Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.9 - Chapter 17

Prayers and the Departure

“And there he goes...” I said. Aub Dunkelfelger had ended our call as soon as he’d made his last declaration, leaving us staring into the empty water. “He sure seems to like that ‘faster than Steifebrise’ phrase, huh?”

“It does seem like the kind of saying his people would take to,” Ferdinand replied while putting the tool away. “I cannot shake my suspicion that his knights’ tales of true ditter have brought out his thirst for battle, but still... We need to finish our purge of the Lanzenavians sooner rather than later. It would also be wise to remember that Raublut used the royal family’s order to protect the Royal Academy as a cover for his fraternizing with the enemy.”

Ferdinand gave his forehead a few taps, then continued in a much lower voice, “I was hoping the Sovereign knights would dispatch the remaining Lanzenavians or the Lanzenavians would massacre the royals while we were in Ehrenfest... That both parties have survived is rather troublesome...” He spoke with a completely straight face, which made it all the more terrifying.

“Ferdinand,” I said, staring up at him, “was that not a rather violent thing to say?”

“Ah. I was frustrated that the situation did not go as I anticipated, but I should not have made that so apparent. I will take care to better disguise such remarks in the future.”

“That wasn’t what I meant! You shouldn’t casually bemoan the absence of a massacre! Do you not realize how scary that sounds?!”

As much as I agreed that the royals were a pain to deal with, I didn’t want Detlinde’s group or the Lanzenavians to kill them all. A tragedy like that would only leave a bad taste in my mouth. The most I wanted was a guarantee they would never bother me again.

“You are as moderate as ever,” Ferdinand said, then looked around the office. “Eckhart, have Strahl and the others returned yet?”

“They spent the night traveling by highbeast and are expected to arrive soon.”

“Inform them upon their return to rest until seventh bell. Send ordonnanzes to the knights and scholars telling them to be ready for a fight the very moment the date changes.”

“Sir!”

Ferdinand then turned to Justus. “How goes the scholars’ production of rejuvenation potions and magic tools?”

“Things are proceeding smoothly under Hartmut and Clarissa’s guidance.”

“Good. Have them continue as they are.”

“Though I should note that Hartmut and Clarissa are making tools only for Lady Rozemyne,” Justus added with a wry smile.

Ferdinand told my knights to take turns resting before he rounded on me. “Rozemyne—regarding the coming battle... You will not be participating.”

“Huh? But you need me to activate the teleportation circle, don’t you?”

“Correct. You will teleport the knights from Ahrensbach’s country gate to the Royal Academy. Then you will return here. There is no need for you to get involved any more than that.”

On the one hand, I was relieved that I wouldn’t need to fight. But on the other, I was racked with unease. I was the one who had accused Ahrensbach of treason, stolen its foundation, and announced to everyone my intention to become its new aub. It wouldn’t be right of me to leave capturing the Lanzenavians to Aub Dunkelfelger and Ferdinand, who still wasn’t formally associated with Ahrensbach.

“Ferdinand, do I not need to participate in my capacity as an archduchess? Is it not Aub Ahrensbach’s duty to capture Lady Detlinde and the Lanzenavians?”

“You were not hoping to take part, were you?”

“Of course not. But what does that have to do with anything?” I asked, staring intensely at him. “Is it truly acceptable for me to stay behind and abandon my duty as an aub?”

Ferdinand grimaced, looking equally as intense. “I agree that your involvement would make the most sense, but there is no way to make that happen while you are in your current state. I shall carry out your duty for you. Simply wait for my return.”

“I refuse,” I said with a strict glare. “I might ask for your help sometimes, but I’m not going to dump my workload on you. Don’t treat me like I’m Sylvester. And on top of that, if we intend to leave in the dead of the night, then a certain someone needs rest far more than I do.”

Of course, I wasn’t speaking out of a newfound appreciation for my role; I might even have agreed to let Ferdinand act in my stead if not for how weary he seemed.

Eckhart and Justus gave firm nods of agreement.

“Rozemyne...” Ferdinand muttered, clearly on his guard. “Just what are you planning?”

“Our preparations are already in full swing. Hartmut and Clarissa are used to the process, and the knights know exactly what they need to do. It was through your assistance that I was able to sleep peacefully... so allow me to return the favor.”

Eckhart understood exactly what my intentions were. He moved behind Ferdinand, ready to catch him, while I took out my schtappe and started to pray.

“O Schlaftraum, God of Dreams—may Ferdinand be blessed with pleasant sleep and joyous dreams.”

