Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.4 - Chapter 10

Preparing the Ritual

After returning to the castle and gathering with everyone for dinner, I reported the summary of our tour to Sylvester, then inquired about budgets and moving furniture. Our discussion proceeded without incident—as expected, since he generally gave permission for everything I asked.

“The temple is ready to accept Melchior and the other children,” I said, “but there is still a mountain of problems to deal with.”

“Such as?”

“We lack the manpower for Spring Prayer. Ferdinand is gone, and Melchior is still too young to be of any use.”

We had yet to make up for losing Ferdinand—a loss so great that my guard knights had needed to participate in our duchy’s most recent Dedication Ritual—and now the purge had cost the temple many blue priests. The burden on those who remained would be immense during this year’s Spring Prayer, so planning how we were going to delegate the work was of the utmost urgency.

“There is no helping that Melchior has not yet learned to channel mana, but something needs to be done,” I said.

The original plan had been for Melchior to begin his practice during last year’s Archduke Conference so that he could assist us with this year’s Spring Prayer—but, during that same Archduke Conference, Ferdinand and Detlinde’s engagement had been announced.

How had the engagement ended up affecting Melchior? Well, Ferdinand had spent his remaining time in Ehrenfest educating me and preparing his successors, which meant he had seldom left the temple or contributed mana to the foundation. This reduced supply of mana had forced the archducal family to work overtime, so Florencia and Bonifatius had been too busy supplying the foundation to support Melchior. On top of that, everyone’s schedule had more or less exploded when the purge occurred earlier than expected.

And, of course, Florencia’s pregnancy had then necessitated that Melchior be moved to the northern building.

“Charlotte had an entire season to practice before her first Spring Prayer,” I noted, “but it still ended up being a struggle for her. It would be outright dangerous for Melchior when he has no prior experience to rely on.”

“But I really want to participate this year...” Melchior interjected, clearly vexed.

Sylvester and Florencia exchanged troubled looks. After everything that had happened over the past year, they had both been much too busy to help their son prepare.

“It may not be feasible for you to practice supplying mana to the castle foundation,” I said to Melchior, “but you can practice offering up mana in the temple. If you take it seriously, you should be ready to join us next year.” Having him participate this year was entirely out of the question.

I continued, “As you know, for Spring Prayer, the giebe-ruled provinces are given chalices and nothing else; we are not required to perform religious ceremonies for them as we do for the farming towns of the Central District. No gray priests are required, so we could solve our manpower problem by sending my retainers to the various provinces instead. The only issues are that the bulk of my adult retainers are guard knights and those who are still underage cannot leave the city...”

“For obvious reasons, we can’t risk cutting back on your knights,” Sylvester said.

I nodded. That was clear to anyone, and it was the greatest fault with my idea. Cornelius had mentioned it when I brought this up before.

“We can throw money at most of our problems,” I said. “The carriages, food, chefs, attendants, and ceremonial robes—a few simple payments can take them off our minds. But nothing can be done about our lack of manpower.”

Wilfried, who had been listening in silence, suddenly looked up. “What if Charlotte and I go from province to province with the remaining blue priests while Hartmut and you circle the Central District?”

“What?” I replied. “But... you and Charlotte are busy enough, are you not? The process might only involve visiting the giebes and giving them chalices, but it takes several days and can be physically draining. Since the temple has been entrusted to me, I thought it would be best for those who are already occupied to only help with the nearest parts of the Central District.”

Wilfried shrugged. “If I want the Leisegangs’ support, I’ll need to meet with them as many times as I can. Not to mention, having Charlotte and me go to those provinces will make it clear to all the nobles that we’re involved with religious ceremonies too.”

In the past, we mana-rich archduke candidates had circled the Central District to minimize travel time and improve its harvest to match those of the giebes’ provinces. This had apparently led the nobles to assume that Wilfried and Charlotte weren’t doing anything.

“The nobles have all heard about your Gutenbergs’ travels and the Haldenzel Miracle, but the only ones who know about Charlotte’s and my involvement are our retainers—and even that’s just because they accompany us. It seems to me that the Leisegangs think you’re the only one being made to perform religious ceremonies. Lamprecht mentioned as much after gathering some intelligence.”

I hadn’t noticed that at all.

I’d only elected to visit the provinces myself because my Pandabus was the most efficient way to move large groups of adults from one place to another. It hadn’t occurred to me that my efforts were making other nobles assume that I was being worked to the bone.

