Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter 2

Their Information and Name Stones

“Let us share intelligence while eating dinner,” I said and started toward the dining hall. “There is not much time, Eckhart.”

“Right,” he agreed, and came along.

“What happened to Lady Letizia?” I’d seen Ferdinand entrust her with a message; then Detlinde had revealed that she had tricked the poor girl as part of a much larger plan. Letizia was doubtless being blamed for the entire incident and suffering immensely. I was terribly worried about her safety.

Eckhart had surely spoken with her, but he merely raised an eyebrow at me. “Who knows? I certainly don’t,” he replied, so blunt and disinterested that I wanted to cradle my head.

“Lady Letizia did give you a message from Ferdinand, didn’t she? Shouldn’t you have protected her or something?”

“What are you talking about? She has her own guard knights. Why should I need to look after her when Lord Ferdinand returned our name stones and is currently in life-threatening danger?”

“I mean, true, but...” I stared up at him, making my dissatisfaction clear.

Eckhart glared at me, then dangled a sound-blocker in front of my eyes. As I took it, I noticed the emotion fade from his expression. He looked unconcerned at first glance, but the flames of wrath burned in his green eyes, barely contained.

“‘Lord Ferdinand’s orders come first. Don’t think about the girl,’” Eckhart said. “If I hadn’t drilled those words into my mind, I might have cut her down where she stood.”

“Excuse me?!” I gasped, shocked that he would say something so violent. He looked so nonchalant; I would never have guessed that he had come so close to killing Letizia.

“Think about it. They were the only two in the replenishment hall; then she came out with the message about his life being in danger. I don’t know what happened in there, exactly... but Lady Letizia is the only one who could have done it. At the very least, Lady Detlinde wasn’t in the hall when Lady Letizia gave us our name stones.”

I could only blink at him. From what I’d seen, Letizia had rushed out of the hall, and then Detlinde had entered not long afterward. Ehrenfest’s Mana Replenishment hall was hidden behind a tapestry in the archduke’s office, where Sylvester could normally be found unless he was attending the Archduke Conference. I’d assumed that Detlinde had similarly been waiting nearby.

“Is Ahrensbach’s Mana Replenishment hall not behind its aub’s office?” I asked. “Lady Detlinde must have been right outside.”

“It is, but she has her own office elsewhere. She went out of her way to have a new one made close to her chambers, saying that scholars should come to her, not the other way around. Everyone let it happen because she wasn’t formally the aub—and it’s thanks to their acquiescence that she can behave so arrogantly.”

I’d once been taught that an aub’s chambers were kept far away from their office for a reason—so that untrustworthy nobles wouldn’t have cause to be anywhere near their living environment—but Detlinde must not have been bothered about that.

“Lord Ferdinand always took extreme care to ensure that no dangerous individuals entered the aub’s office while Lady Letizia was practicing Mana Replenishment. This afternoon was no exception; they went into the office together, and we guarded the door in the meantime.”

Even in Ehrenfest, only the archduke and archnoble retainers bound to him by blood could enter his office during Mana Replenishment. It would come across as extremely hostile for there to be guards both inside and outside the room. Moreover, during Ahrensbach’s Mana Replenishment, Eckhart and Justus had stood guard as individuals from another duchy.

“We were guarding the door when Lady Letizia rushed out, trembling and pale,” Eckhart explained. She had delivered the aforementioned message and then given Justus a small cage containing several name stones. Eckhart had immediately understood what it meant, for Ferdinand would only return the stones when he thought his life was in danger—to spare his name-sworn from joining him and so they could pass on what they’d discovered to Ehrenfest.

“I went to seize her so that I could get the details, but her guard knights stopped me,” Eckhart said. “Then Justus grabbed me by the collar.”

The situation had shocked and thoroughly disturbed Eckhart, so it made sense that he’d wanted to seize the one person who could provide the answers he sought. At the same time, I could understand why Letizia’s guard knights and Justus had immediately moved to stop him.

Eckhart sure does get scary whenever Ferdinand is involved...

“Under normal circumstances,” he continued, “I would have fought Lady Letizia’s guard knights, secured her, and then made her tell me what was going on. The only reason I didn’t was because Justus yelled that obeying Lord Ferdinand came first. In other words, if you wish to complain that we don’t have her or at least what she knew, direct it at him.”

