Summoning Winter
Several questions later, Ferdinand gathered the knights of Squads Nine and Ten, then informed them of our idea.
“You plan to freeze the ship?!” Heisshitze exclaimed. “Does this mean you can wield Schneeahst the God of Ice’s power even during this warm weather infused with Flutrane’s might?!”
“I shall perform a ritual to make it winter around the ship.”
“Excuse me?”
That’s exactly what I said. The very idea makes you think, “What the heck is this guy on about?” Right? He’s the abnormal one, not me.
Ferdinand didn’t waste another moment on Heisshitze or the very confused members of Squads Nine and Ten. Instead, he turned to my knights and instructed them to wield Ewigeliebe’s sword. Cornelius, Matthias, Leonore, and Angelica all stared at him in shock before exchanging looks.
“Lord Ferdinand, we cannot all perform the ceremony...” Cornelius said. “Using the sword drains one of one’s mana, and we cannot leave Lady Rozemyne without her guard knights.”
Leonore nodded in agreement, eager to decline such a nonsense suggestion. “Our highbeasts would surely vanish in the process. And without anyone to retrieve us, we would drop straight into the ocean.”
“There is no guarantee that a single knight’s mana would allow us to freeze the vessel,” Ferdinand shot back. “The more people we have wielding Ewigeliebe’s sword, the better. Especially if they have an abundance of mana. That said, it is true that Rozemyne needs guard knights.”
Matthias looked toward the port. “Laurenz can also use Ewigeliebe’s sword. Might I suggest entrusting the magic tools to someone else so that we can bring him here?”
“An excellent idea,” Ferdinand replied with a nod. He then gazed landward, fixing his eyes not on the outer wall but on the castle beyond it. “Rozemyne. If your guard knights were able to obtain Ewigeliebe’s sword by offering mana at the temple, can the same be said for Hartmut?”
“Of course. He and Cornelius competed to see who could make it first. But, wait... You aren’t suggesting we include him, are you?!”
“Hartmut is a scholar able to use Ewigeliebe’s sword; if you wish to keep some of your guard knights, who better to ask?” Ferdinand gave me an ordonnanz feystone, a wry smile on his face, and said, “Summon him. He will arrive in mere moments.”
I nodded and created the bird. “Hartmut, we are about to perform a large-scale ritual so that we can use Ewigeliebe’s sword. We need your support as our High Priest. I must ask that you put on feystone armor and make your way here at once.”
Ferdinand then took my hand and added to the message: “I would recommend asking Clarissa to manage the magic tools and rejuvenation potions atop the outer walls. You may bring the Ahrensbach nobles along so that they might witness a true ritual. Hurry.”
Hartmut’s response came almost immediately. “Understood, Lady Rozemyne. I shall carry out your will at once.”
“Hop to it, everyone!” Clarissa announced in the background. “This is a fantastic opportunity to burn the resplendent form of Lady Rozemyne into your eyes and see within her the image of a goddess!”
They both sounded fairly lively. Clarissa hadn’t been allowed to visit the temple, meaning she couldn’t make the divine instruments. There hadn’t been anything we could do about that, but it had still frustrated her, so I was glad to know she finally had a role to play.
If only that role weren’t brainwashing nobles!
Even now, I couldn’t help finding Hartmut and Clarissa’s enthusiasm somewhat... repulsive. As I chewed on that thought, Ferdinand sent an ordonnanz to Laurenz.
“Laurenz, we are calling on Rozemyne’s guards to wield Ewigeliebe’s sword. Choose four apprentice knights to join you; they will need to retrieve you and provide rejuvenation potions once you have expended your mana. Clarissa has agreed to manage the magic tools in your place.”
“I shall speed through the selection process and, if permitted, unite with you once Clarissa has taken over my role,” Laurenz replied. I could tell there were some burning questions on the tip of his tongue, but the most I could do was silently cheer him on.
“Cornelius, I entrust you to choose which of Rozemyne’s guard knights will participate in the ritual,” Ferdinand said. “Two of you will need to sit on your hands. Given the qualities of Ewigeliebe’s sword, I would recommend excluding women.”
“Understood.”
As my knights spoke among themselves, Heisshitze looked around in shock, still not convinced. He wasn’t the only one; the Dunkelfelger knights were collectively stunned.
At last, Heisshitze erupted. “How can you all from Ehrenfest remain so at ease?! Am I the only one who heard Lord Ferdinand say that he plans to summon winter?!” He directed these questions at Angelica, of all people, since she was just observing the conversation from a distance.
She blinked in surprise, then placed a hand on her cheek and gave him a wistful smile. “We don’t need to understand the arduous duties thrust upon us; instead, we need only figure out how to accomplish them. Right now, we are expected to either swing Ewigeliebe’s sword or guard Lady Rozemyne. The summoning of winter is not my concern.”
“I see... Regimentation allows you to stay calm...”
Angelica’s attitude pretty much boils down to “I don’t like thinking about complicated things and would rather just focus on what I do best.” But wow, she sure made it seem profound.
Moved and inspired, Heisshitze promptly shouted, “Lord Ferdinand, assign us jobs too!”
