Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.3 - Chapter 10

Ditter and Dunkelfelger’s Demonstration

“Aub Ehrenfest,” the apprentice knights said, “we are up next!”

It was almost time for Ehrenfest to play ditter, so Sylvester and I got up from our table and went to the audience stands. Knights wearing Gilessenmeyer’s dark-brown capes were flying around, still partway through their match. I wondered what feybeast they were fighting—then I saw five yellow, spiky balls bounce around the arena.

“The heck are those?” Sylvester asked, glaring down at the arena.

“Taunadels...” I replied. “Those cursed things.”

They were fey creatures—well, feyfish—that reminded me a lot of a puffer fish or a sea urchin with a tail. I still clung to that bitter memory of not being able to eat any during the fish dissection due to their meat being full of poison.

“Isn’t this an easy win?” Sylvester asked. “They don’t seem very dangerous, especially in such a big arena.”

“Not at all,” I replied. “They shoot their long, thin, poisonous spines in all directions, so they’re very dangerous if you don’t know the right countermeasures.”

The apprentice knights watching the match all nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

“Those knights on the ground over there were taken out by the first attack,” I continued, pointing. “The others could stay far away and wait for the taunadels to suffocate without water, or they could surround them with shields of Wind until they’ve finished shooting all of their spines... but neither approach is a quick one.”

Our knights watched with stiff expressions as the Gilessenmeyer knights struggled with the taunadels; they really didn’t want to face an unfamiliar feybeast.

Leonore, who was in charge of operating intelligence, looked no less uneasy. “What will they summon for us? I never thought I would feel this tense about playing in the Interduchy Tournament...” she uttered. But before she could say much else—

“Gilessenmeyer, complete! Next up, Ehrenfest!”

In response to Rauffen’s booming voice, Ehrenfest’s apprentice knights climbed onto their highbeasts and went down to the bottom of the arena. They flew once around the perimeter of the grounds, their dark-yellow capes flapping behind them, before settling into place.

Gundolf stepped forward. It seemed we didn’t have Fraularm this year, which was good news. Given the screeching ordonnanz she had sent over earlier, I was sure she would have given us the worst feybeast she could imagine.

“I see we do not have Professor Fraularm this year,” I said. “That is quite a relief.”

Wilfried shook his head. “Nah, Professor Gundolf’s the scary one. He knows about all sorts of feybeasts.”

“Lord Wilfried is correct,” Ignaz agreed. “During our joint research, when he learned that paper can be made from feyplants, he began striving to learn as much about them as possible.”

Apparently, Ignaz had then needed to endure a round of very intense questioning about the feyplants found in Ehrenfest. He hadn’t been able to answer very well, which had earned him a very exasperated “Are you at all invested in this research?”

“Still, there sure are a lot of people watching this year,” Wilfried said.

I gazed around at the audience stands. As he said, there were loads more spectators than usual, and they seemed a lot more excited—likely because the rare feybeasts of minor species that had appeared thus far had produced continually unexpected results, and they couldn’t predict what was coming up next. Those from Dunkelfelger were so eager to see that they were all crammed right up against the barrier.

“Even for adult knights, there aren’t many chances to encounter feybeasts from other duchies—especially the less famous ones. They must be excited to see how these feybeasts they’ve never seen before are defeated.”

It was then that Gundolf activated the magic circle with his schtappe. It shone with an intensely bright light, then atop it appeared a huge, vibrant tree covered in plenty of rustling leaves.

“Is that a feyplant?”

“Of course. Professor Gundolf would be met with very sharp criticism if he produced a normal tree.”

But it wasn’t moving... nor was it screaming like an effon... nor did it seem able to suck up mana like a trombe. By all accounts, it appeared to be a plain old tree—not even a fantasy one like a ruelle.

Mm... I wonder if it’s going to sprout a face and start talking, because if not, this just looks like a normal tree.

At this rate, I was starting to question whether it was a feyplant at all.