Just so you know, I wanted you to keep her safe, not imprison and interrogate her.

I wasn’t going to chastise Justus for his decision. I would praise him, if anything. Letting a frantic Eckhart, unsure whether his lord was safe, lay his hands on Letizia would only have ended in disaster. He would have been caught and confined before he could obtain any information.

“In the first place, why are you defending Lady Letizia?” Eckhart asked, clearly frustrated. “It’s taking all of my willpower not to get annoyed just thinking about her. I didn’t say anything to the aub, since he told me you were fighting to rescue Lord Ferdinand, but you’re mixing up the culprits. As much as Lady Detlinde’s an empty-headed moron, we don’t yet have the grounds to eliminate her.”

I paused, choosing my next words carefully. I didn’t want Eckhart to think that Letizia was even worse than Detlinde.

“First, I saw Lady Letizia accept the message and cage from Ferdinand and rush out of the replenishment hall. Then, barely a moment later, Lady Detlinde entered. She said she was enacting Lady Georgine’s plans and that they had used Lady Letizia as a pawn.”

Eckhart’s eyes hardened. Sylvester must not have revealed everything I’d seen in the replenishment hall.

“Lady Letizia did use powdered poison on Ferdinand,” I continued, “but he reacted immediately and drank some kind of potion to deal with it. He’s only in danger now because Lady Detlinde entered afterward, threw some kind of paralytic powder at him, clapped schtappe-sealing bracelets on his wrists, and then put his hand on the activated replenishment circle. The poison is a concern, but we should be more worried about his mana running out.”

Eckhart’s expression betrayed an intense hatred of everything. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth. My aim had been to exonerate Letizia, but it seemed that I’d only added another name to the list of culprits.

“Lady Letizia must not have learned a thing if she let such a stupid woman manipulate her into poisoning Lord Ferdinand,” Eckhart spat. “Despite your advice, we should never have let up on her education.” He took the sound-blocker from me, then gave me an imploring look and said, “Rozemyne... Can we really make it in time?”

“Is that not the reason you came back?”

Eckhart shook his head and solemnly replied, “No, we came back to give the information and evidence Lord Ferdinand gathered to the aub, and to follow our lord once it became clear that he had passed away.”

“We’ll reach him in time no matter what, so don’t even think about doing something so foolish! You and Ferdinand both give up way too easily!”

Justus arrived at the dinner table much sooner than expected; it hadn’t taken him long to realize that Hartmut’s speeches were all show and no substance. “Is it true that Lord Ferdinand is at greater risk of running out of mana than succumbing to the poison, milady?” he asked.

“The poison does pose a threat,” I replied, “but it wasn’t instantly fatal, much to Lady Detlinde’s surprise. Ferdinand drank something when he was first struck with the powder that I suspect was an antidote of some kind. Assuming it worked, mana loss is indeed our biggest concern.”

Justus chewed on my response. “Instantly fatal, did you say? Do you know the symptoms?”

“Lady Detlinde said the powder should have immediately turned him into a feystone. Since it failed, she used some other powder to stun him and then elected to drain his mana instead.”

There was a short pause before Justus said, “Allow me to borrow your workshop once we have eaten. I shall make an antidote.” He then returned to his food, eating considerably faster while still moving with the grace expected of a noble.

“But of course,” I replied. “Before you start to brew, however, do see whether any of the antidotes Hartmut and the others are making are what you are looking for. They have prepared many kinds.”

“Your thoroughness astounds me,” Justus remarked, so taken aback that he set down his cutlery. “You were made aware of the situation just earlier today, were you not...?”

“Earlier this afternoon, yes, but Ehrenfest has been preparing for a defensive war for about a month now. The most I’ve done today is get permission to rescue him, convince Dunkelfelger to assist us, and ask my retainers to prepare to leave.”

“We came to Ehrenfest to make one last delivery for our lord, expecting to follow him in death soon after. But when we arrived, we were told to reunite with you—that you were preparing to launch a rescue operation tonight. It was a shock, but one for which I am grateful.” Justus then slumped back in his chair and sighed. “From the bottom of my heart, I am glad you are here, milady. We knew about your disappearance.”

