Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter 10

The New Aub

“How is Lord Ferdinand doing?!”

Eckhart practically leapt at me the moment I stepped out of the hall. Angelica was just as quick to react, drawing her sword in an instant to protect me, and the two knights stared each other down.

I put a hand on Angelica’s shoulder, urging her to relax. Then I reported that I’d given Ferdinand the antidotes as instructed, that he’d made a steady recovery, and that he now intended to sweep away Lanzenave and close the border gate. I didn’t include any unnecessary details like him mistaking the rejuvenation potion for poison and trying to strangle me with the chain binding him, our discussion about the Grutrissheit, or his sudden transformation into the Lord of Evil.

“He plans to join the battle now?” Eckhart asked. “Is the poison already out of his system?”

“As you know, Eckhart, Ferdinand has plenty of experience when it comes to disguising his health. I find it hard to believe he is fully recovered, but he is incapable of resting as a normal sick person would. Our only option is to end this as soon as possible.”

Eckhart nodded and said, “I suppose so. In that case, allow me to contact Dunkelfelger.” Then he took his leave.

In the meantime, Justus prepared a box he had brought with him from Ehrenfest.

Now that everyone knew Ferdinand was safe, an air of cautious relief spread through the office. We couldn’t let our guards down, though; our battle against Lanzenave was about to begin.

I took a registration feystone from the box that had previously covered the door to the hall. Then, before returning to Ferdinand, I stopped and turned to my retainers. “As the one who dyed Ahrensbach’s foundation, I will need to close the border gate personally. Guard knights, prepare to leave at any moment.”

“Yes, my lady!”

Back in the replenishment hall, I got Ferdinand to dye the registration feystone. Then I stepped outside again, inserted it into the door, and signaled that it was okay for him to join us.

Ferdinand made it out of the hall without issue, then studied everyone as if attempting to catch up with the situation. Eckhart and Justus ran over to him without the slightest hesitation.

“Lord Ferdinand,” they said, finally at ease. “We are glad to see you safe.”

“I am sorry to have worried you,” he replied. A faint smile arose on his face before giving way to a much sterner expression. “Rozemyne informs me that Lanzenave has begun a violent insurrection and abducted many. Do you two know the particulars? Eckhart, give me the Order’s report.”

“Yes, my lord! Several knights fell to instant-death poison and silver equipment in what proved to be an entirely one-sided exchange. Strahl said that he prioritized evacuating the nobles in the castle over taking on opponents he could not hope to defeat and instructed as many as he could to hide away in mana-registered rooms.”

Many nobles had apparently taken refuge in their hidden rooms, which could only be opened with their own mana, so there hadn’t been as many casualties as expected. That was good to hear.

Once the door to the replenishment hall was closed again, it shrank back to its original size, and my knights replaced the box that had previously covered it. Eckhart continued his report in the meantime.

“Lady Letizia has fallen into enemy hands alongside Strahl’s daughter; Lady Detlinde was seen instructing Lanzenavians to take them both away. They were the ones who warned Strahl of the instant-death poison before ordering him to flee and rescue the others.”

Strahl and the others hadn’t been able to contact every estate in time, so we didn’t yet know how many had survived the Lanzenavians’ savage attacks. Still, if not for Letizia’s words of caution, I suspected that her entire faction would have been utterly eradicated.

“Have Detlinde, Georgine, and Alstede been captured?” Ferdinand asked. “If not, are their locations at least known to us?”

“Reports say that Lady Detlinde went with Lord Leonzio to the Lanzenave Estate and has yet to return. Others who went there to beg her to stop Lanzenave’s monstrosities have since vanished, and a group who recently ventured inside found that it was completely empty. Nobody saw them leave, so their current location is unknown.”

“I see... Understood,” Ferdinand replied with a nod and a grimace.

Justus then began a report on Alstede: “Someone from her estate said that she and her husband, Lord Blasius, were invited by Lady Detlinde to the Lanzenave Estate. They have likewise yet to return, so they are most likely still acting with Lady Detlinde.”

