Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.7 - Chapter 15

Defense Meeting

As I arrived at the castle, Ottilie, Lieseleta, and Gretia came to greet me. “Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne,” they said in chorus.

“Thank you all,” I replied. “Are Roderick and Clarissa in the library, by chance?”

Ottilie giggled and said, “Yes, my lady. Clarissa is diligently making fey paper for you while educating Roderick. His brewing skills seem to have improved considerably under her tutelage. It certainly helps that he obtained so much mana through compression, but experience is important as well.”

Clarissa had apparently said to Roderick, “Since you’re Lady Rozemyne’s first name-sworn, you at least need to be skilled enough to do brewing work for her before she leaves for the Sovereignty.” By the sound of things, she was putting him through the wringer.

“I also spent a lot of time in the library with Clarissa,” Judithe noted. “She made me brew a lot too.”

As it turned out, Clarissa had drilled Judithe until the young knight had mastered making her own offensive magic tools—largely weapons she could throw or shoot. Clarissa’s educational philosophy was deeply rooted in Dunkelfelger’s customs, and it sounded extremely harsh.

“Still,” I said, “Clarissa has a point that Roderick will need to be proficient in brewing before he moves to the Sovereignty. I think it’s also important for you to be able to make your own weapons.” I already had my hands full, so to be honest, I appreciated what Clarissa was doing.

“The meeting will take place in the afternoon,” Lieseleta informed me. “Do you plan to take your usual retainers?”

I shook my head. “I want you to attend such meetings with me from now on, Lieseleta. It seems only logical, since you plan to accompany me to the Sovereignty.”

In the past, Ottilie had accompanied me as an archattendant. She received this news with a smile, then nodded and said, “Yes, that would be wise. In the meantime, Gretia and I will continue preparing for your departure. Your belongings here at the castle have already been packed and are ready to be loaded as soon as the royal family sends word. How are things faring in the temple and your library? If there is anything else you wish to bring to the Sovereignty, it should be brought to the castle soon.”

The time had come for me to close my temple’s hidden room and move my luggage to the castle, just as Ferdinand had done before me. Despite how busy I was, the preparations for my move were still going smoothly.

“Roderick’s and everyone else’s brewing has diminished our supply of ingredients in the temple workshop,” I said. “Given the circumstances, rather than replenish them, I shall move what remains to my library’s workshop. As for the rest of my belongings in the temple, I intend to leave the majority of them to Philine, but most of the items to be moved are rather large indeed...”

My luggage to be moved from the temple included mattresses, shelves, and the like—things I would need until the very last moment. Moving them wouldn’t be easy, but at least I wouldn’t be bringing much with me.

“How much luggage will need to be taken from the library?”

“I wrote a letter to Ferdinand asking how many books and ingredients I should take with me to the Sovereignty. The aub sent it to him alongside some food, so now I am waiting for his response. How much progress has been made with my clothes? Will they be ready in time for the Archduke Conference?”

Ottilie nodded. The clothes that everyone’s personnel were rushing to complete were coming along nicely and now needed to be fitted.

“As we do not know what might be decided during the meeting this afternoon, let us arrange a date afterward.”

“Certainly.”

By the time we arrived at the meeting room with our retainers, the atmosphere was already very tense. The archducal couple, their retainers, and the higher-ups of the Knight’s Order all wore stern expressions.

“Ah, there you all are,” Sylvester said. “Rozemyne, did you leave some of your guard knights in the temple?”

“Of course,” I replied. “We both did, didn’t we, Melchior?”

He smiled and nodded. “Rozemyne left four knights. I only left three, but Nikolaus told me he would join them in guarding the gates, since he’s an apprentice knight as well.”

Karstedt, who was standing in his usual position behind Sylvester, received this news with a slightly relieved smile. Upon hearing about my disappearance, Nikolaus had apparently begun to search for a new protector. In the process, he had spent a lot of time working with Melchior’s guard knights, whom he knew from their time together in the temple.

I worried that I’d failed Nikolaus as his older sister, but since my move to the Sovereignty was set in stone and Cornelius still viewed him with suspicion, it was probably for the best that Melchior was helping him in my stead.