“I thought the other duchies were being told that I was sick...”

“We learned the truth from Professor Hirschur. She told us as a reward of sorts, since Lord Ferdinand helped her brew from the day after the graduation ceremony until the day he returned to Ahrensbach.”

Professor Hirschur?! Come on!

Naturally, she wouldn’t have told just anyone, and even I thought it was okay for Ferdinand and the others to know. The weird part was that she’d practically traded them the information. I couldn’t help but wonder what she would have done if any of the Ahrensbach retainers had been there with them.

“As we brewed and educated Raimund, we received word that ships had arrived from Lanzenave,” Justus continued. “Lord Ferdinand said to turn them away—in the past, they were only allowed entry after the Archduke Conference—but Lady Detlinde refused to listen. She stole away back to Ahrensbach to open the gate for Lanzenave, forcing us to follow.”

Umm, what? Is that allowed...?

I couldn’t believe how easily Detlinde had cast aside tradition. But at the same time, there was something far more important on my mind.

“One moment,” I said. “Is that gate open as we speak?”

“Naturally. Lanzenave ships are going in and out of Ahrensbach as though they own the place. Lord Ferdinand advised Lady Detlinde to close the gate on many an occasion, but she just wouldn’t listen. And because she dyed the foundation, the decision was entirely in her hands.”

The fact of the matter was that Detlinde’s elder sister had dyed Ahrensbach’s foundational magic, but that didn’t matter right now. I’d assumed the border gate in question would be closed, so I’d planned to ask Aub Dunkelfelger to place teleporters between his country gate and the border gate he shared with Ahrensbach. But if Ahrensbach’s border gate was open, we could save ourselves a lot of time.

“Justus,” I said, “which is closer to Ahrensbach’s castle: its country gate or the border gate it shares with Dunkelfelger?”

“Its country gate. Why?”

“How convenient,” I replied with a grin. “We should arrive sooner than expected, then.”

Justus leaned closer, his eyes brimming with curiosity. “What makes you think that?”

“How much do you know about Lady Georgine’s movements? According to Lady Detlinde, she was ready to depart as soon as she received an ordonnanz confirming her plan’s completion. How far is Ehrenfest from Ahrensbach’s castle?”

“About seven days by carriage or two by highbeast... But she might have gone to our border ahead of time. Luggage-filled carriages departed from her villa maybe ten days ago, ostensibly because she was participating in Spring Prayer.”

“Send an ordonnanz to Sylvester,” I said, standing up at once. But before I could go anywhere, Justus raised a hand to stop me.

“The aub already knows. He asked us the same questions at the Royal Academy.”

“Oh, good. How did you two make it there, anyway? I thought one could only access a duchy’s teleportation hall with permission from its aub. Is that not the case in Ahrensbach?” It was hard to imagine Georgine or Detlinde letting them go and potentially compromising their scheme.

Justus gave a half smile. “It was part of the contract Lord Ferdinand signed in return for supplying mana to Ahrensbach’s foundation before his Starbinding. Raimund was permitted to stay in the Royal Academy outside of winter, and we were permitted to check on him.”

Ahrensbach had been quite receptive to those terms, no doubt because Raimund’s research had received accolades during two consecutive awards ceremonies. Little did they know, the true reasons for the contract had been to protect Raimund from the faction war raging in the castle and to provide an escape route in case of an emergency.

“Those who leave a duchy are seldom accepted back into it, even when their lives are at risk,” Justus informed me. “Thus, Lord Ferdinand recorded evidence of Ahrensbach’s collusion with Lanzenave and various dangerous remarks they have made so that we could purchase our protection, as it were.”

Ferdinand gave his retainers their feystones back and did everything in his power to ensure their safety, but what did he do for himself?! Why didn’t he think about his own well-being?!

Seeing my frustration—it annoyed me that Ferdinand always put his own safety last—Justus gave me a teasing look. “He also said something most troubling...” he continued, not looking troubled at all.

“What...?”

“We aren’t the only ones he gave instructions to. He has a message for you as well, milady.”

My stomach dropped, but I grimaced and urged Justus to continue. I didn’t have much of a choice.