“That would explain why your invasion went so smoothly and Rozemyne was not stopped from dyeing the foundation. I thought it best to eliminate the three of them by destroying their registration medals, but I doubt they are still in Ahrensbach. Where is Georgine?”

As he continued to question his retainers, Ferdinand beckoned Hartmut over and got him to prepare some medicine for me. It was infused with kindness, he assured me, so I drank it down at once.

“Lady Georgine has been absent for ten days. She’s supposed to be visiting the giebes of Old Werkestock to perform their Spring Prayer, but we don’t yet know which giebe she’s staying with. None of them have returned any of the ordonnanzes we’ve sent.”

“Most ominous... They must be supporting her invasion of Ehrenfest.”

The air grew thick with tension. Everyone in the room was from Ehrenfest, so the thought of what might be happening concerned us all.

Oh no. We need to get back right away...

Now that Ferdinand was safe and sound, my thoughts turned to my retainers back in Ehrenfest, the temple, and my family in the lower city.

“Calm down,” Ferdinand said; he must have read me like a book. “I understand your impulse to protect Ehrenfest, but you must prioritize closing the border gate and defeating Lanzenave here so that they can commit no further atrocities. Now that you have stolen Ahrensbach’s foundation and become its aub, this is a duty that you must perform.”

Next, he cast his eyes over my retainers. “Those unaware of the situation will most likely assume that your group of outsiders are Lanzenave’s accomplices. Anyone would consider that a far more reasonable conclusion than the truth: that their own archducal family has betrayed them so spectacularly. Such people must be ignored. You are quashing a treasonous uprising under the royal family’s authority and thus have every right to be here. Rozemyne will oversee the operation, and we must ensure that neither the Ahrensbach nobles nor the royals themselves attempt to take advantage. As her retainers, exercise the utmost caution.”

Only once our work here was done would we return to Ehrenfest, Ferdinand explained. He considered it likely that the giebes supporting Georgine would back out upon learning that their duchy’s foundation had been stolen and their aub replaced.

“Understood.”

“Wait, Lord Ferdinand. You are not properly equipped for battle,” Justus said. “If you would give me a moment...”

In the blink of an eye, he placed a cape on top of a box, followed in short order by several feystones, potions, and other pieces of equipment. As I stared at him in shock, unable to believe how thoroughly he’d prepared, he gave me a teasing smile.

“Aub Ahrensbach,” he continued, “please forgive my rudeness, but we are pressed for time, and Lord Ferdinand’s chambers are in shambles. May he change his clothes here?”

“He may. We shall clear the room for you.”

Together with my retainers, I stepped outside. Hannelore and the others must have gone elsewhere because they were nowhere to be seen.

Eckhart was just speaking with them, though, wasn’t he? What could have happened to make them all leave?

I gazed around, confused, and spotted a group of Dunkelfelger knights filtering through a door at the end of the hallway. It connected to a balcony, so they must have just landed their highbeasts. Hannelore was directing them, and she immediately caught my eye.

“Lady Rozemyne, is Lord Ferdinand safe?” she asked with a smile. She didn’t appear to be wounded, but the same couldn’t be said for the knights behind her. Considering their previous complaints that the Lanzenavians were lousy opponents, something must have changed.

“Lady Hannelore, what happened to the knights?” I asked. “They’re injured.”

“Lanzenave’s soldiers are no more dangerous than before, but we are struggling to conquer their ships.”

Dunkelfelger’s knights hadn’t been at all threatened when they were just knocking about the Lanzenavians wandering the Noble’s Quarter and the Lanzenave Estate, but the soldiers who had retreated into their ships now had access to better weaponry. They were using some kind of artillery device that shot out volleys of slender silver needles to protect themselves.

“We sent ten knights disguised as either Lanzenavian soldiers or kidnapped noblewomen to infiltrate the ships,” Hannelore explained. She had been waiting outside the archduke’s office at the time, so she was relaying this information from Heisshitze, who had witnessed it from the front lines. “Ordonnanzes are unable to pass through their silver walls, though, so...”

