Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.3 - Chapter 4

The Interduchy Tournament (Third Year)

“We’re finished! Will this do, Lady Rozemyne?”

At lunchtime on the day before the Interduchy Tournament, Ignaz and Marianne left the brewing room and came over to me with magic tools in hand. Several apprentice scholars followed after them.

“Here are our prototypes,” Marianne said. “There are many improvements we would like to make to them, but please take a look.”

She placed one of the magic tools on the table and, after slotting in some sheet music, leisurely began to turn the attached handle. Like a music box, the tool played a tune in response. Ignaz then demonstrated his fusion of nanseb paper with our tiny, improved teleportation circle by sending a book to a nearby shelf. They had both completed their tasks.

“Unfortunately, there is not enough time before the Interduchy Tournament for any further changes to be made,” Charlotte said. “And even if there were, we do not have the mana or materials to spare.”

“Think these prototypes are good enough to present on their own?” Wilfried asked.

My siblings looked a little weary themselves; they had been helping the apprentice scholars wherever possible. In spite of their exhaustion, they—and everyone else—looked satisfied with what they had produced.

“I believe so,” I replied, then turned to Ignaz and Marianne. “I am impressed that you were able to finish them in time.”

“As am I,” Philine added, her eyes full of admiration. “Archnobles truly are incredible. Even with the advice and plans that you and Lord Raimund provided, Lady Rozemyne, I would never have been able to brew these on my own.” One’s mana capacity determined what one could make, so there was much that she couldn’t do herself.

“Royal Academy classes require a lot of mana,” Philine continued, “so I was planning to compress mine as much as possible from spring to autumn. However...”

“We will spend that time increasing our own mana capacities,” Ignaz said, wearing a competitive grin that seemed to say he wouldn’t lose to Philine and the others. I was in full support of their rivalry, as that motivation would benefit them all in the long run.

“Will you be practicing the presentation?” I asked.

“In a moment, yes. But as we invented these ourselves, I do not foresee any issues.”

Indeed, this was going to be a lot easier than presenting the high-level brews and magic tools the Drewanchel students had made—and which our own scholars still didn’t really understand.

“Lady Rozemyne,” Marianne said, “I would appreciate a more in-depth explanation of Ehrenfest paper. Limited to what can be made public, of course.”

I agreed, and we spent the afternoon completing the final preparations for our joint research with Drewanchel.

I was going to be spending the entire day in the dormitory, which meant my apprentice knights could spend the whole day training.

“Pound cakes have arrived from Ehrenfest,” Brunhilde announced. “Let us take them into the meeting room.”

The apprentice attendants all moved at once. Not just the pound cakes but also the cookies we had ordered from the Othmar Company were now being sent over. For the Interduchy Tournament, we had decided to provide baked goods that could be prepared in advance. We were expecting more visitors than the dormitory’s chefs could provide for, however, which was why we had requested help from the castle and the Othmar Company.

“The castle and temple kitchens should be fairly busy right about now,” I commented. We had asked the castle’s chefs to prepare meals for Ferdinand as well, but they had told us they were too busy with winter socializing and the Interduchy Tournament. Thus, we had passed the request on to his old chefs still serving in the High Priest’s chambers. They would surely be able to make food to his tastes.

Seeing everyone so active filled me with the excitement one felt when a festival was fast approaching.

“Lady Rozemyne, copies of the second volume of The Story of Fernestine have arrived with the sweets,” Lieseleta said, bringing over a box of new books. “You promised to share one with Lady Hannelore, did you not? Shall we inform her by ordonnanz?”

Muriella gave a gleeful exclamation, her green eyes sparkling as she marveled at the box. I couldn’t give this duty to any of my apprentice scholars, though; I needed them to focus on preparing for tomorrow.

“I will deliver them,” I said. “Muriella, I am afraid you will need to wait until after the Interduchy Tournament to read this new volume. I have not yet read it myself, you know.”

“And you will also need to wait until after the Interduchy Tournament, milady,” Rihyarda stressed.

I could only nod in response, accepting my harsh fate. Muriella returned to her work with a quiet remark that she wished to read the new volume as soon as possible—and, at that moment, I felt as though our hearts were one.

It wasn’t long after I informed Hannelore of the new Fernestine volume having arrived that we received her response: “I am looking forward to it,” delivered in the most charmingly eager voice.