“I agree with Wilfried—it might be a good idea for us to visit the giebes,” Charlotte said. “We may have farther to travel as a result, but that shouldn’t be an issue when we have our highbeasts to rely on.” Like me, she had a drivable highbeast capable of transporting the chalices. That would save them a lot of time.

Wilfried nodded at her. “It might be a good idea to have the blue priests circle the Central District instead. I want to meet with as many giebes as I can.”

“Perhaps it would be best for you to focus on the south of Ehrenfest,” Charlotte suggested. “As the next archduke, you will need to greet the new, tentative giebes.”

Wilfried paused in thought, then nodded again. “Yeah. Most of the new giebes are in the south, so I should go there and to Groschel.” It seemed that he really was focused on making connections with Leisegang nobles.

“In that case,” I said, “I will take care of the Central District. I would also like to visit Kirnberger, as I plan to take the Gutenbergs there.”

Sylvester eyed me carefully. “It won’t be easy having to give mana to all of those farming villages, but Spring Prayer has a direct impact on our harvest. There’s also our joint research with Frenbeltag... I’m counting on you, Rozemyne.”

I nodded, relieved that we had solved our problem.

“Rozemyne,” Wilfried said, “you mentioned that you’re going to be spending all of your time in the temple now, right? Could you bring the ritual for obtaining divine protections forward a little? If we can demonstrate that even adults can secure new protections by participating in religious ceremonies, then my retainers should be more open to my doing all this.”

As it turned out, his retainers had made it very clear that they didn’t want him participating in Spring Prayer; they thought it would be too dangerous for him to travel all around the duchy. Wilfried had tried to argue that it was his duty as an archduke candidate, but... to be honest, I understood where they were coming from. I, myself, had been attacked during my first Spring Prayer.

“If you are going to be in danger, then perhaps I should make some protective charms for you and Charlotte...” I mused aloud. Maybe I would give them two each: one to block a physical attack and another to block a mana attack. This would keep them safe during the start of an ambush, and their guard knights would be able to deal with things from there.

As I was considering which of the charms I was wearing would work best, Charlotte smiled at me. “Though he won’t be joining us for Spring Prayer, Melchior will surely pout if you don’t give him some charms as well.”

I turned to look at Melchior, who puffed out his cheeks and muttered, “I won’t pout...” I decided to make some charms for him too.

Sylvester clapped his hands together, trying to regain our attention. “Rozemyne, we received correspondence from Ferdinand this afternoon—he wants some of his personal belongings to be sent to Ahrensbach alongside his engagement gifts. He has asked that you oversee this request, since you have the key to his estate, but assures us that the attendant he left behind will take care of things if shown the letter. Send a scholar of yours later on.”

“Understood,” I replied. “Is Ferdinand doing well?” I couldn’t imagine that much had changed since our reunion for the Interduchy Tournament.

Sylvester frowned. “He seems fine, but... things are getting complicated over there. He’s going to be performing Ahrensbach’s Spring Prayer.”

“What?”

That didn’t make any sense. Ferdinand wasn’t yet married to Detlinde, meaning he was formally still a citizen of Ehrenfest. Not to mention, other duchies were strongly biased against the temple and religious ceremonies, so why on earth would Ahrensbach want a member of its archducal family involved in one?

“Ahrensbach is suffering a mana shortage,” Sylvester said, “but Ferdinand still can’t help to supply its foundation. This is just an assumption, but I think Aub Ahrensbach has passed away and they’ve started dyeing their foundational magics with his successor’s mana.”

Florencia, whom I could guess had already seen the letter, put a hand on her cheek and sighed. “It seems that Lady Letizia will be taking part as well. Lady Detlinde was apparently trying to make her supply the foundation directly and without practice, since she heard that our baptized archduke candidates have been providing their mana.”

“It sounds as if some very important details about our ceremonies have been misconstrued...” Charlotte said, looking worried.

Children who weren’t used to controlling their mana would struggle immensely when trying to channel it into something. They needed guidance from an adult before anything else, which was why Florencia and Bonifatius being so busy had put Melchior in such an unfortunate position. It wouldn’t have been as much of a concern if he had already started attending the Royal Academy and learned the process there, but he still didn’t know his limits and was at great risk of getting caught up in the adults’ mana flow.

To minimize the danger of new participants being completely drained of mana, children were made to practice by drawing mana out of a feystone. Learning to control their mana would prevent them from passing out during actual ceremonies, but even that was exhausting for those without much experience to rely on.

Trying to make someone perform Mana Replenishment without any training can only end in disaster.