There was a short pause before Hannelore continued, “The ships are completely immune to mana, and the silver needles that come out of their weapons pierce through armor and even highbeasts. We dispelled our mounts and attempted to breach the vessels, but the most we could do was scratch them. Our non-magical weaponry is designed for individual warfare and not much else. Thus, we returned to form a counterplan.”

“I am grateful that you would attempt such a direct attack, especially while under fire from armor-piercing weapons you had never seen before. I shall consult with Ferdinand. Those of you who are wounded, step forward. I will heal you.”

I made Flutrane’s staff and collectively healed anyone who was injured.

“We have a portion of Ahrensbach’s knights guarding the border gate,” Hannelore told me. “They will send word if Lanzenave’s ships begin heading in their direction. Moreover, the nobles demanding to meet their new aub have been gathered in a meeting room. Many of them were poor listeners, and some of our knights lost their patience with them, resulting in some shouting and rough treatment. Please forgive them.”

In other words, the knights had decided that the loud nobles demanding to be let into the archduke’s office were detrimental to our mission and that it was best to lock them in another room. Said room was of course being watched so that those inside wouldn’t be attacked by Lanzenave’s soldiers.

“I did ask for the door to be guarded,” I said, “so I take no issue with what happened. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. But, um... Maybe two bells have passed since our arrival. What are Dunkelfelger’s plans? I must head to close the border gate, and Ferdinand seems ready to begin purging the Lanzenavians.”

I was hoping to hear Hannelore’s opinion, but Heisshitze took a brisk step forward before she could speak. “We will participate, of course,” he said, his voice firm. “We finally have worthy opponents, and we will not squander this chance to fight alongside Lord Ferdinand.”

“Um, Lady Hannelore...” I turned to her for confirmation, and she returned a somewhat troubled smile.

“Because our enemy has been so weak, we have barely even touched our magic tools and rejuvenation potions. I would consider it far more dangerous if our knights, who came here on the promise of true ditter, went home without having done very much at all. You would be doing me a great favor by allowing them to continue fighting.”

In short, they want to cut loose a little before they leave. I understand completely.

Dunkelfelger’s knights were as hot-blooded as they looked. As soon as they’d recovered from their injuries, they started discussing how to conquer Lanzenave’s silver ships.

“How about we throw massive boulders? If we enhance ourselves enough, we might be able to punch a hole through them.”

“Come on, think! That could injure the women inside!”

Leaving them to their chatter, Hannelore turned to me and started. “Oh? Lady Rozemyne, it might be wise for you to remove your necklace. I do not mean to sound rude, but the chain appears to be degrading.”

“Hm?”

I touched the necklace. As she had said, the metal parts of the chain had gone from being smooth to unusually rough. It felt rusted, even. When I looked at my fingers, I saw that they were speckled with gold dust.

Confused, I removed the charm. I could tell at a glance that only the parts that had been in contact with my skin were crumbling away. “I received it earlier today... Was I given a low-quality chain?”

Hannelore forced a smile. “Not exactly. The chains of courting magic tools are made from their creator’s mana and will experience great strain if worn by someone who possesses even more. I suspect you used a tremendous amount of mana while wearing that necklace.”

“I... might have an idea as to how that happened.”

Since putting on the necklace, I’d supplied two country gates, teleported several times, and dyed a foundation. Of course I’d used too much mana recently. Nevertheless, there was one thing that didn’t quite make sense.

“Um, Lady Hannelore... We learned about courtship magic tools in class, so I can’t help but wonder—aren’t they supposed to complement the wearer’s elements and have vows engraved within them? This charm meets neither criterion.”

“We learned about proposal feystones. Those are obviously made to the highest possible standard, but courtship magic tools are customarily kept at a slightly lower quality. Instead of a vow, they are engraved with a name or crest to show who is courting the wearer, and a key aspect of them is that they leak out mana.”