“I’ve not seen this feyplant before,” I said. “What kind is it?”

In my quest to make new, interesting types of paper, I’d gone around Ehrenfest asking our giebes what feyplants lived in their provinces. My knowledge about the feyplants of other duchies was very limited, though. Concerned, I squinted at Leonore, who was positioned at the center of the apprentice knights. She would be able to recognize it, surely.

“Everyone but Judithe, form weapons for cutting branches—the same you use when hunting trombes!” Leonore called. “Archknights, start building up mana. In order! Alexis, make preparations!” She was clearly and very confidently shouting instructions, so she must have known what they were up against.

She transformed her schtappe into a halberd and, while filling it with mana, continued, “Judithe, at my signal, hit the gumka with the most powerful magic tool we have. As everyone knows, after it takes enough damage, it will extend the many branches hidden behind its leaves. The process will take only a few moments. In that time, cut as many branches as you can—but take care not to touch them. They have thorns that will make your limbs go completely numb.”

“Gumka”? Isn’t that the rubber tree? I’m sure Ferdinand told me about them once... They’re like trombes, but you can’t find them anywhere near Ehrenfest.

“Ignaz, Marianne,” I said, “since Gundolf produced a gumka, does that mean they come from Drewanchel? Or do they grow somewhere else, and he just happens to know about them? I would like to ask about obtaining some gumka bark...”

I’d thought they might have an answer, since they had been working with Gundolf, but neither of them knew.

“We will ask him when we can.”

If this weren’t a game feyplant made from Gundolf’s mana, I’d be shouting, “Focus on getting the bark!” right about now. Gaaahhh. I want rubberrr!

I gazed longingly at the gumka, contemplating all the wondrous things I could create if only we had rubber. But as I was lost in thought, Lieseleta rested a hand on my shoulder.

“Lady Rozemyne, you are leaning too far forward. And please take care not to appear too excited when you go to Professor Gundolf to obtain information. If you show as much interest as you are now, he will surely manage to steal much of our intelligence.”

She was right—there was a very real danger of that happening. But this was the first gumka I had ever seen, and it had stolen my heart.

“Please speak with Leonore before you ask Professor Gundolf,” Lieseleta continued. “She knows enough to have recalled its name and how to defeat it; I am sure she is familiar with where it grows.”

“Y-You’re right.”

I had only thought of asking Gundolf, since he had made the gumka, but Leonore surely knew where it grew as well. There was hope.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much, though,” Cornelius warned. “If we learn it’s a rare feyplant that can only be found in some other duchy, then you will need to give up on obtaining it. We would need to send a platoon to gather the resources you want, which is entirely unreasonable. You would not want a group of knights from another duchy coming into Ehrenfest, would you?”

I envisioned Dunkelfelger’s knights coming into our duchy to harvest some plant or another and swiftly agreed. That wasn’t something I ever wanted to happen.

“Perhaps we could trade for the resources, then?” I suggested, but Cornelius immediately shook his head.

“I cannot approve of that. I expect you would accept even the most unfavorable conditions to obtain what you desire.”

My other retainers all agreed. In their words, trading with other duchies was a lot more serious than matters contained within Ehrenfest.

I mean, when it comes to getting what you want, I think anything should go.

As everyone continued to chide me, I returned to watching the match with a bit of a resigned expression. The apprentice knights had already surrounded the gumka and were wielding the same halberds I had seen them use when hunting trombes. They were cautiously keeping their distance, since they didn’t know how far its branches would reach.

The apprentice archknights were still channeling mana into their weapons, which were shining even more brightly than before.

“Can anyone do that attack?” I asked.

“Yes. It only requires you to collect mana in your weapon and then unleash it, so anyone can manage it with a bit of practice. That said, the power of the attack changes dramatically based on your mana quantity and number of elements, so there is little point in a layknight or medknight using it—unless the medknight has about as much mana as an archknight, I guess.”