It had been impossible to predict what Detlinde might force Letizia to do while Ferdinand was absent, which was why it had been decided that Letizia would attend Spring Prayer as well. She would practice controlling her mana along the way.

“I see...” I murmured. “In that case, we should inform Lady Letizia that the kindness-filled rejuvenation potions she’ll receive are not a cruel prank, as Wilfried and Charlotte once assumed.” I was worried that she would end up hating Ferdinand, despite his good intentions—but it seemed that Wilfried was more concerned about something else.

“Rozemyne!” he exclaimed. “That’s the last thing for us to be worried about! Focus on how other duchies are misunderstanding our religious ceremonies!”

I mean, you’re not wrong... but most people should know from experience that supplying mana is exhausting. Few would make a little kid attempt it without any training.

Yes, few would—but that hadn’t stopped Ferdinand from working me half to death for my first Spring Prayer and Dedication Ritual. All of a sudden, leaving Letizia in his care seemed extremely dangerous. His standards were completely twisted at times, maybe because of the unique circumstances of his birth, or maybe because of the unreasonable expectations that Veronica had forced upon him.

Hopefully they can stop him.

“Lady Detlinde’s misunderstandings certainly are a concern,” I said, “but what concerns me more is that Lady Georgine did nothing to intervene. Sylvester, was Ferdinand told about the results of the purge?”

We had been told not to speak with other duchies about Ehrenfest’s situation and to reveal only as much as Sylvester permitted, but I had to wonder—was Ferdinand aware of the likelihood that Giebe Gerlach had survived the purge? Matthias had mentioned that one of the hidden rooms in which his father had stored magic tools had been in a complete state of disarray when he and the others carried out their investigation. Giebe Gerlach had always kept his rooms well organized for the sake of convenience—or so I was told—so it seemed that he had grabbed all of the tools he would need in a frenzy before the Knight’s Order reached his estate.

Laurenz didn’t think the state of the room was a sign of anything unusual, though. He said that, in his own hidden rooms, there isn’t even space to move around.

Matthias hadn’t been able to enter Giebe Gerlach’s most private hidden room, so the Order hadn’t been able to see inside either. Bonifatius had spotted some glossy silver cloth wedged in the doorframe, though. He had torn it away without a moment’s hesitation, insisting that it was very strange indeed, but nobody else had batted an eye.

“I told him a couple of things,” Sylvester said in response to my question. “He mentioned in his letter that he’ll try to see if Gerlach is with Georgine.”

“I see,” I replied. “That’s good. I’m impressed you managed to get all this past inspection.”

“We have more than a few systems in place that allow for secret communication,” he explained, then gave me a very meaningful look. “Even when you read the letter yourself, you won’t be able to decipher them.”

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who had a secret method of communicating with Ferdinand.

After dinner, while Hartmut was busy fetching me a copy of the new letter, I took my previous letter from Ferdinand into my hidden room. It detailed the results of his research into the divine protections ritual—though it was all written in invisible ink, meaning I would need to transcribe it before anyone else could read it. The letter mentioned that his handmade version of the magic circle was among the magic tools moved from his temple workshop to his estate and that I was free to use it as long as I sent him my findings afterward.

“Mm, well... I’m going to be sending stuff to him anyway, so it wouldn’t be too much trouble to include a letter of my results. But why is he giving me this condition in the first place? He already said that everything in his estate belongs to me now. Isn’t this a bit cruel...?”

Of course, his letter offered no room for debate. I couldn’t expect anything less from Ferdinand... and that fact brought a smile to my face.

“For him to have made a magic circle on such a large scale, without any assistance, he must have had a lot of time on his hands when he first joined the temple,” I muttered to myself. It was surely too big for a normal experiment, if the circle I’d seen at the Royal Academy was anything to go by. Only a mad scientist would have gone and made it anyway.

I came out of my hidden room and found that Hartmut had returned with a transcription of the new letter. “Thank you, Hartmut. Just so you know, I intend to go to the library tomorrow. Ferdinand wants me to look for something that he says is necessary for the divine protections ritual. He said that he experimented with it once before.”

“As one would expect from him, I suppose.”

I took the transcribed letter from Hartmut and, in turn, gave him the transcription that I had just written.

“Philine—my apologies, but could you send an ordonnanz to Brunhilde?” I asked. “Give her the date and time of our upcoming meeting with the merchants and ask her to attend. Considering its relevance to Groschel, it makes sense for her to be there, do you not think? Tell her to bring several scholars as well.”

“Understood.”

“Ottilie, Lieseleta, Gretia—after visiting the library tomorrow, I will return to the temple. This is going to be an extended stay, so please make the necessary preparations.”