“Now, let us discuss Ehrenfest’s defenses,” Sylvester said. He explained that Georgine likely knew of a way to steal our foundation, that he suspected she would make her move around Spring Prayer, and that he had already finished devising a plan with the Knight’s Order.

Wilfried was first to respond: “Father, my retainers who participated in those meetings gave me the same warnings, but is this information truly reliable?”

Sylvester glanced in my direction, then shook his head. “I won’t reveal my source, nor can I provide any concrete evidence, but I consider the information highly trustworthy. There’s also no mistaking that Ahrensbach—or rather, Georgine—is targeting Ehrenfest. Matthias’s intelligence made that clear a long time ago.”

Georgine had apparently mentioned taking Ehrenfest’s foundation while visiting Gerlach’s summer estate. Our bible had then been stolen during the autumn that same year, so we had responded with the winter purge, executing those who were name-sworn to her en masse. It seemed safe to assume that we had quashed her plans at least once.

Sylvester continued, “Crushing her agents here in Ehrenfest and wrecking her information network dealt a heavy blow to her, I would say. Then, last winter, we spread word through the Royal Academy that Rozemyne had taken ill and returned to Ehrenfest, which we believe put Georgine on guard and made her unable to act.”

I could see that being true. Now that Georgine’s intelligence network was in tatters, she was probably having to rely on Ahrensbach students for information about Ehrenfest. Trying to find out whether the news of my return was true would have delayed her considerably.

“Georgine’s attack will most likely come before the Archduke Conference—before Ferdinand can marry into Ahrensbach,” Sylvester informed us. “To appease a royal decree, he was moved into a room in the duchy’s western building. This has made it much harder for him to keep track of my sister. Something is sure to happen before he marries Detlinde and starts operating as a full member of Ahrensbach’s archducal family.”

Nobody else spoke, but we all wore very stern expressions.

“Next, defensive positions. As the aub, I’ll guard the foundation itself. Karstedt and a section of the Knight’s Order will focus on protecting the city as a whole. Bonifatius and another section of the Order will stand ready to aid the knights of any provinces where enemies are spotted.”

The giebes of provinces bordering Ahrensbach had already been warned of the coming danger. They were being highly cautious and were so eager to know what was happening and whether anyone suspicious had appeared that they were gathering intel even from commoners.

“If something does happen,” Sylvester said, “you will all need to take charge of your guard knights and assist with the defense. Florencia and Charlotte will guard the castle; Wilfried, the Noble’s Quarter; and Melchior, the temple and the lower city.”

“So the men won’t be the only ones leading knights into battle?” Charlotte asked uneasily. “I expected to provide support but not to join the fighting.”

Sylvester gave her a serious look. “Yes, Charlotte. That goes without saying. You’re an archduke candidate who strives to become the next aub, aren’t you? During times of war, an aub must take charge and join the fray.”

There was one job that an aub couldn’t afford to delegate: defending their duchy’s foundation. Anyone who entrusted their foundation to someone else would instantly lose their right to rule, so one could consider it an aub’s most important duty.

“An aub who can’t protect her foundation doesn’t deserve to rule,” Sylvester said plainly. “What do you think your guard knights are for? Use them to defend our duchy.”

Charlotte fell silent for a moment. Then she nodded and said, “Yes, Father.”

Seeing their exchange reminded me of something important: I’d needed to fight when gathering jureve ingredients and playing ditter against Dunkelfelger, so in a sense, I was already used to battle. It didn’t surprise me that Charlotte, who had never fought or undergone knight training before, was taken aback by this new duty being thrust upon her.

This is probably another reason why men are preferred as aubs.

Charlotte had never even touched a blade, so I could see why she hadn’t embraced the upcoming battle as readily as Wilfried, who had been training with the knights since he was little. He had already discussed the city’s defenses with his knights and started running drills, so he knew how to coordinate with the Knight’s Order to defend the Noble’s Quarter.

“Um... You haven’t explained what I’m going to do...” I said.

“That’s because I can’t include you in our plans,” Sylvester replied honestly. “If you’re here when it counts, I want you to fill any gaps we might have overlooked.”

“Is that all...?”

“To be frank, we have no idea when the royal family might order you to the Sovereignty. Your future’s so uncertain that I wouldn’t even let the others involve you in our plans for Spring Prayer. Your retainers have complained that they’re spending so much time making offensive magic tools that they haven’t been able to prepare for your departure properly. I want you to focus on that.”