Since you were channeling basically all of your mana into a single attack, it was best to only use it when you knew you could take out the enemy in one blow or when you had people who could cover you while you chugged rejuvenation potions. Our knights had at their disposal the potions left over from the Dedication Ritual, so they would probably be fine.

“Judithe, aim for the leaves that are the most overgrown,” Leonore ordered. “Archknights, do you see where the trunk changes color near the top? At my command, attack that part in order!”

“Understood!”

Once everyone was prepared, Leonore swung down her arm and cried, “Judithe!”

“Hyah!”

From her sling, Judithe shot one of the magic tools left over from our game of ditter against Dunkelfelger. It disappeared into the rustling leaves and caused a tremendous explosion.

The gumka shook as if surprised, and a bunch of thin branches shot out from beneath its leaves. There were probably thirty to forty of them in total, each with the sharp thorns that Leonore had described at the tip.

“Hyah!”

“Graaah!”

The apprentice knights atop their highbeasts swung their halberds around, chopping away the thin branches one after another. This only lasted a few seconds, however, as the branches then retreated back behind the central mass of leaves, whereupon they started wiggling like tentacles and trying to grab the nearby apprentice knights. Out of nowhere, the tree had started to look a lot like a jellyfish.

And the fact that touching its “stingers” makes you go numb only reinforces the comparison! So gumka equals tree jellyfish. Very dangerous. I won’t forget that.

“The branches can’t be cut when they’re retracted!” Leonore shouted. “Fall back! I’ll attack next!”

Once the apprentice knights had retreated, she swung her halberd with a fierce war cry, launching an iridescent bow of mana straight toward the differently colored part of the gumka’s trunk.

There was another explosion, which caused the gumka to shake violently... but there was no shockwave. Had the attack even done anything? I was watching with wide eyes, at a loss, when the thin branches shot back out.

“Go!”

Not letting even a moment go to waste, everyone began swinging their halberds again, trying to sever the remaining branches.

Leonore shouted, “Natalie! Start building up mana!” and then carefully watched the knights while downing rejuvenation potions. It seemed they were going to continue using all-out attacks, but were they actually working? I couldn’t help feeling worried, but Leonore wasn’t hesitating in the slightest with her instructions.

“Alexis!”

“Hyaaaaaah!”

This time, Alexis attacked with his mana. There was a really bright light but again, no shockwave.

After weathering the blow, the gumka shot out its branches for the third time. The apprentice knights attacked them until they retracted, then backed away in preparation for the next all-out strike.

“Traugott, prepare! Natalie, go!”

As instructed, Traugott started building up his mana, while Natalie shot out hers. Seeing all these attacks back-to-back helped me see how true it was that one’s mana quantity and elements impacted their strength. Although every attack was a variety of colors, they weren’t all the same colors, and they struck the gumka with varying degrees of power.

“That should be most of the dangerous branches dealt with...” Angelica muttered as the gumka responded to Natalie’s attack. “There aren’t as many coming out now.” She looked somewhat antsy, probably because she wanted to join the fight.

“Judithe, use our secret weapon to get rid of the leaves!” Leonore shouted. “Everyone, keep your distance! Matthias, prepare your mana!”

“Understood!”

I’d expected Traugott to unleash an attack next, but no. Judithe took a fist-sized magic tool out from the pouch on her waist and used her sling to propel it toward the gumka. It shot up into the leaves with such ease that it looked as though it had been sucked inside... and then erupted in an explosion louder than any of the mana attacks. The crown of the gumka burst into flames all at once.

“Wh-What was that?!” Cornelius cried.

“They’re using magic tools in speed ditter?!” Angelica exclaimed.

And they weren’t the only ones who were so surprised; a stir ran through the entire audience. It reminded me of something Matthias had said—that not many duchies used magic tools for speed ditter.