It was the morning of the Interduchy Tournament, and a sweet scent carried through the Ehrenfest Dormitory. The chefs had started making sweets immediately after preparing the dishes that kept well, such as sandwiches and soup.

Everyone finished their breakfast sooner than usual, then started on their duties for the Interduchy Tournament. The apprentice attendants directed servants while bringing one box of sweets after another out of the meeting room being used for storage. The apprentice knights who would be playing ditter focused on their training exercises, and those who were too young instead guarded our archduke candidates.

“Alright. Let’s go!” Wilfried ordered the apprentice scholars; he and Charlotte were helping them set up the platform for their presentation.

I asked to go with them, but my request was immediately deemed “too unsafe,” since only the younger apprentice knights were accompanying me today.

“We can’t predict what the lesser and middle duchies that invaded our ditter game might do,” Wilfried explained. “I’ve asked Mother and Father to bring more of the Knight’s Order as guards this year. Stay in the dormitory until they arrive.”

“Understood,” I replied. He was evidently taking things very seriously, so I couldn’t just insist on following them anyway. “I wish you well with your preparations.”

And so, I merely stood and watched as Wilfried and Charlotte left with the apprentice scholars. I knew it had to be this way for safety’s sake, but I couldn’t help feeling left out.

There were still some people going in and out of the dormitory for one reason or another, but I was now almost entirely alone in the common room. I gazed around at its vast emptiness, at which point Rihyarda placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“Perhaps you could go check the tea party room, milady. Preparations have now been made for Lord Ferdinand and the others to sleep there.”

“I think I will.”

Together, we made our way to the door closest to the stairway leading to the kitchen—the entrance to the tea party room. Rihyarda unlocked the door with a clunk and then opened it for me.

Tea party rooms were quite large, as one could infer from the fact we had invited representatives from every single duchy to ours when I was a first-year. I stepped inside to find that a series of screens now divided the interior into what were essentially three individual rooms.

“The ‘room’ farthest from the entrance is for Lord Ferdinand and contains that special bench for him to sleep on,” Rihyarda said. “We had it sent over from Ehrenfest as per your request, milady.”

It was the mattress bench ordered from Zack. Sending it all the way from Ehrenfest had apparently been troublesome and resulted in many complaints, but it was guaranteed to be a lot more comfortable than just sticking cushions on a flat board with some sheets pulled over it. I made sure it had a proper mattress, then nodded with satisfaction.

“I see this box contains the comforter,” I said. “Justus will understand what to do once everything has been explained to him. There are also many checks to be done, as there is going to be an Ahrensbach retainer present.”

As well as the box containing the comforter were a chest for storing one’s luggage and a magic tool that would provide light.

“These are not quite bed curtains,” Rihyarda said, indicating the screens, “but I expect they will make it easier for Lord Ferdinand to sleep.”

There was a chair for the attendant who would be serving as night watchman, so the furthest away space was purely for sleeping. The middle “room” contained a table and chairs. The person overseeing the preparations for the tea party room had probably assumed that everyone would eat together here.

“After the Interduchy Tournament, the aub will eat with the students and praise their efforts,” Rihyarda explained. “You and my boy Wilfried are to come here and treat Lord Ferdinand in the meantime. Lord Sylvester will join us once everyone has eaten.”

My heart soared at the thought of eating dinner with Ferdinand—but then I realized he would probably spend the entire meal lecturing me. To avoid that worst-case scenario, I would need to do exactly as Eckhart had taught me and continually bring up research.

“Rihyarda,” I said, “I would like to offer Ferdinand the documents that Hirschur gave me. Please prepare some ink and paper as well.”

“It is already done, milady.”

In classic Rihyarda fashion, she was already one step ahead. That research could easily become our main topic of conversation for the night, and with Ferdinand so starved for new knowledge, I didn’t see how it could go wrong.

“Also, I think we should make this area closest to the door a resting spot for retainers,” I said. Like in the “room” we were giving Ferdinand, there was a box containing a comforter and a chest for one’s luggage, but it was fairly barren otherwise. At the very least, it wasn’t good enough for someone visiting from another duchy.

Rihyarda shook her head. “We need not put so much thought into where the retainers sleep. Justus is a wanderer who would even sleep outside without complaint, Eckhart is used to harsh accommodations as a knight, and the Ahrensbach retainer will presumably be too on edge to sleep at all. No one from another duchy would so willingly let down their guard in a room that anyone from Ehrenfest can enter.”