“You fool...” Ferdinand grumbled. He must have been in dire need of rest because he passed out even quicker than Letizia.

Our late-night departure meant I would need to take an afternoon nap of my own, but there were some important matters I needed to attend to first. I summoned Hartmut’s group and asked them for the best way to seek out a villa hidden by Verbergen, then instructed them to prepare whatever magic circles we would need.

“If the villa and its door are too hard to find because they bear Verbergen’s sigil, then it might help to search for them using the sigil of Anhaltung the Goddess of Advice,” I said, relaying what I’d discussed with Sieglinde and Aub Dunkelfelger.

Hartmut crossed his arms in thought, then cast his eyes down as if searching through his memories. “This magic circle you desire must be especially rare; barely any of the Academy’s courses explore circles meant for finding things. Have you encountered it before, at least?”

“Lady Rozemyne,” Leonore interjected, “while I agree with using Anhaltung’s power to expose our enemies, could we not also employ Verbergen’s seal? Doing so would allow us to act in secret, which should aid us tremendously in our ambush.”

As the two discussed their thoughts, I formed my Book of Mestionora and started researching Verbergen and Anhaltung. There was no need to be discreet; everyone here already knew about my bible.

“Hartmut, this magic circle looks like it might work,” I said, then transferred it onto a sheet of paper. There were holes in its design, but I was knowledgeable enough to fill them in.

“You have no issues with magic circles, then?” Hartmut asked as he accepted my work.

“No, none at all. I do not feel anything in particular while drawing them.”

“In that case, we might be able to circumvent the need to use ordonnanzes by modifying the Ordoschnelli magic circle used to make them. You will need something of the sort if you intend to join the battle.”

From there, Hartmut asked me to find out as much as I could about Ordoschnelli that wasn’t already covered in the Academy’s lessons. He was being impressively insightful, so I gave my Book another search.

I’m not sure I’ll find much, though. Ferdinand’s bible contained a lot more about old magic circles than mine.

I started to look... then peered up at Hartmut and cocked my head. “Are you not sleep-deprived, Hartmut? You might not be in as bad shape as Ferdinand, but you haven’t rested nearly enough, have you?”

“Oh? Would you grant me Schlaftraum’s blessing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

I shot a quick glance at Clarissa, who was clasping her hands in front of her chest, ready to beg. “Of course, Hartmut. I understand just how hard you’ve been working. I would not refuse to grant you a single blessing.”

“In that case, I shall ask for one when Lord Ferdinand awakens. We cannot have you lose any more retainers.”

I gazed around and remembered that my knights were taking turns to rest in preparation for tonight. Eckhart and Justus were also sleeping so they could attend to Ferdinand once he was awake and operating at full strength.

“Fear not,” Hartmut continued with a slight smile. “I shall sleep with you, Lady Rozemyne.”

“Hartmut,” Leonore said. “Mind your phrasing. You could simply have said that you plan to rest at the same time as her.”

Until then, I spent my time drawing magic circles on the fey paper Hartmut and Clarissa had made, speaking with Letizia about how many nobles had probably exited through the Lanzenave Estate, and so on.

“Ferdinand,” I said. “You’re up early.”

It wasn’t even fifth bell yet. I’d thought Ferdinand would need more sleep, but he looked alert and much healthier than before.

“Rozemyne, obtain permission before using blessings that will disturb the schedules of those you cast them on,” he retorted.

“Practice what you preach, then,” I replied with a glare. He had blessed me without asking not too long ago.

“I... shall work on it,” Ferdinand said with a nod and a grimace.

“So, what wonderful dream did you have? Mine was about reading in a glorious library.”

“It was nothing worth mentioning.”

“That’s strange. Was my prayer not strong enough?” I’d elected not to use much mana, since Ferdinand had fallen asleep almost at once, but maybe that hadn’t been a great idea.

“Do not worry about such trivial matters. On a more important note, have you received any updates? How are the preparations coming along?” He was looking not at me but at Hartmut. “Ah, employing Verbergen’s sigil to help with our concealment, I see. A fine idea. We intend to use it, of course, but we should distribute some to Dunkelfelger’s knights as well.”

“Are we not going to blow our cover simply by teleporting to the Royal Academy?” I asked, wondering whether stealth truly was an option. “Dunkelfelger’s country gate shone like a beacon when we used it.”

Ferdinand gave his temple a few contemplative taps. “It would still serve us well to prepare some.”