“That was a magic tool Hartmut made for our ditter match with Dunkelfelger,” I explained. “It would have been a waste not to use it, so we decided to incorporate it into our Interduchy Tournament strategies. I see it was even more powerful than expected.”

“You were willing to use that against another duchy?” Cornelius asked. “Talk about merciless.”

“It was our ultimate secret weapon, to be used only if we were on the brink of defeat.”

The gumka’s bushy foliage was burnt away entirely, but that was about it. Although the upper part of the trunk was engulfed in flames, it didn’t look at all damaged, and the thinner part was the same as before.

Just how strong are gumkas?!

As I stared on in shock, the very top of the trunk, located a little bit above the lighter-colored part, began to shine faintly. At the same time, some of its remaining branches began to sway; it was trying to make more of the “tentacles” we’d seen before.

“We’ll take it down before they finish growing! Traugott, Matthias, attack from above! Everyone, prepare your shields!”

“Understood!”

Traugott and Matthias sped upward in perfect unison, keeping an eye on each other all the while. Their weapons, which were shining a variety of colors, painted a beautiful arc in the sky behind them.

“Hyaaah!”

“Graaaaaaaaah!”

They both descended on the gumka while swinging their halberds, their combined efforts assaulting it with twice as much mana as each of the previous attacks. Rainbowlike light pierced the feyplant like a bolt of lightning before rupturing into another cacophonous explosion—except this one was almost immediately drowned out by an even louder crackling as the gumka’s trunk was torn to shreds.

Moments later, the gumka vanished, as did the light of the magic circle it had come from. The same couldn’t be said for the shock waves, though; our apprentice knights were still desperately taking cover behind their shields when Rauffen made his announcement.

“Ehrenfest, finished!”

“Well done,” Sylvester said to the apprentices when they returned from their game. “That was great ditter.”

As it turned out, Ehrenfest’s apprentices had made a pretty big impression during their ditter match. While the apprentice knights of other duchies had fumbled and wasted time in the face of the lesser-known feybeasts, ours had attacked confidently and without delay.

“I never thought someone could be so well read in the fey creatures of other duchies, Leonore.”

“Your praise honors me, but I was not the only one who recognized the gumka. The apprentice knights all studied as well so that they would know exactly what to do and could pass along the most important details.” She turned to look at them, overflowing with pride. “I likely stood out because I was in a position of leadership, but we would have claimed victory no matter who was taking the lead. Plus, our knowledge of fey creatures will not be lost next year when I graduate, nor the year after that.”

Leonore had compiled her fey creature research into documents that were now stored in the common room’s bookcase, meaning her knowledge could be readily shared with future students as well. She could rest easy knowing that her hard work would benefit Ehrenfest forevermore.

“As the aub, I must say that your efforts fill me with pride,” Sylvester said.

With a nod of agreement, a higher-up of the Knight’s Order who was here in Karstedt’s place stepped forward. “Your knowledge was not all that you displayed either. Everyone followed their orders to perfection, and your coordination was superb. I was particularly impressed by the speed and precision with which the lay- and medknights dispatched the branches lured out by the archknights. You all fought well enough that I expect you could all join a trombe hunt immediately upon coming of age. It is clear to me how much you have all grown stronger. Continue as you are.”

“Sir!”

The apprentice knights exchanged proud, accomplished smiles, having been praised even by the Knight’s Order. They had worked together and gotten top results.

“Everyone, feel free to watch the other duchies play while guarding Charlotte and Rozemyne,” Sylvester said. “Wilfried, come with me.”

As I watched them go off to socialize with other duchies, I couldn’t help but wonder whether I should have gone with them.

“Oh, Sister,” Charlotte giggled, “you do not need to be so concerned. This is to help Wilfried adjust to socializing—and presumably to deal with those who wish to propose to me.” She then took my hand and guided me back to the audience stands. We were surrounded by our retainers and apprentice knights, so there was no chance of anyone approaching us.