Indeed, for Ferdinand and the others from Ehrenfest, this was like a comfortable return to their homeland. The same could not be said for someone from Ahrensbach.

Rihyarda continued, “As there are going to be people from other duchies arriving after breakfast to welcome the graduating students, we have decided to hide the fact that anyone spent the night here.”

Just as Ferdinand was having to fetch Detlinde, members of other duchies were going to be coming to us to pick up Ehrenfest students. As soon as Ferdinand and the others finished eating breakfast, our tea party room would need to be prepared to accommodate guests.

“I see you have all thought this out. Thank you, Rihyarda. Tell the other attendants that they have my thanks as well.”

“Yes, milady.”

Having confirmed that all of the necessary preparations were complete, I returned to the common room.

“Good day, Lady Rozemyne.”

Little by little, the guardians of our graduating students began to arrive. I watched as parents dressed in gaudy attire headed to the arena where the tournament was being held—an ordinary sight by this point—and soon spotted some familiar faces among one of the groups passing through. Cornelius, Angelica, and Hartmut were dressed in formal clothing like everyone else.

“Lady Rozemyne,” they said. “Good morning.”

“You three!” I exclaimed despite myself. “What are you doing here at the Royal Academy?”

“I came to see my fiancée perform,” Hartmut replied. “I also need to properly inform her family of the change in my situation and earn their pardon.”

It was very likely that his new position as High Priest would result in his engagement with Clarissa being canceled. It was my fault, really—but as I was reflecting on that, Hartmut smiled.

“You need not worry,” he said. “I expect that the Zent’s participation in your Dedication Ritual and the newfound efficacy of religious ceremonies will prevent them from lodging any meaningful protests. Even if they do, I am certain that Clarissa will come to Ehrenfest alone, if need be. We will need to discuss what to do in such an event.”

“Indeed we will...” I replied with a giggle, remembering Clarissa’s enthusiasm and intensity. She certainly did seem like someone who would charge into Ehrenfest all on her own, so some preparations were in order.

“Are you here for your fiancée as well, Cornelius?” I asked, shooting him a teasing look. “Did you come to see Leonore perform?” If so, then it was surely fine for me to treat him not as a guard knight but as my brother.

“We’re here to protect you, but we were told to be discreet about it and to have reasonable excuses for attending. Personally, I’m here to see both you and Leonore.”

In other words, I was justified in treating him as my brother. That was nice to know; I would need to explain in excruciating detail just how hard Leonore had been working this year.

“What about you, Angelica?” I asked. “Hartmut and Cornelius both have fiancées, but you don’t have a partner in the Royal Academy, do you?”

“I came to see whether Traugott has grown strong enough to receive my hand in marriage. If not, I will marry Lord Bonifatius...” Angelica explained, her voice tinged with sorrow.

From a third-party perspective, Traugott was a much more appropriate suitor than the elderly Bonifatius. Angelica only had eyes for strength, however, and if one were to pit the two men against each other in that regard... Well, it was no contest.

“But don’t be fooled,” Cornelius interjected with an exasperated shrug. “This is all just an excuse Angelica came up with to avoid having to memorize the names of the gods.” It seemed that her desire to escape from studying overlapped with Bonifatius’s reluctance to marry someone young enough to be his granddaughter.

“Angelica, you’ll grow stronger if you obtain more divine blessings,” I said. “If nothing else... memorize the names of the primary gods, and the subordinate gods you want the divine protections of.”

“I think I can do that...” she replied, seeming a bit more motivated. If she could manage that much, then I was confident she would succeed. Lueuradi of Jossbrenner had already obtained a new divine protection after praying ceaselessly to the Goddess of Sprouts.

“Incidentally, is Damuel not coming?” I asked. Of all my guard knights staying in Ehrenfest, he was the one person who was nowhere to be seen. Only three people could teleport at a time, so I thought that maybe he just hadn’t arrived yet... but Cornelius shook his head.

“As a mana detection specialist, he was asked to stay behind and observe the former Veronica faction. But above all else, he didn’t have a good excuse for coming to the Royal Academy.”

Hartmut nodded. “I gave him some very sage advice in my suggestion that he start dating one of the students, but he simply wailed that it wasn’t possible.”

“Don’t be such a bully, Hartmut!” I cried. “You know he can’t get a girlfriend and is struggling with his lack of marriage prospects! I bet you gave him that ‘advice’ right after putting on your most handsome smile and bragging about going to see your younger fiancée perform onstage. It’s just cruel!”