My attendants were the best of the best, so that was as much as I needed to say. They would sort out my clothes and daily necessities, contact Rosina and my chefs, and arrange for carriages to transport them.

“Furthermore,” I continued, “the Gilberta Company will soon be called to the temple to alter my ceremonial robes. I will use that opportunity to order my summer clothes as well, so please be sure to visit on the day.”

“Understood.”

As I gave out one instruction after another, I read through the letter that Sylvester’s scholar had transcribed. The section describing how Ferdinand was doing was very brief and contained nothing that Sylvester hadn’t already told me; the rest was a simple list of all the things that Ferdinand wanted sent to Ahrensbach. It wasn’t written in his handwriting—the scholar had transcribed it, after all—so I reached the end swiftly and without getting sentimental.

Ferdinand wrote only in extended euphemisms, but it was clear as day that Detlinde’s return from the Royal Academy was causing him all sorts of problems. Letizia’s education kept being delayed as a result.

Letizia might actually appreciate that, though; I remember her struggling to cope with Ferdinand’s intensity. Oh, but now they’re going to be together for all of Spring Prayer...

Sending her some additional sweets was going to be crucial—and so was informing her about the kindness-filled potions. I was absolutely certain that things would end poorly if she thought they were a spiteful prank.

The day after, I needed to prepare for the divine protections ritual and send Ferdinand his things. That meant accompanying everyone to my library.

My library... That had such a nice ring to it.

I giggled to myself, eyes fixed on my library—ma bibliothèque!—as I made a beeline to it. Of course, I hadn’t failed to bring the bag containing the praise-filled magic tool. Today would be the day I was showered with kind words.

I stood in front of the door, then grabbed the key hanging from a chain around my neck and slotted it into the keyhole. Red mana lines streaked across the door, which then opened on its own with a drawn-out creak.

“Welcome, Lady Rozemyne,” said the attendant waiting on the other side. His name was Lasfam, and he was about as old as Ferdinand.

I had seen Lasfam several times before, including when we had moved the luggage here and when Detlinde had visited. He had a peaceful demeanor, a calm voice, and a strong spirit despite his reserved nature—three traits that he shared with Fran and Zahm. One could tell at a glance why Ferdinand had taken a liking to him, and he was easy to speak with because he came across as so familiar.

“It’s been a while, Lasfam,” I said. “As I mentioned in my ordonnanz to you, could I ask you to prepare Ferdinand’s belongings? The castle will deliver them alongside the gifts we send over. In the meantime, I am going to be reading in my library’s book room, searching through the workshop, reading in my library’s book room, making my hidden room, and... Have I mentioned reading in my library’s book room?”

Lasfam had already seen me being dragged out of the library by Ferdinand, my arms still desperately wrapped around a book; there was no need for me to put on a front around him.

Even if I tried to, it would crumble in the blink of an eye.

Lasfam briskly read through the letter I gave him, then looked up. “Lady Rozemyne, I must ask that you open the doors before you enter the book room.” As it turned out, there were several that only I could open as the owner of the estate, and some led to rooms containing Ferdinand’s belongings.

I did as Lasfam had instructed, then headed to the workshop—which also couldn’t be opened without me—with Hartmut and the others. The security here was impressive but also highly inconvenient; crushed were my dreams of rushing straight to the book room.

“The magic circle for the divine protections ritual is somewhere within the magic tools he brought back from the temple,” I said. “I gave the letter containing the details to Hartmut, so... search well, everyone. I am going to make my hidden room and then delve into some books.”

As if on cue, Angelica stepped forward. “You must have a guard at all times, Lady Rozemyne—even here in your estate. I won’t be much help with finding the magic circle, so I volunteer.”

Everyone else seemed enthralled by the mass of magic tools, so Angelica was the only one to accompany me. We took our leave and started upstairs to my room.

“You know, why are the rooms for girls always on the top floor?” I wondered aloud.

“Because that’s what people expect, right?” Angelica replied. “They’d get confused if you put them somewhere else.”

I could tell that we weren’t quite on the same page, but I decided not to address it. Instead, I continued onward and entered my room. Inside was all the furniture of the previous occupant. It was pretty old but still in good condition.

This room had been used by a woman who had accompanied Ferdinand to Ehrenfest when he was brought here before his baptism. He had looked up to her as though she were his mother, but then he had been taken to the castle to prepare for his baptism. By the time Ferdinand had returned to the estate, she had vanished; he assumed that Veronica had eliminated her.

