Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.3 - Chapter 8

Socializing with Other Duchies

“That is everything I wished to discuss,” Anastasius said, standing up. He instructed me to dispel Schutzaria’s shield, then moved outside the range of the sound-blocking magic tool and instructed his retainers to retrieve it.

Our own retainers mobilized at once. Ehrenfest’s attendants attempted to refresh the prince’s tea, but he refused and turned to Sylvester.

“This meeting has been more fruitful than I expected. You have my thanks. I must now return, but first... Aub Ehrenfest. According to the Sovereign temple, letting knights climb the shrine during a religious ceremony is an unthinkable act of blasphemy. They asked that you have blue priests and shrine maidens do the accompanying instead. This should not be a problem for Ehrenfest, where even archduke candidates wear blue robes.”

In other words, we could bring whomever we wanted as long as they were wearing blue robes. Anastasius was subtly telling us to have our adult guard knights don the clothes of blue priests and shrine maidens so they could accompany us.

I’m pretty sure my guard knights would be willing to do that.

I climbed down from my chair and finally dispelled Schutzaria’s shield. Anastasius confirmed that his retainers had retrieved the magic tool, then finished saying his farewells and departed with a flourish of his cape.

“We must be taking our leave as well,” Sieglinde said. “We have taken advantage of your hospitality for long enough.”

The throng of blue-capes soon disappeared, only to be replaced by a group of Klassenberg red-capes.

“Aub Ehrenfest, do you have a moment?”

“Of course, Aub Klassenberg.”

Sylvester and Aub Klassenberg exchanged the usual pleasantries, then I performed the customary first-time greeting.

“I am Rozemyne. Aub Klassenberg, may I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe the God of Life?”

“You may... I should note, while you were speaking with Dunkelfelger and Prince Anastasius, I was observing—with great interest, might I add—the joint research that Ehrenfest has done this year. I am amazed that one duchy could have a hand in such a diverse range of projects.”

Tea and sweets were prepared for the aub while he went on to describe the reports he had received from the apprentice scholars involved in our research.

“They all said they had experienced a true ritual for the very first time—that their prayers became one, their mana was drawn out, and from it was born a radiant beam of divine light. The very sight moved them to the core, apparently. The participants also seemed more appreciative of the archducal families supplying their duchies’ foundations and the royal family supporting Yurgenschmidt.”

Clarissa had said something similar when reporting on Dunkelfelger’s reactions, but she was always so prone to exaggeration that I’d only taken her half seriously.

I really was oblivious. It didn’t help that our own archscholars looked more exhausted than interested at the time.

Perhaps their apparent lack of wonderment was because they had already heard about Wilfried and Charlotte circling the provinces for Spring Prayer and the Dedication Ritual. Or maybe it was because they’d already seen me give blessings while playing the harspiel, struggling with the blessing leak during the dedication whirl, rejuvenating the gathering spot, and carrying out the ditter ritual... Most of our archscholars who had participated said only that the experience had made them more sympathetic to my previous “incidents.”

I’m probably to blame for Ehrenfest’s students being so accustomed to blessings in such a weird way...

“Will the ritual also be performed next year?” Aub Klassenberg asked. “There are many knights and attendants who have come forward saying that they wish to experience it as well.”

I shook my head. “This year’s ritual was performed as part of our joint research with Dunkelfelger. Few duchies could afford to offer up so much precious mana annually.”

“I am told the participants received particularly effective rejuvenation potions. If some were provided again, an arrangement could surely be made—especially considering how much it helps the royal family.”

We had prepared rejuvenation potions because so many of our participants had needed to play ditter and because their efforts had greatly benefited our research, but I wasn’t going to make that a yearly occurrence either. Just how much reading time had preparing for the ritual cost me? And why would I sacrifice even more when we had nothing to gain? I already had my guardians and the royal family telling me not to do anything unnecessary.

“I imagine the royal family would be overjoyed to have a duchy offer them mana from their own temple. Encouraging everyone to reevaluate their opinion of the temple was one of my main goals, you know. I would appreciate your understanding in this matter, Aub Klassenberg.”

In other words: “If you want to do the ritual, do it in your own duchy’s temple or something.” Aub Klassenberg must have understood my message loud and clear because he raised an eyebrow and shot Sylvester a look, likely trying to get him to talk some sense into his daughter.

Sylvester cleared his throat and adopted what was ultimately quite a twitchy smile. “The ritual in question was joint research—that is, a student activity—so I am in no position to interfere. Furthermore, the Farthest Hall is under the management of the Sovereign temple. Performing the ritual once for research is reasonable enough, but performing it annually in the Royal Academy may deepen the schism that exists between the royal family and the Sovereign temple. Is that not something Klassenberg would wish to avoid, especially now that Lady Eglantine has been married into the royal family?”

