Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.7 - Chapter 18

Faster than Steifebrise

“So, Lady Rozemyne, what do you need us to do in this ditter match?” the aub asked, not even attempting to hide the glee in his expression. We would only be borrowing from the knights who volunteered to participate, which meant a meeting was in order.

“I shall take control of Ahrensbach’s foundation as quickly as I am able,” I said. “In the meantime, I would ask that your volunteers distract the Ahrensbach Knight’s Order in the sky above their castle.”

“Oh? You would make them decoys, not your vanguard...?”

“Indeed. Only those who have dyed Ahrensbach’s foundation will receive access to its Mana Replenishment hall, and time is already of the essence. I shall need to dye the foundation in one go and then enter alone, which is why I will require a diversion.”

Even as we spoke, Ferdinand was being drained of mana; I couldn’t waste any time while dyeing the foundation. Registration feystones would also be needed to enter the Mana Replenishment hall, and registering those who weren’t in my family would delay me too long.

“My objective is to save Ferdinand,” I said. “But to do that quickly and with minimal risk, I need your help. I do not mean to destroy Ahrensbach or my enemies... but of course, if you wish to take their foundation as a trophy once our job there is done, consider it yours.”

I planned to dye the foundation by downing a string of rejuvenation potions, but I only needed it to enter the Mana Replenishment hall; I wouldn’t hesitate to surrender it once Ferdinand was safe and sound. Maybe someone else would claim it next, but you’d need to be a madman to want to rule a duchy wrapped up in high treason.

“Not a chance,” the aub replied. “I want nothing to do with a duchy fated to earn the Sovereignty’s ire, and Ahrensbach’s scheming with Lanzenave is a veritable death sentence. My role here is simply to mete out punishment.”

Oh, is that so? I really thought Dunkelfelger would want it, since securing the enemy’s foundation is the victory condition of a ditter match... But evidently not.

“Lady Rozemyne,” the aub continued, “as we have promised to support you during this match against Ahrensbach, we shall do everything in our power to help you dye their foundation.”

“I am grateful,” I replied. Asking for Dunkelfelger’s assistance had been the right call; they always went full throttle when it came to ditter.

“Now, when will the ditter bells ring?” the aub asked, openly eager to get started.

“As far as I am concerned, they sounded the moment Ferdinand was poisoned,” I replied with a smile. Either we would rescue him and win or he would run out of mana. “I will commence the assault as soon as Dunkelfelger is prepared. How quickly can your volunteers be ready?”

Our own knights had spent an entire month training for this battle and brewing all sorts of useful magic tools and potions. They were ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice. My retainers were no exception; they had already decided which of them would accompany me and would set out as soon as I sent the word. We were just waiting on Dunkelfelger.

“Hmm... We only have so much time, correct?” the aub asked, stroking his chin. “Do we need to attack during the day?” He was facing me but staring into empty space, focused entirely on the matter at hand.

“Not at all. Attacking at night should save commoners from being caught in the cross fire. I would also like to move under cover of darkness, if we can.”

Although I planned to reach Ahrensbach’s foundation through its temple, I still wanted to keep casualties to a minimum. If anyone tried to stop me from saving Ferdinand, I would simply wrap them in bands of light. It wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for the victims—nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of a noble’s schtappe—but it was better to leave someone terrified than dead.

“Save commoners...” Aub Dunkelfelger muttered. “Under cover of darkness...”

“My opinion might change when I see how Lanzenave’s soldiers and the Ahrensbach Knight’s Order are positioned, but right now, I would ask that you keep the fight in the sky above the Noble’s Quarter. I want no harm to come to the general public. That said... this is only a request. The only absolute in this operation is that we must rescue Ferdinand.”

The aub’s gaze finally returned to me. “How long do you expect this match to last?” he asked, still stroking his chin. “That will determine how much needs to be prepared.”

“It should only take me one bell to pin down the foundation, but I cannot yet say how long I will need to save Ferdinand.” If we could get in touch with Eckhart and Justus, sneaking into Ahrensbach’s castle wouldn’t be too hard. It was a pretty big if, though; I didn’t know whether Letizia had spoken to them, nor what Ferdinand had meant when he had told them to “go.” In the worst-case scenario, they might have been imprisoned as well.

If only we knew where in Ahrensbach’s castle the Mana Replenishment hall was located... Ah! Aurelia might be able to tell us!

I’d racked my brain for someone we could consult, and a single name had come to mind: Aurelia, who had moved away from Ahrensbach to marry Lamprecht. As the late Aub Ahrensbach’s niece, she had to be at least partially familiar with the castle’s layout. I wasn’t going to have the mother of a young child participate in battle, of course, but we could at least ask her what she knew.