Charlotte smiled from where she was standing beside me and gazed down at the lower portion of the arena. “As so many top-ranking duchies have graciously pointed out, Ehrenfest’s rise through the duchy rankings is still entirely because of your accomplishments. Our current position cannot be considered stable until we have resolved our internal situation—and my future partner cannot be decided until our nobles have either succeeded or failed in reforming their perspectives.”

Other duchies still weren’t sure whether to accept Ehrenfest as a top-ranking duchy or expect our position to nosedive in the years to come. As a result, the number of men trying to propose to Charlotte was exceedingly large. The pool was just too broad to begin with.

“It will require a pretty considerable turnabout in opinion, but I would like everyone to accept us as worthy of being a top-ranking duchy before I graduate,” Charlotte said. “That will make deciding on my partner much easier.”

It was best for both parties if she married into a duchy that Ehrenfest could wrangle to some degree, but we weren’t yet sure who would end up in our league.

“You know, Charlotte... never before have I considered Ehrenfest as being in a particularly dire state. Because we stayed neutral throughout the civil war, we did not need to undergo any major changes, unlike the duchies that were defeated. However, I expect this purge to force a significant change one way or the other.”

The purge of the former Veronica faction and the punishments being doled out to many of its remaining members had surely plunged Ehrenfest into a state of chaos. We needed to use this opportunity to reform our collective awareness and make things more efficient.

“However,” I continued, “this matter can wait until we return to Ehrenfest. For now, let us enjoy the rest of the Interduchy Tournament.”

“Yes, Sister.”

We returned to watching the ditter matches and marveled at one unfamiliar fey creature after another. It made for a very enjoyable experience, and the educated apprentice knights taught me the proper method for defeating each summon.

“You all sure have learned a lot, huh?” Cornelius said to the knights, impressed. “Leonore must be an excellent teacher.”

Leonore grinned from ear to ear. She and Cornelius were giving off such “boyfriend and girlfriend reunited at last” vibes that, for a brief moment, I thought it was a good thing that Damuel wasn’t here to see them.

“Oh, that reminds me,” I said. “Angelica, you came here to see how much Traugott has grown, right? How was he?”

Some listened with bated breath, eager to witness a new Royal Academy Love Stories tale in the making. How did Angelica see Traugott now, after she had said that her partner needed to be stronger than Cornelius?

Angelica placed a hand on her cheek and smiled. “He was an excellent reminder for me to appreciate just how strong Lord Bonifatius really is.”

Alas, it seemed that things would not develop as everyone hoped.

“Thus concludes the last game of ditter,” Rauffen said. “We would now like to demonstrate a ritual performed by Dunkelfelger’s knights.”

Right on cue, a band of blue-capes swooped down toward the bottom of the arena with an emphatic battle cry. They did a lap of the grounds, like the apprentices had done before playing ditter, then dismounted and dismissed their highbeasts.

Aub Dunkelfelger stood at the center of the knights, who formed a circle around him. Their movements were highly practiced; I could tell that every single person was standing in their assigned place.

Nobody had their schtappes out yet, but Aub Dunkelfelger alone was holding a weapon; Leidenschaft’s spear was gripped firmly in his right hand. He must have stolen—er, borrowed it from Dunkelfelger’s temple. The feystones in the spearhead were blue even though the Dedication Ritual had just come and gone, meaning he had probably supplied it with his own mana for the Interduchy Tournament.

The aub thumped the butt of the spear against the ground and said in a powerful voice, “There are many adult knights who do not know this ritualistic dance, as they were never taught it by Rauffen. We do not believe its results can be fully understood through a research presentation; thus, we have determined it best for Dunkelfelger’s Knight’s Order to provide a demonstration. Behold a true ritual and divine instrument, which had so nearly been forgotten by the changing times!”

A cheer louder than expected resounded throughout the arena, taking me completely by surprise. I gazed around and saw that every single duchy seemed interested—pretty much the entire audience was crowding at the very front of the stands, eager to see Dunkelfelger’s ritual.