I wasn’t at all invested in buying new furniture, nor was I going to sell these relics of the past that Ferdinand clearly valued. For those reasons, I intended to leave the room largely unchanged.

To think Ferdinand saw the previous occupant of this room as a mother figure... I wonder what she was like.

“Angelica, do fetch that chair for me,” I said while making my way over to the hidden room by the bed. I registered my mana with it, then opened the door and got her to put the chair inside. Once that was done and she had come back out, I went inside and shut the door behind me.

Now alone in my hidden room, I sat on the chair, reached into the bag on my hip, and took out the sound-recording magic tool. A message from Ferdinand began to play.

“You are listening to this in the hidden room of the library I gave you, correct?” he asked.

“Of course,” I replied with a self-assured grin.

There was a pause, then Ferdinand cut to the chase. He said that Georgine had moved to her villa and vanished from sight not long after the start of winter. There were rumors that she had taken more retainers, and her servants were being watched so closely that not even Justus could slip into their ranks.

“Something must have happened during the winter,” Ferdinand continued. “There is a chance that survivors of the purge have fled to Georgine’s side. You must tell Sylvester not to lower his guard under any circumstances. Moreover, there are several boxes among my belongings that contain documents necessary for controlling the Leisegangs. Sylvester must learn to assuage the Leisegangs on his own, so leave the documents be for now. Bring them out only if you determine that he will not be able to manage otherwise.”

There sure are a lot of Sylvester-related warnings in this thing. How long until the part where he praises me?

I understood that this was all critical intelligence, but my hopes were so high that any disappointment would be devastating. My shoulders slumped, I continued to listen.

“Also, as a warning for you in particular...”

Enough warnings! Praise me already!

“Sylvester informed me that Ehrenfest will not be offering more business slots this year. Any duchies that take issue with this decision may become aggressive, so be wary. We are also nearing the time of year when the merchants cautiously adjusting to Ehrenfest will attempt their usual subterfuge.”

At once, I recalled the time that Klassenberg had tried to force Karin on us. Ferdinand was saying that we should expect more incidents like that going forward.

“A marriage agreed upon by both parties would not be too great an issue, but we cannot discount the prospect of merchants resorting to more violent methods. As it stands, the craftspeople you raised are generating most of the profit in Ehrenfest, be it through printing or making hairpins. They are very likely to be targeted.”

Most of the Gutenbergs would be busy in Kirnberger, but Tuuli, our most talented hairpin craftswoman, was going to be in the lower city. As were Benno and Mark.

How can I keep them all safe...?

I couldn’t guard them at all times, and my charms required too much mana for commoners to be able to use them. The most I could do was warn them of the danger, but it seemed safe to assume that Benno and the others already understood the risks of doing business. They likely understood them even better than I did.

“For that reason,” Ferdinand continued, “I will teach you how to make protective charms that even commoners can use. Have those you care about wear them.”

From there, he launched straight into his instructions. I rushed to grab my diptych and started writing everything down. These charms for commoners were made slightly differently and using separate ingredients from those meant for nobles.

“The ingredients you will need can be found within the library’s workshop,” Ferdinand said. “And... I suppose you could use refilling the mana of these charms as an excuse to invite their recipients to the temple. Such charms will also serve as convenient gifts for celebrations, much like the hair ornament I gave you.”

I paused in thought. Tuuli was going to come of age at the end of summer, and it seemed that Ferdinand was very subtly encouraging me to use that opportunity to give her a present.

“You’re as hard to understand as ever...” I muttered, pursing my lips at the now silent magic tool. “If you had just included a few words of praise, that message would have been perfect.”

Alas, I had been a fool to expect any kind words from Ferdinand. I heaved a very disappointed sigh, but just as I went to put away the magic tool...

“I... believe you are working hard,” came his voice again.

I brought the tool back to my ear, wondering whether I’d simply misheard. And then—

“Very good.”

Hearing those two words sent a wave of pride through me, like all of my hard work had at last been rewarded. Maybe it was because he so rarely handed out praise that it felt so meaningful.

I slid off the chair, a hand pressed against my naturally smiling face. Then, I returned the magic tool to its bag and set it down on my seat. I could relisten to those words of praise whenever I wanted.

He acknowledged my request and praised me, so I need to work hard as well.

To hear this praise again, I would need to get the results to earn it.

“Alriiight!” I exclaimed. “Now I’m motivated. I’m gonna make charms for everyone!”

I threw open the door to the hidden room and, with a great big smile on my face, marched straight to the workshop.