“Aub Dunkelfelger,” I said, “make whatever preparations you will need to fight for two bells. Ehrenfest has magic tools and rejuvenation potions ready to be distributed and shall restock any used during this match.”

“Rozemyne,” Sylvester chastened, “don’t just make grand promises. Negotiate properly.” I understood why he was so bothered, since it was Ehrenfest’s money on the line, but I shook my head in disagreement.

“Consider this a necessary expense to cut down on our negotiation time,” I replied. “You have nothing to worry about, in any case; we are only heading to Ahrensbach at my selfish request, so I shall cover these costs with my own funds. Nobody can complain about us saving Ferdinand with the money he left behind.”

I mean, I wouldn’t mind using the money I earned, but something tells me Ferdinand would try to pay me back five times over.

“Compensation can come later, though,” I said. “More pertinent are a number of warnings about the coming battle. To begin with, Ahrensbach is bound to be using Lanzenave’s silver cloth, which is practically immune to mana attacks.”

From there, I went through every danger I could think of. I doubted that Ahrensbach or Lanzenave would be using schtappes, which meant this was going to be a very abnormal ditter match.

“To conclude: bring weapons that aren’t made from schtappes, cover your mouths with cloth to block whatever poisons our foe might use, and prepare rejuvenation potions, antidotes, and jureves as necessary.”

“Heh. If we need nothing else, we can have our volunteers ready before the date changes.”

That’s so quick! Or, wait... Does he mean everything’s prepared already and the only time-consuming part is going to be picking who gets to go?

The aub continued, “I expect all preparations for going to the Sovereignty to be completed around the same time. Allow me to make one thing clear, though: we will act only when the royal family instructs us to. Moving of our own volition would only see us branded as traitors.”

“We understand,” Sylvester replied.

It didn’t matter that Dunkelfelger had honest intentions; no good would come from them arriving at the Sovereignty unannounced with a massive army. Of course they would wait to receive permission.

“We shall inform the royal family that we have requested your support,” Sylvester said. “It should go without saying that this is a most unusual situation; with our opponent working in tandem with Lanzenave, I expect we will see discord even within the Sovereign Knight’s Order. I plan to seek aid from the other greater duchies as well—but in this endeavor, I must ask you to support us. We do not have the connections to convince them alone.”

The aub’s eyes glinted with amusement. “We can do that for you, though I should warn you—it will prevent Ehrenfest from taking full credit for this operation.”

“We cannot do this without your help. If you wish, we will cede all of the credit.”

“Oh?”

Having been prompted to continue, Sylvester cast his eyes down a little. “If we rescue Ferdinand, can you imagine what the consequences might be? Perhaps this attempt on his life was made because he learned a grave secret—in which case, we could expect our foes to unify in a desperate attempt to finish the job. Ahrensbach nobles will need to obey Rozemyne once she obtains their foundation, but the same cannot be said of those from Old Werkestock, who will remain unrestricted and volatile. I suspect that once Rozemyne rescues Ferdinand, Ehrenfest will have its hands full preparing for Ahrensbach’s next move. Though we can advise greater duchies to join the fight in the Sovereignty, we won’t be able to participate ourselves.”

In short, while Ehrenfest could provide aid, we would not be able to join the battle proper.

“Old Werkestock...” Aub Dunkelfelger repeated with a grimace. “A troublesome place indeed. Though we oversee much of its land, we cannot treat its people as our own.” The emotion in his voice made it clear that he was struggling to manage his part of the former duchy.

The aub then looked at me head-on, a bitter smile on his face. “History shows that stealing a foundation is easy. The hard part is what comes next. That’s why true ditter matches rarely take place.” There was an unmistakable glimmer in his eyes as red as Lestilaut’s.

To rule, the new aub would need to transport personnel, resources, and money from their original duchy to their new one. That fact alone explained why battles over foundations only happened in extreme circumstances. It also emphasized why Ehrenfest claiming the foundation of a much larger duchy was the peak of recklessness.

“I am eager to see what you will do upon obtaining Ahrensbach’s foundation,” the aub said with a provocative smile. “For us, this is merely a chance to experience a true ditter match, but your involvement will not end once Ferdinand is safe. You will need to manage Ahrensbach—and if worse comes to worst, Ehrenfest will crumble.”

He couldn’t have been clearer with his warning: if we wanted to back out, now was the time.