“Under normal circumstances, one would perform the ritual and obtain its blessings days before they are needed, so as to train with and grow accustomed to their effects, and to recover mana in preparation for the coming battle.”

Too many blessings could make people lose control of their bodies, as we had seen with Ehrenfest’s apprentices, and normal rejuvenation potions didn’t restore mana immediately.

“However,” the aub continued, “Dunkelfelger’s knights no longer need such leeway. Through extensive practice, we have calculated roughly how much mana is required to obtain the blessings, and by increasing the number of participants in the ritual, we have reduced the mana cost to a reasonable level.”

Apparently, this would allow them to perform the demonstration even without rejuvenation potions. It was just one surprise after another. I could see why Sieglinde had resented me a little for causing this mess.

“In addition, this is a true divine instrument borrowed from the temple: Leidenschaft’s spear,” Aub Dunkelfelger declared, grasping the instrument firmly in both hands. He then began filling it with mana, at which point the entire spear—not just the head—turned blue and began to crackle with electric light.

“Wh-What in the world is going on?!”

“You can do that with a divine instrument from the temple?!”

The nobles basically never went to the temple, nor did they have any other opportunities to see the divine instruments up close, so there were some loud cries of surprise when Leidenschaft’s spear practically sprang to life.

“Grant power to those of us going into battle!” Aub Dunkelfelger roared, his spear glowing an even brighter blue. At the same time, the knights all shouted, “Lanze!” and turned 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, at once, they all thumped their spears against the ground. “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.”

They twirled their spears before once again striking them against the ground. Then, they scraped the tips against their feystone armor, creating a loud, metallic screeching sound. It was the same process as I’d seen before, but the adults were far more experienced than the apprentices; not only were they acting in perfect unison, they even performed the dance smoothly and with grace despite the intensity of their actions.

The ritual was by no means new to me, but this one felt entirely different.

“Fight!” Aub Dunkelfelger declared, raising Leidenschaft’s spear high above his head. The surrounding knights let out cheers as they did the same with their own weapons, and a pillar of blue light shot up into the sky. Some of the blessing then rained down on them, while a portion flew elsewhere.

This was a familiar sight for rituals performed in the Royal Academy but not for those performed elsewhere. There were some shocked exclamations even from among Dunkelfelger’s audience, and Ehrenfest’s adults similarly stared at the light in disbelief.

“So that’s one of those ‘pillars of light,’ huh...” Sylvester muttered, having at some point moved to stand behind us. It was one of those things you could read about but wouldn’t truly understand unless you saw one for yourself.

Charlotte nodded. “They invariably occur when rituals are performed in the Royal Academy. They’re very strange, aren’t they?”

Even among the students, not many had seen this light before. Outside of Ehrenfest and Dunkelfelger, it had only been witnessed by the archduke candidates and archnoble apprentices who had participated in the Dedication Ritual—and those who lived in dormitories relatively close to Dunkelfelger’s, I supposed.

“I see. If Rozemyne has been causing stuff like this to happen left and right, it’s no surprise that people keep going on about her being a saint or the avatar of a goddess or whatever.”

Rauffen then created a fey creature, which Dunkelfelger’s knights swiftly attacked. Their speed, power, and resilience in controlling so many blessings put them on an infinitely higher level than the students, like the earth compared to the sky.

To wrap up the demonstration, Hannelore stepped forward and performed the ceremony for offering their victory to the gods, wherein the blessings were returned. She turned her schtappe into Verfuhremeer’s staff and spun it through the air in a gentle circle. The crashing of waves could be heard as mana rose from the knights and simmered up into the sky.

“Thus concludes our ritual, which has been passed down through Dunkelfelger’s history,” Aub Dunkelfelger declared, the drained spear in hand, his voice resounding throughout the arena.

The audience erupted in cheers of awe and excitement.