make this an even huger deal than it was already?!”

“This is unexpected, dear brother, but there is no stopping it now,” Charlotte said, a vacant look in her eyes.


“Is this really that serious?” I asked. “All we’re doing is getting everyone to offer up their mana.”

Charlotte gave me a very troubled look. “I can understand why you may not value mana much yourself, Sister—your capacity is so large, and receiving all those divine protections has given you more than you can handle—but the shortage affecting the world is severe beyond words. The king himself considers it necessary to thank those who are offering theirs in support.”

“Normally, the only way to get direct praise from the king is to come first-in-class,” Wilfried added. “Yet now he’s offering to praise all of our participants. That’s how big of a deal this ritual of yours has become.”

Charlotte was right: my abundance of mana had caused me to greatly underestimate its value. Only now was it occurring to me that my little plot had ballooned out of control.

As requested, I copied the ritual process and a list of participants onto a board, which I then had delivered to Anastasius’s villa.

“If mana really is this important, then perhaps I should offer rejuvenation potions as a participation reward...” I mused aloud.

“A participation reward...?” Charlotte repeated, blinking.

I nodded. “It seems the duchies that played ditter had to use a significant number of rejuvenation potions in the process. Surely they will need more after offering their mana.”

The lesser and middle duchies were already assisting us with the ritual; it would be too great an ask to have them supply their own potions on top of that. Plus, if they could immediately replenish their mana, then perhaps they would feel more at ease about it being stolen.

“As we are going to be receiving so much mana from everyone,” I continued, “perhaps we should distribute Ferdinand’s kindness-filled potions to help everyone recover.”

“Sister, I do not mean to sound rude, but any duchies that receive those potions will surely assume they are some manner of cruel joke. Is there not something better tasting that we could give them?”

Blenrus fruits made the rejuvenation potions fairly drinkable, but they were rare and could only be gathered in Haldenzel. That is to say, they weren’t something we could easily obtain in the Royal Academy.

“If we’d rather use an alternative... there are potions that rejuvenate one’s mana but don’t relieve exhaustion.” I wasn’t sure about using those, however, as the students not used to the ritual were sure to end up feeling completely spent.

“Replenishing their mana should be enough. How do they taste, though?”

“Not that bad, in my opinion.”

“But how are we supposed to trust your sense of taste when you down Uncle’s potions like they’re nothing?” Wilfried asked. “We should taste-test them ourselves.”

Charlotte nodded in enthusiastic agreement, so I went into the dormitory’s brewing room and made a few mana-exclusive rejuvenation potions for them to try. Also serving as our test subjects were the apprentice knights who had gathered the ingredients.

“It doesn’t taste that bad,” Wilfried said. “Not much different from normal rejuvenation potions.”

“The strength and onset of action is far inferior, though,” I noted. “If we are going to distribute them to other duchies, then we would want something more effective. Let us go with the kindness-infused potions.”

Unfortunately, it seemed that I was the only one who held this opinion; the apprentice knights who regularly used normal potions for their classes all shook their heads.

“For those of us who are used to normal potions, the less effective version is more than enough. They act quickly and restore a lot of mana.”

“Plus, rather than giving the other students potions they may refuse based on the taste and smell, is it not safer to distribute something they are guaranteed to drink?”

On the strong, strong recommendation of Charlotte and the apprentice knights, I elected to distribute mana-only rejuvenation potions. They could easily be made from ingredients that were readily available at our gathering spot.

“In that case, we shall make potions for all participants,” I said. There was no time for me to ask Ferdinand whether leaking the recipe was okay, so I simply asked Roderick and Muriella to help and ordered them to tell no one.

“Lady Rozemyne, I believe you could have done this on your own...” Roderick said, exhausted, having taken quite some time to cut and subsequently brew the ingredients.

Muriella smiled and noted that it would have been improper for me to hole up in the brewing room all on my own. And with that, she began carrying the boxes out of the brewing room.

It was the day of the ritual.

After finishing our breakfast, we archduke candidates were carrying out final checks in the common room when Hartmut arrived from the teleporter, dressed in his ceremonial blue priest robes. “Lady Rozemyne,” he said, “I have with me the tools required for the ritual. And here are your ceremonial robes.”

“Rihyarda, Gretia—please make the necessary preparations to change my clothes,” I said. They sprang into action at my instruction, as did those serving Wilfried and Charlotte.

“Lord Wilfried, Lady Charlotte, as you have never participated in the ritual, you do not have cords or ornaments that are the divine color of winter,” Hartmut said. “I have asked your retainers to find materials and such that will do as replacements.”

Apparently, this task was keeping their castle attendants especially busy.

“The ceremony is this afternoon,” I said. “We must ask the royal family to open the Farthest Hall, then spend the morning carrying out any final preparations. Hartmut, can I trust you to oversee things there?”