He was taking advantage of the fact that parents generally weren’t allowed to speak on Royal Academy business, and the relationship between the Sovereign temple and the royal family to dodge the request.

Sensing that we weren’t going to budge on the issue, Aub Klassenberg decided to move on—albeit with a rather disappointed expression. “According to the merchants we sent on business this year, Ehrenfest has many rare products indeed. The new books popular in the Royal Academy are being made in the distant lands of giebes, but the city still offers much in the way of novel inventions.”

He was referring specifically to our water pumps and comfortable carriages, which the merchants had apparently come across. They hadn’t spread very far during their first year, so they might have been easy to miss, but they had gotten quite popular during their second. The merchants had been amazed by how much things could change in a single year.

“In particular, the pumps that draw water from wells seem revolutionary,” the aub continued. “Many requests were made for us to bring them to Klassenberg.”

Sylvester turned to a scholar behind him, at which point Hartmut took a step forward. He had started attending every single one of my meetings with the lower-city merchants, so he was especially well equipped to advise on the subject.

“Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to mass-produce the pumps,” Hartmut informed Sylvester. “They require exceptionally precise parts that few smiths are capable of making. My sincerest apologies, but it may be some time before we are prepared to sell them.”

Mass-producing our water pumps wasn’t an option when Johann was the only smith who could make the required parts. Plus, above all else, we cared more about spreading them through Ehrenfest’s lower city than spreading them to other duchies. If we wanted them in the south of the city, then we couldn’t start selling them yet.

Sylvester nodded and then repeated the answer to Aub Klassenberg.

“Hm...” Aub Klassenberg murmured. “This precision part of which you speak may be too complex a task for Ehrenfest’s craftspeople, but perhaps ours will stand a better chance.”

A scholar behind the aub then added, “Could you perhaps sell us the schematics for the pump as you sold the recipe for your pound cake?”

Sylvester crossed his arms in thought.

Hartmut looked at me and said, “That might be difficult. The schematics are overseen by the Smithing Guild to ensure that Lady Rozemyne’s personal smith receives a royalty payment each time they are used. We could sell them to Klassenberg’s Smithing Guild, but only if they are willing to operate in the same way.” He smiled at Aub Klassenberg and the scholars accompanying him. “And who can say whether a greater duchy would be willing to keep an eye on its commoners?”

Hartmut! You sound just like the merchants who say they can’t trust Klassenberg because they always act selfishly! Though, uh... you’re not wrong.

“In any case, we will need to discuss whether the arrangements can be made,” Sylvester said. “Let us discuss the details during the Archduke Conference.”

Thus ended our conversation with Klassenberg. Next came Drewanchel, then Hauchletzte, then Gilessenmeyer. The aubs approached us one after another and requested that we have more slots available for business. In response, we methodically repeated the same answer: it would be too much of a struggle for Ehrenfest this year.

After what felt like an eternity, fourth bell rang. It was lunchtime. We were going to make our way back to the dormitory, but I was so exhausted that I asked Sylvester whether I could travel the short distance in my Pandabus.

“So tired...” I groaned upon our arrival.

“Sure was rough speaking with one top-ranking duchy after another,” Sylvester said in agreement. “Still, I’m glad you and Hartmut were there.”

Sylvester and his scholars knew plenty about the printing industry and the books being sold, but they didn’t know too much about the water pumps, carriages, and so on, which they had only glimpsed in the lower city. I thanked Hartmut for having offered us his expertise.

“I am glad to have been useful to you, Lady Rozemyne. But should the aub’s scholars not have been able to provide such information? It has been over a year since you gifted those inventions to the aub, so why do they know so little about them?”

“Because I recently distanced my scholar who was entrusted with that role,” Sylvester replied curtly, telling us that the scholar in question had gotten wrapped up in the purge. “Right... I can’t always rely on you, which means I’ll need to go back to the lower city to check out these inventions for myself, huh? There’s no other way for me to learn about them now that Ferdinand is gone.”

Ferdinand had often sent Sylvester whatever intelligence he gathered from me or Justus. Now that he was gone, however, Sylvester would need to set up some other means to learn about the lower city.

“Rather than going all the way to the lower city, why not send some scholars in your place?” I asked. “We could even have one of my retainers supervise them. That would ensure they do not act unjustly. Besides, should preparing Groschel to house our next batch of visiting merchants not come first?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem as long as we have your mana. Guess that means we can get more merchants slots—”

“I’m afraid not. First of all, we will need to wait a year to see whether Groschel’s lower city can maintain its cleanliness. Inns also need to be established and their staff trained as capable hosts. There absolutely needs to be a preparation period.”