“Incidentally... Lady Letizia told me she wished to speak about the instant-death poison before the battle. Her current status means we cannot discuss it openly with her, and my knights would not have let me be alone with her in the first place, so I said that I would need to wait until you were awake. Do you have time to weigh in?”

It seemed only natural that the Lanzenavians at the Academy would use the same poison as their countrymen. Speaking with Letizia felt like a wise decision—maybe she knew something about it we had yet to consider—but at the same time, I wanted to know what Ferdinand thought. He was her victim in this matter, after all.

“Yes,” he replied at length. “I will see her. Information about Lanzenave has been exceptionally hard to come by.”

“Then I will prepare tea. And since you missed lunch, I suspect you will also need a light meal.”

I turned to Lieseleta, who chuckled and said, “You have looked so worried since lunch that we opted to take the initiative and prepare some food we could serve at any moment. Would you prefer Ahrensbach cuisine or dishes from Ehrenfest?”

Ferdinand wasn’t even able to open his mouth before Justus replied, “The dishes from Ehrenfest, if you would.”

Lieseleta and Sergius moved to the adjacent room to oversee the preparation of our tea. In the meantime, I asked Gretia to summon Letizia to the tea party room.

Once everyone was gathered and we had our tea—Letizia included—Ferdinand activated an area-wide magic tool. “So, what would you like to share with us?” he asked.

Letizia took a deep breath, then said, “The Lanzenavians conceal their dangerous poison within silver tubes.”

“I... am well aware,” Ferdinand said curtly. “On top of that, Rozemyne saw the poison in action during the Battle of Ehrenfest, so we need no more information about how it functions.”

Letizia’s eyes wandered as she sought her next words. “They have some form of medicine that makes them immune to their poison. That is why they can use it without covering their mouths. Take care.”

“Medicine?”

“Yes. It looks and tastes just like the sweets they handed out as souvenirs, but the core is somewhat bitter. Lady Detlinde and Lord Leonzio called me over and gave me one on my way to the Mana Replenishment hall.”

In other words, she had received the medicine immediately before her meeting with Ferdinand. They had arranged to discuss her head attendant, Roswitha, who had vanished two days prior.

“The poison is exceptionally dangerous in enclosed spaces,” Letizia continued. “Shortly after your retainers fled, Lord Leonzio used it inside the aub’s office. In a single moment, everyone except Fairseele and me was turned into...”

She fell silent, bit her trembling lip, and cast her eyes down. Back in Ehrenfest, only archnobles closely related to the aub could enter his office during Mana Replenishment. Could a group that powerful really have died in the blink of an eye? I imagined my own retainers being turned into feystones and immediately clapped a hand over my mouth.

“So their poison is extremely dangerous, and they have medicine that makes them essentially immune to it,” Ferdinand concluded. “That will do. You may leave.”

“Understood. Please, please be careful...” Letizia pleaded, her blue eyes wet with frustration. “The Lanzenavians view us only as sources of mana.”

And with that, she took her leave.

“Rozemyne. Are you okay?” Ferdinand asked.

“I... feel somewhat nauseated, but that’s all. I resolved to hear everything Lady Letizia wished to tell us. And in any case, she saw things far worse than anything I witnessed.”

Letizia needed care and consideration far more than I did. There was no way the things she’d seen hadn’t traumatized her.

“As much as I might want to help her, it will need to wait,” Ferdinand replied. “She brought about that situation in the first place. Our focus right now should be ensuring that nobody else meets the same end as her retainers.”

He was right—we couldn’t leave the Lanzenavians as they were. I nodded, took his outstretched hand, and stood up.

“You still need to rest, do you not?” Ferdinand asked. “Would you care for another blessing tonight?”

“I slept so peacefully last night that I doubt another would even work on me. Hartmut needs it far more, which is why I promised to bestow it upon him.”

“Go to sleep already. I shall visit his chambers and grant the blessing for you. Not even by the greatest stretch of the imagination would you be able to carry an almost full-grown man.”

Ferdinand then sighed; he really must not have appreciated being carried away by Eckhart. I couldn’t fault his logic, though—Hartmut was a man, meaning I wouldn’t even be able to enter his room—so maybe it really was best to let him take over.

Ferdinand granted me the blessing in spite of my refusal. I didn’t immediately fall asleep this time, but I did end up having nice dreams. I would need to see about receiving it every night from now on.

By the time I awoke, our preparations were complete. I put on my riding clothes, then went to the staging area together with my guard knights.