I nodded my understanding. Being able to protect Ehrenfest was important, but so was being ready to join the royal family whenever they decided to summon me.

“I discussed this with Ottilie this morning—we should have everything ready by the end of the Archduke Conference,” I said. “And... although I appreciate your consideration, I want to know what I should do in the event of an attack. At this rate, I’ll just blunder about and cause more problems, don’t you think?”

If we did end up being attacked—which seemed very likely—then I wouldn’t be able to sit back and continue preparing for my departure. I wanted a role to play.

“I need instructions,” I concluded. “Do I ask the royals for help? Do I join the battle? Give me something to do.”

“You sure are brave, huh? Have you always been such a warrior at heart?” Sylvester asked, furrowing his brow at me. Unlike my sister Charlotte, I wouldn’t hesitate to charge into the battle.

“Father, she’s been like this for a very long time,” Wilfried sighed. “We’re even starting to wonder if she shares Dunkelfelger’s complete and utter obsession with ditter.”

“Wilfried!” I exclaimed. “Don’t even joke about that!”

“Look, I understand that each of those matches was for a good cause, but you’re playing treasure-stealing ditter against them every single year. You’re not even part of the knight course, nor do you spend much time at the Royal Academy to begin with. How many other archduke candidates can you say that about?”

Nooo! He’s right! I can’t argue!

“Alright, alright,” Sylvester said, waving a hand at us both. “Rozemyne, if you’re willing to lead your retainers into battle and the attack does end up happening during Spring Prayer, then I want you to cover for whoever’s circling the Central District.”

A crucial part of Spring Prayer was traveling around the Central District with our chalice, so Wilfried, Charlotte, and Melchior were going to take turns. I would remain in my library and at the castle, preparing for my move—but in the event of an attack, I would take the place of whoever was absent.

“As you will,” I said. “How are the offensive magic tools coming along?”

“As you advised, we’re having the knights and students make rejuvenation potions alongside our scholars,” Sylvester replied. Ehrenfest had managed to gather so many ingredients during the Archduke Conference and the Royal Academy term that there was no risk of us running out. “I also sent word to all the giebes, telling them to prepare for battle, and what do you know? Even the retired elders have been doing some real impressive work.”

The elders had apparently told the young knights which traps had worked best during the ditter games of old and the best time to use them, and the generational gap had closed considerably as a result. A greater sense of camaraderie had also blossomed in some provinces, as the Leisegangs and the nobles of the former Veronica faction now had a greater threat looming over them.

“This is the perfect opportunity to unite Ehrenfest,” I said. “People are always more likely to come together when they have a common enemy.”

A threat to the duchy’s foundation transcended disputes between factions and generations, and thanks to the winter purge, there were no longer any nobles name-sworn to Georgine in Ehrenfest. It helped that some members of the former Veronica faction hadn’t been deemed guilty by association and were now swearing their loyalty to the archducal family. As we knew, some had even given their names.

“Oh, right.” Wilfried turned to look at me. “Rozemyne, I was told you’ve been making complex magic tools of some kind. Have you finished them?”

I gave a proud smile and puffed out my chest. “Indeed. I made three shumils to defend the temple’s gates. They are already in place—but for the sake of preserving mana, they have not yet been activated.”

I’d wanted to make the three shumils red, blue, and yellow, taking inspiration from the old Super Sentai rangers, but Lieseleta had prepared their fur and chosen three pastel colors instead: pink, aqua, and cream. The shumils were very cute in their ribbon-and-lace-covered uniforms, but that cuteness strongly contrasted with their combat potential. It was a little surreal seeing them standing with the knights and priests at the temple’s gates.

“Melchior’s and my knights have been given magic tools to activate them, as have the gray priests standing guard,” I explained. “The shumils use the same counterattack magic circle carved into Ferdinand’s charms, so they should be excellent defensive assets.”

“ROZEMYNE!”

“Wait, what? Ferdinand...?” His voice had suddenly echoed through my mind. I covered my ears, my eyes darting every which way as I tried to gauge what was happening. For a moment, I thought I was simply imagining it... but then a bright rainbow light swallowed me whole.