Damuel was a sensitive soul; having to endure such mean teasing very well might have broken his heart. I could already picture him shedding silent tears, unable to talk back to an archnoble like Hartmut.

Hartmut merely smiled in the face of my complaints, not showing an ounce of regret. “I gave Damuel that advice because I believe he could succeed if only he tried. Do you not think you are being cruel, Lady Rozemyne, for assuming that he will never find a partner no matter what he does?”

“Eep!”

He’s right... I’m sorry, Damuel. Instead of believing in you, I just kind of accepted that you were going to be single forever. I’ve been a failure of a lady.

But no more. From this point forward, I was going to start believing in Damuel. He was capable of getting a girlfriend. He would secure himself a wife!

As I was hammering those thoughts into my mind as facts, someone knocked the back of my head. “Hey there, problem child. Causing any problems today?”

I turned to see Sylvester looking down at me. There were heavy bags under his eyes, and his cheeks were more gaunt than the last time I saw him. All that, coupled with the sickly pallor of his face, spoke to how extremely draining it must have been cleaning up after the purge.

“Hi, Sylvester,” I said. “You seem pretty tired.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?” He prodded my cheek and started grinding his finger into it. “Once you’re back in Ehrenfest, get ready for the lecture of a lifetime, missy.”

I groaned, already able to imagine the thunder he was going to unleash. “Would, um... one of Ferdinand’s rejuvenation potions cheer you up?”

“Trying to finish me off, are you?” he asked, responding to my generosity with a sharp glare.

“I wouldn’t give you one of those potions in a situation like this. I’m referring to the kind version. We have some left over from the batch we made for the Dedication Ritual.”

“No thanks. That would only make me drowsy.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Now, if you’re ready, let’s get going.”

I looked around, but I could only see members of the Ehrenfest Knight’s Order. Florencia was nowhere to be seen, nor was Karstedt among Sylvester’s guards.

“Sylvester, where are Florencia and Father?” I asked.

“Karstedt and Bonifatius are staying home; we don’t know what the former Veronica faction might do if too many of us come here for the Interduchy Tournament. As for Florencia... I made her stay in bed today. She looked as sickly as you normally do before you collapse.”

“What?!” I exclaimed. “I-Is she okay?!” I didn’t think I’d ever seen Florencia unwell before; she always wore a calm smile and never looked fazed in the slightest.

Sylvester shook his head. “Nothing we can do but let her rest. The Interduchy Tournament would have put too much pressure on her, what with all the negotiations between duchies and the like. If she’s feeling better by tomorrow morning, then I’ll say she can come to the graduation ceremony. She should be able to make it through that, since it only involves sitting and watching.”

We had been so swamped with visitors last year that we had spent the entire day keeping up with them, and it was easy to imagine that we would receive even more this year, considering how many duchies had participated in our Dedication Ritual. Sylvester was right: it wasn’t a good environment for someone who was feeling sick.

“You and I are going to pair up for socializing this year, as are Wilfried and Charlotte. After all the trouble you’ve caused since the last tournament, who knows what visitors we’ll get. My head aches just thinking about it.”

“My apologies...”

I sped through my remaining preparations, then started toward the arena with my retainers, Sylvester, and the knights protecting him. Along the way, we gave words of encouragement to those who were going to be presenting research or playing ditter and went over our plan for today’s socializing.

“We must check your capes and brooches before you can enter.”

Upon reaching the entrance of the arena, we were stopped by several black-caped members of the Sovereign Knight’s Order. More careful checks were now being carried out as a result of last year’s attack, as the terrorists had gotten in using Werkestock brooches.

Because I was with Sylvester, an archduke, we were allowed through after just a brief inspection.

The atmosphere in the arena was a lot more tense than last year. Sovereign knights were positioned all around, and many of the attendees looked uncomfortable under their pointed glares. This uneasy situation would no doubt continue until either Werkestock’s foundational magic was discovered or the Grutrissheit was found.

“Rozemyne, where’s our spot?”

“I would imagine over there, near that huge clump of ocher capes. I was told to stay in the dormitory until you arrived, so I haven’t been here since before they started getting ready for the tournament.”

It was worth noting that, because I was so short, I could barely see past all the guard knights surrounding us.

“I see. Sounds like you’ve been trying to keep things peaceful in your own way,” Sylvester replied, sounding a little satisfied as he made his way toward our students.