“You may count on me. This is a ritual representing Lady Rozemyne, the Saint of Ehrenfest. It must be perfect. I offer my prayers and gratitude to the gods that I am able to participate in the Royal Academy’s Dedication Ritual!” Hartmut declared, drawing all eyes to himself as he pretty much launched into prayer. I was a little concerned about his over-the-top enthusiasm, but we were moments away from a ritual that was going to involve the royal family; having someone so invested in making things perfect was just what I needed.

As I watched Hartmut out of the corner of my eye while he continued to pray, I sent an ordonnanz to the royal family. Only they, archdukes, and those entrusted with the royal family’s mana through feystones were able to open the Farthest Hall. That was one of the reasons why there always needed to be a member of the royal family present at the Royal Academy.

“All of my retainers not preparing my changes of clothes—that is, everyone except Rihyarda and Gretia—will be accompanying me to the Farthest Hall,” I said. “It would be rude of us to arrive after the royal family, so let us hurry.”

Wilfried and Charlotte likewise brought their retainers along. We had our retinue bring everything we would need for the ceremony, then started waiting in the auditorium. Hildebrand arrived in no time at all.

“Rozemyne,” he said.

“Prince Hildebrand. I offer my humble gratitude for your assistance today.”

After we had exchanged lengthy greetings, Hildebrand got his head attendant, Arthur, to lift him up so that he could touch the feystone on the door leading to the Farthest Hall. It promptly opened.

“For classes, we lend feystones to the professors so they can open the door themselves,” Hildebrand explained. “Today, however, I was really adamant about doing it myself.”

Hildebrand was still too young to participate in the actual ritual; he had asked to join, but it would be unacceptable for a member of the royal family to overexert themselves and pass out, so we had asked Anastasius to talk him out of it. Perhaps as a compromise to keep Hildebrand from feeling too left out, the king had permitted him to open the door instead.

After ensuring that everything we needed was brought into the Farthest Hall, Hartmut started to oversee the preparations. I was about to follow after him, but Brunhilde tugged on my sleeve and smiled at me; it seemed that my duty here was to deal with Hildebrand.

“Father has ordered that only those from Ehrenfest may enter the hall until the preparations are finished,” Hildebrand said.

“I see that you are actively looking for ways to assist us, Prince Hildebrand,” I said, finding his pride in his job very heartwarming. From there, I answered any questions he had about the ritual.

“Rozemyne, there are a lot of people due to participate today, aren’t there? Where will the guard knights be standing?”

“No guard knights may be present for ceremonial events. Only those participating in the ritual are allowed inside the Farthest Hall.”

“What...?” Hildebrand asked, blinking.

I started blinking in turn. “Only priests and shrine maidens may be present for ceremonies. The same is true for the Sovereign temple’s Starbind Ceremony, is it not? I asked them whether I could bring guard knights with me when participating as the High Bishop, and they were strongly against it. This is also a religious ceremony, so any guard knights will need to wait outside the auditorium.”

Arthur inhaled sharply and then cried, “I was not aware of this!” His eyes were wide, and he was intensely resistant to the idea, but I wasn’t going to budge.

“There will be a great many archduke candidates involved in the ritual,” I said, “and there simply is not room for everyone to bring their retainers inside. Furthermore, all those present when the mana begins to flow will be at risk of having their mana sucked out, whether they are actively participating or not. Any guard knights in attendance will struggle to protect their charge effectively.”

“But there is no precedent for archduke candidates or members of the royal family leaving their guard knights behind. It is unthinkable,” Arthur protested. Both he and Hildebrand were unwilling to accept reality.

“As I understand it, the one religious ceremony that archduke candidates and the members of the royal family still perform is Mana Replenishment upon their foundations,” I said. “In Ehrenfest, guard knights cannot enter the room where we supply mana to the foundational magic and instead stand at attention outside the door. Do guard knights enter the Mana Replenishment hall in the Sovereignty?”

“No,” Arthur replied. “Only those of the royal family who are supplying their mana.”

“The same principle applies to all other religious ceremonies as well. Now, let me propose this: would the royal family feel safe if we positioned only Ehrenfest guard knights in the room for the ceremony?”

“No; they would only feel safe in the presence of the Sovereign Knight’s Order,” Arthur replied, airing his distrust of other duchies.

“Precisely. And with the participants in such vulnerable positions, having to kneel with their hands on the floor and channel their mana, it is only natural that they would be on guard against those with weapons. Just as the royal family would not be able to trust Ehrenfest’s guard knights, we would not be able to trust the guard knights of another duchy. It is best that we simply rid ourselves of those with malice to begin with.”

“Rid ourselves of those with malice? How would we accomplish that?”

“By filtering the participants through Schutzaria’s shield. Those who wish the royal family ill will not be able to enter.”



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