I returned a smile, not wavering for a moment. “I am well aware of our situation, Aub Dunkelfelger. Do enjoy the show.” Before the next Archduke Conference, I was due to become the king’s adopted daughter and obtain the Grutrissheit. My newfound authority would allow me to redraw duchy borders and place new foundations; no way was I going to let Ehrenfest fall.

“I like the resolve in your eyes. I like it a lot. My one regret is that we didn’t get you into Dunkelfelger. Now, Lady Rozemyne—where am I to send the volunteers?”

“I shall meet them at your country gate when the date changes. Please open your border gate and have them wait nearby.”

“Our country gate?! That must mean...”

I said nothing to the wide-eyed aub. My only response was a sly smile.

“I see...” he said. “Hah. HAHAHAHAHA! So that’s what’s going on here! Now you’ve really caught my interest!”

“Upon my arrival, I shall take those who are present and nobody else. As I’ve said many times, rescuing Ferdinand is my victory condition. I will need to steal Ahrensbach’s foundation faster than Steifebrise the Goddess of the Gale.”

Aub Dunkelfelger clenched his right fist and tapped it twice against his left breast, brimming with excitement for the upcoming battle. “Hear! Hear! May we be faster than Steifebrise!” Then he faded out of sight; the communication line must have been closed.

Sylvester was still facing the pool of water, but I could feel him giving me the side-eye. “You’re a pretty decent motivator...” he said.

“I didn’t play all those ditter games against Dunkelfelger for nothing. Their ceaseless passion will play a key role in our victory.”

Sylvester gave a hesitant smile. I could sense that he was a little uneasy, but we now had a powerful ally on our side. Our conversation with Dunkelfelger had produced the best possible result.

“I will need to coordinate my departure with my retainers...” I mused aloud. “Oh, but I must contact the royal family and the greater duchies before then.” Having so much to do was intolerable when I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but I understood deep down that this groundwork would prove crucial. I needed to warn the royals that something bad was happening and that we were seeking help from Dunkelfelger and the other greater duchies.

“You’ve already come up with a good excuse for our actions and secured us Dunkelfelger’s support; let me deal with our remaining correspondence as the aub. You’re heading out at the dead of night, so your focus needs to be on making sure you’re ready. Don’t let sleep dull your senses this time.”

I fell silent, remembering how I’d needed to fight back sleep while battling the goltze. A nap and a wake-up potion were going to be necessary.

Sylvester went to shoo me out of the room, but an ordonnanz flew in before he could. “This is the teleportation hall,” it said. “We have an urgent message from the Royal Academy for the aub: Eckhart and Justus have arrived at the Ehrenfest Dormitory and are asking to meet with you. They are currently waiting in our tea party room. What should we do?”

Sylvester and I exchanged glances as the ordonnanz repeated its message twice more and turned into a yellow feystone. How had they made it here when they were supposed to be in the belly of the beast?

I can’t imagine Aub Ahrensbach gave them permission to teleport.

As I pondered the situation, a thought occurred to me—Ferdinand must have prepared something in advance. His telling them to “go” had probably meant “go to Sylvester.” Perhaps he had devised this plan so that he could immediately contact Ehrenfest if something happened. There was a lot to digest here, but the fact that Eckhart and Justus were at the Royal Academy to begin with meant that Letizia had managed to reach them after bursting out of Ahrensbach’s Mana Replenishment hall.

Sylvester frowned so hard that his eyebrows almost touched above his nose. “To be honest, Rozemyne, I was hoping that you were somehow mistaken about all this, but now we have irrefutable evidence. Those two would never leave Ferdinand unless they absolutely had to.” He made his schtappe, then tapped the yellow feystone to turn it back into an ordonnanz. “I’ll make my way to the Royal Academy to welcome them as soon as I finish contacting the royal family.”

As the archduke, only Sylvester could make the brooches necessary to enter the Ehrenfest Dormitory. It was also up to him to decide whether to let Eckhart and Justus back into our duchy. The situation wouldn’t be able to progress unless he went there personally.

Once the ordonnanz had disappeared again, Sylvester turned to me. “Rozemyne, what’s your next move?”

Me? I want to go to the Royal Academy too. I can’t face waiting any longer. I need to see that Eckhart and Justus are safe with my own two eyes, then grill them for as much information about Ferdinand as I can get.

“I’ll continue getting ready for the battle and prepare whatever Eckhart and Justus might need,” I said. “Tell them to come to my library once you’ve finished speaking with them. In our endeavor to rescue Ferdinand, I can’t think of two more valuable allies.”

I gave Sylvester two rejuvenation potions to be given to our visitors, then turned on my heel. It was time to direct my retainers.