“The fighting has stretched on for days now,” Ferdinand said as he gazed upon our main force—eighty Ahrensbach knights, my knights, and a portion of our scholars. “You have not had the luxury of resting at your leisure, so I realize you are not at your best.”

Our group might not have been the largest—we needed to leave enough people behind to protect Ahrensbach—but our manpower was far greater than anything Ehrenfest could provide at the moment. Combined with the knights of Dunkelfelger, we wouldn’t have any trouble conquering the Adalgisa villa.

“However,” Ferdinand continued, “we must make do. We cannot leave the villains who ravaged Ahrensbach to their own devices. We must restore peace to this land—both for our new aub and to prove we are not traitors ourselves. We must drag those shameless Lanzenavian dogs from their den, capture them, and toss them before the Zent.”

In response, Eckhart slammed the butt of his spear against the ground. The knights stomped their boots in turn, and the mood started to change. This was the frenzy that came before a battle!

“This is our only chance to avenge our brothers who fell victim to their dishonorable ambush!” Ferdinand declared. “To wipe away the shame of our failure to protect those whose lives were in our hands!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Do not forgive those fools who put their country in danger by choosing to ally with a foreign power!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Let not a single ransacker go free!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

As the atmosphere became electric, Ferdinand called my name. I slowly approached and moved one step ahead of him, ready to do the obvious: it was time to bless the knights heading into battle.

“May those of you going into battle be blessed,” I said, holding my schtappe tight. “First by Verdrenna the Goddess of Thunder and Greifechan the Goddess of Luck, subordinates to Flutrane the Goddess of Water.”

Green light rained down on the knights. They must never have received a blessing before, if the looks of total shock on their faces were anything to go by.

“Then by Angriff the God of War and Schlagziel the God of Hunting, subordinates to Leidenschaft the God of Fire.”

This time, the light was blue. Ferdinand placed a hand on my back and told me that was enough—this was no small group to pray for—but I shook my head in protest. I wanted to give everyone as many blessings as I could. It wasn’t like I needed to conserve my mana; I was useless in battle, and I could just drink an ultra-nasty rejuvenation potion when it came time to teleport everyone. I was acting out of my own selfish desire not to see anyone else turn into a feystone.

“And also by Steifebrise the Goddess of the Gale and Duldsetzen the Goddess of Endurance, subordinates to Schutzaria the Goddess of the Wind.”

As soon as I was done, we departed en masse. In this pitch-black world where the sea and sky blended into one, the only light came from the border and country gates.

I was riding with Ferdinand and drinking a rejuvenation potion of the kind variety. We couldn’t risk all the flailing about that came with the ultra-nasty ones—not when we were so high up. I appreciated his consideration, but I thought I could do without the lecture.

“How many times must I tell you not to overdo it, fool? Blessing such a large group at once places far too great a burden on your body. Have you forgotten how much mana you will need to teleport everyone to the Royal Academy?”

“Not at all. My mana will regenerate, but those we lose in battle will never return. If giving them multiple blessings will increase their chances of survival, then I consider it worthwhile, no matter how much it might inconvenience me.” The last thing I wanted was the weight of even more deaths on my conscience.

“You really are troublesome...” Ferdinand sighed.

I opened the border gate as Aub Ahrensbach, then used my Book of Mestionora on the country gate. Because I still couldn’t stomach using my Pandabus, my retinue had to take the stairs.

My knights were the first ones to enter, since they’d used a country gate before. Eckhart was last—he was serving as our rear guard—so I closed the gate once he was safely inside.

“Grutrissheit,” Ferdinand said when we were finally alone; only those with the Book of Mestionora could enter the gate from above. He used rucken as we passed through the barrier.

“Am I just a cover for you?” I asked. He was using his Book as much as he pleased yet hadn’t shown any intention of revealing it.

“Indeed. Now make your bible shine bright enough for all to see. Swallowing the darkness is my duty.”

Yeah, yeah... Stay in the shadows and keep pulling the strings.

Once we were ready for them, I told the Ahrensbach knights coming up the stairs to stand on the teleportation circle. They did as instructed, curiously looking around all the while.

I confirmed that everyone was in place, then moved my fingers, tapped the magic circle on my tablet, and said, “Kehrschluessel. Ersterde.” The circle rose from the screen, then spun faster and faster while shining with the light of all seven elements.

Next, the teleportation circle on the ground started to move. My mana was sucked out from above and below until my vision went completely white and the feeling of weightlessness unique to teleportation took over.