Of course, Ferdinand paid the plea no mind. He sent an ordonnanz to the knight from before asking how much longer it would take him to rescue those previously thrown into the sea.
“Lord Ferdinand, this is Strahl,” came the response. “We have finished rescuing the kidnapped women and are now searching for any remaining feystones and magic tools. We would... like to retrieve as many of our late comrades’ feystones as we can.”
“I see. We are about to summon winter to freeze the other vessel, which will cause the temperature of the surrounding ocean to fall. Be careful.”
“Uh...”
The knight replied only with a grunt of surprise. Ferdinand must have interpreted it as a gesture of acknowledgment, as he chose not to elaborate. I couldn’t help feeling bad for this Strahl guy.
“Ferdinand, who was that?” I asked.
“He was Ahrensbach’s knight commander before Detlinde relieved him of duty. Now he is my guard knight.”
Ferdinand then sent an ordonnanz asking to speak with the Dunkelfelger knights who had infiltrated the ship and conquered it from within. It returned with a few words of acknowledgment before he sent it along to Hannelore’s squadron, requesting an update on their situation. The little bird sure was busy today.
As it turned out, Hannelore’s group had more or less finished conquering their ship as well. The kidnapped women were being led outside and an inquiry into the damages was underway.
“Rozemyne—stretch your arms out in front of you, place them on the head of my highbeast, and then lean forward,” Ferdinand said.
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
I was confused, but I did as instructed nonetheless. Ferdinand told me to stay still and placed a heavy board of some kind on my back. He hadn’t been carrying it before, so he must have transformed a feystone.
“Staying like this is actually really tough...” I groaned. “What exactly are you doing?”
“You need only wait for me to finish drawing the magic circle.”
No waaay! I’m being used as a desk?!
As unfortunate as it was, there wasn’t much I could do but wait for Ferdinand to finish drawing on the sheet of paper I’d given him.
“Ferdinand, my arms are starting to waver.”
“Already? You really should exercise more.”
Trying not to think about my trembling arms, I decided to strike up a conversation. “The sturdiness of mana-made metal depends on the mana capacity of whoever created it, right? Well, the metals that commoners use tend to become brittle when exposed to extreme cold. Do you think Lanzenave’s manaless metal might become more susceptible to physical attacks once the ship is frozen?”
“Oh? We could easily instruct the Dunkelfelger knights to attack,” Ferdinand said, continuing to draw all the while. “But what approach would work best?”
“Umm... Metal tends to contract when exposed to a rapid drop in temperature. If we could jam spears or swords into the gaps between the black and silver tiles, I assume we’d manage to pry them off.”
And once a few of the tiles were gone, removing the rest would be easy.
“Those attack ports are the only thing stopping us from landing on the deck and forcing our way into the vessel,” Ferdinand said. “Imagine how much easier this operation will be once they are gone. We have plenty of knights renowned for their strength here with us, but if we are going to bring about winter, then smashing the metal sounds best. Our overall aim is to remove the silver so that you can use the aub’s protection again. Creating a hole large enough for a single person should allow Dunkelfelger’s knights to infiltrate with magic tools and start rescuing the hostages.”
We had the flash-bangs, the noisemakers, and those tear-gas grenades that Hartmut had provided. With so many options available to us, conquering the ship would be easy once the hostages had the aub’s protection.
Again we consulted Hannelore’s squadron and the knights who had infiltrated the other ship. This time, we learned that the prisoners were being kept in rooms that resisted mana.
“Heisshitze, once the ship is frozen, gather your best knights and rain spears on the areas away from those rooms.”
“You may count on us!”
By the time Ferdinand was done with the magic circle, we had reunited with Hartmut, Laurenz, and the retrieval squad. The flurry of ordonnanzes relaying instructions and delivering fresh intelligence must have drawn the attention of Ahrensbach’s nobles, as I could see various highbeasts around the outer walls. Even the commoners had thrown up their windows to watch.
Still waiting high above the ship, I gazed across my guard knights and the apprentices with them. It had been decided that Cornelius, Matthias, Laurenz, and Hartmut would swing Ewigeliebe’s sword.
“Rozemyne, begin,” Ferdinand said just as the sun poked up over the horizon. The sky brightened all at once, and the crashing waves began to sparkle.
Using the feystones he handed me, I traced the design on the fey paper, slowly filling it with mana. The first three feystones ran out, then the fourth. I was starting to worry that we wouldn’t have enough, but the magic circle activated right as I placed the fifth stone down.
The fey paper floated into the air, then caught fire and shot up toward the sky. Its magic circle turned red; then a beam of the same radiant hue descended on the ship. It was large enough to completely envelop it.
Just as the surrounding knights let out cries of awe, the red magic circle began changing color. Piercing white light replaced the red, consuming it from the top down.
“Winter has come. Do it.”
“Okay!”
Ferdinand flew his highbeast into the column of white. The drop in temperature was immediately noticeable, but my retainers were unfazed thanks to their feystone armor. They drew their respective swords of Ewigeliebe with nary a pause.