I could rely on the soldiers and Gutenbergs to keep Ehrenfest’s lower city clean, but I didn’t have any connections like that in Groschel. We would need to entrust everything to the giebe, but as I recalled, he was the kind of person who would order around commoners while paying no mind to their thoughts and feelings. I wanted to believe that he had improved since then, but we still needed to be careful; if the aub started being too hasty with his demands, it would be the commoners who suffered.

“We will rely on Groschel’s scholars as we relied on the Merchant’s Guild and the Plantin Company,” Sylvester said.

“Your demand that Groschel prepare to host merchants from other duchies at once would be no different from the king demanding that you get Ehrenfest’s castle ready to host every other aub at a moment’s notice,” I said. “Wouldn’t you call that unreasonable and ask for more time to prepare?”

Sylvester fell silent along with his retainers. “It remains true that Ehrenfest needs to change as soon as it can. Let us give Groschel enough time that these changes can be adequately made.”

Thus, it was decided that we would speak with Giebe Groschel about preparing his lower city to welcome merchants at the next feasible opportunity.

From there, Sylvester began lecturing Wilfried about contracts. He stressed that Wilfried should always have his scholars check whatever forms he intended to sign so that he wouldn’t fall victim to such trickery again.

“Lord Lestilaut swore to the gods that he would give up on Rozemyne if we won at bride-taking ditter, so I thought he would give up on canceling the engagement unconditionally...” Wilfried said.

“I did as well,” I added, but a verbal agreement between children in the Royal Academy obviously wouldn’t carry as much weight as a signed contract. Caution was essential.

“I’ll make sure to double-check the conditions before signing any contracts in the future,” Wilfried said. “But why are we discussing this now? The thing I signed wasn’t a contract.”

“I didn’t think so either, but apparently it was an essential contract for playing bride-taking ditter.”

Although it had appeared to be a normal report listing the conditions and participants of our match, the inclusion of signatures had turned it into an official contract. In other words, Lestilaut had duped him. But no matter how clearly Sylvester and I tried to explain that fact, Wilfried merely exchanged looks with his retainers, then shook his head.

“That can’t be right. The document was just some budgetary formality for the Dunkelfelger Dormitory. It only carries weight within their duchy.”

“But as soon as you signed that paper, it became a contract,” Sylvester said.

“That can’t be true. No way could that paper function as an interduchy contract. It wasn’t official. Aren’t you the one who taught me that, Rozemyne?” He glared at me, blatantly frustrated, as if trying to ask, “Did you teach me a lie?”

“I taught you that?” I replied, unsure what he was referring to.

“Yeah. You said parchment from the Parchment Guild absolutely has to be used for proper contracts—that cheap Ehrenfest paper is only used for notes and reports. You told me to be careful, since any agreements not written on parchment wouldn’t be officially recognized.”

“Ah!” Sylvester and I exclaimed in unison.

That’s why neither of us recognized it as a contract during the tournament, even with the signatures.

At a glance, the sheet had appeared to be a report—but that was because it had been written on Ehrenfest paper instead of parchment.

“Lord Lestilaut said it was just a financial document, and we checked that for ourselves. Right, Ignaz?”

“Yes, my lord. We confirmed that the document was in regard to budgetary matters.”

Lestilaut had wanted to form a contract that would give him an advantage over Ehrenfest, which was why he had intentionally misled us. Wilfried, upon seeing that the apparent budgetary document was written on plant paper, had mainly been concerned about whether others would consider it valid.

Ignaz explained, “During our first year, only students from Ehrenfest worked with that kind of paper, and we received strange looks while using it in the library. During our meeting with Lord Lestilaut, we were simply overjoyed to see that now even Dunkelfelger was using it for important documents...” He slumped over, looking ashamed of his own carelessness.

Meanwhile, Wilfried was looking worried. “Dunkelfelger’s apprentice scholars appeared to have only Ehrenfest paper on them, so maybe they didn’t know it can’t be used for official contracts.”

In contrast, our scholars always carried both kinds of paper, since we never knew when parchment might be needed.

“Um...” I turned to Sylvester. “You made it clear when signing those sales deals at the Archduke Conference that cheap Ehrenfest paper can’t be used for contracts, right?”

“Of course. It was an important condition for their Parchment Guilds too. But for Dunkelfelger to have brought some out as a contract... They must not understand.”

We would need to remind any duchies we did future business with as well.

I nodded and said, “In that case, let’s send an ordonnanz to Dunkelfelger. Before lunchtime ends, of course.” Directly informing them of their mistake during the Interduchy Tournament might have been too rude.