“You should praise Wilfried, not me. I intended to take part in all the preparations.”

“You really need to be more conscious of your safety...”

After passing through one throng of colored capes after another, we arrived at Ehrenfest’s spot to find that everyone was ready for the tournament.

“Aub Ehrenfest, Lady Rozemyne. This way.”

Brunhilde guided us to our seats, whereupon Sylvester explained that Florencia was absent and told us how we were going to attend to today’s guests.

“Oh my. Mother cannot participate?” Charlotte said. “Is she okay?”

“She might be well enough to come tomorrow. No pressure, but if we mess up socializing today, she’ll be devastated and think she let us all down. Don’t let that happen.”

“Right.”

Wilfried and Charlotte sat down together, but I sat with Sylvester. He had positioned his chair so that he could easily kick my leg—a signal for me to shut my mouth at once, he explained. Ehrenfest knights were lined up behind us, while Hartmut, Cornelius, and Angelica were nearby, all dressed in adult clothing.

“Our first visitors are going to be from Dunkelfelger. I guarantee it,” Cornelius said, his expression guarded. “They keep looking over at us. I can tell they’re pretty much champing at the bit.”

Dunkelfelger was on the opposite side of the arena from us, so its spot was easy to observe. I enhanced my eyesight and saw that, indeed, Aub Dunkelfelger was standing right on the duchy line with an eager-looking band of knights. Hannelore was desperately trying to pull him back by his cape.

Lady Hannelore sure has it rough... I’m so glad I wasn’t reincarnated into Dunkelfelger.

A slender woman then approached the father-daughter pair and said... something. I was too far away to make out her remark, but whatever it was, it made the aub trudge back to his table.

She must be his first wife.

Also sitting at the table was Lestilaut, and beside him was a girl wearing a familiar hairpin. She was probably his fiancée.

“Is that Lord Ferdinand over there?” Hartmut suddenly asked. “I can see Ehrenfest capes among the Ahrensbach ones.”

I turned my attention to Ahrensbach’s spot, which was right beside Dunkelfelger’s. Just as Hartmut had said, there were three dark-yellow capes among the light-violet ones: Ferdinand, Justus, and Eckhart. I watched them closely, trying not to lean over the table in my excitement.

I could see Raimund holding the stuffed shumil for his presentation and desperately trying to explain something to Ferdinand, who was rubbing his temples. Justus had a hand over his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter. Evidently, our magic tool idea was being very well received. I wanted to go over and give Raimund some support, but Ahrensbach’s spot was too far away.

“Ferdinand isn’t coming this way...” I murmured.

“I expect he’ll come along when the others from Ahrensbach greet us,” Sylvester replied. “He’s already involved in their administration, and they need to further publicize his engagement this year.”

That greeting would be a good opportunity to hand over Heisshitze’s cape, I thought. I saw the box Rihyarda had at the ready and smiled.

“Ditter shall now begin!” Rauffen announced. “The called duchy will come forth!”

The Interduchy Tournament had officially begun. There was a declaration from Klassenberg the First, and the first duchy was summoned.

At once, a group of Dunkelfelgerians began moving in our direction, with the first wife gracefully taking the lead and Hannelore hurrying along behind her. They were on the opposite side of the arena from us, so they had quite a ways to go.

Hm? What about Aub Dunkelfelger?

The aub had looked almost desperate to see us a moment ago, but he hadn’t moved from his seat. He was staying behind with Lestilaut, it appeared.

Maybe the first wife doesn’t want him challenging us to ditter again.

I continued to watch them with my head tilted to one side. Meanwhile, our apprentice attendants began preparing for Dunkelfelger’s arrival, and Sylvester sat up straight.

“Keep your head straight, Rozemyne. They’re coming. We’re going to demand that they stop trying to court you and make it clear that we’re not taking Lady Hannelore, right?”

“Right!”

Ehrenfest didn’t want to put up with any more of this troublesome business, so we had informed Dunkelfelger through letters and reports that we were open to negotiating if they stopped trying to get my engagement canceled.

“Wilfried, Charlotte—Rozemyne and I are gonna be hosting the greater duchies, starting with Dunkelfelger,” Sylvester explained. “You two deal with everyone else.”

Wilfried and Charlotte replied with firm nods.

As our first visitors came closer and closer, Hartmut checked the ink and paper alongside the scholars, while Cornelius and Angelica moved to more easily defensible positions.