The white blades were enveloped in chilly ice the moment they were drawn. My retainers channeled more and more mana into them, causing the swirling snow to thicken into a blizzard.
“O God of Life Ewigeliebe, ruler of restoration and death. O twelve gods who serve by his side...” the four chanted.
As the harsh winds raged, I shivered and rubbed my arms. Ferdinand must have noticed, as he removed his cape and wrapped it around me. It was nice to have some protection from the ice slurry sweeping through the air.
“I thank you ever so much,” I said.
“There is no need for that; it is my fault you do not have warm clothes to begin with. An attendant would have prepared some for you without the slightest hesitation. I should have brought Justus...”
I gazed down at the cloak wrapped around me. As glad as I was to see Ferdinand reflecting on his mistake, was this really the time? The magic circles on his cape had started shining the instant it touched me, which must have been making us stand out.
Maybe it isn’t too noticeable now that the sun’s out. Or maybe we’re just too far away. Hmm...
I wasn’t about to return the cape when it was so bitterly cold, but the thought that people were staring at me was a little embarrassing.
“I give to thee mine unwavering faith,” my four retainers continued. “Let my foremost ideals be met with praise and granted your protection. Grant me thy divine power so that no enemies might approach.”
Their chant finished, my retainers swung their swords down at the ship. The ice and snow twisted and transformed into the Lord of Winter’s spawn, which then descended on the ship. At a guess, there had to be at least seventy of them.
Ewigeliebe’s swords then disappeared, having merely been transformed schtappes, and the four who had wielded them all slumped over. The apprentices riding with them sprang into action, flying their charges out of the white pillar to give them rejuvenation potions.
I enhanced my vision and watched as the ice spawn gnawed on the ship below. Crystals of snow formed over the openings of the volley weapons, turning them from silver to white. My four retainers must have had an overwhelming amount of mana, for in mere moments, the entire vessel was buried in ice and snow. Even the water within the pillar froze over.
“Rozemyne, how many winter subordinates remain?” Ferdinand asked.
“Three more, from what I can tell.” They were fading away one by one.
“Heisshitze! Go!”
“DESCEND!” Heisshitze shouted in response.
At once, four Dunkelfelger knights flew into the pillar, formed their schtappes, and simultaneously shouted, “Lanze!” Crackling spears appeared in their hands.
“Are those... Leidenschaft’s spears?” Ferdinand muttered.
“Do you remember when Aub Dunkelfelger presented his temple’s spear during my third-year Interduchy Tournament? Well, since then, the duchy’s knights have been using Leidenschaft’s spear in their pre-ditter rituals. Your information network really suffered as a result of Ahrensbach not participating in the Royal Academy’s ceremonies, huh?”
“Yes, that is becoming all too clear to me.”
The blue-capes rushed down to the frozen ship, their crackling spears in hand.
“HYAAAAAAH!”
With an intense roar, Heisshitze threw his spear alongside his four knights. The silver plating might have been immune to mana, but it didn’t stand a chance against Leidenschaft’s heat. The ice surrounding the ship was blown away, as was a portion of the silver tiles.
One of the thrown spears had managed to slot into an opening made by the contracting metal. Blue mana spread out like a web, causing more and more tiles to come away—and it was then that Ferdinand gave the order.
“Rozemyne! The aub’s protection! Now!”
I channeled mana into my schtappe, then swung it and chanted, “Vollkowesen!” A yellow bird flew into the ship to protect Ahrensbach’s citizens.
“Eckhart! Make an opening in the bow!” Ferdinand said. He had started instructing the others without even waiting for me to finish.
“Yes, my lord!”
“Squads Nine and Ten, prepare to infiltrate!”
“Understood!”
Eckhart morphed his schtappe into a sword and started filling it with mana as he headed toward the ship. He was moving so fast that one might have thought he was chasing after the bird. The ship was no longer a threat now that its silver tiles had been removed; Eckhart’s rainbow blade slashed into it and made a gaping hole for the Dunkelfelger knights to fly through.
I drew a magic circle with my stylo as instructed; then Ferdinand tossed three feystones into it. The column of white disappeared, marking the end of winter. It was fairly surreal to see the frozen ship floating on ice amid what was essentially summer heat and a dazzling sun.
“Ferdinand, they rescued Lady Letizia,” I said when I saw the golden-haired little girl being brought out of the ship. She had grown a little but looked mostly the same, so I recognized her instantly.
Ferdinand exhaled while putting on the cape I’d returned to him. “Rozemyne, how do you wish to treat her?”
“Wha...?”
“Will she be treated as family to the traitors, an attempted murderer, or the victim of a conniving scheme? Your decision will dictate whether we capture her here as a criminal or treat her as another victim—though in either case, she will need to be kept under surveillance.”
I turned from Letizia, who was now on the deck, to Ferdinand. “I shall treat her with forgiveness and generosity. You knew she didn’t have any ill intentions, didn’t you? I doubt you would have entrusted her with your retainers’ name stones otherwise.”
“Very well. We can always charge her for her crimes if we need to. But for now, let us treat her as a victim.”
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