Surprised, I stared down at the necklace, which I’d previously seen as little more than a permission slip for wreaking havoc. Hannelore said it leaked mana, so why couldn’t I see any? Perhaps it would be best to ask Ferdinand when he next had a moment.

Oh, now that I think about it, seeing this charm was what made Ferdinand mention my engagement to a prince. Am I the only one who didn’t recognize it as a courtship magic tool...?

Hannelore giggled, drawing me from my thoughts. “This has crossed my mind many times during our lessons, Lady Rozemyne, but even though you seem to be a wellspring of wisdom and came first-in-class all those years in a row, you know almost nothing about the subtleties of courtship or the finer points of how men and women behave around each other.”

“I will admit, I am not well-versed in those subjects, but the fault lies with Ferdinand for not including them in my lessons.” His reluctance to teach me about matters of the heart was also why I’d always struggled to follow along with Elvira’s love stories.

Hannelore gave me a look of concern. She was at a loss for words.

Leonore was standing behind me as a guard, but she leaned forward to clear up my misunderstanding: “Those topics are not for a man to teach.”

Oh. Fair enough.

Hartmut took out a piece of cloth. “Lady Rozemyne, I would advise that you wrap the necklace in this and then stash it inside a bag. We would not want to lose our symbol of the royal family’s authority.”

I accepted the cloth, wrapped up the charm, and then put the small bundle in the pouch on my hip. I’d never expected such a critically important accessory to be this fragile.

Still, to think it was a courtship charm... I wonder what Prince Sigiswald was thinking when he sent it.

Our marriage was going to be the result of a royal decree, not a genuine connection. I would never have gone along with it otherwise. Was there really a point in sending me anything but a proposal feystone?

“There you are, Rozemyne. I... What is going on here?”

Ferdinand stepped into the hallway fully clad in feystone plate armor and almost recoiled when he saw the blue-capes. Dunkelfelger’s knights lined up by the wall and immediately knelt before him.

“Why are there knights from Dunkelfelger here in Ahrensbach’s castle?” Ferdinand demanded, his eyes piercing me like daggers. He had never been good at dealing with surprises.

Oops. Guess I omitted a few very important details...

I donned a fake smile and attempted some damage control. “Ohoho... These are volunteers who came to help with your rescue and participate in a game of true foundation-stealing ditter.”

“I could not be happier to see you safe!” Heisshitze declared, standing up and marching over with a broad smile. In one smooth motion, he removed his cape and held it out to Ferdinand, who grimaced in response. “You may have this back. I should receive it only when I have bested you in a fair and honest game of ditter.”

“I do not want it. Keep it.”

Gaaah... This is playing out exactly as I expected.

True to his duchy’s reputation, Heisshitze remained enthusiastic even in the face of such a cold refusal. “Though I acted with the best intentions, anyone can see that I caused you more harm than good. I intended to save you, Lord Ferdinand, but I failed spectacularly. This time, I will succeed. This time, I shall be of—”

“This is a waste of time,” Ferdinand interrupted, making a shooing motion with his hand. “We must go to the border gate before Lanzenave escapes and purge them from within.”

Heisshitze gave a proud smile and said, “You have my sword. We are here to answer Lady Rozemyne’s call for aid; once everything is over, the two of us can discuss our next ditter match at our leisure.”

“Once everything is over, you say? I will see you in ten years, then.”

“Ten years? Nay, I shall see this through much sooner. Let our rematch never be forgotten.”

Holy crackers. It’s like he’s immune to Ferdinand’s attitude.

Heisshitze had challenged Ferdinand to so many ditter matches during their Royal Academy days that he now took blunt rejections in his stride. He was a Dunkelfelgerian through and through.

“In any case,” Ferdinand continued, “why are we the only ones here? What happened to Ahrensbach’s knights?”

Leonore relayed the information that Hannelore had given us and explained the most recent developments in our battle against Lanzenave.