“I signed the document, so I’ll send the ordonnanz,” Wilfried said. He got Ignaz to assist him, then glanced back at me and added, “I’m not that incompetent. Have a little more faith in me, Rozemyne.”

“My apologies, dear brother.”

An ordonnanz returned not long after.

“We thank you ever so much for informing us, Lord Wilfried,” came Hannelore’s voice. “We will take care in the future.” In the background, we could just barely hear Sieglinde say, “What do you mean you used it all for your art?”

After clearing up those misunderstandings, our conversation settled down and turned to Ehrenfest’s joint research projects. My first question was how the demonstrations had been received; we of the archducal family had been too busy hosting visitors to check for ourselves.

Marianne leapt at the chance to speak, her eyes positively sparkling. She explained that Gundolf had stopped by to see how Ehrenfest was presenting its work with Drewanchel and had been very taken aback when he saw magic tools that hadn’t previously been a part of their research.

“He was very surprised when we explained that we made the new exhibits based on your ideas, Lady Rozemyne. He said that he never expected us to take the same idea and use it to create competent magic tools that demand so little mana.”

Both of our duchies had created the same kind of product—portable music players that relied on the unique properties of effon paper—but we had taken that idea in completely opposite directions.

“Furthermore,” Marianne continued, “he commended us for having kept such impressive inventions hidden from him and praised us for our growth.”

Specifically, he had said that it was common practice for researchers to keep the important details of their research secret and that, by doing this and taking him by surprise, Ehrenfest had managed to prove itself. He had also said that he absolutely wanted one of the magic tools that made books return to their rightful place for his laboratory.

Ignaz and the others reported the other reactions we had received.

“Professor Gundolf asked us many questions about our graphs,” Philine said with a strained smile as she thought back to their conversation.

The graphs we had used weren’t anything too complex—they were probably no more complicated than what was covered in grade school—so I’d assumed that anyone who saw them would immediately understand. But as it turned out, nobody had visualized numbers like that before. Gundolf’s first reaction had been to disregard the research itself and focus entirely on how we were presenting it.

“Philine ended up explaining the joint research while I explained the graphs,” Roderick said. He had initially been speaking with Gundolf and Gundolf alone, but more and more professors and scholars had tagged along until it was like Roderick was teaching his very own class. It had been a very uncomfortable experience, in his words.

“Those from Drewanchel intend to use graphs for their research next year,” Roderick concluded. “They also expressed a very strong desire to do research with you personally, Lady Rozemyne.”

“I am glad you did such a good job explaining everything to them, Roderick,” I said. There were still many other kinds of graphs that we would slowly introduce over time.

While Philine and Roderick were giving their presentations, Muriella had been circling around the arena and viewing the other duchies’ research. “Dunkelfelger’s presentation will end with a live demonstration of the ritual at the end of ditter,” she noted. “Most adults don’t know anything about such matters, so Lady Clarissa said they decided to just show everyone the dance.”

Once the students were done playing ditter, Dunkelfelger’s adult knights would perform the ritual, play ditter, and then show everything up to the returning mana part of the ritual. Aub Dunkelfelger was really getting into it.

“That sounds a lot like a performance,” I said. Even the Dunkelfelger students were good dancers, so the adults must have been amazing.

“Oh, that reminds me—I spoke briefly with Lady Lueuradi of Jossbrenner. She wished to thank you for her divine protection, Lady Rozemyne, so she deemed it unfortunate that you were busy socializing.”

Jossbrenner the Tenth was definitely at the bottom of the duchies high enough in rank to move around socializing in the first half of the Interduchy Tournament, if one considered the duchies around it. Lueuradi definitely wouldn’t have been able to intrude upon conversations involving royals and top-ranking duchies.

“This is partially my fault for telling her, but... she listened to every single message recorded on our shumil and was enraptured by its words of love. By the time she reached the advertisement at the end, she was yearning to read the new book.”

It might have been entirely thanks to Lueuradi that Ahrensbach had ended up advertising our book. I remembered the Ferdinand stamp of complete approval and muttered, “Very good, Lady Lueuradi.”

“However, we are not doing business with Jossbrenner, so Lady Lueuradi could not buy the book,” Muriella continued. “She was so despondent that I suggested she write her own stories. Perhaps this will result in more books being brought into the world.”

Lueuradi had absolutely loved the idea.

I smiled and said, “Well done, Muriella.”

Getting more people to start writing stories was very important. Lueuradi was an apprentice archscholar, so perhaps she would end up following in Elvira’s footsteps.

As I finished my lunch, I couldn’t help but feel that I was witnessing the birth of a new author.