“In his words, ‘I entrust Eckhart, Justus, and Lasfam to you. Stay in Ehrenfest and do nothing at all. Upon my death, everything I own will become yours. And as promised, both Ehrenfest and Yurgenschmidt will be saved.’ In truth, we don’t have a clue what he meant. Do you, milady?”

Everything he owns... will become mine?

I’d already connected the dots. I didn’t know how, but Ferdinand must have realized that we each owned part of the Book of Mestionora and that his death would make my book complete.

“Stay in Ehrenfest and do nothing at all,” huh? In other words, “Don’t you dare try to rescue me.” Hmm...

An indescribable anger surged through me. I’d made it perfectly clear to Ferdinand that I wouldn’t stop caring about him. I’d declared that I would go to any lengths to save him—that I would make enemies of Ahrensbach, the Sovereignty, and even the Zent.

“I understand what Ferdinand means, but I must refuse,” I said. “I’m not going to wait here and do nothing while he’s dying. I will rescue him, no matter how angry it makes him. I’d do anything to save his life.”

“That’s my little sister,” Eckhart said with an overjoyed smile.

Justus gave a similar grin and took out a sound-blocker. I accepted it, wondering what he wanted to say—and the moment I did, he adopted a truly meaningful expression.

“As you know, taking someone’s name grants you the power to kill them... but it also lets you keep them alive. Name-sworn die alongside their charge, but they can also survive otherwise fatal scenarios through the mana they receive from their lord or lady. It goes both ways.”

The blood drained from my face as my anger was replaced with utter confusion. It was clear as day what Justus wanted me to do, but for him to have even suggested it, he must have known about Quinta’s name stone.

“Justus, how do you...?”

“I made the bag it was hidden in.”

“I see. Wait, hold on... In other words—to summarize—you really want me to...”

He wanted me to steal the name stone so that I could supply his lord with mana. I firmly shook my head. No way would Ferdinand ever forgive me, and in the first place, I didn’t want to take someone’s name without permission. But my refusal only made Justus smile even more intensely.

“Did you not just tell me you would do anything to save him, milady?”

“I did, but...”

“You even told the aub and everyone else that you would take on the world to ensure his safety. Was that an empty declaration?”

“N-No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t, but—”

“Accepting his name shouldn’t require anywhere near as much resolve.”

Surely this was false equivalence. My resolve to take on the world couldn’t be compared to my readiness to accept someone’s name. Ferdinand certainly hadn’t intended to give his to me, and the thought of taking his life in my hands had never even crossed my mind.

“Right now,” Justus continued, “our greatest concern is that he might run out of mana. Accepting his name should grant us more time. Being enveloped in the mana of another should also ease the pain Lord Ferdinand must be going through.”

At once, I remembered all the gross speeches Hartmut had made about “the bliss” of being enveloped in my mana. My spirit began to waver; I couldn’t deny that Justus was making sense.

“But... couldn’t anyone else do it?” I asked.

“Lord Ferdinand chose you to look after his name,” Justus replied, looking as serious as I’d ever seen him. “Would you feel right giving it to someone else?”

I shook my head.

He continued, “Given the urgency of our situation, you must not err on the side of caution. Upon rescuing him, simply explain the circumstances and return his name. You would struggle to relax with his name forever in your care, would you not?” He repeated again and again that I would only need to keep the name until we knew for sure that Ferdinand was safe.

“The stone... didn’t come with a box,” I said, staring hard at Justus. “Teach me how to make one.”

Once we’d all eaten, I made a name-stone-enveloping box in the workshop and then went into my hidden room. I retrieved the crumpled paper ball from the bottom of the bag that Justus had apparently made, then carefully unwrapped it to reveal the name stone with “Quinta” carved within it. I could tell from its multicolor appearance that it contained every element.

I put the name stone into my newly made white box and then added mana to make the box turn into a neat cocoon, much like I’d done with my name-sworn retainers. I made sure to pour all of my mana in at once so it wouldn’t hurt, and the box changed shape immediately.

Holding the small white cocoon in my hand and continuing to pour mana into it, I gave my first order: “Don’t give up, Ferdinand. I’m coming to save you, and there’s nothing that can stop me. Live.”