Ferdinand rounded on me and pinched my cheek. “Just how abnormal can your methods be?” It was an entirely unjustified reaction, if you asked me.

“I could never have saved you by acting within the realm of common sense,” I protested. “And it was because Dunkelfelger’s knights agreed to help us that we were able to secure the foundation without being harmed and rescue you before it was too late. You should be thanking them.”

Ferdinand paused in thought, then looked at the overenthusiastic knight in front of him. “Alright, Heisshitze. If, after we close the border gate, you capture every single Lanzenavian still in Ahrensbach, I will take you to Ehrenfest as you so desire.”

“‘Take him to Ehrenfest’?!” Hannelore repeated, eyes wide. “For what purpose, exactly?”

Dunkelfelger had agreed to come with us to Ahrensbach, but we hadn’t said anything about them joining the fight in Ehrenfest. It was only natural that Hannelore, their commander, was so surprised, but Ferdinand continued without paying her any mind.

“Rozemyne might have stolen Ahrensbach’s foundation, but protecting one’s own treasure is just as important. If a duchy does not have good enough defenses, even the strongest knights can easily taste defeat. I expected you to know that, considering how many times your duchy lost its treasure to me.”

Many of the knights winced as if personally wounded. They must have been from Ferdinand’s generation.

“To summarize, this game cannot be considered over until Ehrenfest’s foundation has been protected,” Ferdinand declared. “Lanzenave is attacking with all manner of unexpected tools, from weapons to poisons, so we cannot let our guard down until true victory has been secured. Serve under me, Heisshitze. Together, we will crush our foes into nothing.”

“Yes, sir! We are yours to command, and our game of true ditter shall continue!”

“Aye, aye!” the knights chorused. Then they rose from their knees, returned to the balcony, and took to the skies on their highbeasts. Their enthusiasm was a bit much, if you asked me, but the speed with which they acted made them very reliable.

Hannelore looked thoroughly beaten, but she nodded a few times and repeated that sending the knights home in their current state would only cause trouble.

“Justus,” Ferdinand said, “while I am absent, rescue the nobles from their hidden rooms and gather all the intelligence you can.”

“Understood, my lord.”

“Hartmut, Clarissa, you are to free the Ahrensbach nobles currently under watch, explain that Rozemyne is by all means a much better aub than Detlinde, and extol the virtues of her sainthood. Beat it into them that their entire duchy will crumble without her at the reins. I do not care if you need to brainwash them to the point that they kneel at the sight of her; I am relying on you both to ensure that she is smoothly accepted as Aub Ahrensbach.”

“You may count on us!” they declared.

My stomach started to ache. “Um, Ferdinand... Should you really be leaving this to them? I feel kinda... No, really uneasy...”

“I can think of nobody better to extol your virtues. Now, has your mana replenished yet?” His eyes betrayed concern as we strode toward the balcony. “As you are the aub, we will... need to push you a little bit further.”

I smiled and shook my head, hoping to calm him down. “I just drank a potion, so you don’t have anything to worry about. Not to mention... The real battle starts now, right?”

Ferdinand had just come back from the brink of death, yet he was more focused on defeating his enemies than recovering. He had to be, since this truly was the decisive moment.

“Good. Then let us go,” he said. “As the ruling Aub Ahrensbach, it falls to you to settle this madness and get your duchy under control.”

Once outside, Ferdinand made his highbeast with a vicious, evil grin. An ordonnanz appeared at the same moment. The white bird landed on Eckhart’s arm and started speaking in a man’s voice.

“Eckhart, this is Strahl. Lanzenave’s ships are on the move! We suspect they are using the break in Dunkelfelger’s offensive to flee through the country gate. Has Lord Ferdinand recovered yet? We need orders!”

Upon delivering its message for a third time, the ordonnanz turned into a feystone. Eckhart took it; then Ferdinand tapped it with his schtappe.

“This is Ferdinand. The aub and I are headed to close the country gate. Do not attack, and do not reveal yourselves. Just lie in wait.”